# Custom Dual-Monitor Stand



## theJesus (May 16, 2012)

Alright, so I've had this random 15" Dell LCD collecting dust for a while, because somebody gave it to me for free with no stand.  Well, I figured it was time to do something about that.  Here it is next to the monitor in my specs (and holy wow that picture came out horrid):







So, today, I took home a bunch of spare mounting hardware from work.  I install point-of-sales systems currently and part of that is installing new stands for the monitors, keyboards, etc.  Not all register locations get a keyboard, or a debit reader, etc. so there's always extra hardware that gets sent back.  Here's a pic of what a full kit looks like assembled:






Here's everything I grabbed:  (I'm not using all of it of course and the rest will stay in my trunk as spares for work)






As you can see, we never have extras of the main pole; just the arms, mounts, and trays.  So, what I'm doing now is building a stand to mount two of those arms on to hold both my monitors side-by-side.  I think I will use the shorter arm for the 23" monitor and the longer arm for the 15" monitor, so that way the bulk of the weight will be closer to the center of the stand.  Anyways, I went to Lowe's and bought some things:

PVC pipe.  It didn't come shorter than 10ft, so I had them cut it into three pieces to fit in my car:






Measured and cut so it will fit just under the upper shelf of my desk (~19"): (that's my Milwaukee Hackzall in the pic there; works great!  Also, some random old scraps from old-ass ghetto projects)






Obviously, that's not gonna stand on it's own and support two monitors . . . 
So, I bought some angle brackets that come with nice looking covers to hide the screws:










Now, unfortunately, Lowe's didn't have a size of pipe that fit the arms very snug:






So, I got some couplers to work as filler (they were cheap so I bought six even though I only need two lol . . . I'm sure they'll come in handy for other things):






Crap, didn't realize that lip was in the middle of them, so they won't slide all the way on to the pipe . . . Hello Mr. Dremel and Mr. File!










. . . Good enough . . .










After that was done, I mounted the brackets.  Here, you can also see the slab of wood that I'll be using as the base (used to be part of a shelf).






I didn't screw it down to the board yet though, because, well . . . that PVC pipe is fucking ugly!  Hello spraypaint!






That's it for now!

edit:  By the way, this is only costing me $20-$25 total and the majority of that was the brackets.  It would be even cheaper if I got brackets without covers, since those ones are considered "designer".  A store-bought dual monitor stand would cost >$100 iirc


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (May 17, 2012)

Hey jesus, I love your brief case and computer chair to the left in the 4th picture down.


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## theJesus (May 17, 2012)

Paint!






Screw it down with some general purpose wood screws and washers:






And the finished center pole with base:






Yes, I switched the base, because the other one had holes in it and I managed to find a piece that didn't.

Now, being as genius as I am, when I was filing out the insides of those collars, I didn't account for the fact that painting the pipe would add a little bit to it's girth, so now they don't fit and I have to do some more filing.


ThE_MaD_ShOt said:


> Hey jesus, I love your brief case and computer chair to the left in the 4th picture down.


 Those are my 1yr-old niece's lol


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (May 17, 2012)

Nice work there man.


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## theJesus (May 17, 2012)

Thanks man.

New problem . . . the arms don't fit snug enough around those collars and they sag when I put the monitors on, which makes the screens crooked.   I gotta find something to stick in between the arms and the collars . . . either that or I might just screw the arms into the collars.  I'm not sure how well that would work though; I have a feeling the PVC might not be tough enough to keep the screws straight under that much pressure.  Now, if I were to screw it all the way through the collar and into the pole, then that would work, but I wouldn't be able to adjust the arms at all.


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## remixedcat (May 17, 2012)

build me one!!!!


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (May 17, 2012)

Could you drill multiple holes (for adjustable heights) in the pvc and run a small bolt through the bracket and through the pvc with a wing nut ?


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## theJesus (May 17, 2012)

ThE_MaD_ShOt said:


> Could you drill multiple holes (for adjustable heights) in the pvc and run a small bolt through the bracket and through the pvc with a wing nut ?


Well, I'd really like the arms to be able to swing.  If I understand what you're suggesting, they'd be fixed at one angle.


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## Norton (May 17, 2012)

theJesus said:


> Thanks man.
> 
> New problem . . . the arms don't fit snug enough around those collars and they sag when I put the monitors on, which makes the screens crooked.   I gotta find something to stick in between the arms and the collars . . . either that or I might just screw the arms into the collars.  I'm not sure how well that would work though; I have a feeling the PVC might not be tough enough to keep the screws straight under that much pressure.  Now, if I were to screw it all the way through the collar and into the pole, then that would work, but I wouldn't be able to adjust the arms at all.



Take a peek at an auto parts store and see if you can find an exhaust pipe insert. They make them in order to take up space between an exhaust pipe and a muffler pipe. They are made of steel and are pretty cheap (maybe $4)


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (May 17, 2012)

theJesus said:


> Well, I'd really like the arms to be able to swing.  If I understand what you're suggesting, they'd be fixed at one angle.



You can cut a horizontal slot into the pvc. It will give you some swing.


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## theJesus (May 17, 2012)

Norton said:


> Take a peek at an auto parts store and see if you can find an exhaust pipe insert. They make them in order to take up space between an exhaust pipe and a muffler pipe. They are made of steel and are pretty cheap (maybe $4)


Hmm, I'm tempted to take the whole stand into the store and test-fit some of those, but I'll feel like such a dweeb 
Is there somewhere online with a good selection of various sizes for that sort of thing?


ThE_MaD_ShOt said:


> You can cut a horizontal slot into the pvc. It will give you some swing.


Oh, that's a good idea too.


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (May 17, 2012)

It would probably be 2 slots with a small gap between them.  


Or better yet what about using that peal and stick weather striping? You can either put it into the interior of the bracket hole or wrap it around the pvc coupler.


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## theJesus (May 17, 2012)

Like this? www.amazon.com/3M-2110NA-Interior-Transparent-Weather/dp/B0000CBIFF/


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## Norton (May 17, 2012)

theJesus said:


> Like this? www.amazon.com/3M-2110NA-Interior-Transparent-Weather/dp/B0000CBIFF/



That's designed for easy removal so it won't work out to well

The quick and dirty way (read- Ghetto Mod) to take up the space on the collar is to use plain old black electrical tape. A nice tight even wrap on the column using multiple layers will probably work out perfect.


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## theJesus (May 17, 2012)

Norton said:


> That's designed for easy removal so it won't work out to well
> 
> The quick and dirty way (read- Ghetto Mod) to take up the space on the collar is to use plain old black electrical tape. A nice tight even wrap on the column using multiple layers will probably work out perfect.


That's actually the first thing I tried, but the tape doesn't provide enough support, the arm just digs into it.


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## theJesus (May 17, 2012)

I think something from this page below might work.  I just need to see if Walker lists ID and OD for each part number anywhere so I can try to match it up nicely.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n...&qid=1337234165&rnid=2470954011&tag=tec06d-20


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## theJesus (May 20, 2012)

Mission failed.

I could not for the life of me get the 23" monitor level no matter what, even with the arm screwed directly on in six points.  It's just too heavy and sags.  So I'm just using this as a stand for the 15" monitor, which still solves the initial problem of not having a stand for that, I guess.  If I can ever get a hold of the pole that's supposed to go with these arms, that will work a lot better.

Final results:














Yeah, I couldn't get the colors right on that 15" either, but I don't give a shit.  It's only purpose really is to display various info while I have games full-screen.

edit:  Also, now the stand is all scratched up from everything lol.


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## remixedcat (May 20, 2012)

aww man that sucks ... there are people that will pay a lot for custom mounts.


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## Frick (May 20, 2012)

Looks pretty good actually. This stuff always makes me happy.

But seriously the pictures are HHUUUUGGGEEEEE. Really really unnecessary and annoying. -_-


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## theJesus (May 21, 2012)

Just be glad I didn't take them at 16mp 

but, yeah, you're right.  I had the camera set higher than I intended and was too lazy to resize


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## BumbleBee (May 21, 2012)

are you sure this is about the stand and not your awesomeeeeeeeeeeee wood paneling.


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## Norton (May 21, 2012)

Looks like you're gonna need to upgrade that PVC pipe to steel or black iron....


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## theJesus (May 21, 2012)

BumbleBee said:


> are you sure this is about the stand and not your awesomeeeeeeeeeeee wood paneling.


Hey, that desk was free.


Norton said:


> Looks like you're gonna need to upgrade that PVC pipe to steel or black iron....


I wanted metal pipe, but the Lowes I went to didn't have any that was even close to the right size.  Either way too small or way too large.


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## remixedcat (May 21, 2012)

paint over that wood panelling, make it red, get some red lights and disco balls and a buncha girls and whoooo hooo!!!


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