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My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

thume.ca

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Re: My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

#51

Post by waltbosz »

This reminds me of a portable dual monitor setup that I tried to build. I used PVC pipe fittings and USB monitors.

The most difficult part for me was getting the screw holes lined up for VESA mount. I didn't have access to a 3D printer, so I was just cutting wood panel and drilling holes by hand.

Also PVC was too unwieldy. Making the necessary hinge joints was hard because of how much space the pipe took up.

Hmm, now I want to revisit my design. If only I had more time.

Also, I now have access to 3D printers, laser cutters, and a CNC machine at the STEM lab of my local public library. It's actually a shame how underutilized this place is. I was there during open hours, and no one was using any equipment except for the 3D printer. There is also a recording studio.

Re: My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

#52

Post by robjan »

alias_neo wrote: post #39

I immediately recognised the stand as the Roost [0] because I have one, but OP links to Amazon with a different name. Was Roost ripped off or do they simply white label this? [0] https://www.therooststand.com/

Pretty sure the NextStand is a whitelabel product inspired by Roost. You can also buy them from TaoBao for a couple of dollars or AliExpress for around US$15 in the 11.11 sale [0]. Disclaimer: I haven't bought this particular listing, but am happy with my TaoBao one.

[0]: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001234630469.html

Re: My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

#54

Post by GoOnThenDoTell »

pmontra wrote: post #31

I wonder if I'll have to also go custom for my next laptop if I want something with a 15" screen, no numberpad, touchpad with 3 physical buttons, boots to Linux, fully self serviceable or almost so. I have hopes for Framework but they are still missing at least two of those points. My current laptop is missing the no numberpad point. I had to compromise and that was the least painful one.

With framework there is a good base to work with if you wanted only some components custom

Re: My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

#56

Post by memco »

rkwasny wrote: post #19

Anyone knows where to buy a ready-made low profile split keyboard like this?

I bought mine on eBay, but I also have used https://boardsource.xyz for parts. They have assembled versions of both Lulu and Lily58 pro for sale, which are very similar to the sofle as well as some 40% options if you want even more minimalism. There's also the mainlander: https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/, but it's a heftier size and price tag.

Re: My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

#57

Post by thomastjeffery »

brodouevencode wrote: post #53

I wonder what percentage of users use keyboards like this? Or is it just enthusiasts/modders?

Using one effectively categorizes you as an enthusiast.

The tricky thing about these kind of ergonomic ortholinear designs is that no one mass produces a cheap rubber dome version, so getting one is a somewhat serious financial investment, on top of it being a serious time/effort investment to get used to typing on one.

Traditional keyboards are what everyone already has kicking around; so that's what people get used to typing on.

Re: My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

#58

Post by kawfey »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #25

What's the static electricity story here? I personally avoid any and all metal fixtures around my work desk, because I invariably end up being painfully shocked by them every time I shift on the chair[0]. At this point I habituated having small metal objects around me (e.g. key bundles), that I can use to discharge static before/during getting up, sitting down, etc. Where 'ianthehenry mentioned here[1] they've made a…

I live in Missouri, where winter humidity is super low and everything is shocky.

I actually liked having a steel top desk - I learned (conditioned myself) to put my hand on top of the desk while standing up, so the charge would let itself out of my hand gingerly rather than building up and blowing up my phone when I reached to pick it up. So I put a piece of aluminum tape and wired it to a grounded case (like my PC or directly to an outlet ground) and learned to put a finger on it every time I stood up.

I also use a lot of heavy duty staticide on fabrics. https://www.aclstaticide.com/products/heavy-duty-staticide

In some places I've had to use remote KVM extenders, which are HIGHLY susceptible to ESD pulses from office chairs. A few times every hour the screen blacks out for a second, usually returning to normal, just because someone stood up. D.C. Smith wrote a few papers [0][1] on it that bolstered the ESD-safe industry.

[0] http://emcesd.com/pdf/eos93.pdf

[1] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/819080

Re: My DIY ergonomic travel workstation with aluminum and magnets

#60

Post by guidoism »

ianthehenry wrote: post #12

Oh I love this! Doubling as a carrying case is a great idea. I like the flat-pack assembly with the spacers parts. What's the weight of the full assembly like? I did something similar to this last year, but without the travel goal (just trying to get myself to move around and work outside more). Instead of mating the keyboard to the base, I attached some larger magnets to the bottom of the keyboard by setting them in…

Oh cool! I've been working on something similar. I am trying to move to a more ergo keyboard from a straight ortho and wanting to build something that fits on top of my laptop when I'm in bed, etc. So I had some "core" 6x3 boards build and glued magnets on the bottom:

https://imgur.com/a/FNn32o4

I'm now waiting on my thumb cluster PCBs from china as well as my corne-style column stagger cores. I've also moved from raw header pins to JST SH 4 and 6 pin connectors to connect the raw row and column signals to a central board.

The intent is to play around with angle, position, splay, etc until I find something I like. The magnetic parts make it a lot easier (and cheaper!) to make changes.

I bought an inexpensive 12"x12" magnetic steel bulletin board from Amazon for the base.

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