Introduction: Laptop Riser

About: Woodworking gadget fan, photographer, husband, cyclist, kayaking SUP riding real ale drinker. More of this stuff is over at my Instagram.

Since my wife has been working at home because of the Coronavirus she has been trying to find an ergonomic position for her laptop.
She has finalized on the height of two boardgame boxes, I thought 'I can do better'.
Here is my attempt.

Supplies

The supplies were very simple.
I used some off cuts of 18 mm (0.71") plywood.
To join the pieces I used some 25 mm (1") Kreg pocket screws.

Tools used were a 10" table saw, a #5 plane and the K4 Kreg pocket screw jig.

Step 1: High Tech Design

With my wife decided on the height of the lift she needed I just took the measurements off the boxes and went with that.
I added an angle to the legs to make the look a little more interesting and giving it a slightly wider base.
As you can see from the image I drew up and incredibly detailed design.

Step 2: Leg and Top Angle

I tilted the blade on the table saw over to 20º and ran the ply through to create the legs. The legs also had a 20º cut on the bottom to allow them to sit correctly.
When it came to the top it was too big to fit on to my small table saw top. I copied the 20º angle on to the top and used my #5 plane to take it back to the line.
A couple of days previously I had spent a few hours sharpening my chisels and planes, I was able to get some nice wooden curls, pretty good off plywood end grain.

Step 3: Parts

Being such a simple build it's just made up of three main pieces.

Step 4: Pocket Holes

I decided pocket holes were the way to go with joining the pieces.
I have a K4 Kreg jig and just needed to choose the correct length, they need to long enough to hold without risking coming through, this choice wasn't the standard length because of the angled legs. The easiest way was to offer up the leg with the screw inserted, the correct screw was the 25 mm (1") course thread screws.
The course thread is recommended for use with plywood.
As the screws were slightly shorter than I would have liked I went with 5 in each side. Once I had 2 screws in the sides they were already very strong but I had already drilled the 5 holes, so I carried on.

Step 5: Finished Project

I added some stick-on felt to the bottom corners of the legs as the table it sits on has a glass top.
The headset holder was a 20 mm square plywood off cut screwed to the back with another short piece screwed and glued off the side, this was angled to allow the headset to slide in to place.

The best bit is my wife loves it, it's exactly the right height and it fits the laptop perfectly.


An easy quick project.