Building a treadmill desk

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

Hi Jack! You're a cutie!




Who's that skulking behind the couch?

Good job Moonie! This looks doable, but for me, I'd never be able to get the darn treadmill turned off. Wonder if some Harmony universal remote works for this kind of item?

That would be patches skulking.

As for turing it off, I'll either just step off and reach in from the side or the other option is to use the safety key. It came with a little key on a string that you can pull out to shut it off.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

I might suggest going with a clear desktop - acrylic or some thick plastic or something.

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

Originally Posted by scaeagles

How thick is the bottom of the cupholders? I'm sure your desk will be a bit heavier than the typical water bottle so you may need to reinforce them in some fashion.

They are molded from good strong plastic so I think they will be able to easily hold the weight. From the top, the post itself will distribute the weight across the entire surface and from the bottom/side I'll use an over sized washer.

Most of the weight (where I rest my elbows) will be on the armrests which are designed for that.

Any suggestions on how to attache the desk to the arms? One idea I'm toying with is to extend the desk to just past the ends of the arms and use a post that rests on the ground. Bolting these to the desktop would give it the needed lateral support.

[scaeagles]

Going to the ground is a good idea, but it is a little difficult to tell from the pics if if that works because of the legs at the bottom of the treadmill.

Another idea it to being the desk supports down a bit from the arms and run another piece of wood or something back around the main support arm (gray with "nordictrack" on them) so that the desk doesn't slide forward.

[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.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Going to the ground is a good idea, but it is a little difficult to tell from the pics if if that works because of the legs at the bottom of the treadmill.

Yes. A post pushed up against the end of the arms would just clear the legs. It fact I might be able to attach it to the leg for extra stability.

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Another idea it to being the desk supports down a bit from the arms and run another piece of wood or something back around the main support arm (gray with "nordictrack" on them) so that the desk doesn't slide forward.

I don't think that's an issue since the front of the desk is already up against the instrument panel.

[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!

[Ghoulish Delight]

You could also clamp some sort of metal u-bracket to the treadmill arm, and bolt the desk support to that.