Eyefinity workstation - triple monitor deskstand

[The Viking]

Yo yo xtremesystems!
Its time to launch the worklog i have ongoing

First off, some information about the project:
What are you doing here?
I want to build a stand that can hold up 3 monitors. The stand will be standing on my desk, and hopefully make my entire setup alot cooler.
What materials are you using?
I am using steel for this project. The steel squarebars i am using have the dimensions 30x30mm and 35x35mm. I am also using wallmounts in steel for this. The wallmounts will be welded onto the frame.
Why are you not using aluminium?
I have thought of this, indeed! But, i do not have an alu welding rig, neither do i have a place where alu is sold.
Will theese welds and the steel frame hold up three monitors??
Yes they will! I have gone through some serious stresstesting of the steel bars i am using, and testing of the welds will be done aswell.
What monitors are you going to use?
In this project, i am using three Asus V243HQ monitors. Theese are great for multi-monitor setups, because the bezel around the monitor is only 14mm thick! (thats very little compared to general monitors).
Will this be painted or powdercoated?
Yes! well, that is atleast the plan I am currently looking for a powdercoater in my area/county.

Last but not least, a good question indeed:
Why not just buy a stand from ergodirect, multi-monitors.com, or some other triple monitor stand-selling site?
For starters, i live in norway. We do not have any resellers of theese products. The only stand i was able to find, was one that cost 600+++ dollars. That is both out of my budget, and the stand could only hold 3x22" monitors. Also, this is a project i am doing to improve my welding skills, and general metal working-skills

With me on this project, i have my grandfather. He's is getting old, and has a parkensons disease so his "steady" hands are not an option. But! His 30 years of experience will guide and help me along the way, making sure my welding and general work is good enough.

Ill start this off with a small update of the work i've been doing today:

First off, this is how i want the keyboard and mouse to sit within the outgoing feet. Seems like a perfect fit so far.

Yes, this was a very bad weld. My grandfather told me,
that if i managed to weld this thing "tight" (put a weld to cover up the holes) then i'd be good. The coverup work was done later.

Yep.. more holes. Not a good starter!

Was able to get a pretty decent weld on this outer angle.

This is getting shiney

The first tack on the midbar for the stand. Looks like some small explosion took place here

Welded up, and grinded down to a surface i am happy with for now.

Doesnt even look like this was welded, right?

Another angle, and the other foot welded+grinded down.

Now this was better welding eh?

you can clearly see that my endings are the worst, but Rome wasnt built in one day! Neither was this stand, or my welding experience.




So! I hope you like what you see. The next update will consist of:
- More welding (hopefully better welding)
- Grinding down this stand to a nice surface
- show off the sidemonitor-wallmounts i will be using.

[Sadman]

Don't worry so much about how your welds look.
You can always grind them and put some polyester or some body filler and flat it out.
Just make sure they hold

[Planet]

Just keep working at the welding you will get it eventually. Either your leaving it in one spot to long or your running a bit to hot for that material. My guess would be your not moving it.

[Aedubber]

weld looks ok , your getting too much splatter ... Practice on a few pieces first so you dont burn thru.. A weld should be solid and fully cover.

[erikmorgan]

what type of welder are u using? mig/stick?

[Planet]

what type of welder are u using? mig/stick?

Probably using a mig welder.

[The Viking]

what type of welder are u using? mig/stick?

Probably using a mig welder.

You are correct sir! Allthough, i am using a mig welder with gas filled-wire (probably wrote that wrong )
Anyway. It works great so far.

There will be a new update tomorrow

[game_matter]

Nice guys but can this deskstand revolve into vertical side like this?
(sorry, my english pretty bad)

[The Viking]

Nice guys but can this deskstand revolve into vertical side like this?
(sorry, my english pretty bad)

Hi Matter!
The deskstand can indeed be revolved into a vertical side. Will try to take a few pictures of this later

On another note, there will be an update later today. Gonna go outside and do the work now

[neonblingbling]

Do you think the feet will have enough stability with all three monitors on there? I am not sure what the upper frame and wall mounts are like, but it looks to me that everything might tip toward the user, depending on the angle you mount the monitors.

[The Viking]

Do you think the feet will have enough stability with all three monitors on there? I am not sure what the upper frame and wall mounts are like, but it looks to me that everything might tip toward the user, depending on the angle you mount the monitors.

Yes i do! All i can do is wait and see.. I tried asking my physics teacher if there was a formula i could use to calculate the length of theese feet, but he just shrugged and didnt know what to say

[The Viking]

Okay guys! It's time for another update.



Here you can see the wallmounts i will be using. The left/right ones are for my side-monitors.
That swivel ability gives the stand some unique features.
The features will be displayed further into the project.



Turns out that the top bar i was suppost to use for this project, was "stolen" by my uncle.
That bar is now long gone.But, what can one do. Cut some more! I figured i could call in the "big guns" xD.



Yea.. not that big of a rig. But trust me, that blade is huuge :O



HEre i am preparing to weld the top bar together with the rest of this stand.
VERY important that this is welded at mid-point.



THe framework is done When i saw this, i was veeery happy.
Not much left now!



This is how i want the sidemonitor-mounts to sit.
They will be welded together, and this makes it VERY easy to slide monitors off and on the top bar.



The midmonitor-mount will sit like so. I'm not planning on moving the midmonitor,
so thats why im using that kind of a wallmount for it.

since i had school off today, i managed to get ALOT done! Figured i could jam 2 updates into 1, kind of :P

UPDATE NR.3

So, to start this update off. I had to do some stresstesting of the rather poor welding i had been doing earlier.
Not alot of pictures from this, as i was using myself + 40kg of steel as testmaterial. Everything went fine, it held up great
and i am quite pleased with nothing breaking or even showing signs of bending.


I figured it was time to weld theese suckas together.
Found the midpoint on both sidemonitor-wallmounts, and the bars i was going to use.


Welding done! The results were all in all good.
Its not perfect, but im no welder either, so ill be happy.


What do you think? Pretty good?


The idea reveals itsself! When sidemonitors are mounted this way,
they can slide "around" on the top bar there.


Since this is 30x30mm bar(the top bar) and 35x35mm bar(those for the sidemonitors). They seem to fit quite perfect.
Only 1mm to spare all around.


Both sidemonitor-mounts all welded up and done.


Well.. turns out 1mm is too much wiggle room. If i dont do something with this now,
the sidemonitors will sag down quite a bit.


Drill holes!


And weld a nut+bolt onto that thing!


Much better This also makes the entire stand much safer.


Now, onto fitting and welding the midmonitor-mount onto the top bar.


A few tacks here and there, to make the mount sit before i do the heavy welding.


One of the welds


Another weld. Do note: The midmonitor mount was not grinded here,
thats why it looks like it has been through hell a couple of times :P


All mounts are done! I checked with a leveler, and they sit perfectly horizontal.
The holes for 100x100mm vesa mounts also sit totally alligned.


The entire stand from another angle.



Ok! Update finished. Hope you liked what you saw. There's more to come tomorrow!

[neonblingbling]

Looking good! I like how you made the sliding mounts for the side monitors. Tons of adjustments available with a pretty simple design. I wish I had access to a welder and metal working tools

[neonblingbling]

Yes i do! All i can do is wait and see.. I tried asking my physics teacher if there was a formula i could use to calculate the length of theese feet, but he just shrugged and didnt know what to say

If you feel like listening, I'll try to offer a simple solution:

First, I need the measurements a and b:



Next, refer to this diagram:


Basically, the circle with two triangles in it is the 'center of mass' of both a monitor and the frame. It is if we imagine all the mass of the monitor or frame is concentrated in one single point. Basically, it will make our computations easier.

Fs is the 'force of the stand' and Fm is 'force of the monitor'. This is where 'F=ma' comes in, where F is a force, m is a mass [grams] and a is acceleration, in our case gravity [9.8 m/s^2]. Since we really don't care about specifics, we will butcher physics and assume mass = force (gravity is constant). What is the mass/weight of the monitor you plan to use? What is the mass/weight of the stand? Where is it's center of gravity?

Here is a diagram of the center of gravity for each piece of your stand. 1 and 3 are the feet, 2 is the base, 4 is the vertical bar, 5 is horizontal.

We only care about the X-axis, so focus on the left diagram. First, multiply the mass of each piece by the distance it is from the origin in the x-axis (for example, bars 1 and 3 are a distance 'a/2' from the origin, and bars 2, 4, 5 are a distance 'a'). Once you have the mass times distance, add those numbers together. Then divide by the total mass of the stand. The equation is something like x-bar = (summation of mass times distance) divided by (summation of mass). Or, x-bar = (m1*x1+m2*x2... m5*x5)/(m1+m2...+m5).


Lost yet?


Next, we're going to take the 'moment' around the origin. Think of it as 'rotating force' or 'torque' or 'force times lever arm'. First, do it for counter-clockwise forces. It will be Fm (mass of monitors) times lever arm (1.5"+b-a, distance from the origin to the monitors). Then, do it for clockwise forces. Fs times location of center of mass (x-bar, I'd estimate it to be 0.8*a) PLUS the the center monitor, mass of monitor times lever arm (a-1.5"). Now, which number is bigger? If the clockwise moment is bigger, your stand will tip over if both of your side monitors are fully extended. If clockwise moment is bigger, it will be stable as long as no additional forces are added (say if you bump the table, pull on the monitors, etc). The bigger the CW moment is than the CCW moment, the more stable it will be.



Hope something made sense.

[The Viking]

Good evening ladies and gents. It's time for another update in this project. Things have been moving rather slow the past few days, math exam and all.

Anyway, without further excuses. Here is the majour update

Before we start, time to check population.
The brothers are ready to go on that mount


Since this is a workshop, everything tends to be rather dirty and all.
some cloth did the trick for whenever i work with the monitors.



The stand in all its "glory",
just before the monitors were mounted on.


woot woot woot! It is DONE! Well almost..
but atleast now i know that this thing will be steady.
In this picture, the sidemonitors are extended fully,
and the stand is still stable.


See, the stand can hold up three monitors, with the sidemonitors fully extended


perfectly leveled

A shpt from the aboad. You can easily see that the angles are off. Will do some calculations and get that perfect, once i get the stand back from the painter.


some grinding Before/after


Figured 60 grit was a bit rough on the stand. Changed it to 120, and the results are much better







Time to try on the monitors again! It's already looking good


And a one, and a two. Yes! It stands on its own. This also proves my design being pretty steady and reliable.

Still perfectly leveled

Just a picture of how the sidemonitors are mounted. Doesnt look pretty, but give it some time. It's at the painters now.


time to show off a bit Notice how its STILL reliable, steady, and goood looking.


Lets power it up!


No, wait a bit. I have to show you how the mouse + keyboard sits nice inside the two outgoing bars.


Looking good


Still not perfect angles, but again. The entire thing isnt done yet.


finally! ALIVE, up and running The background needs a serious fix, but good enough for now.


The desk is looking alot cleaner, and larger now. I'm pleased with my results


A shot of the cable management behind the monitors. Figured it was better to run only 1 wire down behind the mid-bar, instead of 3. (Not thinking about the dvi cables atm)


you can see how the cable management paid off. EVerything looks clean from where i sit.


Ok!
that was problably one of my last updates. I've sent the stand off to a powdercoater, and if im lucky, i can pick it up tomorrow!

I need to find a way to close up those ends on the outgoing bars. i'd love some feedback on the work i've been doing here

[MadHacker]

well to fill in the ends.
black end pieces you see in desks, since u mentioned u had a math exam, I'm assuming you have access to desks and that might give you an idea.
square tube desks usually have them either on the feet or some other part to protect the floor or the person at the desk.

i don't really know how to describe them, but if u get stuck i suppose i can draw something in paint... not much of an artist.

[Church]

I'm trying to imagine this monitor stand extended with another 3 screens on top , though probably 3 even bigger screens in portrait mode would look better, because of less monitor dividing sides .. or one Mega Big (probably TV) screen in the middle and two lesser lcds by sides in portrait mode.

[erikmorgan]

looking good Viking!

[The Viking]

well to fill in the ends.
black end pieces you see in desks, since u mentioned u had a math exam, I'm assuming you have access to desks and that might give you an idea.
square tube desks usually have them either on the feet or some other part to protect the floor or the person at the desk.
i don't really know how to describe them, but if u get stuck i suppose i can draw something in paint... not much of an artist.

Dude, thank you! At first, i didnt understand a word of what you were saying, but then i remembered where i had my math exam today. That room has desks, which has theese end caps. Will go and uhh.. lend a few tomorrow?

I'm trying to imagine this monitor stand extended with another 3 screens on top , though probably 3 even bigger screens in portrait mode would look better, because of less monitor dividing sides .. or one Mega Big (probably TV) screen in the middle and two lesser lcds by sides in portrait mode.

YEa, 6 monitors would be awesome, but im not that rich :P: Was thinking of adding a 4th monitor on top of the middle one, but i think im gonna decide against that. It'l ruin the sleeky nice design i currently have. When i get the stand back, i guess i can mount em in portrait mode, just so people can get a look at that possibility aswell.

looking good Viking!

Thank you

[Church]

YEa, 6 monitors would be awesome, but im not that rich :P:

BTW, just today on one hardware news site i saw noted 5970 card with 12 minidisplay ports

[Frogeye]

That's a great project. Eyefinity looks sweet. I've got room for tres double deuces on my desk.

[game_matter]

Great job sis! but what about this?

[0b1]

Great job !

[The Viking]

Great job sis! but what about this?

I'll show you later tonight
The stand came back from the powdercoater today, and i am VERY happy with the results. I've taken a load of pictures, and will come up with another update tonight.

[screwtech02]

I too am comptimplating building my own triple setup, MUCH cheaper than buying one.... Great Job!!! You gonna have it powdercoated, or painted???