Is a quad monitor stand worth it?

[Lexi Delphi]

I'm wanting to get a VESA monitor stand to hold four monitors (max 27 inches each), three inline and one on top. I'm using a desk I believe is 5/8" (15.875mm) thick MDF (will upgrade to real wood at some point), but I'm not sure how much weight it can handle on one contact point. I have no idea if I should do it or wait until I'm using a proper wood desk. Other concerns are warping and making the desk fall backwards under the weight instead of breaking.

[Bombastinator]

All the weight is on the back edge.  One option would be to go to a hardware store and buy a perforated “L” bracket and screw it to the back edge of the desk underneath at multiple points.

 

this would spread the load.  Wouldn’t stop the thing from tipping over backwards though.  To do that you’d have to make sure the monitors (which is most of the weight I assume) were far enough forward that they were past the feet of the desk.

[Lexi Delphi]

20 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

All the weight is on the back edge.  One option would be to go to a hardware store and buy a perforated “L” bracket and screw it to the back edge of the desk underneath at multiple points.

 

this would spread the load.  Wouldn’t stop the thing from tipping over backwards though.  To do that you’d have to make sure the monitors (which is most of the weight I assume) were far enough forward that they were past the feet of the desk.

Okay. For two of them that'll be a problem since the mounts are straight up the pole with room to raise/lower and tilt, but they aren't on articulated arms. I can, however, still do the reinforcement you recommended.

[Bombastinator]

Good luck with the not tipping over then.   It may turn out to not be a problem.  MDF is really heavy.

 

one option in that case would be to move the feet back so they are behind the pole and the center of gravity is between the feet again.

[Lexi Delphi]

This desk has the feet all the way to the edge. I do have a PC on a shelf under and attached to the desk, but at the end of the day I do just need a better desk too

[Bombastinator]

11 minutes ago, Lexi Delphi said:

This desk has the feet all the way to the edge. I do have a PC on a shelf under and attached to the desk, but at the end of the day I do just need a better desk too

You’d have to make some sort of outriggers for the feet to effectively extend them backwards.  A number of ways to do that, all of them ugly looking.  The least ugly would be the most expensive and difficult to do: metal plates screwed to the bottom of the feet extending backward.  Cutting metal thick enough to do the work is a PITA. It would make the desk taller in back so you’d have to extend the front feet too.  Pieces of wood would work too.  Uglier though.  And thicker.  You could also do angled legs extending back behind the desk, or even wooden blocks.  No height change but uglier yet.

 

What I would probably wind up doing (because I’ve got lots of tools) is to get a hole saw the same size as the pole and cut a hole through the top of the desk in front of the feet where I wanted the pole to go and mount through that. Assuming the mount even allowed it, which it might not.  I could also find out what diameter the pole was, and buy a pipe the same size and run it through the hole all the way to the ground (assuming the shelf wasn’t in the way, which it might be) and use no desk mounting bracket at all.  It would leave a pole under the desk near the back of course.

[Mick Naughty]

Its well worth it but unless you do something to brace it, the table will struggle to hold it.

Well worth it to have though. I had one but only supported 24", or so it said. Was a blast to play on.

But have a sturdy desk. Ive used the standard flat base and the clamp style. Wanting to try it with drilling a hole and mounting it that way for more room for the keyboard.

[Lexi Delphi]

So good news. I found a version of the stand by the same company with a large foot instead of a clamp, so I can place it in front of the back feet without modding my desk with a hole. I'll still be doing the L bracket reinforcement, though, until I build my own desk with normal wood.

[Lexi Delphi]

I should add a bit more info about this desk in particular. Aside from the normal four feet on the corners, there are two more segmenting it into 2/3 for the person to sit and focus, and 1/3 for shelves. All 6 legs are steel tubes with bars for the shelves to mount running from front to back on all of them.

[Bombastinator]

12 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Its well worth it but unless you do something to brace it, the table will struggle to hold it.

Well worth it to have though. I had one but only supported 24", or so it said. Was a blast to play on.

But have a sturdy desk. Ive used the standard flat base and the clamp style. Wanting to try it with drilling a hole and mounting it that way for more room for the keyboard.

Ohshit a corner desk. Made of mdf. That was never going to tip over backwards

[Lexi Delphi]

12 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Its well worth it but unless you do something to brace it, the table will struggle to hold it.

Well worth it to have though. I had one but only supported 24", or so it said. Was a blast to play on.

But have a sturdy desk. Ive used the standard flat base and the clamp style. Wanting to try it with drilling a hole and mounting it that way for more room for the keyboard.

I'd love to have a corner desk, or just a bigger one in general. Mine is just like 40 inches wide.

[Mick Naughty]

35 minutes ago, Lexi Delphi said:

I'd love to have a corner desk, or just a bigger one in general. Mine is just like 40 inches wide.

Kind of a love hate thing right now. But the price was great and hold mostly what I need.

[Lexi Delphi]

2 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Kind of a love hate thing right now. But the price was great and hold mostly what I need.

The one I'm wanting to make is 30 inches deep, 60 inches wide, 1-2 inches thick, standing 30 inches high at the desk top ,and legs that can be used to make a small server rack.

[Bombastinator]

7 minutes ago, Lexi Delphi said:

The one I'm wanting to make is 30 inches deep, 60 inches wide, 1-2 inches thick, standing 30 inches high at the desk top ,and legs that can be used to make a small server rack.

SOP with desktops of that size is Use a door.  It’s the right size and thickness  Get a custom unframed  door with no handle cutout in the wood you want.  It will be unfinished.  Buy a roll  of iron on wood for the edges and trim it with a utility knife.

If you get a fire door it will be full of mdf and incredibly heavy. If you get a non fire door it will be full of cardboard honeycomb and really light.  Both will be strong enough to use as a desktop.  The light one will make scritchy noises when you write on it though.

[Lexi Delphi]

3 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

SOP with desktops of that size is Use a door.  It’s the right size and thickness  Get a custom unframed  door with no handle cutout in the wood you want.  It will be unfinished.  Buy a roll  of iron on wood for the edges and trim it with a utility knife.

If you get a fire door it will be full of mdf and incredibly heavy. If you get a non fire door it will be full of cardboard honeycomb and really light.  Both will be strong enough to use as a desktop.  The light one will make scritchy noises when you write on it though.

Well, now I have a plan to use a door, 4x4, and a couple L brackets to make my own corner desk. Thanks 

[VIVO-US]

The free-standing option you found for the mount should do the job for you.  If you do end up wanting to use a clamp mount, using some reinforcement such as a metal plate or wood block will usually do the job without reducing your usable desk space.  MDF is some strong stuff though (we use it for some of our more premium desks), so unless the monitors will be arranged in a way that puts a huge amount of torque on the clamp, I wouldn't be worried about it.

[Lexi Delphi]

On 12/2/2019 at 10:16 AM, VIVO-US said:

The free-standing option you found for the mount should do the job for you.  If you do end up wanting to use a clamp mount, using some reinforcement such as a metal plate or wood block will usually do the job without reducing your usable desk space.  MDF is some strong stuff though (we use it for some of our more premium desks), so unless the monitors will be arranged in a way that puts a huge amount of torque on the clamp, I wouldn't be worried about it.

Alright. I'll get it, and if my desk isn't enough I at least have the custom one parted out and costs counted up. I do still want to upgrade my desk at some point anyway, so it'd just be speeding up something I'll be doing anyway.