If you are sitting in front of a computer for long periods, you may need to switch to a healthier way of working – standing. However, to avoid waste, many workers will directly choose to buy a standing desk converter instead of a standing desk. When time and energy allow, a DIY standing desk converter is your best choice. So, we’ve combined various resources to teach you how to make a DIY standing desk converter.

Considerations for a DIY Standing Desk Converter

Cost

Before you plan to build a standing desk converter, you should have a clear material budget. If you make a converter material for a higher price than what is sold on the market, it’s not worth it.

Time

The time spent on hands-on production is the most significant. You might spend a few hours or a day making it. So you have better consider whether you have enough time to complete it. Do your best to succeed in the least amount of time.

Ergonomics

Ergonomics is one of the most vital factors for your skills. If you make a height that doesn’t fit your stance, your previous work will be in vain. So before making it, you’d better measure the highness you need and the range you want to adjust.

Available Space

If there isn’t enough space for a DIY standing desk converter, that will frustrate you. When you need to put two monitors, you can design the surface size of the desk converter to 33~36″D x 24~30″W.

Desk Shape

In terms of the appearance of the desk shape, the manual designer can play at will. You can pick and choose your favorite paint and material design crafts. You can also engrave patterns on the standing desk converter. However, it requires you have great artistic creativity.

Weight Capacity

Not all materials have great load-bearing capacity. You’d better choose solid wood or alloy steel that withstands the heavy load. Experience tells us that the total weight of the selected material is 25-45 pounds and can bear the weight of 1-2 computers.

Make your standing desk converter

Believe it or not, many things around you can become DIY standing desk converters. When you need a temporary DIY desk converter but can not get it immediately, you can find any substitute like used books, cartons, ironing boards, etc. We had concluded different methods to make the DIY desk converter from various materials.

Make DIY Wood Standing Desk Converter

1）Adjustable wood standing desk converters

If you have discarded wooden boards at home, you can try to imitate the standing desk converter in the picture to make it. But you’d better make sure your table can hold a product that measures 19.6″ D x 25.8″W x 19″H. If you want a smaller or larger converter, you can make it to the scale shown in the picture.

Because the product in the picture is an industrial composite, its angle is unchanging. If you need to set the inclination, the easiest way is to fix it with a nail. Also, making this product requires you to prepare planks, paint, brush, table saw, hammer, ruler, protractor, nails, and sandpaper.

Lastly, you need to keep the slot size of the board consistent with the plank’s thickness. Otherwise, you won’t be able to secure the converter. After fixing the angle, you can design more or fewer slots, as long as it fits the height you need.

Pros

• Fun making process
• Adjustable height
• It can avoid wasting waste wood planks
• Save money

Cons

• Difficult to make
• Limited load capacity
• Low success rate

2)The Standee fixed-height wood converters

If you think standing desk converters with slopes are difficult to make, you can try to imitate empty wooden boxes as your invention. It’s easier to make than adjustable wood standing desk converters because you don’t have to design additional slots. You’d better need to build a wooden box according to your projected height.

Before crafting, look for planks, chainsaws, hammers, paints, brushes, screws, and electric screwdrivers on your home shelf ahead of time. However, other aids needed to make wooden boxes are less common at home, such as rivets and L-shaped corners, so you may have to buy them extra.

In general, the production process of this kind of wooden box is relatively simple. So you only need to follow the specified height and ordinary box production procedures to complete it. The final step is to keep the case surface smooth and paint it.

Pros

• Relatively short production time
• Fun making process
• High success rate
• Product is stable
• High load-bearing capacity

Cons

• Tools are complicated
• The user cannot freely adjust the height

3）A two-tier desk

If you don’t have L-shaped corners, small screws, and other auxiliary parts at home, you can make the adjustable sit-stand desk converter in the picture above. All you need to do with this two-tier desk is a chainsaw, hand chisels, planks, paint, and brushes.

Making this standing desk converter mainly depends on your cutting and carving skills, so you should keep your hands steady while making it. You’d better keep the lines linking the tray holes to the correct rectangle. This way, the pallet can be evenly stressed, so the standing desk converter is more stable.

Of course, if your final build is not ideal, you can reuse these boards. The best advantage of this product is that it is easy to disassemble.

Pros

• Easy to disassemble
• Adjustable
• Decompression during production
• Material is simple
• It does not require complicated assembly parts

Cons

• Difficult to make
• Long production time

The other Ideas

1)The Ironing Board Standing Desk converter

If you don’t want to make a standing desk converter, but want to stay healthy, you can look for alternatives at home, like the Ironing board.

The best advantage of this method is that it can save you a lot of production time while meeting your health needs. Try to find the Ironing board in your house and put it on the table. If it’s the height you need, congratulations: you’ve got a temporary standing desk converter.

Of course, it’s even better if you can find abandoned Ironing boards. The result is that when you use it, you don’t have to carry it repeatedly.

Pros

• Save production time
• Save money
• You don’t need to worry about which product to choose.

Cons

• It may not match your height needs
• You may need to carry it back and forth
• It doesn’t have a keyboard tray

2)The Empty Product Box standing desk converter

If you think the Ironing board is too heavy and have to move it around, you might consider finding an empty box instead. You can choose a case that is larger than your computer.

Empty boxes you move home or courier boxes can be your new replacement. It’s so lightweight that you can carry it wherever you want. In addition, you can also store some daily necessities such as headphones, chargers, etc.

The main thing is that if you have empty boxes of various sizes in your home, you can choose the height you want. However, you’d better choose a thick case because the material of the empty box is paper and its load-bearing capacity is limited.

Pros

• Light in mass
• You can find it wherever you want
• Save time
• You don’t have to waste money
• Convenient

Cons

• Limited load capacity
• The empty box size may not meet your requirements

3)Make the Used books standing desk converter

One of the easiest ways is making standing desk converters. You can take the basic books off your shelf and stack them to the height you need. So you have a makeshift standing desk converter.

A better choice is choosing large books, as they keep the computer from falling over. However, to further prevent old books from collapsing because they overlap too high, you can use them against the wall.

Of course, if you don’t have large books, you can put small or medium books side by side. As long as the area meets your computer needs, you can place the computer at will.

Pros

• Save time
• Reuse
• You can adjust the height at will
• Save money

Cons

• It risks collapsing
• It can clutter your desk

The Disadvantage of DIY Standing Desk Converters

The best advantage of making DIY desk converters is saving money. Because you don’t have to pay for the labor of others, you are your worker. Since your craftsmanship is not guaranteed, will exist some drawbacks in it.

Lack of Stability

If you use some readily available material like old books, Ironing Board, or empty boxes as your standing desk converter, you may be running the risk of tool instability. For example, old books can slip off when you touch them casually.

Lack of Ergonomics

Due to the lack of parts, your handmade standing desk converter may only be able to set a fixed height, which makes it impossible for you to adjust the converter freely.

Many products on the market are devised with adjustable lift functions. However, handcrafting is hard to achieve. Unless you’re designing a stepped piece, your converter may lack the free lift feature.

Lack of Adjustment Options

You may not be a professional when it comes to Ergonomics research. Therefore, you can only plan the height of the product by guessing, and you may feel uncomfortable during your use.

Probability of Failure

Worst of all, not all handicrafts are on the path to success. You may face failure for various reasons. It can be frustrating when you put a lot of time and effort into making it but can’t enjoy it.

The best Standing Desk Converters for 2022

If you consider that it is too troublesome to make the DIY standing desk converters, you can buy them from some merchants offline or online. Many products are trustworthy, for example, we list the best standing desk converters of 2022.

Quick Comparison

Product	Price	Item Weight	Desktop Load Capacity	Material Type
FlexiSpot Motorized Standing Desk Converter	$239.99	36.9 lbs	44 lbs	Engineered Wood Alloy Steel
FEZIBO Standing Desk Converter	$149.95	37.5 lbs	33 lbs	Engineered Wood
VIVO Height Adjustable 36 inch Stand up Desk Converter	$219.99	‎45.8 lbs	33 lbs	Plastic
Stand Steady X-Elite Pro Standing Desk Converter	$189.99	27 lbs	20 lbs	Engineered Wood
Readydesk 2 – Adjustable Standing Desk – Converts Any Desk	$159.99	14.9 lbs	75 lbs	Wood

FlexiSpot Motorized Standing Desk Converter

It’s time to buy this item after you feel pain in your back, elbows, shoulders, or wrists. If you like simple operations to achieve lift function, then you choose it is the correct decision. Because you can raise or lower it at the touch of a button.

In addition, being an all-electric product, it’s smooth, silent, and stable so that you can focus more on your work. Plus, it weighs 44 pounds on the desktop and 11 pounds on the keyboard tray, so you don’t have to worry about your computer being too heavy to fit.

Pros:

• Five years warranty
• Wide Dimensions: 36″D x 24.1″W x 5.7″H
• Ideal ergonomics
• Total weight up to 55 lbs
• Fully electric lift function
• Sturdy enough and silent

Cons:

• The product weighs up to 36.9 lbs
• Desktop without slot

FEZIBO Standing Desk Converter

If you like multipurpose slots on your desk, this antique brown standing desk converter is just for you. An equitable posture curve design provides you with a comfortable working platform. Therefore, after you own this product, you can effectively switch between sitting and standing positions to achieve your health goals better.

FEZIBO standing desk converter is made of engineered wood so it is of high quality, which can effectively extend its shelf life. Plus, it’s 34 inches wide, so you don’t have to worry about running out of size. It’s cheap compared to other items at $149.95, so you can save money by buying it.

Pros:

• Multifunction slot
• Installation takes only a few minutes
• Affordable
• Smooth curve
• Enough space

Cons:

• Joystick-operated equipment
• Slots are not easy to clean

VIVO Height Adjustable 36 inch Stand up Desk Converter

This standing desk converter is suitable for consumers looking for a stylish appearance. With white, it is a simple, good-looking rectangular product. If you’re a minimalist, there’s nothing wrong with choosing it.

It allows you to adjust the height from 6 to 17 inches, so it can help you choose a certain height to adjust to the most comfortable working position. In addition, its installation is easy because you only need to spend a few to ten minutes to complete the installation work.

Pros:

• Fair price
• Fashionable appearance
• Detachable keyboard tray
• Synchronized elevation of the keyboard tray and top desktop
• Adjustable

Cons:

• The warranty period is only three years
• The keyboard tray has a weight capacity of 4 pounds

Stand Steady X-Elite Pro Standing Desk Converter

If you only have one display and you like to place your computer and keyboard in the same horizontal position,  you can choose this product. Without an extra keyboard tray, there’s no such thing as a broken keyboard tray that is unavailable.

The most prominent feature of this product is its well-designed bottom support. Its base has more metal bases than other standing desk converters, which is beneficial to the stability of the product. Moreover, you can use it directly after you receive it because it avoids the hassle of hands-on assembly.

Pros:

• It doesn’t wobble
• Affordable
• It does not require assembly at all
• You can adjust the height at will
• Flat and smooth surface

Cons:

• Limited size
• Only 20 pounds

Readydesk 2 – Adjustable Standing Desk – Converts Any Desk

Weighing in at just 14.9 pounds, this one is an excellent option for many couriers who are afraid of heavy lifting. And its raw material is wood, so you don’t have to worry about rust problems. A stepped design allows you to adjust the height you need freely.

The most surprising thing to consumers is its unique triangular structure allows it to carry 75 pounds of weight! According to this load-bearing logic, you can safely put your computer or monitor on it. Moreover, it has good material so you can use it for a long time.

Pros:

• Strong load-bearing capacity
• Rust resistant
• Ten kinds of height adjustment
• Durable
• Lightweight
• No assembly required

Cons:

• This product is not moisture resistant
• Synthetic wood at risk of cracking

Conclusion

DIY standing desk converters make workstations change and keep you healthy. If you have extra time and energy, you can build multiple DIY standing desk converters as gifts for your family or friends. Of course, if you lack hands-on ability, it is also a super suggestion to buy a new one directly.