Built a sliding under-desk PC mount to get my tower off the carpet (progress pics + how I did it)
Album with progress pics:
materials laid out
cutting rails and base
test fit under desk
installed rails
finished slide-out mount with PC on it
I work from home in a small apartment and I was tired of my desktop tower sitting on carpet and collecting dust. I wanted something I could pull out easily for USB access and cleaning, but that would stay locked in place the rest of the time. I knocked this out over a weekend and it has been solid for a few weeks.
Materials:
- 3/4 inch plywood for the base, plus a small strip of 1x2 for a front lip
- Pair of full-extension drawer slides (make sure they are rated above the PC weight)
- Wood screws and washers
- Short wood spacers to clear the desk frame where needed
- Felt pads or a thin rubber sheet to cut vibration
Tools:
Drill/driver, countersink bit, measuring tape, square, clamps, saw, sandpaper.
Steps:
Measure the PC footprint and leave about an inch on each side for cables and breathing room.
Cut the plywood base to size and sand the edges smooth.
Glue or screw a 1x2 lip to the front edge so the tower cannot walk forward when you slide it out.
Fasten the drawer slides to the base first, keeping them perfectly parallel. I used a scrap spacer block to keep the offsets consistent and straight.
Under the desk, find the strongest mounting points on the underside of the desktop, not the thin back panel. Add spacers where the desk frame would interfere so the slides sit true.
Screw the mating slide pieces to the underside, click the base into the slides, and test. Adjust until it slides smoothly without binding.
Put felt or rubber where the tower sits, load the PC, then re-check screw tightness.
Notes: Pre-drilling the screw holes helped prevent splitting the plywood. The hardest part was getting the slides perfectly aligned so the tray does not bind.
If you want, I can share specific dimensions I used or help figure out how to mount this around a particular desk frame.