I built this Space Saving Stair Railing Shelf for storage and safety. The wall was too short to be safe, so in building it up I made a shelf system the overhangs into the stairwell and creates a lot of additional storage space.
Checkout the project for more pictures and step by step walk through on what I did to create the overhanging shelf using some Kee Lite components and aluminum pipe.
One of the great things about the internet is the ability to explore across linquistic barriers. Google (and other web translation engines) have made it possible to explore web content in other languages. My international search has turned up some interesting non-native English web sites that feature the use of Kee Klamp products. One such site is a site in France that talks about how to build a beach kite cart. If you haven’t seen this sport, check out the videos below. It must be pretty wild to be whipped along the beach in a wheeled cart, pulled by a kite.
This awning structure was made by a family in England to keep the rain off during the wet months. The concept is a great way to shelter an area from the rain while allowing the sunshine to come through. The curves make this structure more interesting, but finding a place to bend pipe in your area might prove difficult. Click here to read the author’s story.
Kee Klamp components are used to connect the different pipe sections together and to secure the unit to the home.
Due to the curvature of the bus roof, the bottom of the deck needed to be supported from the outside edges. To accomplish this, the author used a couple of flanges and pipe to support the decking structure.
The 64 Vertical Flanges are used to attach to a relatively small space in-between the windows while the 62 Base Flange is used to attach the pipe to the decking. In addition to these fittings, there are no closes ups of this, but their are also a few support the utilize C58 Swivel Flanges to support the decking at an angle in a number of locations where attaching vertically would have obstructed the window.
The Dutch company, Visix, has come up with a sign display system that uses Kee Klamp structures to attach PVC and Vinyl signage to the outside of a building. The structure is simple using a 61 Flange, a 35 Three Socket Cross and a Pipe Cap to create a ridged pipe structure. The signage is then lashed to the pipes to create a very sharp looking sign layout.
Recently one of our customers posted a complete project of their Kee Klamp Desk on Instructables. This desk features a pole mounted monitor along with several shelving unit all connected to the basic structure of the desk. With this project, detam100 was able to to turn a relatively small corner into a highly functional working space. Desk space is saved in various ways, such as attaching the speakers and wireless router to the pipe structure instead of using precious desk real estate.
Kudos to detam100 for his creativity, we’re hoping to see this on in our Project Gallery soon.
Marla S. constructed this bed over three years ago and she recently sent us some amazing pictures of the project. Marla’s application shows the modern versatility of the Kee Lite components. Kudos to Marla! This bed looks fantastic!
After considering rope, galvanized piping was chosen as the construction material for bunkbeds, which counter the room’s traditional architectural frame.
See other Kee Klamp bed projects by searching our blog. You can build your own by looking at our selection of Kee Klamp (steel) and Kee Lite (aluminum) parts.
While reading the the latest issue of Make Magazine I came upon an article that talked about transforming the Maker Faire benches into display units. These “Maker Shed” store displays are being used to feature Make Shed products in FYE stores in California.
One of the great things this features about the Kee Klamp fittings is their reusability. They aren’t the cheapest thing in the market to build with, but they’re durable and if you don’t or can’t use what you originally built any longer, you can re-make it into something else. This isn’t just environmentally friendly, it’s fun! Fun to be able to take apart something you are not using any more and reuse it all over again.
Yesterday I posted a link to the standing desk that I built and and I videoed this segment talking about the benefits of the parts.
This project got stared the other day when I read and discussed a couple of posts on the Lifehacker web site about the health risks of working while sitting all the time. I got inspired to do something about it and decided that I would build myself a desk that I could stand at. One of the goals that I had for the desk was to make it versatile enough to be used in a number of settings. My thought was something that I could use in my office, but might also be used with a treadmill.
In this video I talk about the idea for the standing desk:
Design
My design consisted of a telescoping pole that went from floor to ceiling and a perpendicular pole that could support a keyboard or laptop. I sketched it out on graph paper:
Design is one thing, implementation is another. What I found when I went to build my desk is that the telescoping pipes did not have enough force to stabilize the unit. Basically at this point I had two options. 1) Attach the flanges directly to the ceiling and floor or 2) build a tensioning device to tighten the vertical pole. Both are valid options. Because I wanted my desk to be somewhat portable, I decided to go for the tensioning option. If that’s a little too risky for you, you can go with option one (attaching directly to the ceiling).
In this video I talk about the advantages of using Kee Klamp and Kee Lite parts:
Basic Costs
Everyone always wants to know, how much does it cost? For all parts for the project ~$200.
The lion share of the cost is in the pipe. You may be able to cut costs by 1) using shorter lengths of pipe, 2) using steel instead of aluminum, 3) finding a local pipe supplier and cutting the pipe yourself. You are paying something for the convenience of the pipe being pre-cut and sent to your house in bubble wrap!
You could also save by not doing the tensioning device and attaching the pipe directly to the ceiling. That would eliminate all the threaded rod and hardware and perhaps even the need for the collar and the 1” – 6 foot length of pipe. There are definitely ways to chop down the cost if this is a major factor for you.
Basic Assembly Points and Tips
A picture is worth a thousand words here. I’ll try to refrain from being verbose. Watch the videos, the will give you most everything you need to know.
Setup the Vertical Telescoping Pipe
Slide the 1” pipe into the 1-1/4” pipe. You must be using SCHEDULE 40 pipe for this to work properly. They have a near perfect telescoping relationship. The 1” pipe should slide freely in the other pipe.
Slip the collar onto the 1” pipe and set it at the basic height for your ceiling.
In this video I talk about how the telescoping relationship works:
Slip on the L45 to the larger pipe and tighten it on at the working height of your desk (you can adjust this after it is setup).
Attach the L61-7 to the bottom of the pipe and tighten it to the pipe.
Two Options For Ceiling Attachment
In this video I overview the two attachment methods:
1. Simple / Permanent – Attach fitting to pipe and ceiling
The simplest way to attach the vertical pipe to the ceiling is just to attach the L61-6 to the 1” pipe an screw it into the ceiling. That will give an unquestionable stability to the vertical pipe. There are many different ways of attaching to the ceiling if you are using this method. You could even use a LC58-6 Swivel Flange to attach to to a angled ceiling.
2. Semi-Portable – Tensioning Arrangement
I chose to be a bit more adventurous and setup a tensioning device with a threaded rod and a couple of nuts. This arrangement is also very stable, it just requires some more attention to detail and tightening.
The picture is probably the best explanation here. The threaded rod has two nuts. On the bottom the nut actually sits perfectly in the 1” schedule 40 (couldn’t have been better if I planned it). On the top there is a nut, a lock washer and a regular washer (these all came in a package together.
To stabilize the rod inside the fitting I used a 1-3/8” rubber stopper (another amazing fit!!). I drilled hole in the stopper and pushed the rod into the stopper. The stopper keeps the rod from sliding around in the top fitting while you are tightening. IMPORTANT: the rod is providing tension by pressing on the washer and the washer presses on the flange. Be careful that you don’t feed the rod too far through or it may end up poking into your ceiling.
On top of the flange I placed a pad that I actually ripped off the bottom of a furniture pad (the third perfect fit in this project!). You could use any foam rubber type material, just cut it into a circle that matches the circumference of the flange.
Create the Extending Arm Desk
I used a 4 foot section of pipe to make my desk arm. You can see from the pictures that I could probably go shorter if I needed to. The pipe caps are hammered into either end (put a cloth to protect the aluminum) and give the pipe a really nice finished look.
The L70-7’s are used to attach the pipe to the desk surface. Just attach the shelf with some basic screws and tighten the arm pipe into the L70’s.
After you attach your shelf, slide the arm into the L45 on the vertical pipe, set the angles and heights and you’re pretty much ready to go!
Finishing Touches
Adjust the desk to fit your working height. Make sure you arms are bent properly. You have adjustability here, use it to your advantage!
The components used in this project are not “tight tolerance” which means, even after you tightened them down there is a little bit of “flex” in them in the opposing direction. In a situation like this where there is only one support it helps to add a some shim material to make sure the pipe is perfectly level in the fitting. I used some simple silicon plumbers pad. You can pick it up for a $1 at the home store and all you need is a tiny piece
Stand and Work!
My experience with the desk has been fantastic so far. I am a natural “phone pacer” so I like the idea of being able to move around a little bit while I’m working on my feet. I find that it’s a great place to start the day, checking email, brief correspondence, writing blog posts, and doing creative work. I find that for intense programming I still want to sit down (probably mostly because of the monitor setup), but for a lot of other tasks its great to have an alternative spot to work.
Other Ideas
If you read the original Lifehacker article, it talks not only of standing while working, but also the possibility of working on a treadmill. I’d like to experiment with this idea to see if it’s effective and safe. Another idea from a friend in the UK was to use a small stair stepper unit under your feet to exercise that way while standing an working.
Another idea I have is to attach another post to support a flat screen monitor. This post would need to extend out from the pole so that it’s not right in my face, but I think it’s definitely doable and you make the desk more ergonomic by moving up the viewing area.
This type of desk configuration opens up a world of ideas. I think of a desk that is mounted on two poles that could be adjusted up and down as needed. There are really so many ideas of what you build with pipe and fittings. Looking forward to hearing your response and more ideas in the comments.
Recently we posted a completed computer gaming chair from Don Sturrock. I am in the middle of a project (details coming soon) where I want to mount a monitor to a horizontal pole. I remembered Don’s project and asked him how he attached his monitor. He was kind enough to share the details and a few pictures. I thought others would be interested on how to attach a monitor to pole or pipe, so here are the details:
Details from Don
For my monitor I used two flat 3"x5" nail plates from Home Depot and a 6" long piece of alderwood 1x4. I attached the nail plates to the 1x4 with six #4 x 3/4" screws and then lined up the monitor mount holes onto the plates, drilled them out, painted it with RustOleum Flat Black Enamel and used the screws from the monitor to attach to the plates (see pic). The metal clamps have a good bite on the pipe so I feel the monitor is secure (22" monitor).
I also sent a pic of the underside of the keyboard. you can see the velcro that attaches it to the 16" long 1x4 alderwood and the plastic clamps (sorry for the fuzzy picture).
Downsides of this Approach
In looking at this mounting approach, it may be inexpensive but there are probably some downsides to be recognized
Not sure how this will work on a vertical pole – Don mounted to a horizontal pole (that’s what I’m planning on doing.) I’m not sure how this would hold if mounted on a vertical pole or pipe.
Scratches up the pipe – Judging from the pictures, adjusting the monitor (because of the bite of the clamps) scratches up the pipe pretty good. If you’re doing something that has to have really clean look then this might not work for you.
The Alternatives
A decent pipe mount looks like it’s going to cost you a couple of dollars.
If anyone else knows of (or has an idea about) how to inexpensively attach a monitor to a pipe or pole, then please leave a note in the comments or shoot me an email: chris – at – simplifiedbuilding.com
A couple of week ago we posted a blog post on a sketchup idea for a computer gaming chair by Don Sturrok. Well, it didn’t take him long to make that idea become a reality. The other day Don sent us some pictures of his completed gaming chair.
jtwanderlust on Instructables built this really nice looking bed frame made from pipe and Kee Klamp fittings. His Instructable takes you from start to finish, showing you all the steps and pitfalls of the project. We love to see this kind of ingenuity among our customers. Our compliments to jtwanderlust.
