I’ve been looking for a more comfortable way to sit at a computer for long periods of time, and this is my latest attempt (and yes, I’ve also tried a standing desk). The guys at the Makerspace have been calling it the “Spaceship”.

The structure is a little haphazard because I was making it up as I went along. I had planned to make all the angles adjustable, but when I found an angle that seemed right, it turned out to be exactly 30 degrees, so I drilled some holes and bolted it in place. Next time I’ll start with that, and the structure will look more like I planned it that way…

The monitor and bookstand can be raised on drawer slides to get them out of the way. The weight is balanced by two paint cans full of pea gravel. I think the monitor should be slightly lower, and maybe a little farther away, so when I take it apart to take it home, I’ll drill a few more adjustment holes (everything bolts together, and no single piece is more than 6 ft long, so it will fit in my car).

I had to use a narrow keyboard, because a full sized one has the main keys offset to the left to accomodate the keypad on the right (which is where I wanted the trackball). This one is a “Happy Hacking” keyboard, which unfortunately does not have “tactile” keyswitches, but it’s not bad. (There have been some narrow keyboards with better keyswitches in the past, but none are in stock right now). I’m just holding the keyboard+trackball in my lap, which is less than ideal, but it works OK
for now. The keyboard has a USB hub built in, so I plugged the trackball into it, leaving just one wire going to the computer. I also have a generic mouse mounted to the left of the keyboard (not visible in the pictures) to provide a scroll wheel, since the trackball doesn’t have one.