foldable phone stand

look at your phone the way you want.

This was the first project that made me stay in the lab until late evenings (I chose to do it on own though so it was self-inflicted fun). I wanted to make a fun adjustable foldable phone stand, so I did! I had previously used a Popsocket as a phone stand, but I wanted to a) replace the Popsocket with a phone wallet for personal preference and b) be able to change the angle of the phone.

I designed everything on Fusion360. But back then I wasn’t really adept at it, so even though I tried to make everything parameterized, changing the parameters doesn’t really work too well. (This sucked when I left it at school one time and ended up losing it after bringing it with me and using everywhere; I couldn’t recreate it that easily because I was too lazy to post-process everything again.) Check out the original documentation.

assignment

1. Choose a object to model and print. It should be something that could not be made easily with 2-D fabrication techniques.
2. Research similar objects (find pictures, find the real thing, find inspiration)
3. Sketch, draw, or design some 2-D representation of your idea
4. Model the object using Fusion 360
5. Edit, review, check for approval before printing
6. Print your model using appropriate materials and settings

inspiration and research

After talking with my family, I decided that I wanted to make an adjustable phone stand. After looking on different websites, I first found a flat-folding phone stand on Thingiverse, as shown below on the left picture. However, I did not like the design, as it not only had too many parts but also reminded me of my dad’s old iPhone 4 phone case, a phone case I did not particularly enjoy. When I scrolled down, I saw another phone stand similar to it– the “Foldable Tablet/Phone Stand.” After seeing this, I knew I wanted to make it. It seemed possible for me to make, and I really liked the way it seemed almost like an art easel. I then downloaded the parts onto Fusion 360 in order to inspect each part of the phone stand easily, and I was now ready to start designing and making the stand.

sketches and plans

Sketching and planning out the object was extremely important. If I did not measure everything out well, I knew that it would be a pain to fix everything after I got to Fusion 360; I knew that this object would require a lot of precise measurements in order for everything to fit well together, and so I spent time before designing on Fusion first sketching out the design on paper. I sketched both side views and diagonal views of the object, and after labeling measurements and basic designs, I was ready to go ahead with Fusion 360.

modeling with fusion360

Making this phone stand was rather difficult, especially as I was new with Fusion. After making the base however, I got the feel of how the software worked. For each part of the object, I started with a sketch on the YZ plane and extruded whatever was needed. These sketches mirrored the side views I had drawn on paper. I Afterwards, I made a rectangular sketch on the XY plane and extruded downwards until the bottom of the extruded object, cutting out any parts of the object I did not need. I then added the knobs on the hook part of the phone stand by sketching out circles and extruding them. Finally, I filleted everything except for the circular parts on the base of the phone stand.

3d printing and machine use

For each part of the phone stand, I printed it on a low speed setting with a brim and support; each part took around 2 hours. After each part printed, I used tweezers to snap off the brim, and I used sand paper for any uneven sharp edges. For the support, I first used a drill bit to drill out most of the support, but then later realized I could use tweezers to squeeze it out. The process took a little while, but in the end, each part fit well with each other, and according to the measurements that I had planned.

I am rather pleased with how this project turned out, and really enjoyed making it!