I go through these puppies like … like something you go through quickly.
I have gone through 2 or 3 of those little drawer kinds (just on this desk) and now have this nice Fellowes articulating thingie which just broke tonight.
So now I have the keyboard sitting on my lap.
It’s not like I lean on the damn things! Why do they keep breaking!?
[Draws on slightly dusty ITS experience]
Perhaps a, um, more supportive foundation undergarment might help?
[/DosdITSe]
Seriously, are your arms supported by, say, the arm rests on a chair, or is the keyboard and shelf taking all the weight when you type? Quite a few add-on shelves are made with pretty flimsy construction. It’ll hold up a keyboard fine, but with you hammering on the keys, or just using the thing normally for an extended period of time, it can’t take the stress.
IOW, if it’s cheap, it’s cheap. Wish I could help more. P’raps someone else can recommend a sturdier model.
Well it cost about $70 so it wasn’t cheap. My arms are sometimes supported by the chair, sometimes not. They have ones that cost around $275 by the same company… but I ain’t shelling out almost $300 for a keyboard shelf.
You have not described which part broke, and in what way.
Did the keyboard arm break away from the underside of the table?
Describe your problem in detail if you want answers.
I doubt there are any answers, I was mostly just complaining. The little part that attaches into the little hooks that controls the main pivot broke. Hard to explain without pictures, really.
I should add that the part that broke is pretty much the only plastic part on the whole damn assembly.
Opal: Yeah, at that rate, it’d be just as worthwhile to buy a new computer desk and have done with it.
Or, build one yerself, with materials/construction you know will hold up for more than a week. If it attaches to the desk with a couple decent sized bolts, it ain’t gonna pull loose anytime soon.
And what Forbin said, as well. If it’s some other way the thing’s breaking, some other fix might apply.
[sub]Yeah, I know. Duh. Sorry.[/sub]
Opal, a trip to Canadian Tire… er… uhh… Home Depot, I guess, is indicated. One solid board, rolling brackets, and a bit of mac-tac. I made mine for about twenty bucks, and it takes some punishment. Needs to, since I often pass out on itahe;la
The bolts didn’t pull out, that isn’t the issue. And I’m not getting a new computer desk just for a keyboard tray. I love my computer desk. It’s a monster! You can see a messy pic of it here:
http://fathom.org/opalcat/computerdesk.jpg
Or see it in this interactive panorama: http://fathom.org/opalcat/panorama.html (move your mouse to the right until you get to the desk.
It takes up most of the wall that it is on when “open” and folds up into a tidy armoire when “closed”. It was also kinda expensive at the time.
I like the keyboard tray I have… it’s not on tracks like most, it’s got a single arm in the middle, which is on a track (the track itself is far sturdier than any of the two-on-the-sides types I’ve seen) and tilts up and down at two different places as well as rotating side to side. It can be locked in any position. It is heaven. Except that it broke.
It did, however, outlast all of the previous types that I’ve had.
I’m considering just building a smaller table that will roll under my desk that has enough clearance for the keyboard and trackball. That could take all the weight I wanted.
I won’t use those rolling brackets anymore. The tracks ALWAYS bend and they cease to function.
Wow. Eight replies and no “get a room” jokes.
Brave words coming from a man with two broken keyboard shelves at home…
My keyboard shelf is homemade and solid as a rock. Mr. S made it out of a piece of laminate shelving and two drawer slides and attached it to the bottom of my home-office desk, which he also built himself. It’s wide enough (3 feet) for my Microsoft Office keyboard and mouse pad, and I could fit another mouse pad on the other side if I wanted. Niiiiice. 
I just bought the stuff from Home Depot to make a keyboard table that fits under my desk. Harumph.
Ok I built the table, but I need to shorten the legs. They only had 28" legs and 22" legs. I need 26" legs. No big deal. I’m going to cut down the legs tomorrow and stain the thing. I’m using it right now anyway
Have I ever mentioned that I hate sanding? Well, I hate sanding.
(btw, I hate sanding)
You know how building a four-legged table goes, right?
You cut off all the legs. It wobbles a bit, you decide leg A is too long, so you cut it off. It still wobbles; this time leg B is too long, so you cut it off. Still wobbles; this time it looks like leg D is too long…
Pretty soon you’ve got a 14-inch table…
Well it’s on carpet so wobbling probably won’t be a big problem. Besides, I fix wobbles by hammering tacks into the bottom of the short leg
I have nothing germane to say but the panorama thing is awesome.
I need to make one for my new house.