If you think that creating a DIY standing desk is a huge task that is not worth the effort, it is not surprising. What is more? You are not the only one with that opinion, even though you are currently with a wrong opinion. This article will help you change your perspective, and do a little bit more, before we expatiate on the latter though, you should know that building a DIY desk on your own is definitely worth the effort, if you have the right guide.
A major reason why you might need a DIY standing desk is that you might need them for specific needs that manufacturers of readymade standing desks in the market do not put into consideration during the process of manufacturing. You might need it for gaming, an activity that a normal standing is not suitable for, at least, not the way you want it (trust me, I am a pro gamer, I know what I am talking about). You might also have personal needs, that the typical standing desk won’t just do. What you need is a standing desk that will improve, your efficiency at whatever activity you will need it for, and as an extension, the overall quality of life.
A good standing desk should generally be built to be able to accommodate a reasonable amount of weight, and it should be big enough to accommodate at least, two monitors, alongside other gadgets such as speakers, mouse and keyboards. All ate the same time.
Several standing desks come with a base that is either steel or metal pipes. They are also usually attached with clamps to improve the ability to adjust the height. It should be noted, however, that for a good standing desk, just any base will not do, you need a base that is both strong, and reasonably cheap.
It might be advisable to attach the desktop to an electric base, to improve the level of personalisation and sturdiness of a standing desk. In this article, you will learn some core knowledge that is needed for you to create a DIY standing desk successfully. Some of them include how to select the frame size and of course, how to use the SmartDesk Kit frame in creating a DIY standing desk. Below are some of the things that you first need to consider before setting out to work.
The Type Of Surface Material
When using a DIY surface, one of the first things to be considered is the nature of the material. There is a wide range of materials to choose from, in fact, the list is endless, but it all depends on what you need.
Among the lists of available and accessible materials, plastic and wood seem to be the commonest, and also the cheapest. While laminated wood can support and accommodate a reasonable amount of weight, the same cannot be said about the use of plastic material. When it comes to pairing with a smart desk frame, plastic is actually not suitable for such purpose, so I will actually not recommend the use of plastic for the surface of your desk.
Hardware For Surface Attachment
While going for a SmartDesk kit frame, you need to know that most of the brands are very likely to include hardware for you to mount the surface of your desk. However, it should be noted that this hardware is designed for the specific brand, so you will have to determine the thickness of your surface as well as the length of the equipment if you want the desk to come out as envisaged.
Many DIY desk builders often make the mistake of selecting hardware that is not compatible with their surface. The surface thickness that is recommended for the most surface is 0.75”. At this level of thickness, most screws will work for this surface without causing any damage.
Selecting The Size Of The Frame To Be Used
To choose the correct size for both your surface as well as the base, it is imperative that you pair a frame with the cover. It all comes down to your preference, however, in simple terms, what needs to be done is that you ensure that that the size of the frame is as deep and as wide as the surface’s dimension. To avoid potential errors though, you might want to overhang about 5” on each side of either the surface or the frame.
When pairing your table surface with a wider frame, you might want to put some things into consideration. The first thing that needs to be considered is the rigidity of the base, while the second is the strength of the table top. These are some of the things that you will need to keep at the back of your mind before you proceed into the actual construction of a DIY standing desk with SmartDesk Kit frame.
Building your DIY Standing Desk With Smartdesk Kit Frame
Credit: Autonomous
Get The Needed Tools And Materials
Making a standing desk is not hard work; what you need is the needed materials. To aid more natural understanding, we will be using the Autonomous SmartDesk frame kit in explaining how to go about the construction process. We will also be making use of wood as our desk surface. Now, we can start!
Cut Your Top
We will be making use of plywood for the top, the reason is not farfetched, it is not expensive, and it is easily accessible. For the table surface, you need to determine the thickness, width, and depth. Like it has already been mentioned, the thickness of the wood should be about 0.75” for the frame bar to fit in. When it comes to the length and the width, however, do your thing.
In choosing the length and width to use, you would need to consider the numbers of gadgets that will be placed on it. Even if you can’t think of much, it is still usually advisable that you add more space to make room for other concerns that may arise shortly.
As soon as the plywood cut, you should trim the rough edges with sandpaper and make sure that the surface of the desk is as smooth as possible, then, dust off the wood particles and apply lacquer as a finish. At this point, I assume that your frame is also ready. Once the structure and the surface are available, the next main question is how to pair them together.
A major concern of DIYs at this stage is that there are no pre-drilled holes needed to align the surface of the desk and the frame together. An alternative is to drill holes with a drill, but that is not recommended since there are chances that you might drill holes far into the surface which may create holes all through, resulting into further damage.
The good news though, is that all Smartdesk DIY kit comes with wood screws that are self-tapping and easily pair with the cordless drill when they are in use. Before you attach the frame to the surface though, it is advisable that you first assemble the frames and build. This makes it easier to connect the frame to the surface by merely flipping the surface and frame upside down. You might also achieve that with the help of a straight wall.
If you are using the same surface measurement on both sides, you will also need to ensure that the centre frame is in line with the width of the surface. This will ensure that the frame and the surface align together without spanning down the surface when the leg is bowed.
It should also be noted that aligning the surface of the frame is a bit tricky thing to do, a wall will make it easier. Instead of simply pinning it to the ground, align it by pushing the frame and surface up to the wall. Fixing the frame to the back edge of the surface will be easier with the help of a straight wall.
Conclusion
We have seen in this article, that building a DIY desk is a bit tricky, but it is really simple with the right guidance, which this article has succeeded in providing. Yet, if these simple aforementioned processes still feel like great work, then you might want to opt for a low-cost table at an online store. But I can assure you that “low-cost” will no longer be a fitting description, once the shipping cost is added, worst still, it is very likely that you will not like what you get.
So instead of wasting your hard-earned money and still losing personalisation at the same time, why not try out this tips, I can assure you that the stress is negligible, when compared with the limitless benefits attached to it.
