[Build Log] RGD - Custom Built Surround Monitor Stand

[Complx]

By: Complx

Reasoning:

The basic idea for this project was was born out of frustration out of seeing what was available on the current market, a lot of triple monitor stands I saw were wildly expensive.  Some cost $300 or more and even after spending that much money on these stands, you still would see people complaining that their monitors that were mounted to the outer arms would often sag and not line up correctly.

Another thing I noticed about a lot of these stands was a complete lack of added functionality to the user, besides just holding the monitors, they often would have no real added value or function to them, the only exception that I could find in my research was the XFX Triple Monitor stand, which incorporated 2 USB 2.0 hubs and a Headphone and Mic jack into the base of their stand.

So after a bit more research, I still could not find a monitor stand that really offered what I was looking for.  In all honesty the XFX stand would have been almost perfect, but the price was a little off putting and I found out that they don't make it anymore.  Also, the places that still do have it in stock are charging even more for it than before.

So I have set out to design and build a monitor stand for myself that can support up to 4 monitors!

Research:


As stated before, I did a fair amount of research for the project before i started the real work.  There seemed to be 2 "go to" companies when it came to monitor stands, though I know, and looked at, many more.  Ergotron and Ergotech seemed to be the big two.  But a lot of their models that supported 3+ monitors can run up in price. ($200-$300 or more)

One of the issues I had with these off the shelf monitor stands right now is the "sag" some of them tend to have, especially when it comes to the arm which the 2 side monitors (Left and Right) are often attached to.  To compensate for this, a lot of the monitor stands have VESA mounts that allow for height adjustment to help line up the end monitors with the center one.

While this was a good solution to the problem of sag, I felt the bigger issue had not been dealt with, just kind of patched over.  So this was one major area I wanted to focus on, rigidity.

The next issue I had was for the price, these stands often lacked additional functionality, besides holding the monitors in place.  As mentioned before, the XFX stand had a USB and sound hub built into the base of their stand, which I really fell in love with.   So this was the second thing I wanted to focus on, added functionality to the user.
 

The Hardware:

For this project, I went out and purchased 3 23.6" Asus VN247H-P monitors, the main reason I wanted these was for how thin the bezel was on them, Asus claims it has less than 1cm of bezel on either side.

I have these monitors purchased, but I will post some images of them later.

The Concept:

So for this project I will be using a material called extruded aluminum, very light weight, but very strong and very rigid.

I have made an initial concept model in CAD program to make sure I have a lot of the measurements and tolerances worked out before I purchase the material and start the first steps of the build.

These first 2 images were the base I started to work with to get an idea of how I wanted to lay out the main supports.
 

Then I started to work out some of the details on how it would go together:
 

Right now this is the most current version of the project in CAD form, there are a few more elements I wanted to incorporate into the model before I start the prototyping and building phase.  

As it stands now I still need to figure out:

  - Cable management of the power and video cables

  - Incorporating speakers onto the stand

  - Designing the USB hub which will be at the base of the stand

Here is a WIP shot of what the speakers might look like when mounted:  (Please excuse the gray block, it was a place holder model for my 4th monitor.

Stay tuned!

[virusal19]

Planning looks sick!

 

Can't wait for the photos.

[Complx]

Planning looks sick!

 

Can't wait for the photos.

 

Still a bit of planning and CAD modeling to do before I start the actual build, plus I have yet to order the materials haha.  I will be making another updated post soon with a "close to" or "final" model with some nice renderings.  Then the real fun begins!

[joelthezombie15]

Cant wait, i wish my monitor had VESA mounts

[911^NEmeSis]

Very, very nice plans. Can't wait to see more.

[ANIMAL_ORIGIN]

SWEEEEET!!!

[msikora]

This looks great! How do you plan to manufacture those aluminum members?

[Complx]

You can buy it like that, its called extrueded alumunim.

[Complx]

New update!  Sort of a bitter sweet one at that.  One of the first things I wanted to tackle was the speaker stands that would be allow a 5.1 sounds system to be incorporated into the stand itself, getting the speakers off the desk and up in the air.

Here was the finished product at the end of the day:
 

This system would allow for the speaker height to be adjusted independently and could be adjusted to different monitor sizes as well to, allowing it to be much more flexible if I wanted to get bigger monitors at a later date or wanted to go with a portrait setup at any time.
 

This system was more of an addition to the overall system and a necessary part, but after finishing about 95% of the modeling I decided to do a cost estimate to get an idea of how much more this would add to the total cost of this system.  Sadly, the cost of the brackets alone would cost around $300-$400 alone, and with the cost of the other materials I would need, I would push the price of the stand WAY past what I had originally hoped.

So for the time being, I will have to scrap this portion of the project and leave it for a later day, but here are a few more rendering of the RGD System as it looks right now.  Enjoy!

Next Update will be the completed stand base!  (Which is still a WIP in these photos)
 

 

 

[Dacho]

Brilliant, just do it ;)

[Complx]

Friday Update! Today I got my 80/20 extruded aluminum in today, and its beautiful, for being "flawed" I could only find one real blemish on the metal, but overall I'm very happy.  Sadly I didn't receive the living hinges I needed so the prototype will have to wait until next week.
 

The only blemish I could find!

That's it for now!  Stay tuned!

 

 

[JordanMac]

very nice CAD work, is that solidworks? if not what software did you use? +did you use an extra plug in to render? becuase the pics look almost real.

[Avcn42]

Looking forward to see more! Amazing surround setup!

[Complx]

EDIT:

After a quick discussion with a friend about the project, I think I might have found a solution. I will keep you posted!

[w_km]

Awesome designs, can't wait to see the final result. Just make sure your desk and that base can hold up to the weight of 4 monitors + speakers + mounts. That's a lot of stress on a single point and it can be difficult to stabilize the monitors/speakers if the base isn't built like a brick shithouse.  I'm also curious to see how the sound system works. I'd be careful not to out-do yourself by putting large speakers at the extended ends, as vibrations could be...annoying  :D

[Complx]

Ok! After a few days of tweaking the overall design,  I came up with a solution that would be creative and solve my pricing issue.

Currently I have a standard IKEA corner desk that looks like so. Minus all the stuff.

My current setup also looks like this:

One of my problems I have with a desk that has 3 monitors on it is that I'm cramped for space for things like my mouse, keyboard, etc.  The main reason for this is due to the stands on the monitors themselves, which the original design was trying to fix.  After talking with a few people, I decided to scrap the idea of a "stand" and go one step further and making the monitors "float."

I have almost all the parts that I would need, but the biggest expense I was going to have to make originally was to have brackets made to mount the monitors, to fix this I'm just going to use whats is currently on the market.  I found these wall mountable VESA mounts for about $25 a piece, which is a lot cheaper than the $500+ I would have to have made for the original design, plus they pitch and rotate which will help with aligning the monitors once they are mounted.

So back to CAD I went and using the material I already have as well as the desk I came up with this:

So I'm off to the metal shop to start cutting!  I will be posting as I go along, stay tuned!

[The Syndicate]

Ok! After a few days of tweaking the overall design,  I came up with a solution that would be creative and solve my pricing issue.

Currently I have a standard IKEA corner desk that looks like so. Minus all the stuff.

 

My current setup also looks like this:

 

One of my problems the desk that has 3 monitors on it is that I'm cramped for space, mouse, keyboard, etc.  The main reason for this is due to the stands on the monitors themselves, which the original design was trying to fix.  After some encouragement from Cheapskate and talking with a few people, I decided to scrap the idea of a "stand" and go one step further and making the monitors "float."

I have almost all the parts that I would need, but the biggest expense I was going to have to make originally was to have brackets make to mount the monitors, to fix this I'm just going to use whats is currently on the market.  I found these wall mountable VESA mounts for about $25 a piece, which is a lot cheaper than the $500+ I would have to have made for the original design, plus they pitch and rotate which will help with aligning the monitors once they are mounted.

 

So back to CAD I went and using the material I already have as well as the desk I came up with this:

 

So I'm off to the metal shop to start cutting!  I will be posting as I go along, stay tuned!

This looks much better than the first one. in the first one, unless the base weighs like 25Kilos then it will most likely fall on top of you.

[Sheldon]

This looks freaken amazing!   :o  Wow

[Complx]

Back from the metal shop, so here we go with another update!

Got my hands on the 3 VESA mounts and they are a lot more flexible that I would thought they would be.

All the parts laid out

Chop Saw

After a quick bit of sanding to smooth out all the rough edges, all the pieces are cut to length, one 22" main bar, two 18" arms, and two 12" supports.

Basic Layout

The ends of the aluminum did not come tapped for the hinges, so a little WD-40, power drill and hand drill, we had our tapped holes.

All put together, except for the VESA Mounts.

I didn't have any extra T-Nuts that would normally come with the 80/20, so I had to improvise.  It worked quiet well.

Lastly I drilled 4 3/8" holes in the supports for mounting to the desk.

So now comes the fun part, mounting it to the desk itself! Will be back later tonight with another update!

 

[Nerykrugeer]

Awesome work man, keep up and give another upgrade hopefully with all setup on the desk already

[Shrubpig]

This thread is awesome :O Can't wait to see more progress on the thread! :D

[Complx]

Everything is coming together!

So lets just get right into it!
 

Marking Holes







Supports Mounted









Some of the parts were still soaked in WD-40 so I disassembled the support arm to clean everything.  I also had to drill two 1/4" holes in the support arms to attach to the support beams.



Drilled and mounted





3 Monitors, ready to be mounted.







Mounted!



All three in place!

Finally all three of my monitors are up and off my desk!  I could not be happier with the overall result!  There are a few things that need to be taken care of before I can call this completely finished:

- I still need to make a USB hub that will sit flush with bottom of one of the monitors (Next update)

- Cable management of the everything

- Lighting

- Minor adjustments to the monitor positions to get them to be level

- Painting or anodizing the hinges

Stay tuned!

 

 

[Shrubpig]

This is an awesome thread :D

[Thunderjolt]

What you have done is so freaking awesome. Congrats for everything you've managed so far and good luck with everything else you're planning on doing :)

[chirag.rh]

That looks so freaking beautiful! Nice man, really nice!