Building a treadmill desk

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I've found acrylic sheets at my local Home Depot.

As for attaching the desk to the arms - how about just having the front supports shaped similarly to the cardboard mock-up and have it rest on the arms?

In fact - couldn't you get away without bolting anything?

If the acrylic doesn't work out and you wouldn't be able to see the controls, I recommend taking a good photo of the control panel before covering it up so you can navigate it later without seeing it.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

I've found acrylic sheets at my local Home Depot.

Interesting. I'll have to have a look. That would make for a cool desk. Also I expect I could then epoxy the desk to the arms and not have to rest my arms on bolt heads.

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

As for attaching the desk to the arms - how about just having the front supports shaped similarly to the cardboard mock-up and have it rest on the arms?

Certainly the cardboard did not provide enough stability but if I could take a wood (or trex) post and carve out an arm shaped hole, I might be able to slide it onto the arm and get enough lateral support. All I would have to do is jigsaw out a cut like I did with the cardboard and then cut-off / glue back in the bottom part to make a round hole. That would allow for sliding the desk on and off without having to put a bolt through the arm.

In a perfect world I would like the option to be able to move the desk out of the way easily and use the treadmill for running. However I also want this thing working by Saturday (the deadline Mrs. Moonie gave for getting that damn thing out of the living room ) so I'll add that to the Desk v2.0 features.

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

I've thought about that but I don't think they have acrylic sheets at home depot (I will check however). I might save that for Desk v2.0

You should be able to find many varieties of Plexiglass, Lexan, etc. sheets at HD. The come in various sizes and thicknesses and if they don't have the exact size you need, they will cut it down for you (rectangular shapes only).

Actual Plexiglass, while relatively inexpensive, tends to scratch pretty easily. There is one that is a little more expensive than Plexi but doiesn't scratch as easily. I believe it is Lexan, but check with an informed HD "Assocoiate."
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Also, are you setting the top up on hinges on the back so you can tilt the table up? I would strongly encourage that for several reasons.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Also, are you setting the top up on hinges on the back so you can tilt the table up? I would strongly encourage that for several reasons.

Humm, how would you attach a hinge to lexan? Drill through it I guess?

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

Humm, how would you attach a hinge to lexan? Drill through it I guess?

Yep. Just drill slowly so that you don't overheat the Lexan. Use flat-head machine screws and countersink the holes so that the screws are flush with the top of the Lexan.

Surprisingly, hinges can actually make for a good corner brace as well. I have used hinges as braces on corner joints that weren't hinged!

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Yep. Just drill slowly so that you don't overheat the Lexan. Use flat-head machine screws and countersink the holes so that the screws are flush with the top of the Lexan.

Surprisingly, hinges can actually make for a good corner brace as well. I have used hinges as braces on corner joints that weren't hinged!

Of course one sticking point in the hinge plan is the monitor arm I'm planning to attach at the back of the desk.....

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Moonliner

Of course one sticking point in the hinge plan is the monitor arm I'm planning to attach at the back of the desk.....

Unless the monitor arm needs to be mounted to a horizontal surface. I was envisioning something with a fixed back panel/support leg/whatever, with the hinges attached to it to be able to tilt up the table. You could even have the very forward part of the table top (maybe 3 inches or so) be horizontal, and attach the hinges there for the table top. Part of the idea of the hinged table is that it would allow for walking on the treadmill without the table being in the way.

Or am I over-engineering this?

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

Or am I over-engineering this?

For Desk v1.0 probably. But for desk v2.0 or v3.0 definitely not. Keep them ideas rolling....

Looking at the space I have to put this in, there is a bookshelf I was planning to move out of the way. However I might just leave it there and use it as a somewhat oversized monitor stand. Which would make the hinge plan work fairly well....