From the Loftsmith Workshop
Desk clamp webcam and light pole, 1/4-20, 12–50 mm desks
Lifts a webcam or small light up off your desk so it sits at eye level, without taking any desk space. A clamp grips the desk edge with a thumb screw, and a lattice pole rises to a knurled top mount. Change the desk thickness and the pole height to suit.
10 parts · 159 g · 52 × 96 × 519 mm
Ask for the sizes you want to tweak, e.g. “make the width adjustable”.
How to print it
Parts
- top-knob · PETG · Top face down (printRotate 180,0,0)
About 8 g, 15 min. 44 mm fluted knob with a pocket for a captive M5 nut. Turning it tensions the rod and locks the whole pole.
- accessory-plate · PETG · Top face down (printRotate 180,0,0)
About 10 g, 19 min. Holds the 1/4-20 bolt 40 mm in front of the pole axis, with a hole for the rod in the middle.
- truss-segment-3 · PLA · Lying on its flat face (printRotate 90,0,0)
About 19 g, 31 min. Identical to the other segments; the chords print along the layers and the diagonals rise at 47 degrees.
- coupler-3 · PLA · Standing up
About 5 g, 14 min. Cone seat at both ends; hollow for the rod. Identical to the other couplers.
- truss-segment-2 · PLA · Lying on its flat face (printRotate 90,0,0)
About 19 g, 31 min.
- coupler-2 · PLA · Standing up
About 5 g, 14 min.
- truss-segment-1 · PLA · Lying on its flat face (printRotate 90,0,0)
About 19 g, 31 min.
- coupler-1 · PLA · Standing up
About 5 g, 14 min.
- desk-clamp · PETG · Jaw face down (printRotate 180,0,0) so the 16 mm thread prints vertical
About 57 g, 84 min. 52 mm wide jaw. PETG because it carries the clamping force and resists creep better than PLA.
- clamp-screw · PETG · Knob down
About 14 g, 28 min. 50 mm fluted knob, 14 mm sinusoidal thread with a 6 mm pitch.
Print settings
- Layer height
- 0.2 mm
- Walls
- 2 walls is the page default; 3 walls recommended for the clamp, screw and knobs
- Infill
- 15%
- Supports
- None
- Notes
- At the defaults (3 segments, 3 couplers, plate, top knob, clamp, screw) the set is about 164 g and 4 h 50 min at 2 walls / 15%, or about 214 g and 6 h 18 min at 3 walls / 15% for every part. PLA for the segments and couplers (about 72 g), PETG for the clamp, screw, plate and top knob (about 89 g). E
Hardware
- M5 threaded rod, cut to 499 mm (at the default sliders) · Zinc-plated or stainless steel. Cut from a 500 mm or 1 m rod and file the ends. The required length changes with the sliders and is shown in the 'M5 tie rod' check.
- 2 × M5 hex nut · One is pressed into the top knob; the other goes under the clamp.
- M5 washer, 15 mm outside diameter (penny washer) · Under the bottom nut, to spread the rod load on the clamp.
- 1/4"-20 UNC hex bolt, 1/2 in (12.7 mm) long · Sits in the plate's hex pocket and gives the camera or light a stud.
- 1/4"-20 wing nut or thumb nut · Optional: stops the device turning on the stud.
- 2 × Self-adhesive rubber or cork pads (about 20 mm round, plus a strip for the jaw) · Optional but recommended: they protect the desk and add grip. The grip check assumes a friction coefficient of 0.3.
Assembly
- Print all parts. Press an M5 nut into the top knob's hex pocket. Push the 1/4-20 hex bolt up through the plate's hex pocket from underneath.
- Cut the M5 rod to the length shown in the 'M5 tie rod' check (499 mm at the defaults) and file the ends smooth.
- Thread the clamp screw into the clamp's boss from below.
- Put the washer and an M5 nut on one end of the rod. Push the rod up through the hole in the bottom of the clamp's spine until the washer sits flat under it.
- Slide the clamp onto the back edge of the desk with the wide jaw on top, and tighten the 50 mm knob firmly by hand.
- Slide coupler-1 down the rod into the clamp's triangular socket, lining up the triangle. Add a segment (either end down), then a coupler, then a segment, until all the segments are on.
- Slide the plate down the rod with its paddle facing you. Screw the top knob onto the rod and tighten it firmly, about 1.2 N·m. The first time, hold the bottom nut with an 8 mm spanner.
- Screw the webcam, light or ball head onto the 1/4-20 stud. Re-tighten the top knob after a day, because PLA settles under load.
Good to know
- The pole is only stiff while the top knob is tight. With the rod loose, the clearance in the couplers would let the plate wobble by up to about 40 mm (estimated at 0.3 mm clearance). Re-tighten the knob now and then, because printed parts creep under constant load.
- The load figures are engine estimates, not tests. They assume about 1.2 N·m on the top knob, 1.0 N·m on the clamp knob, and a desk friction of 0.3. The sideways movement counts chord bending plus joint play; shear in the lattice diagonals is not included, so real movement will be somewhat larger.
- For light gear only: the checks go up to 0.6 kg. Not for monitors, not for anything hanging over people, and not for loads bigger than a firm hand push of about 10 N.
- One print fits a desk range from 10 mm thinner to 5 mm thicker than the Desk thickness setting. Measure your desk first.
- The printed thread has a fixed 0.35 mm clearance. Test-fit the screw in the clamp before you install it.
- PLA segments soften around 55 °C. Keep them away from hot lamp heads, or print them in PETG.
- This design was checked in the Loftsmith engine only. It has not been printed or tested.
Comments