A home-made keyboard tray

So I made a cheap desk. Then I needed a keyboard tray. So I built one.

I simply used a piece of 1×12 hung underneath the desk by threaded rod. The desk top is hollow (well mostly, it’s got some papery junk in it) so the threaded rod is attached to the under side using toggle bolts on the inside of the desk and a washer and nut on the outside. This was not as strong as I hoped; the holes had to be so big to allow the toggle through that there was a lot of play. But once the nuts where tightened down it was OK.


The 1×12 is attached to the rods by a nut on top and on bottom of the board. I probably should have used washers, but I forgot to buy enough and it is plenty strong. The only part I’m worry about strength wise is the particle board that the desk it made out of. The underside is only 1/8″ thick, so there is not much material. However it is a fairly dense board so it feels pretty strong. Also that is why I used 8 rods (4 in a square in each corner) instead of just 4. It feels quite stable. I’m just worried someone will put all there weight into the outer edge the toggle bolts will tear out of the desk. If that happens I will have to go to plan B which is putting bolts all the way through the desk with a big washer on top.

The tray does not slid in and out obviously but even when I had one that did slide I never slid it in. So I don’t care. Overall I’m really happy with it.

Posted in Hardware