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How to protect iMac form flying cats

M

miretogo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 19, 2014
137
134
The title of the question sounds absurd but my question is serious. A 27" iMac stands on a 10 cm / 4" high wooden bench on the desk in my home office. We have two young cats that perform all kinds of shenanigans. For example, they hunt flies, spiders and other insects that walk on the walls and, when they are within reach, they jump to catch them, often using any object as a platform and ignoring where they will land.

Since I want to avoid that one of them tips over the iMac and destroys it (e.g. by shattering the display), I am curious to hear your (serious) suggestions to avoid that. My only idea so far is to install a flat, rectangular bracket on the wooden bench that allows me to tug in the iMacs "foot". But even then, the cats could still tip over the iMac together with the wooden bench (albeit not so easily).

PS: Keeping the cats out of my home office is no option. Also, I don't want to buy an iMac with VESA mount.
 
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Are you in a position to fasten the wooden bench to the desk? That seems like an obvious place to begin, but because you don't mention it I'm guessing you don't want to do that.

I think your way forward is going to involve strips of something (metal, wood, perhaps fiber) fastening the bench to the desk by, in effect, lashing it down.

I can also imagine making a new bench that extends to the back of the desk and then has notched sections that can lock to the back of the desk. If the notches are deep enough, that ought to stabilize the whole thing.

If this interests you I'll make a sketch.
 
Thanks for the serious suggestions.

@SecuritySteve: That sounds interesting. You mean like a shelve that sits slightly above the top of the iMac?
@monokakata: The wooden bench itself is quite stable (about 10 cms high, 25 cms deep, 60 cms wide) but the iMac on top of it isn't (mainly due to its height) and may tip over and fall off the bench if a crazy fat climbs/lands on top of it. Thus, fastening the bench to the desk won't help.
 
miretogo said:
Thanks for the serious suggestions.

@SecuritySteve: That sounds interesting. You mean like a shelve that sits slightly above the top of the iMac?
@monokakata: The wooden bench itself is quite stable (about 10 cms high, 25 cms deep, 60 cms wide) but the iMac on top of it isn't (mainly due to its height) and may tip over and fall off the bench if a crazy fat climbs/lands on top of it. Thus, fastening the bench to the desk won't help.
Click to expand...
Yes, something like a shelf that sits above, and maybe comes down around the iMac, enclosing it. It could also double as storage for you. :D
 
miretogo said:
Thanks for the serious suggestions.

@SecuritySteve: That sounds interesting. You mean like a shelve that sits slightly above the top of the iMac?
@monokakata: The wooden bench itself is quite stable (about 10 cms high, 25 cms deep, 60 cms wide) but the iMac on top of it isn't (mainly due to its height) and may tip over and fall off the bench if a crazy fat climbs/lands on top of it. Thus, fastening the bench to the desk won't help.
Click to expand...
I thought you said that you were going to fasten the iMac to the wooden bench, so I didn't worry about that. The issue, I thought, was keeping the wooden bench stable.
 
Bolt it down. If you don't mind some holes in the desk. I would get four stainless steel allen bolts, 1/4-20 is a good size, and drill the four corners of the foot and drill and tap them and bring the allen bolts up into the foot from below, with some washers underneath. You could do this entire project in under ninety minutes if you are even remotely handy. Cost maybe $30 if you have to buy a tap wrench.
 
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Thanks for your suggestions. I decided to screw a metal (possibly stainless steel) bracket to the wooden bench where the iMac's foot can slide in.
 
"I decided to screw a metal (possibly stainless steel) bracket to the wooden bench where the iMac's foot can slide in."

That will work, but... be sure to use something to protect the finish on the stand's base.
Perhaps a layer of cloth between the base and the braket.
 
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miretogo said:
The title of the question sounds absurd but my question is serious. A 27" iMac stands on a 10 cm / 4" high wooden bench on the desk in my home office. We have two young cats that perform all kinds of shenanigans. For example, they hunt flies, spiders and other

PS: Keeping the cats out of my home office is no option. Also, I don't want to buy an iMac with VESA mount.
Click to expand...

https://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/weaps/mk-15.htm
 
Tim in Scottsdale said:
Bolt it down. If you don't mind some holes in the desk. I would get four stainless steel allen bolts, 1/4-20 is a good size, and drill the four corners of the foot and drill and tap them and bring the allen bolts up into the foot from below, with some washers underneath. You could do this entire project in under ninety minutes if you are even remotely handy. Cost maybe $30 if you have to buy a tap wrench.
Click to expand...

Don’t even have to tap/drill it..just drill some clean countersunk holes into the iMacs base and drill straight holes through the bench. Drop SS screws with a tapered head matching the countersunk holes through the bench and secure with a fender (large diameter) washer and a locking nut. Cost - about five or ten bucks tops and your iMac is secured well. The SS screws, being tapered, will lay flush, or just below flush from the topside and will actually look good if you get your spacing right (even), and the taper drilled in the iMac foot to the proper depth..(just take it slow, think it through, measure twice, and cut once). (On a personal note - I’ve never hesitated to do things like this for years and have always modified to suit)..solve the problem once and for all and enjoy your cats..sounds like you’re having fun with them. Although, I tend to agree with the poster who suggested a dog as a solution to the problem (since we’re dog people), cat people are people too..lol

Good luck and enjoy your cats..they sound like a lot of fun.
 
Just saying one of the best thread titles I’ve come across over the past ten years.

not a fan of cats, but I think you can also install a Veda mount instead of the normal
Stand
 
@Porkchop Sandwich: You sound like a craftsman. I am sure it would look good if done properly but I don't want to drill into the iMac's base because I am not certain I would be able to do it well and also because it would lower the iMac's resale value. But thanks describing that solution. I wouldn't have even thought of that.

@zedsdead: Haha, thanks. As to the VESA mount: I mentioned in the original post that I don't like that solution.
 
I have the exact same situation and fear with two 1 year old cats, but in the end I just bought AppleCare+ and will hope for the best.
Also, the iMac is on a shelf which I converted into a desk by removing some of the shelves, leaving one of the shelves above the iMac with about half a foot of space. Too small for the cats to want to try and walk on top of the iMac, and also there is a much more attractive higher-up surface right above it, haven't had any problems.
 
@ondert: I don't think the lock will protect the iMac from being tipped over. But thanks for the idea. I didn't know such a product existed.
 
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