Comfy Desk V3 - Update #3

June 2023

The desk is (nearly) complete and in use. I still haven't cut new wood tops nor shielded the sides. But it's easily supporting 4 large monitors (43" 4k, 2 x 27" 1080, LG 'square' 28") and 4 rack mount chassis (72Gb NAS, Gaming PC, web server, and a spare chassis). I've also added swing arms for a laptop and my phone to keep as much surface area clear as possible.

I am extremely comfortable. The ability to easily change the monitor height combined with the various adjustments for the recliner means that no matter how long I have to sit, I'm able to keep myself relaxed and focused. It's also much less disruptive to get in and out of than V1 or V2. Most of the time the monitors are positioned high enough that I can just step right out after setting the recliner upright.

It's sturdy, stable, roomy, and just a nice place to be. Having the hinge at the top of the monitor frame means that they swing out naturally as the angle of the overhead carriage changes. My initial plan was to put some sort of actuator on the frame to open and close the angle, but that ended up being unnecessary. I was also planning on adding some sort of track for the monitor cables to run from the carriage down to the racks, but just keeping enough cable loose to account for the maximum range and securing both ends has worked very well. There are no further improvements planned for this version of the desk, and I think I've taken this iteration as far as practical.

So what's next? V3 represents an overbuilt and supersized extreme of the basic idea. I think the challenge for V4 will be to shrink the footprint while adding even more position customization without compromising stability.

Comfy Desk V3 - Update #2

April 2023

Anchoring both ends of a winch to the frame and routing the wire around two pulleys gently raises and lowers the monitor frames. This was the proof of concept, so it's all pretty rough.

The first full test was successful. Everything fits together well and all pieces work smoothly. I'm able to get into and out of the chair easily without banging my head. I need a secondary winch to reel in/out the monitor frame and I have a bunch of small details to finish, but it works. It's very robust and I'm confident it's not going to fold up or drop on my face.

Comfy Desk V3 - Update #1

November 2022

The side frames and overhead track are complete and fully painted. I'm currently mocking up designs for the cart that will roll along the overhead track and hold the monitors. Because this thing will be holding ~150lbs over my face, I'm iterating through multiple designs for the monitor cart and pully mechanism.

For a sense of scale: it's 5' 2" tall and just under 6' wide.

Comfy Desk V3

2021

I recently upgraded my recliner and found that it allows me to fully recline without getting drowsy. The V2 desk design doesn't allow for swift and easy vertical monitor repositioning, so I've decided to build the third version of the desk. V3 is going to use the twin frames concept of the prior version, but with the addition of a curved tube track that will allow the monitors to travel up and over the user. Eventually I'll motorize the monitor movement and tie it into the buttons that control the recliner so that everything will move in unison.

The above picture is a reverse angle render showing the planned monitor layout and how they fit within the curved track. The current plan is to have two 43" 4k monitors mounted horizontally and one 27" 4k mounted vertically.

The other change I made was to modify the structure of the frames to serve as a place to hold rack mount equipment. My PC is in a rack mount chassis and I run several rack mount servers at home. The goal is to have all equipment be hidden away inside of the desk to both save space and allow the additional weight to stabilize the design.

Steel has been cut and welding has started, but this one is going to take me a while to finish.

Comfy Desk V2

2014

The second design was a rejection of the compromise of V1. The idea was to place a sturdy steel frame on either side of the recliner. The frames would primarily function as stable bases for the monitors to mount to, but would also serve as spare flat surface for drinks, food, gadgets, etc. Each frame would have an adjustable platform at the front where I could mount the monitors (purple in the above picture), and then a pair of steel tubes would join the two frames together for stability (violet in the above picture). I had no real way to estimate the potential weak points, so I just over-engineered the entire thing.

The original plan was to fully enclose the frames in painted plywood, but after installing the wooden top surfaces I ended up liking the primitive industrial style and left it as-is. It's able to support a 43" monitor over the center gap with only a single cross-brace in the back of the frames. No wiggle and no danger of tipping; it's rock solid.

The above picture is looking down over the monitor and shows the seating position with the flat arm rests, split keyboard, and ample surface area. The desk design was so successful that it's outlasted several recliners and computers.

Comfy Desk V1

2012

The first desk design was a compromise between a traditional desk and something that would accommodate a recliner. I wasn't sure if I could spend all day in a recliner and stay focused, so I hedged my bets and went for a hybrid design. On the left side in the above picture you can see the traditional part of the desk, on the right is the space for the recliner. The goal was to mount monitor swing arms to the desk on the left so they'd easily pivot between traditional and reclined seating positions. I left a keyboard and mouse in each sitting position so I wouldn't have to juggle equipment. The small table on the far right was just a place to attach a third monitor and hold a drink.

I didn't want to damage or modify the recliner in any way since I didn't know if this experiment was going to be successful. I decided to create slip-over frames for the arm rests that would provide flat surfaces for keyboard and mouse usage without damaging the chair.

With everything planned out, I built the entire project in a single weekend. I stuffed it into a corner of my office, stole the recliner from the living room, and started using it.

In the above picture (potato cam quality) you can see the traditional desk with tiny chair on the left and the recliner on the right. On the corner of the traditional desk are the two primary monitors, allowing them to be easily shoved into whatever seating position I was going to use. The design was a success. In an entire year of daily use I only sat in the traditional desk position once. Because of that, I decided to build a second version that dropped the compromise and just went for raw comfort.

Comfy Desk R&D

1990s - 2009

I first thought about a computer built around a recliner back in the mid 90s. Back then monitors were heavy and bulky CRT screens which would've necessitated much more desk structure and support to suspend over the user. It was an impractical idea and I stuffed it into the back of my brain and didn't touch it again until the late 2000s. By then LCD screens were cheap and large enough to be practical. Sometime around 2009 I did a crude test by attaching some monitor arm mounts to a sturdy bookshelf and moving a recliner next to it. I discovered two things:

• You have to physically isolate the monitors from the chair. Any contact point will allow the screens to jiggle and induce seasickness.
• Part of the benefit in a recliner is having your arms relaxed at your sides rather than scrunched up in front of your chest, so a split keyboard is a necessity for long term comfort.

With those two restrictions in mind, I sketched up a basic concept design for the and then promptly forgot about it for a few years while I was busy with work.