We moved the office and now sitting in front of each others LCD screen, so we needed a solution to make the desk a bit nicer. Nothing on the market found so I had to do it by my own using the 3D printer and some other tools.

Step 1: Print the Parts

after designing the parts in 123D Design, 6 sets were printed. To opt the printing process holes are inserted to increase the stability while still being able to print with a 30% infill. To be able to print without support material I added a champfer.

Step 2: Tapping the Holes

to accomodate M6 screws the holes are just a bit smaller to allow a M6 tap to cut the threads. A short test fit and here we go.

Step 3: Cutting the Aluminium Tubes

the printed parts are designed to fit in combination with a 40x2.5mm aluminium tube, in a lengths of 50 mm these will be act as a sleeve being able to hold the panel later without fixation and easy to take out if you need to clean the table or get messy with the cables again.

On a lathe I straightened the edges and made them in lengths equally , 50mm each. To accommodate the chamfered edges I also cut a 45 degree chamfer on the tubes. A test fit made sure everything was fine. Took quite a while, but at the end 6 posts were done.

Step 4: Polishing the Tubes

a quick sanding job on the lathe made the tubes nice and shiny

Step 5: Drilling the Plexiglas Plate and Bolt On

I cutted two strokes of white plexiglass ( actually I had to make two screens ) and drilled the holes accordingly to the holes positioned in the 3d printed parts, 10 and 30 mm from the edge of the panel. I placed the screws and tightened them carefully, be aware that plexiglass is brittle, actually one element is now a bit shorter …some chips broke off.

Step 6: Final Assembly

the bottom mounts have holes to accommodate a wood screws, after marking the position I screwed the parts on the table and slid the panel with the upper elements already mounted over the aluminium sleeves and into the bottom parts. A sticker of our company added some professional look. We are happy with the solution, it covers just the ugly part of the back but does not block the view entirely.

for a panel choose the material you like, wood or some other material will also work.

If you like to make one by yourself, find here the link to the parts on thingiverse.

And if you want to see it all happen in 3 minutes I made a video to see all the steps in a rush its placed in the comments.