Woodworking Newsletter Adjustable Laptop Stand Vol. · PDF filestand and using it with a separate keyboard and mouse is an option, ... in the February 2011 edition of Popular Woodworking

Adjustable Laptop StandWoodworking NewsletterVol. 6, Issue 6 - July 2012

1/6 www.leevalley.com

My laptop is handy for occasional portable use, but using it at a desk for any length of time does unpleasant things to my neck, plus its wires trap my coffee cups. Placing it on a stack of phone books or a commercial stand and using it with a separate keyboard and mouse is an option, but it’s not usually nice to look at. I wanted a more elegant design.

André Roubo’s description of an 18th century folding bookstand was the subject of an inspiring article by Roy Underhill in the February 2011 edition of Popular Woodworking Magazine. There is a plan for a simplified version on Roy’s website (www.woodwrightschool.com) made from a single plank of wood, marked out and carved with a chisel to create hinge barrels. The gaps between the barrels are drilled and cut through with a coping saw blade, and the

This stand features a height-adjustable wooden hinge that supports the laptop.

edge is rip sawn as far as the barrels to make a wonderful wooden hinge. This hinge design was used in Koran stands dating back to at least the 14th century.

As an experiment, I made a five-barrel wooden hinge from a 3/4” thick pine offcut. It was too short for a bookstand, but it worked so well I had to find something to do with it. My solution was to make it the focus of an Arts & Crafts style laptop stand.

DesignA base frame supports the wooden hinge, which in turn supports a platform for the laptop. The hinge acts like a scissor jack; a screw mechanism, worked by turning a knob at the front of the base, raises and lowers the platform. The frame’s feet allow cables to pass underneath.

The platform is slightly larger than the laptop by 1/4” around. I made the base frame wide enough to allow room for the plugs and cables and to prevent them from being knocked if the unit is moved sideways.

Brass hinges attach the wooden hinge flaps to the back of the platform and to the front of the frame. The top front flap and rear base flap are unattached, but bear on the underside of the platform and on the top of the base frame rails to keep the platform parallel to the base frame. I used through dovetails and reverse ogee profiles on the feet to give the stand an Arts & Crafts style. The range for the stand height was calculated using books for shims. I also tested the strength of the wooden hinge by placing a small anvil, more than twice the laptop’s weight, on it overnight.



Structure The base frame, made from 3/4” thick red oak, measures 2-1/2” tall x 17-5/8” wide x 9-3/8” deep. Its corners are joined with through dovetails. Two 1-1/2” wide rails are let into slots 6” inwards from each end (front and back) to support the lower moving flap of the hinge.

The feet were marked and cut two at a time from two 1-1/2” wide x 8” long pieces. Using a square, I drew a line down the middle of one piece across the grain. I found the center of the line, set a compass radius of 3/4”, and used it to draw a circle from the center-point. I drew two parallel lines tangential to the circle, found the center of each line and used those points to draw two circles with circumferences touching. The resulting S shape was cut using a coping saw, to give me one pair of feet with reverse ogees at one end that are 4-3/4” along their longest side. This process was repeated on the other piece of wood to make the other pair of feet. I glued the edges of the feet to the base frame, under the ends of the front and back. After the glue dried, I filed and sanded smooth each of the curves, paying particular attention to the transition between foot and frame.

The computer platform, also made from 3/4” thick red oak, is 9-1/4” deep x 13-1/2” wide and made from three 11-1/2” long x 3-1/4” wide planks joined together with tongue and groove joints. Breadboard ends, 1-1/4” wide, were joined to the ends of the planks, again with a tongue-and-groove joint. These ends were glued to the center plank tongue to allow for wood movement.

The base frame supports the entire unit (wooden hinge, platform and laptop).

The feet marked and cut

The feet glued to the base frame



Screw Mechanism I shortened one end of a strap hinge to fit and screwed it under the rear of the hinge. A mending plate, also shortened to fit, was connected to the unattached part of the flap hinge by a bolt with lock nuts and washers. I screwed the other end of the mending plate to the top of a 1-1/2” x 3/4” x 3/4” block of oak with a hole drilled through the center to take a four-spiked 1/4” 20 T-nut. To avoid splitting the wood, the T-nut was pressed into place in the block using an engineering vise.

To form a knob, I force threaded a 3-1/2”

Shown here are the screw mechanism and the adjustable front knob.

For the wooden hinge, I used an 8-1/4” length of 9-1/4” wide x 3/4” thick pine. I cut the hinge barrels midway between the two ends; this varies from the bookstand design, which requires a 15” long piece of wood to make a support flap for books. I placed the hinge, folded flat, on the rails at the top of the frame and checked which pair of flaps looked best when opened. The lower flap was fastened to the frame front with two decorative brass hinges let into the frame. The flaps of the hinge were thin and not perfectly even, so the 3/4” brass-plated screws supplied with the brass hinges were too long. I used the supplied screws only to fasten the hinges to the wood at the front of the frame and beneath the platform at the back. Coarse threaded 1/2” #6 particleboard screws, with their points removed using bolt cutters, fastened the brass hinges to the wooden hinge.

This stand features a height-adjustable wooden hinge that supports the laptop.

The placement of the metal hinges.

T-slot bolt through a brown nylon Fixit block, though this could be made from wood and glued to the screw with epoxy. I passed the threaded end of the bolt through a washer and a hole in the middle of the front of the frame to engage the T-nut in the wood block so that the knob would adjust the platform height.



Diagram showing the front view of the stand.

FinishingAfter filling and sanding, I sealed all wooden parts with dewaxed shellac using a folded cotton rag. The shellac was dry enough after an hour for light hand sanding in the direction of the grain using 320-grit paper. The final coat was polyurethane varnish applied with a disposable foam brush.

After finishing, I stuck self-adhesive felt floor protectors to the feet to allow me to slide the stand forwards and backwards on a varnished desktop without damaging it. A 1/2” screw on the inside of the left of the frame holds a detachable powered seven-socket USB adapter.

The laptop stand shows off the wooden hinge nicely. People who see it can’t resist turning the knob to watch how it works. It holds a laptop at a good working height, acts as a docking station and hides the tangle of wires.



Diagram showing the side view of the stand.

Diagram showing the side view of the stand.



David Randall

David Randall designs custom workstations in close collaboration with his customers. A native of Colchester, England, he was a member of the non-profit organization Remap, designing custom equipment for people with disabilities. In 2010, he moved to his wife Christine’s hometown of Seattle, Washington. David brought his hand tools, but gave away most of his power tools before moving because of the differences in voltage and cyclic rate. Other than a very useful drill/driver, he hasn’t replaced them. He is, of course, always buying more hand tools.

Documents

Woodworking Newsletter Adjustable Laptop Stand Vol. · PDF filestand and using it with a separate keyboard and mouse is an option, ... in the February 2011 edition of Popular Woodworking