Monitor Stand - Desk Organizer With Lamp and Leds

I needed a monitor stand and a desk organizer but I could not find anything which fits my need on the market. So I decided to create one myself.

Plus, I really like the idea of wood working without too many machines, so I only used an electric drill / screwdriver and did all the rest by hand.

Supplies

Wood parts

- Plywood (5mm, 10mm and 15mm)

- Drill

- screwdrivers

- Chisels

- Hammer

- Level

- Plane

- Saws (scroll saw, Japanese hand saw)

- Screws

- Glue

Electric parts

- Leds

- Lamp socket

- Aluminium (or other metal slab)

- Ball-bearing

Finishing work

- Leather

- Oil

Step 1: 3D Design With Tinkercad

I first designed it on Tinkercad to get the actual dimensions (https://www.tinkercad.com/things/gFYRRttyeHG)

The top board will have a place to put your pencils and hold your smartphone on the front and two headsets spots on the back.

The different holds will be sharpened in the top board. I will explain that later.

Step 2: Buying Plywood

Obviously, the first part is to go to the local store to buy some plywood. I got 3 pieces of plywood, each in 800 x 400 mm but with different thickness (5, 10 and 15 mm).

The top layer and the sides will be 15 mm thick. Since I didn't want to use a router or any other machine, I decided to cut the 5 mm board and glue it to the 10 mm.

Step 3: Making the Top Layer

First, I cut the 5mm plywood to the size I wanted (600 x 300 mm).

Then, I cut the holes inside this top board.

Measurements, hand saw, drill, scroll saw, file, quite a lot of fun !

Later, I would glue it to the 10 mm board but before that, let's make the sides.

Step 4: Making the Sides and the Drawer

Sides

I did not want an actual rectangle for the sides, so I made a shape, as smooth as possible with my scroll saw.

The sides are made from the 15 mm plywood.

After cutting them, I added the slides for the drawer.

It was time to add the top board (10 mm), fixed with glue and screws.

The drawer

Since I wanted another design for the drawer, I got a simple pine wood, cut the correct size and screw it to the slides.

The pine wood was bent (because of too much humidity outside), so I let it a couple of days with clamps and it was (almost) flat at the end ! Well, at least flat enough for me.

Step 5: Fixing the Final Top View and Adding Leather

Once the top board and the sides were correctly fixed together, I glued the 5 mm top board to it.

Then I added the leather in the speakers location and pencil case. (You can see the pine wood drawer too).

Step 6: Making the Lamp and Smartphone Holder

The lamp is also made from plywood. I need a lamp that can move with a 360° angle and with different lengths.

Lamp arms

I cut 3 pieces of 150 mm each and then used my scroll saw. The pieces are fixed with some screws painted in black.

Lamp Base

Once again, I used the scroll saw to cut a circle in the plywood and than dig a hole to add the ball bearing.

Then I added a wood stick to fix the arm on it and I hided the ball bearing under an metal board.

Finally, a switch is added to the base.

Lamp socket

For the socket, I cut some pieces of 5mm plywood, and glue them together, check this out.

Once it was glued, I made a hole for the socket and to fix the arm.

Smartphone holder

The smartphone holder was easy to make, a simple piece of wood, shaped like the letter 'U' and glue to the top.

Step 7: Electricity

At this point, I got all my wood parts done. I only needed to fix the lamp, and add some electricity.

My needs were simple, I wanted a lamp, some leds to light on the area between the screen and the chair but also only one plug.

Step 8: Conclusion

A great challenge finished ! I can now work in better conditions and everything is well organized.