I needed more room at my desk. A pizza restaurant gave me the inspiration I needed.
I have a computer that’s too pretty to hide out of sight. So I keep it prominently displayed on my desk. But that doesn’t leave much room for anything else. Many times, especially when I’m developing software, I would like to have two monitors on my desk. But a second monitor would block the view of my computer. I needed to move the computer someplace out of the way, yet still visible.
To the left of my computer desk, in the corner of the room, is a cart that holds my laser printer (underneath) and my all-in-one inkjet printer on top. Also to the left of my desk is a workbench. A USB cable needs to be able to reach from my computer to the workbench, so that I can program and debug the electronic gadgets I work on.
The best place for the computer was obviously on top of the cart. The printer has a scanner lid on top, so I can’t put the computer above the printer; it would prevent the scanner lid from opening. So the computer needs to be underneath the printer. A trip to a local pizza restaurant gave me an idea. They used a metal stand for pizzas placed on the table. The stand allowed items like salt, pepper and parmesan to nestle under the pizza and save space.
A pizza weighs about 3 pounds. My all-in-one printer weighs 27 pounds, and I sometimes lean on it a bit when I’m using the scanner. A one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable computer will be sitting underneath it. Obviously, I needed something a little sturdier than the pizza stand. It also needed to be attractive.
I decided on two wooden platforms, one above the other, supported by three – not four – posts. Since this is going in a corner of the room, the three posts would be along the the back and side of the printer stand. The corner of the printer stand facing out into the room would not have a post, so the view of the computer would be unobstructed.
Lowe’s sells nice, large, edge-glued wood boards that are great for furniture projects. I bought a 24”x48”x1” board and cut it into two 22” squares. I rounded the edges with a router to make it look more professional. Then I stained and finished the boards.
The posts and fasteners needed to be strong, and I wanted the screws connecting the dowels to the boards to be hidden. I chose 1” dowels for the posts. On the bottom panel, I drilled recessed screw holes all the way through. On the underside of the top platform, I drilled holes partway though and nailed T-nuts into them.
I screwed hanger bolts into the top end of the dowels, screwed the dowels into the T-nuts, then screwed the bottom platform onto the dowels. Finally, I covered the recessed holes with furniture-protecting felt pads.
What would it take to cause my stand to collapse and send 27 pounds crashing down on my computer? There’s no way the bottom screws holding the dowels would come out. My biggest concern is that the nails holding the T-nuts will come out. I’ve placed the printer near the back of the platform, so most of its weight is supported by the rear dowels. There’s very little weight on the unsupported front corner. I’ve tried leaning on that corner and all the T-nuts seem unperturbed. I think it’s safe.
The end result is a printer platform that, from a distance, looks like a finely crafted piece of furniture that proudly displays my computer.
