September 2022 – Desk Modifications For The New Office

Desk Modifications For The New Office

21st September 2022

Lannix Design is run from a residential home so space is limited at the current address. The workshop is under the house which is open to the elements and not suitable for having the office set up down there. While all the 3D printers operate inside enclosures, it makes things difficult having the design computer upstairs.

The recent acquisition of a new house brings with it the opportunity to create an integrated workspace with computers, 3D printers and storage all in the one area, under the house but separate from living area. It’s exciting times!

The first task for the new space is to upgrade the big desk that’s taking up space downstairs for use as a replacement for the current office desk leftover from uni days. The new desk is large enough to be used for consultations and will be positioned in the centre of the floor area so needs to look good from the front. The modifications can be split up into four small projects.

Custom desk modifications concept render

Desktop Shelf

A small shelf is needed on top of the desk to allow space to hide pens and such as well as a pair of computer speakers.

It’s designed to be made from off-the-shelf timber sizes that will minimize the amount of cutting involved. Timber will be Radiata pine that will be stained with a Japanese black oil that will expose only a subtle hint of timber grain.

To give the feel of a wrap-around console, a small drawer has been integrated above the existing drawers in the desk.

A small tray has been designed and will be 3D printed for storing pens as tidiness always improves when there is a clear place where things should be.

Dual Monitor Arm

Two monitors are necessary for design work as accessing reference material at a glance is vital for work efficiency.

A dual arm setup is relatively inexpensive off the shelf but I’ve decided to take the opportunity to design something more to my tastes and enable me to showcase some engineering skills.

The construction is of round and square aluminium tubing processed to resemble trusses and to add lightness which is then TIG welded together. Enough material is left to keep strength and to hide cables from the monitors. Articulation is achieved using a thrust bearing and two axial bearings at each pivot which use M10 bolts with Nyloc nuts to keep them in place once positioned.

3D printed caps, tightening nuts and bracket covers are used to tidy up the appearance.

Front Panel & LED Sign

The background of most of the photos taken in the workshop feature the 3D printed LED sign which will be relocated to a new panel to be installed in the front of the desk.

The panel is pine stained black the same as the desktop shelf while the LED sign will be powered by USB cable connected to the PC.

Under Desk Tray

A slide out tray for the Spacemouse, keyboard and mouse will be custom sized to suit my needs. The current desk has one which is at the perfect height so this dimension will be duplicated but the tray will be slightly larger. Obviously this has the added benefit of allowing the peripheral devices to be hidden away when not in use.

Also under the desk will be additional remote located USB and SD card ports which are necessary for transferring data to some of the printers that don’t yet have Octoprint set up on them. I’ve yet to find a suitable device for this as I’d like to incorporate sound volume control so a custom device may need to be made.

3D printed parts to tidy up the rear of the monitors

Final Thoughts

The design seen here is preliminary only so could be changed completely before going into production! The front panel and the slide out keyboard tray are pretty well locked in so I can get started in those jobs. The desktop shelf I’m not fully convinced about however so if you have any ideas for improvements please leave a comment.

Also note that I do not have a TIG welder and have never TIG welded before so this will need to change before I can tackle the monitor arm. In the meantime, an off-the-shelf unit will do the job.

The aluminium parts need processing as well so I’d either have to pay a company to do this or acquire a CNC plasma table (which I would love!). I want it to be an example of our design capabilities so processing them by hand isn’t an option as it isn’t in my wheelhouse.

Bye!