Hello all,

For my final project I have chosen to make a standing desk. I work in Mike Hannigan’s air quality lab (Let me know if you want to chat about that, it’s great!) and my coworkers are really into standing/ health at work. One of them recently bought a ball chair. It’s like a yoga ball on a stand that is supposed to help your posture and strengthen your back muscles. Before that, he had a makeshift standing desk built from cardboard boxes, tape, and copious amounts of chewing gum (kidding!). Another of my office-mates has created a makeshift standing desk from ikea furniture. There is a lot of discussion about eye health and back health because we all computer so hard. These lamentations about how sitting is killing us was the original inspiration for this project.

There are several existing types of desk:

The Veridesk is one of the most publicized: $375

There are also several other versions, some that folks have made themselves:

These are all varieties of desk that I have explored. Some things I think would be too difficult for me, like the linkage systems and time constraints of desks like the Veridesk and the scissor-jack desk. Others don’t have the features I want, like the plumbing one is not easily adjustable. Some of these designs require more expensive parts and more extensive design thought, like the mechanically adjustable desk. I have decided on a new design that I will unveil later.

Moving on to the aesthetics. I really like the industrial chic table tops. They are heavy-looking and sometimes made of reclaimed wood, which I like:

However, I think that this design is a bit too heavy for what I have in mind, because it has to be lifted, so maybe I can find a way to make it look heavy without actually being heavy. I don’t know what I’m going to do about the base of my table yet, The idea of cement is attractive, but I’m not sure how easy it is to make the shapes that I want. Again, I want to give the appearance of weight without it actually being heavy. So this requires more investigation, but this is the kind of idea:

I’m excited to start on my project with a Solidworks model, and then I’ll move into sourcing materials.

Here are some of my sketches of ideation and design:

 

 

Attribution:

[1] http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwingoLTiLfSAhUOgL0KHY1KC-4YABATGgJ0aA&sig=AOD64_3VUEZIgSIO0OSU4VHL-uUbZOow4Q&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwiBqvvSiLfSAhUJxmMKHfSsCoAQwjwIHQ&adurl=

[2] https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwingoLTiLfSAhUOgL0KHY1KC-4YABATGgJ0aA&sig=AOD64_3VUEZIgSIO0OSU4VHL-uUbZOow4Q&ctype=5&q=&ved=0ahUKEwiBqvvSiLfSAhUJxmMKHfSsCoAQwjwIHQ&adurl=

[3] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi_x87LibfSAhVSyGMKHcA8AcYQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Flifehacker.com%2Fthe-complete-guide-to-choosing-or-building-the-perfec-1682274258&psig=AFQjCNFoj278rc1mwnYYQX37_kSCmtdp8A&ust=1488518382573047

[4] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwitg5KiirfSAhUH5mMKHQhPBnsQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fwangfamily%2Fstanding-desks%2F&psig=AFQjCNFoj278rc1mwnYYQX37_kSCmtdp8A&ust=1488518382573047

[5] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjM_YXSirfSAhUE_mMKHcpUALUQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fjeanguy041%2Fscissor-lift-table%2F&psig=AFQjCNGAb8Ncb5JMxTL6ZucC2_E8VPb3sQ&ust=1488518761601516

[6] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYztnTjLfSAhUK4GMKHc-cDyYQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.etsy.com%2Fmarket%2Fstanding_desk&psig=AFQjCNHLZAJxMULjsKiWu7LgBz8DI96vmw&ust=1488519034153591

[7] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi5sdiRjLfSAhVI02MKHcBvAIEQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dschang-online.com%2Fbuilding-a-reclaimed-wood-table-top%2F&psig=AFQjCNHD1JP6OjzuxRLfe0-56MuF8R18JQ&ust=1488519136298147

[8] https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjA5L-kjbfSAhVO22MKHT2UABgQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.diys.com%2Fconcrete-coffee-tables%2F&psig=AFQjCNGQCm4uJLKWRrvoz46Ui2AEcnvvqQ&ust=1488519445377258