Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

techprowd.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 102 posts

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#91

Post by crusso »

jstanley wrote: post #13
sirn wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a beginner (have been learning CAD since a week ago), I tried OpenSCAD then FreeCAD and found FreeCAD to be simple enough to get started. I followed the tutorial in FreeCAD Wiki[1], particularly the Toothbrush Head Stand[2] one (since my primary use was 3D printing) and could get comfortable with the software within a day or two. [1]: https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Tutorials [2]: https://wiki.freecadweb.org/Toothbrus…

For anyone else reading this: The key thing to know in FreeCAD is that you almost always want to use the "Part Design" workbench. Then the workflow for creating a part starts with creating a "Body". The "Body" represents a single solid. The major features of your part are created with 2-dimensional sketches (either on the base planes, or on flat surfaces of the part, or on datum planes that you can define). The sketc…

I've just spent the last few hours going through some FreeCAD tutorials. I love it. This is so much fun. I've been hesitating to get a 3D printer because I haven't touched CAD since college... but I could definitely get into this.

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#92

Post by chiefalchemist »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #85
chiefalchemist wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a knob. The crank helps. Worst case, just extend the crank if the drill can't cut it. Ideally, once I get used to standing, I don't intend to sit, sans the weekends.

It's not the effort that would be a problem, it's the time . I like the crank seat adjustment on my VW when it comes to fine adjustability, but if I want to recline the seat back all the way it ... just ... takes ... way ... too ... long. A longer crank handle would just make it take longer. And I don't want to stand full time. I tried that for a few weeks with a makeshift standing desk (a bunch of boxes stacked on t…

To clarify, I trying to mindful of the fact that you might have a disability of some sort.

The longer handle would make it faster because the same amount of energy would move the "dial" further.

That said, your actual question is: How many total crank rotations to get from lowest to highest?

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#93

Post by driverdan »

jnellis wrote: post #76
driverdan wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ikea and Lumber Liquidators (in the US) both have very reasonably priced Oak and Birch butcher block. It makes for great table tops.

I believe Ikea stopped making solid wood butcher blocks years ago. They are all veneers now.

Looks like you're right about their countertops, they only have veneers listed. Too bad.

They do still have tabletops, although I incorrectly remembered it as Birch it's actually Beech: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/gerton-tabletop-beech-50106773/

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#94

Post by earleybird »

davio wrote: post #53
sokoloff wrote: post #3

Glad to learn about cutlistoptimizer as I looked casually for something like that in the past. I’ll have to figure out how to feed it from Fusion360. Also interesting to learn that Japanese “2x4”s are in that ratio exactly. In the US, they’re 1/2” under nominal size (so 1.5” by 3.5”). Makes it awkward to stack pieces together at times. (2 2x2s next to each other in the US are smaller than a 2x4.)

Meanwhile, my 6x6 deck posts are actually 6x6 and a 2x6 railing won't cover it.

Use 2x8 ripped to size :-)

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#95

Post by 0xffff2 »

davio wrote: post #53
sokoloff wrote: post #3

Glad to learn about cutlistoptimizer as I looked casually for something like that in the past. I’ll have to figure out how to feed it from Fusion360. Also interesting to learn that Japanese “2x4”s are in that ratio exactly. In the US, they’re 1/2” under nominal size (so 1.5” by 3.5”). Makes it awkward to stack pieces together at times. (2 2x2s next to each other in the US are smaller than a 2x4.)

Meanwhile, my 6x6 deck posts are actually 6x6 and a 2x6 railing won't cover it.

You must have either bought some kind of fancy 6x6 or something. A standard 6x6 is actually 5 1/2 on each side, same as a 2x6 width.

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#96

Post by 0xffff2 »

fabian2k wrote: post #69
yboris wrote: post #34

My favorite design idea: move your computer out of the room. My PC is in the next room / closet and the room is completely silent. In my case all I needed was a small hole for an HDMI and a USB cable.

If you don't need a high-end GPU, it's pretty easy to make a PC essentially silent. And even for a GPU it's possible if you're willing to sacrifice some performance and lower the power target. My desktop is not specifically designed to be silent, but the CPU and case fans are not audible from a typical distance.

This requires either a low noise sensitivity or a willingness to replace fans every year or so. I've put a ton of research and work into building silent PCs over the years. They inevitably start out silent, but as the fans wear they become audible around the year mark and annoying around the two year mark.

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#97

Post by nicbou »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #31
nmeofthestate wrote: post #19

It looks like this guy plans to do a lot of jumping up and down on his desk.

I wouldn't accept a desk that wouldn't hold my weight on top of its usual load anywhere close my home. When we were building a custom workbench in a Hackerspace, I put it in as requirement. You don't want your table to collapse when somebody sits on it.

Does that happen a lot?

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#98

Post by [deleted] »

mywittyname wrote: post #66
redm wrote: post #45

Cool project. You really put some planning into it. As others have mentioned S4S lumber in the US is not standardized in size. It can vary. If your using a softwood like Pine, it will also not be strait. This is going to cause your tight tolerances to be off. You should build this with lumber that has been fully dried, and fully straitened and taken to a lesser tolerance, something that can be plained and jointed dow…

S4S lumber is the most straight variety you can buy with the lowest variance in size.

[deleted]

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#99

Post by freeqaz »

slobiwan wrote: post #74
Wistar wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the best home-brewed desks I have used was fabricated from a large, and thick solid-core hardwood-veneer door. It rested on a two-drawer file cabinet at each end and was rock-solid. I used the pre-cut hole for the doorknob to pass the cabling from the workstation to the monitors, etc. I used it for a video-editing setup.

I've got that setup right now, but I find that the door on top of two-drawer HON file cabinets is just a bit (about 1.5 inches) too high for a normal office chair, and isn't doing my wrists any favors either. What I really need is a very thin desktop that's just as solid.

Pardon the delay. Check out something like this and it might fix your problem!

I love this w/ my desk because I can adjust my height all day :)

Rise UP Electric Adjustable Height Width Standing Desk Legs Frame Base. Ergonomic Motorized sit to Stand up Home Commercial Office Table. Dual 2 Motors. 4 Programmable Memory. Gray https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B072XCVYVX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_...

Re: Designing an Overkill workbench for home office

#100

Post by TeMPOraL »

nicbou wrote: post #97
TeMPOraL wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't accept a desk that wouldn't hold my weight on top of its usual load anywhere close my home. When we were building a custom workbench in a Hackerspace, I put it in as requirement. You don't want your table to collapse when somebody sits on it.

Does that happen a lot?

It's enough that it happens once. When it does, you'll have a broken desk, and possibly a medical emergency on your hands.
Post reply on HN