In a nutshell… why pay when you can make you’re own ipad stand with a coat hanger, rubber band, and a pair of needle nose pliers?
The Source of ALL Inspirato… Google!
I recently purchased my very own magical ipad and was looking for a quality stand. And while the ipad alone set be back quite a few clams I wasn’t prepared to dish out top dollar for a stand I could potentially make myself. So fire up Google I did and found immediate inspiration from other mac loving cheapskate macgyver do-it-yourselfers just like me. When prince said the internet is a fad he must not have thought about transforming trashed rakes, old frying pans and moose antlers into electrical guitars like this guy. This is cool stuff!
Shout Outs Are In Order
Einstein once said, “the secret to creativity is hiding your sources.” However, in this case I have to give props, there were QUITE a few diy ipad stands floating around in cyberspace. Not being one to settle, I decided to “invent a better mousetrap” if you will. Only this time with ipads and coat hangers instead of traps, cheese, and all the business with dead mice. The first inspiration I received was from this guy who made an iphone stand from a simple paper clip. I can respect genius at work and decided to expand on his idea for an ipad version.
Forming the Game Plan
Basically, as a throwback to my college days in Autocad, I mocked up the real size schematics using Adobe Illustrator. After creating the top, side, and front views with accurate measurements, I printed the plans and went to work. After stealing one of my wife’s black coat hangers to match the sleek look of the ipad, I started the bending process. While I could give you the full step by step breakdown I’ll save that for my IKEA style DIY ipad stand instruction guide due out this fall. Or you could download my design files (nicely packaged as printable PDF) and give it a go yourself.
The Photos:
Conclusion
Overall, I made sure to design sufficient support to allow the ipad to rest both portrait and landscape. Also, the piece de resistance, I added a rubber band after finding that pressing on the ipad caused the stand to go sliding across my desk. One last note is that I designed the stand to display the ipad at a 30 degree angle (feel free to change it). All in all, it was a worthwhile exercise and you sure can’t shake a stick at the cost of it all… FREE.