I've been using a makeshift standing desk for a few years but haven't been completely happy with it because I couldn't change the height. I looked online and pre-made adjustable desks tended to be several hundred dollars and even then the amount of height adjustment they allowed wasn't really enough to get the monitors at eye level without also buying additional monitor arms/poles. So I did some brainstorming and came up with a solution that costs less than $20 and a could hours time to build.

This monitor stand allows you to get your monitor's height anywhere from ~11" to 36" above your work surface which should suit just about anybody. Adjustments are made by simply loosening a pair of wingnuts and sliding the shelf up or down.

Step 1: Parts List

Gather together the following pieces.

1" x 2" x 6' boards. Qty 2
- 36" column pieces. Qty 4
- 3.5" clamping pieces. Qty 4
- 12-14" feet. Qty 2
- ~3.5" feet bottoms (to make everything level). Qty 2
2" x 4" board
- 10" for shelf slider. Qty 1
- 1.5" feet extenders. Qty 2. (*Optional if you are making 2 stands to place side by side and want to be able to overlap the bases.)
1" x 4" board
- ~21" for base. Qty 1. (I had some scrap laying around that was this length. Feel free to adjust by a few inches)
- ~3.125" to cap the column.
1" x 8" x 13" for shelf (I had some leftover pieces this size sitting around. Just make the shelf big enough for your monitor's base to sit on.)
Hardware
- 3/8" x 5.5" bolts. Qty 2
- 3/8" washers. Qty 4
- 3/8" wingnuts. Qty 2
- 1.25" and 2" screws.
- Shelf bracket. Qty 1.
- Small screws to attach shelf to bracket.

Step 2: Assembly - Slider Column

Begin by assembling the column which the monitor shelf will slide up and down.

Assemble column
1. Place washer on bolt
2. Slide a clamping 1" x 2" x 3.5" piece onto bolt
3. Lay 1" x 2" x 36" piece on either side of bolt
4. Slide 2" x 4" x 10" shelf slider onto bolts
5. Lay other pair of 1" x 2" x 36" piece on top of 2" x 4", again on either side of bolt
6. Slide other clamping 1" x 2" x 3.5" piece onto bolt
7. Top off with washer and wingnut.
Stand up column and make sure the ends are all lined up.
Position the shelf slider at one end of the column (if you don't you risk making gap too wide/narrow in next step)
Attach the 1" x 4" x 3.125" cap on the end you just moved the shelf slider to. Screw one 2" screw into each of the 1" x 2" x 36" pieces
Move the shelf slider to the opposite end of the column
Attach the 1" x 4" x ~21" base to the column with four more 2" screws

Tip: In order to prevent binding as the 2" x 4" slides up and down the column, try to get 1" x 2"s that aren't warped. You may also wish to temporarily add a few folds of paper or a washer to the inside of the sandwiched column pieces to provide just a tad extra spacing before you attach the top cap and base. I didn't do this and find that it is almost too tight at the slider gets towards the very top/bottom. I may have to take out the slider and sand the side of the 2" x 4" a bit to fix this.

Step 3: Assembly - Feet & Shelf

Add feet to the base so that the column will stand up.

Screw a 1" x 2" x 3.5" to one end of each of the two 1" x 2" x 12-14" feet.
Attach a foot sticking out from either end of the 1" x 4" x 21" base.

Optionally, if you are making two stands that will sit next to each other like I did, attach a 2" x 4" x 1.5" piece to the opposite end of each 1" x 2" x 12-14" foot. Now screw the end with the 1" x 2" x 3.5" to the 1" x 4" x 21" base. This will then let you have on of the feet so that it overlaps the other stand's base and the second stand's base can rest on that of the first one. (See last picture)

Finally, attach the shelf bracket to the 2" x 4" shelf slider and then attach the shelf to the bracket.

Step 4: Construction & Demo Video

For those who learn best visually, here's a time lapse of me building the first on my two stands and then a demo of my finished setup. Sorry, the build is in a bit different order than in the instructable - it was my first go at it and I the bolts I had were too short. The instructions here reflect how I did the second one and should be more efficient.