A gaming table/desk for a fight stick

General Discussion
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Hello. I decided to put this in general discussion, because I’m trying to reach a furniture expert and not necessarily a joystick maker.

If I want to keep my eye level with my CRT TV I have to find a small table / desk to put my joystick on.

At first I put my joystick on a set of plastic drawers but the plastic bows and it’s too light and flexible, causing radical joystick movement, especially the unintentional kind.

I also found a TV table, the kind you put in front of a couch to eat while watching TV. Frequent maneuvering of the joystick in the buttons kind of closet able to shake. I assume it’s because of the intentionally movable legs (made to easily collapse, but then again causes unsturdiness)

First I should probably get wood or metal for my joystick table, and the second is the less the desk itself can move the less it’ll unintentionally move so try not to get a collapsible table, That’s what I learned so far.

Any other advice? is thick or thin legs better? (My guess is thick) Is wide spread or narrow spread legs better? (My guess is wide) should I assume a heavier desk is better than lighter assuming it’s light enough to be movable in carriable but heavy enough to stay put when intended? (Find a middle ground)

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@Optimus124

Help the man out with some carpentry.

Edit: I should add that I’m actually a little bit curious on this issue too. It should be more of a Tech Talk thing honestly. But hopefully a good discussion on carpentry and how to go about this would be neat.

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Make sure it accommodates lefties.

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Are you making it or trying to buy it? Do you have a pic of some type of example.

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I don’t need a custom table I just need something that works better than plastic drawers and wooden TV tables with movable legs.

No I’m not looking for a special Lefty table.

I’m just looking for good advice on what to look for in a thrift store. I’m mainly looking for a table/desk for one. I know there are many more acceptable desks in the thrift store market then there are right-handed joysticks.

Heck there’s more desks in the New market than there are right-handed joysticks.

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Any good sturdy desk would do.

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So do I have the qualities of a sturdy raised surface vs a less sturdy one correct? Thicker legs? immovable legs? Avoid light plastic?

I know the TV Dinner table is bad, because the legs are movable to fold up easily and are too close to the center (narrow stance)

The Plastic drawer is too “soft”.

Just making sure there’s nothing I’m forgetting that others can see. Just stand it up shift it to all sides and feel it’s (hopefully) sturdiness? Is it just that simple. Go by feel?

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…Sit at desk…feel good? Buy/don’t buy.

You strike me as the type of person paralyzed by indecision.

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A) just wanted see if anyone else has any advice

B) also just wanted to share to the fight game living portion of the world that certain surfaces used as joystick tables/desks can radically alter your gameplay. Especially if wobbly or the wrong height.

So tourney hosts, have as many sturdy tables as “rings in your circus”. Otherwise you’ll handicap play.

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Just vist thrift stores, ikea, ect and sit and the tables and desks you see that might interest you.
Place your hands in the desk or table like you got a stick or keyboard and see if feels right to you.

There so many different tables and desks its not even worth listing, there too too too many.

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That’s easy then. This is really just about how the desk “feels” then. There are other factors you mention in your post that I’ll try to answer.

The height of your TV is going to be a factor. Are you playing sitting upright or are you hunched over like a stone gargoyle? Most coffee tables and the like that you’d find aren’t going to sit high enough to play sitting upright. This is a desk I made for my wife. To the top of the table, it’s about 31 inches.

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The materials of the desk are a 8 2x4 studs, a 1X3, and a sheet of 3/4 inch plywood. It’s likely that what you are looking for is something custom. That desk is slightly modified from the original plan. The top was supposed to be a set of 1 x 6s, but I hate glue up panels, so just used a plywood sheet. Funny thing is that I built it, realized it was too big, and then cut it down by roughly a foot. The “weathering” was intentional.

Materials honestly don’t matter as much unless portability is a factor. It’s more about weight at that point. Whatever you do, don’t buy anything made out of MDF (the IKEA specials). It’ll start chipping and if it gets wet, it’s all over. I honestly started building my own furniture simply for that reason alone.

Not necessarily true. I’ve seen people make collapsible workbenches for a garage. The unfortunate reality is that it’s poorly designed and the materials aren’t that great.

Now that I’ve made a few things, I can see how this can be built. You’ve given me a project to come up with :rofl:. This can be really simply done with a couple of studs and a 2 x 4 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood or even more complex if you want to make it into something that folds. It’ll be a while. I am closing out a project at work so my week (and weekend) is pretty much filled up.

For stability, most of that is based on the table dimensions. You want to have it be wide enough so the table’s center of gravity isn’t affected when you are playing. Thicker legs are better as it’s more contact area. You don’t need something akin to the thickness of a fence post.

Wide vs narrow spread is going to be likely part of the dimension of the table. That’s more of a feel question.

You’ve mentioned movable. At what level, is this something that you’ll take with you to tournaments or just being moved around in the house?

EDIT - A quick google search brought this up.

Not the style you may be looking for, but the concept is there. A 2x4 sheet of 3/4 inch plywood (top) and a few 2x2s and 2 or 3 1x3s and this can be built in a day. There is a need for some locking hinges to add in to secure it while set on the ground.

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Just movable with in my room. To clear out for exergaming like connect and Dance Pad games. I expect decent tournaments that pay rent for rooms to also rent tables that can house two neighbors.

Ask for the size and height of the TV, my pop are in line with pretty much the middle of the TV. It’s a 17 inch 4 X 3 CRT TV.

The chair is 18 inches high. the area where my arms would come to the joystick are 24 inches high. When seated my eyes are at a 44 inch height level. The bottom road the TV is at the 40 inch level and the top at the 49 inch level.

So far that means I need a table that is about 28 inches high and is enough feet clearance for at least 24.

That would be a good business for you furniture designed to hold your joystick. Something is about 28 inches high.

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This year after my house was burned to the ashes I had to go through way more than buying gaming set-up. Thanks to hire powers I managed to find a decent company which provided construction supplies for a decent price. Here’s it if you need some a repair of some sort https://glassaround.com/

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Yeah, Ikea is quite a solution for the desk, they have quite cheap and solid solutions all over the place. But all the items of bathroom interior they have are just a torture and should not be allowed anywhere near human being. It should be something like this https://www.goglassnj.com/