Elevated arm rests?

[L.C.]

My original thread

 

I am looking for a block with these dimensions:

 

17" across <----->

 

9" wide

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3" thick

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..\/

 

With two of my textbooks on top of each other, it is thick enough and wide enough, but not long enough. I can only rest one of my two arms on it.

 

A block or device or product with a hardcover-vinyl/plastic top (like my Psychology and Chemistry textbooks) would be greatly beneficial for me because then I wouldn't strain my arms, wrists, or fingers when typing up my study guides, homework assignments, and papers. I have been at it for the past week 24/7 style, and despite having about 15 years of typing experience and having a typing speed of 120-130, my fingers, arms, wrist, and my upper back and shoulder blades cramp the fghwds up within 30-60 minutes.

 

If my hands just hover over the keyboard without any effort (which is precisely what would happen if I have something to rest almost my entire lower arm upon), I could type painlessly, effortlessly, and closer to my top speed.

 

Suggestions?

 

 

 

1. Don't suggest to lower my table. I have a thin-enough table as it already is, and the leg-room and space is PERFECT. With the leg-room being excellent, lowering the table might partially resolve one problem, but cause another problem altogether (which means that my arm+wrist support problem still isn't fully resolved, plus I have leg-room issues).

 

 

 

2. It takes effort and energy to lift my (1) elbow and (2) my wrists. Study the following pictures:

 

(Pay attention to the pivot-points of the [1] elbow and the [2] wrist.)

 

Case A

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1664.JPG

Extremely comfortable. Gravity does everything for me in this picture; all I have to do is move my fingers.

 

Case B

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1665.JPG

Very comfortable; sometimes more comfortable than the previous (Case A) one depending on mood, time, situation, posture/position, etcetera.

 

Case C

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1666.JPG

Helps a little, but still not good enough.

 

Case D

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1667.JPG

Hurts and takes energy.

 

Case E

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1668.JPG

Slightly more comfortable than the previous (Case D), but uses a lot of energy because I have to hold up both my wrists and elbows.

 

Case F

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1669.JPG

Currently, this is how I usually type at least 95% of the time. I don't like it.

 

Case G

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1670.JPG

Takes a great amount of energy. Slightly more comfortable than the previous (Case F).

 

Case H

http://www.hlrse.net/Qwerty/armsupport/IMG_1671.JPG

Basically the same as the first two pictures (Cases A and D), except without the books. Comfortable, typing is easy, swift, and smooth, but is succumbed due to the energy usage required in compensation for the pull of gravity.

 

 

 

3) Please do not suggest those witty and futile keyboard arm rests. (a) They often appear to (in example) have a height of 3cm, but when you lay your wrists over them, in the end your wrist ends up only being elevated 1cm of the 3cm you saw without it being touched. Additionally, they ( do not elevated high enough, © the 'comfiness of' and gel is totally unnecessary and undesired, plus result in the first reason [a], (d) results in very similar results to that of Case D, which is very unhealthy and becomes very painful.

 

 

 

4) A USB keyboard as a "replacement" to my laptop's keyboard would not suffice. The same problems would be present.

 

 

 

My laptop is 14" wide, I have my own way of typing on the QWERTY keyboard (note: I do not type on Dvorak as well as I do QWERTY, and I type in QWERTY for 99% of the time), and if my two hands on the keyboard were to form a point (my arms being vectors), I would say that they form an angle between 60-80 degrees.

 

I want to achieve the qualities, characteristics, and end-results presented in Cases A and B.

[sefron999]

hmm if your in the U.S. i remember an arm rest/support item being sold at both walgreens and office depot (can't for the life of me remember what the thing was called but the picture on the box left little doubt as to the purpose of the item anyway i do remember that they were pretty inexpensive and adjustable for height and comfort with a kind of memory foam type of top surface... anyway sorry for the vagueness of this but i hope it at least points in a kind of right direction lol

[Cheese]

ITT: a sudent making good use of his textbooks

 

 

 

 

amirite

[Dr Brain]

If you're going to be doing this long term, I highly suggest getting up to speed on Dvorak. It takes an investment in time, but your wrists will thank you when you're done.

 

If this typing is only short term... why not use more text books? One set of two for each arm. Four total.

[L.C.]

HMM, oh boy. I think I'm going to have to get a bit more serious with Dvorak now. Been wanting to learn it very much anyhow. Edited August 30, 2010 by L.C.

[»Xog]

Tape a couple of those books together with a mousepad on top and voila armrest

[Dr Brain]

It took two weeks of training on Dvorak for maybe an hour or two per day to get proficient. It took maybe another week for me to match my Qwerty speed. I stopped training after that, since I was only interested in the ergonomics.

 

Those first two weeks without any Qwerty are HELL. Make no mistake, you realize how much you need to type when your WPM is 10. It took me three goes before I finally committed.

[Cheese]

also, if youre looking to make blocks of specific size, following the following steps:

 

1. find piece of wood
   
2. find saw
   
3. use saw on wood
   
4. ????
   
5. PROFIT $$$
   

[»Xog]

gonna hijack this thread instead of making my own. has anyone here used one of those mice that you use your thumb to move? it's like a regular mouse but it's stationary and the mouse ball is on the side and you rotate the ball with your thumb.. im thinking about getting one.

 

anyone try it??

Edited August 31, 2010 by Xog

[L.C.]

I've tried one of those.

 

Boy do I hate it. Personally, I think it isn't exactly a healthy thing because you have to move your thumb joint around so much, but you might want to do some research on this to see if that is true or false.

[Cheese]

its called a "trackball"

[Dav]

also, if youre looking to make blocks of specific size, following the following steps:

 

1. find piece of wood
   
2. find saw
   
3. use saw on wood
   
4. ????
   
5. PROFIT $$$
   

 

I have to agree with this post. as far as DIY projects go this will be very easy indeed. All you need is some wood, a saw, some sandpaper, glue and screws. I would also be tempted to add rubberized feet and some kind of felt topping as well. May as well varnish it to give it a good finish while you are at it.

 

The bonus is that you will be able to make it in a way that is ideal for comfort, ideal for the desk it is being used on.

 

Have you considerd getting a full sized USB keyboard for it? In my experience laptop keyboards are very uncomfortable for long-term use.