Stubbornly DIY

I recently upgraded my computer monitor. I went with a 27” version that’s much larger than my previous one. For the first week or so, I kept my old monitor attached to the movable monitor arm at the back of my desk—serving as a backup—while I used my new monitor with the monitor stand that came with it.

Eventually, I decided that the old monitor wasn’t necessary. There was no rush to detach it from the monitor arm, as the new monitor mostly hid this. But I knew the old one was there. Knowing the old monitor hid behind the new one bugged me until I broke.

I had to get rid of the old monitor and put the new one on the monitor arm.

Fortunately, the old monitor had a very easy attachment mechanism. Instead of four screws connecting the monitor arm and the monitor, this monitor had a slot for a forked attachment to slide into. The forked part was a special piece of hardware I’d bought that was screwed into the monitor arm.

Sliding the old monitor off the fork took no time at all. Unscrewing the special mounting hardware was easy using the screwdriver bit on my drill.

However, attaching my new monitor to the monitor arm wasn’t easy. At my day job, we’d recently attached my boss’s new monitor to his old monitor arm. This was for a smaller monitor than my new one and that involved me holding the monitor in place while my coworker fastened the screws.

Yeah, not going to work for me. I live alone. I hate calling anyone for help. (Stubborn. Yep. That’s me!) But this is a large monitor. Although it’s only slightly heavier than my old monitor, it’s not easy to manipulate.

What to do?

Get creative!

This is what I came up with.

First, I got my laptop stand and set it so the table part was vertical.

Second, after removing the new monitor from its stand, I wrapped it in a soft tunic top that was waiting to be mended.

Third, I carefully set the monitor on the laptop stand with the back facing me. This was stable enough for me to work with. 😀

Unfortunately, the new monitor was too low on the desk for the monitor arm to reach.

Okay. More creativity was needed.

Fourth, I pulled a cardboard box out of the garage. Once I set the stand and monitor on this, the height and angle were workable.

Fifth, I set to work with my drill. Once all the screws were fixed, I started to ease up on my hold of the monitor.

It promptly sank to the desk. Oops!

Sixth, I found the manual for the monitor arm and used an Allen wrench to tighten the pressure to account for the heavier weight of the new monitor.

Eh voila! I can now move my monitor around easily above my desk, which is a great help when I need to attach a cable to the back of the monitor or to do non-computer work.

So yes. I’m stubbornly DIY and proud of it!