Laptops are great for their portability, but when it comes to getting some serious work
done it's often good idea to get it hooked up to a monitor and peripherals for better
ergonomics to help you get things done faster.
Unfortunately plugging in all the cables can be a bit tedious and often ends up looking
messy, and while you can get port replicators for some laptops these aren't particularly
elegant and still take up a lot space on the desk.
So to solve these problems we will in this video be building a super sleek wall-mounted
laptop docking station that not only looks neat on the wall, but is also super practical
as the laptop can be just slid in place to connect it to all your devices.
Let's get to it!
So the first thing we will need is a sheet of low density PVC plastic, which is perfect
for this project as it's lightweight, easy to work with, and comes in a variety of colours.
As it's going to form the main base the first thing to do is cut it down to size, and for
aesthetics I'm going to round off the corners using a coping saw, following up with some
sand paper for neatness.
Size-wise this base needs to be 3cm larger than the laptop in all directions, which leaves
room for all the connectors that we'll be adding later in addition to allowing space
for two supporting side pieces.
These can be made out of the same material, and need to have some holes drilled through
them for mounting purposes.
One thing to check here is whether either of these side pieces will block any vents
on the laptop.
If they do, mark the vent's position on the offending side piece and carefully carve out
a gap for it on the underside, which should allow air to flow freely through the vent.
So before we screw these side pieces in place we need to make two little tabs which will
later act as locks to stop the laptop from falling out.
They can simply be made out of a thin sheet of aluminium using some tin snips, and must
be heavily sanded down to round off all the edges so that they won't scratch the laptop
when deployed.
These can be attached to the side pieces using some m5 flange head screws.
These are supposed to slide through the side pieces easily, but I made my holes slightly
too small so they were a bit stiff.
Now we can add a few washers to act as spacers, and tighten them onto the base.
Note that the holes here need to be smaller so that the screw bites in securely.
As the tabs are likely going to rotate the screws at this point, which we don't want,
we need to back the screws off slightly and add some glue to the underside, which, when
dry, should keep the screws in place while still allowing the tabs to be rotated.
So, why were the washers necessary?
Well, they lift up the side pieces just enough to match the inside height of the laptop,
which allows the tabs to slide over the top to keep it secure.
Next we'll need a selection of cables which we can use to make what's essentially the
docking interface.
I've got a USB extension, two monitor cables, and a power port extension.
With the laptop in position on the dock, these cables can all be plugged in, after which
we can mould some tack to around the area of each plug to prevent the glue we're going
to use from touching the laptop or spreading too far.
You may want to make some groves in the base as well to give the glue something more to
adhere to, and it's also a good idea to rough up the plastic on each connector for the same
reason.
The glue I'm using is slow drying epoxy, which has a working time of about an hour.
I'd recommend this over the fast dry stuff, as those often set within 10 minutes which
makes it a bit stressful as you'd have to rush to get it done in time.
So once it's thoroughly mixed it can be spooned into each tack mould as well as being added
to the underside of each connector.
You need to take care when plugging these in so as not to let any glue enter the port
at all, which would be quite disastrous for obvious reasons.
Once it's in place some more glue can be added up the sides for some extra strength.
They now need to be left until the glue is completely cured, and it's important that
they are in a very neutral position, not being pushed in any particular direction, so that
they will be perfectly in place once set.
So once it has set, the tack can be peeled away as much as possible, which leaves the
ports solidly and securely in position.
So much so that the laptop can be slid in and out and they'll remain anchored as if
set in stone.
Now it's time to tidy up the cables, so we can bundle them together with a cable tie
and get some black cotton ribbon, also attaching it with a cable tie, wrapping it around and
around to tightly bind them together.
This makes for a single exit cable that looks really smart.
So now there's only one thing left to do, which is to make a covering piece to hide
the connectors.
I made mine out of a single piece of aluminium, and used tin snips and files to make a little
cutout in the middle, which makes a small gap for two fingers to make the laptop easier
to pull out.
To finalise this you might want to use some water and a very fine grit sandpaper to add
microscratches to its surface, which should give it a brushed look once washed and dried.
Very nice indeed.
This can then be screwed in place, after which the dock is complete!
Now you may have noticed the four holes on the base - these are mounting holes to allow
it to be mounted onto a wall.
For this it's just a case of using a pencil to mark their positions and adding some rawl
plugs, which allow the dock to be simply screwed in place.
Now the only thing left to do is to plug in all the devices.
I used a USB hub to give me 4 USB ports, which was attached to the back of the desk for ease
of access, and for power I simply connected the laptop's original power brick to the power
port extension.
Now the laptop can be slid in place, which is super satisfying by the way, and powered
on.
As you can see, it looks really neat, especially compared to the other methods I showed you
earlier, especially as it keeps the desk free from clutter giving you more room.
It has a cool industrial look to it as well, thanks to the brushed aluminium, flanged hex
screws, and cotton covered cable.
By the way, to keep the laptop from going into standby with the lid closed, it's just
a case of going into the power options and changing it to 'do nothing'.
You can even set up dual monitors with this, and when you're ready to go the laptop can
be simply pulled out and you can be on your way.
Now it's worth noting that to successfully make one of these your laptop must have at
least a monitor port, a power port, and a USB port along a single edge.
Doesn't matter whether it's the back or one of the sides, as if it is one of the sides
you can make it so that it slides down vertically instead.
So I hope you've enjoyed this video and if you did don't forget to give it a thumbs up
and maybe consider subscribing as well, and if you're really keen then don't forget to
click that little bell icon which will let you know whenever I upload a new project.
Other than that, I'm Matt, you've been watching DIY Perks, and I really hope I see you next
time.
Bye for now!
If you'd like to see another laptop-related project, then why not check this one out,
in which I show you how to convert a smashed up laptop into a beautiful desktop PC.
With some pretty interesting results...