# A better tented stand **URL:** \ **Category:** Hardware hacking\ **Created:** [February 22, 2018, 10:29am UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079 "2018-02-22T10:29:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![13tales](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/13tales/32/1181_2.png) [@13tales](https://community.keyboard.io/u/13tales)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/41 "2018-10-12T03:30:21Z")
If you get the same wedges that I did, making the hole for the bolt, and an inset to accommodate its head + a washer was the messy and inelegant part. I don’t have a dremel or anything similar, so I used a hand-chisel to carve away some plastic for the bolt head and washer. ---
**Author:** ![dcavalari](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/dcavalari/32/5289_2.png) [@dcavalari](https://community.keyboard.io/u/dcavalari)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/42 "2019-02-19T16:30:52Z")
What about if you use the keyboard in your lap? I find the tenting bar much more comfortable than the flat bar for this purpose, but I don’t want to warp the enclosure. ---
**Author:** ![fluffy](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/fluffy/32/34_2.png) [@fluffy](https://community.keyboard.io/u/fluffy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 5:21pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/43 "2019-02-19T17:21:02Z")
I’ve found that my custom tenting stands work with it in my lap just fine. The problem with using the tenting bar alone with a lap configuration is that unless you take the bar on and off when you remove the keyboard from your lap you’ll still be putting the keyboard’s weight on the bar when it’s sitting on your desk or whatever, and that will still warp the wood. ---
**Author:** ![dcavalari](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/dcavalari/32/5289_2.png) [@dcavalari](https://community.keyboard.io/u/dcavalari)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/44 "2019-02-19T17:37:44Z")
But what about using **just** the tenting bar in your lap without any sort of additional custom stands? I’m wondering if that will warp the wood in a not-covered-by-warranty sort of way. Seems like it would - but then again, the keyboardio website seems to condone using the flat bar when you have the keyboard in your lap, and that doesn’t seem like it’s much better supported (when it’s in your lap). As for desk use, I took a big stack of business cards and pushed them under the bar to find exactly the correct height, then taped them together to make a support “brick” that I simply place underneath. Works splendidly. 👍 ---
**Author:** ![dcavalari](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/dcavalari/32/5289_2.png) [@dcavalari](https://community.keyboard.io/u/dcavalari)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/45 "2019-02-19T19:26:07Z")
Thanks for sharing! Guess I’d better stop doing that… I agree with the comment elsewhere on this thread that the issue could be better explained in the user manual - yes, it says not to use the tent bar by itself, but it seems like “because that can warp the wood” is an important piece of information that’s left out there. (I thought the reason for the warning was that it was kind of wobbly and could damage the tent bar, and given that the tent bar seems very replaceable, I didn’t worry about that too much. Had I known there was risk of warping the enclosure itself, I would have taken the warning far more seriously.) No major issues here, but I could see someone else making the same mistake, and if I hadn’t stumbled upon this thread… ---
**Author:** ![dcavalari](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/dcavalari/32/5289_2.png) [@dcavalari](https://community.keyboard.io/u/dcavalari)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 4:32pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/46 "2019-02-22T16:32:16Z")
What about use with these configurations?: 1. In lap with flat bar 2. In lap with octo stands and tent bar It seems like in both cases, there is still some natural flex in the middle, and thus the potential for warping. However, at least the first configuration seems to be considered acceptable…? ---
**Author:** ![jesse](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/jesse/32/361_2.png) [@jesse](https://community.keyboard.io/u/jesse)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2019, 8:42pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/47 "2019-02-22T20:42:47Z")
The big issue isn’t using it in your lap so much as leaving it on the table for days at a time where it is touching only on the outside edges and the weight of the wood is pushing everything down. ---
**Author:** ![rpnfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@rpnfan](https://community.keyboard.io/u/rpnfan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2022, 8:37pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/48 "2022-08-14T20:37:45Z")
I am interested in purchasing model 100, but one of the things I do not like is that the keyboard seems to be relatively thick. I have an old Fujitsu keyboard ([Keyboard KBPC E USB - Fujitsu CEMEA&I](https://www.fujitsu.com/fts/products/computing/peripheral/accessories/input-devices/keyboards/keyboard-kbpc-e-usb.html)) which can be tilted and tented. I do not use the tent function, because the already high keyboard then gets even higher from the table. Most tables are too high IMO to touch type comfortably, so I try to minimize the height of the keyboard. I guess the wedge option is not something which was provided, was it? When using m100 flat on the table the rubber feet also seem to add more height than I would like. Can they be replaced with a flat rubber strip instead? Regards, Peter ---
**Author:** ![hupfdule](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/hupfdule/32/4046_2.png) [@hupfdule](https://community.keyboard.io/u/hupfdule)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/49 "2023-03-25T20:19:21Z")
I wanted a more aggressive tenting of my Model 100 (actually wanted to try it out first; I didn’t know whether I would like higher tenting and which amount of tenting). You can see the professional looking result in the pictures below. It is a block of cork used for sandpaper. One like [this](https://www.globus-baumarkt.de/p/schleifklotz-kork-120-x-60-x-40-mm-ecken-abgerundet-0760100644/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwt_qgBhDFARIsABcDjOdtXlWQWLGZAeCQ9pfCZDKpTOdN_grYOVDUbesjTJTNJymECg4PdmYaAh79EALw_wcB). I was surprised how well it fits. The keyboard rests on it without slipping. The cork block wiggles only a tiny little bit, but apart from that it works very well. I now put a small notepad below the block to get even more tenting. The notepad is also wrapped in cork. Being made of cork the block and the notepad don’t slip. It is suprisingly sturdy. I can even shift the whole keyboard by just grabbing the cork block and shifting it around on the table. Also the cork visually fits very well to the wooden enclosure of the Model 100. The drawbacks are obvious: It is a fixed amount of tenting (based on the height of the cork block and the notepad). It also doesn’t allow me to separate the halfes of the keyboard further apart. But for just trying out whether more tenting would be comfortable for me this stopgap is good enough in my opinion. I am using that stopgap for several months now… ![20230323_125234](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/keyboard/original/2X/2/2a3cbac3234459626a5c72445b0c8411ff4344b5.jpeg) ![20230323_125343](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/keyboard/original/2X/a/a8192b2b7f19f6af7e0bc087a85536e6d252bd04.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![fluffy](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/fluffy/32/34_2.png) [@fluffy](https://community.keyboard.io/u/fluffy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/50 "2023-03-25T20:43:59Z")
You might want to ensure that you’re getting sufficient support in the middle. It looks like you’ve got the keyboard supported by the outer edges of the wood which can lead to warping and long-term damage. ---
**Author:** ![hupfdule](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/hupfdule/32/4046_2.png) [@hupfdule](https://community.keyboard.io/u/hupfdule)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/51 "2023-03-26T19:36:41Z")
With “middle” you mean the middle of each half, I suppose? I was a bit afraid that could be the case (I created the setup initially for trying tenting). Both halves rest on the desk with 2 points of the wooden enclosure. And both halves rest on the cork block with the wooden enclosure and the plastic plate at the bottom (though I think that the support comes mainly from the plastic plate). You mean I should stop using this stopgap and change to a real tenting solution to avoid damage? I would like to do that, but still have to find a good tenting solution. As I really like the cork, I thought about buying larger blocks of cork and cutting it and drilling a hole in it to be able to correctly support the halves by using the already provided tripod screw mount. But then again I think it will be hard to cut the cork in the correct angle an even harder to drill the hole in the correct angle… ---
**Author:** ![fluffy](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/community.keyboard.io/fluffy/32/34_2.png) [@fluffy](https://community.keyboard.io/u/fluffy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079/52 "2023-03-26T20:16:57Z")
Yeah I mean that the support needs to come from underneath, ideally through the screws, rather than from the wooden casing. See above in this thread where Jesse makes a big point of that. There are small desktop camera tripods or camera-mount tablet/phone holders you can get which might work for what you’re going for. The trick is to find something that’s the right height though. [Previous page](https://community.keyboard.io/t/a-better-tented-stand/1079.md?page=2)