I recently purchased an OSR2 and while it works great, I’ve found my desk isn’t up to par, especially with more intense scripts. It’s a cheap particleboard standing desk, flexes and shakes to a concerning degree. And it’s a bit too thin. I can tell it won’t hold up long under regular use and I was already looking to replace it so I am looking into getting a sturdier desk setup.
What desks are you all using? How sturdy of a desk would you all recommend? I’m looking at a butcher block + standing desk frame or ikea drawers combo right now and just want to be sure stability won’t be an issue.
Yeah particleboard was never gonna last for long(mine cracked due to a stanley vicegrip), theyre light as heck and since people cheaped out on the tabletop the legs are also probably not great. Also with the osr2 and the desk mount, that shit will start eating away at the material eventually.
If budget isn’t an issue butcher block and standing desk frame is probably fine since the butcher block is heavy. Idk about the frame, not all of them are the same. The heavier the base the better(theyre usually more sturdy)and the wider the base the more stable it is usually(since the weight is spread out rather than being on 4 points).
Honestly, I would suggest going to an actual store to look at stuff and test things out if you do have the option. Outlets(not showrooms) for furniture can have good deals since they have the stuff that the showrooms don’t want to put out on the floor anymore.
The place I went to was a used office furniture store. I walked into the store since it was open to the public and walked around their warehouse just shaking desks(shake them back/forth and also check the up/down) and knocking on them(to check the material). The desk I ended up with was literally being unloaded from the truck as I was exploring their warehouse that day. It was a BIG and heavy ass tabletop(60ishx34in) and some really sturdy fucking legs, so it was relatively cheap($50) since there’s no bells and whistles on it.
You can probably get way better deals on stuff in person than online, esp since a lot of stuff online is kinda crap if you cheap out. $50 for my desk was a steal and way higher quality than the stuff I could find on amazon for 2-4 times that price.
Anyways other than the advice for going into an actual store to test out stuff in person, Make sure its the length and depth that you like since thats an ergonomics thing and this would affect the weight. Def want a thicker tabletop for the osr mounts.
edit: can’t give you the name of the desk cause there’s no branding or iconography on it. It was literally one of many identical desks that was brought in on a truck from a probably shut down office.
i have an ikea MICKE desk, which works but isn’t perfect. the top layer is basically particle board, and if you clamp the desk + drawers, it shifts the drawer up. while it is fairly stable, it can occasionally slip during operation.
the ALEX and LAGKLAPTEN/ALEX desks should be much sturdier. much thicker desktop, and the variants with drawers underneath have the drawers fully enclosed, meaning the clamping should be much more consistent.
My desk is fine, even though it’s just a cheap early 1990’s computer desk, but the mounting clamp just didn’t hold up. The threaded rod used to tighten it lost its threads. I’d add some padding to change the thread position, only to have the same thing happen. So I changed things up.
I’m using one of those tubular monitor stands, and instead of clamping to the desk, I now put the tube in a heavy outdoor umbrella stand, with the VESA mounting place at the top. Whether that works or not also depends on the chair you’re using. A normal office chair with five wheels should work OK, with the stand centered between two of the legs.
I have 2 set ups. Both use solid wood desktops. First one is an Ikea electric standing desk, raises and lowers at the push of a button. I got the desk hardware minus the top from the clearance area of Ikea for super cheap, I went and bought a 5/4 slab of wood from menards in the specialty wood area (this was a few years ago so I know these things have skyrocketed in price) its is edge glued together, so I still zipped in some really long screws to make sure they dont come apart under use. Edge glued wood isnt really designed to be shaken up and down all day, lol. Now the second set up is for my bed, I have one of those old school hospital tables that rolls under the bed. I replaced the top cause it was just worn out. I got the table at a thrift store and it has the crank type to raise and lower. New ones of these table have a shitty friction clamp, sure its faster than a crank but doesnt hold up under use. I changed the casters to a softer urethane type wheel. I use a Knee pillow (kinda hourglass shaped) to help stabilize it over the bed in between my legs. I use the bed set up more often cause I have a fancy bed that goes to the zero g position , I can lay there for days, hahahaa.