DIY Ergonomic Sound Design Workstation : 12 Steps

Sit to stand Audio Workstation by Spencer Hector

Goals: Creative, comfortable, minimal, ergonomic, affordable, clean work space, sit to stand

Overview: Workaholic, renter, overachiever, sound designer, mixer, freelance, foley artist, minimalist, tall (6’2”)

Built %100 solo (out of desperation, not by choice)

Considerations for Design

10+ hours working a day at my desk=hunching=back pain
Knees barely (if at all) fit under most tables or desks
Conscious decision to minimize my lifestyle and declutter
Custom design to fit my equipment
Maintain a clear workstation and desk space
Scoured the deepest, darkest, depths of the internet to find a suitable table/workstation/desk for years and decided to build my own...

Materials

A) Birch door-Free thanks to my homie at ForgeLA!

B) Wood stain, polyacrylic, wood conditioner

C) Tools: Jigsaw, Drill, Electronic staple gun, Power Sander, Soldering iron

D) Grommets to run cable monitors

E) Uplift 900 electronic sit-to-stand base

F) Stainless steel cupholders

G) Genuine Italian cuts of leather

H) NU Foam as insulation for leather wrist wrests

I) Keyboard droor slides

K) LED tape lights + Dimmer + Solder + Lamp cord

My only regret… not doing it sooner!

Here's the steps I took to build and design my workspace, hope you enjoy!

Step 1: Measure

Get a feel for your dimensions by laying out your gear and tape around it. Square tables are boring!

Step 2: Make Your Desired Cuts

Use a pencil and string to make a half circle measurement.

Fire up the Jigg saw and cut along your measurement.

Step 3: Assemble and Attach Electronic Base

Purchased the Uplift 900 because it had the best warranty and customer service reviews

Building my own base was out of the question because of ergonomics and stability

Step 4: Sand, Pre-stain (conditioner), Polyacrylic

Sand with a power sander but be careful to not go through the top if its not a solid core door.

Coarse grit sandpaper (depending on your choice of wood), wipe clean, let dry. Repeat 2x to 3x times.

Condition with 1 layer, sand, wipe clean, let dry. Repeat 2x to 3x times.

Stain with whatever finish you desire, sand, wipe clean. Repeat 2x to 3x times.

Poly acrylic protective finish, sand, wipe clean, and let dry. Repeat 2x to 3x times.

Step 5: Insert Cable Grommits Into Holes

Tip: If your hole becomes a little too wide (insert slut joke here) use some foam around the inner edges to keep it in place and create a seal

Step 6: 1/2" Thick Wood Board

Sand. Prime. Paint. Mine is a matte black. Screw into sides of desk with wood screws, drilling pilot holes first of course...

Step 7: Padded Leather Wrist Wrests

Measure. Cut foam. Use an inexpensive or thin fabric for first layer, such as muslin or leather webbing. Tape down edges with Gaffer tape.

Layer 1-Foam with light fabric. Staple one layer fabric covered with foam to a board so it stays taught and even.

Layer 2-Wrap with leather over first covered edge and staple down. Fabric out first and then fold over so staples do not show.

Step 8: Rounded or Curved Edge Upholstery -- VERY CHALLENGING

The most challenging and frustrating part of the build for me… Rounded or curved edges makes upholstery VERY challenging… especially if you are doing it alone and don’t want staples to show. Use a vice to hold fabric.

Step 9: Keyboard Tray

Install a nice keyboard tray that locks

Step 10: Cabinet Lighting- Tape LED's Soldering

Bought from amazon, they are beautiful but...with tape led lights, get a dimmer, and roll up your sleeves to solder.

The "connectors" from one tape light to the next that they provide are aweful! They must be soldered together to work. Get some lamp cord, roughly measure out your placement.

Tip: put your heat shrink tubing onto the lamp cord before you make your soldering connections then... heat shrink your connections

BE CAREFUL to not electricute yourself as a dimmer with a transformer will stop the current and minimize it so much that youll be fine or at least I am!