Virtual Boy Lamp-o-Tron

Lee Krueger came up with this idea.

Subject:      Virtual Boy Mounting solution (no more backaches)
From:         "Lee R. Krueger" <leekru19@idt.net>
Date:         1998/02/08
Message-ID:   <34DE7FF9.40@idt.net>
Newsgroups:   rec.games.video.classic,rec.games.video.atari,rec.games.video.nintendo,rec.games.video.sega

Situation:
Well, I finally got tired of staring at my Virtual Boy and not playing
it. Why don't I play it you ask? Because the unit gives me a backache. I
can never get comfortable playing it on a table and laying on the floor
or in my bed wasn't very comfortable either 'cause the foam eyepiece
cuts into my forehead and face cheeks. So there it sat, until today.

The solution:
I went down to Office Depot where they had swing arm lamps on sale for
$9.99. I picked up a black one (to match my VB) and took it home and
proceeded to rip the wiring out of it and took the lamp off the end.
What was left I mounted the VB brakect to it. I had to drill one hole
through the VB mounting base and used a small stainless steel bolt to
hold it all together. Everything looks great at this point, swivel base,
virtually movement to any position about my desk to make me comfortable
and it's all black, lookin' really nice.

Problem:
When I put the VB on the lamp arm, it immediately sagged. I wasn't
happy. I had underestimated the weight of the VB. So I cut the springs
on the swing arm to shorten them so that I'd have more tension. Only
problem was that when I installed them again, I stretched them beyond
the elastic limit, so they were permantely deformed. Works ok, but after
awhile the springs would fatigue and break, possibly causing facial
injury (not a good thing).

New Solution:
I went to Eagle hardware and picked up some heavier springs and
installed them (Cost me additional $2.89). My new swivel arm VB stand
works like a charm and it looks like an OEM part. No more backaches and
now I can play all those games I got so cheaply.

Total cost: $12.89 plus tax.
O.K. so it cost more than my $10 VB. At least my back won't hurt anymore
and I'll get some good use out of those games.

Take care,
Lee

Sounded like a darn spiffy idea to me, so I took a red lamp I already had that matched the VB nicely and doctored it up.

Instead of drilling a new hole in the VB base, I used the existing hardware and bolted it through the bracket on the lamp. I kept the legs of the VB stand since they made a nice place to hang the controller when not in use. I slung some beefy springs where the flimsy original flimsy ones were. I mounted the base to a piece of wood, then clamped that to the back edge of my desk.

Damn good idea, Lee.

Jay Tilton
03/03/98