The Art of Creating a Unique iPad Stand: A Prototype Story
I wanted to create something unique and special for my iPad, so I decided to make one myself. I started by experimenting with different materials, trying out various methods of construction. One thing that worked well was using spray lacquer as the primary coating, followed by a little bit of sanding after the first coat. This process allowed me to achieve a smooth finish and a durable surface for my iPad stand.
Next, I needed to create the base for my stand. To do this, I cut down three pieces of teak and two of them were used as uprights, with the third piece being the centerpiece that rotated. I put 45-degree angles on the top of the uprights and measured the distance from the center of each piece to the outside of the 45-degree angle. This calculation gave me the position of the center point for the rotating piece.
I bolted the pieces together, allowing me to spin the centerpiece and mark the arc that was created by this movement. I could see the profile that needed to be cut away on both pieces of wood with this profile going onto my iPad stand. With the iPad, I had a smooth surface to work with, but it still required some adjustments.
I used an iPad to test the stand, making sure it fit comfortably and allowing for easy rotation. The round part was sanded smooth, leaving the 45-degree angles as they were – they served as the rests for the iPad. Cutting a base down to size helped smooth out the entire back panel with the round over bit.
To figure out where I wanted the center to be, which isn't actually the center but rather where the two holes are going to be drilled to connect it, I made some measurements on the block. This was slightly more complicated than I anticipated, but I followed a similar process as before: marked it and then countersunk the holes so that the screws would sit down and not interfere with the back of the iPad.
I placed the base where it needed to be and drilled pilot holes through the back into the block. Doing this made sure everything fit together seamlessly, without any gaps or awkward angles. After sanding, more lacquer was applied, and the stand started coming together.
The finishing touches were just a matter of screwing everything together. When complete, I had an iPad stand that not only served its purpose but also allowed me to showcase my work in new ways – by using it as a portfolio, for example. I could have a slideshow going on different pieces, showcasing my artwork and style.
I've also made some changes from walking past overall, thinking this would be something special. It was definitely a prototype, and I learned a lot from the experience. If I were to make another one in the future, I'd consider making design improvements that allow it to be more easily reproduced and sold.
In other news, I recently did a live Q&A session on YouTube, which turned out to be a huge success. It was fantastic interacting with all of you, answering questions, and sharing my passion for woodworking. The feedback has been incredible, and I'm excited to announce that I'll be doing another one soon – this time, with a special guest who will undoubtedly bring lots of excitement and knowledge to the table.
That's all for now, folks! Be sure to check out my website at ilikeyoumakestuff.com for more content, including videos and blog posts. You can also find me on Facebook, where I love seeing what other people are working on with their projects. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram as well – it's been amazing to see all the creative and inspiring work coming in from my community.
If you want to support these videos and all the projects that I do, consider buying some of my handmade items or even a t-shirt. Every little bit of support counts, and I'm grateful for your help in bringing these ideas to life. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey I'm Bob and I Like to make stuff this is really gonna help you a lotToday I'm gonna be showing you how to make a Swiveling Ipad stand.*Intro music*next month I'm going to be doing a pop-up shop where I sell some of the stuff that I make.When I sell those things I use a square reader to take credit cards.so I trace the outline of the iPad withthe square reader in itand then I measured to find where the actual screendimensions were on the inside of the iPadand made kind of a detailed drawingso that I would know what I couldoverlap and what I needed to leaveexposed based on those dimensions I cutdown some wood and then ran it over thetable saw to cut it basically in half Iwould have done this on the bandsaw butthe piece of wood is actually too tallto fit in my band sawso once I got it cut down I ran itthrough the planer to get rid of some ofthe burn marks then I use some teakscraps that I had to cut some very smallstrips of wood they're going to act asthe border around the iPad while it'ssitting in the frame the thickness ofthese strips is actually the samethickness as the iPad itself so I cutthem down to length and then glue themonto the back panel and then I had toset the iPad in place just to make sureI had the right position for the top onewhile those were drying and transferredthe drawing of the front panel that Iwanted to the front piece of woodand then took it to the band song cut itout there's a lot of little adjustmentsI had to do this I had to use the drumsander to kind of round out some of theedgesI think I was just using the wrong bandsaw blade here to get some of thesetight curves should have been using athinner blade to connect the front theback panels I decided to put a threadedinsert in the backdrill through the front so that I couldrun a screw through the front into theinsert now while I was drilling theholes in the front actually split thepiece of wood so I ended up recreatingthe whole front piece and I didn't showit here because it's the same processI drilled out the holes in the back bigenough for the inserts to go in and ifyou do this I would suggest usingthreaded inserts that have a hex openingat the top that way you can use a hexkey to actually put the insert in andit's a lot easier than what I had to doherethen I drew and cut the shape out aroundthe square rootthem actually lost the footage theresince I had to recut the front panelI had to go back and transfer the marksof where the holes are going to be forthe bolts to go through this time I wasjust really careful to drill the holeslowly and make sure that I wouldn'tsplit the wood and it worked fine wentahead and both of them together becauseI wanted to see how the front backpanels with line up while I had been puttogether I ran it over the belt sanderjust to get rid of any unevennessbetween the three layers of wood thatwere there then I had the final positionof how they were going to sit relativeto each otherI unscrew them flip them around I putthe front on the back and then tape themtogether that way I could use the bandsaw to transfer the cut side made on theback panel to the front panel is alsogave me a chance to round off thecorners on the bottom of the front andback panels at the same timethen back to the belt sander one moretime just to smooth everything out andget both of the pieces to have the exactsame shapehe's a roundover bit on the router tosmooth out all the corners on the frontand back piecesI also use this on the inside of thefront which would go around the screenthen I set the right depth on the tablesaw and cut away a slot for where theactual top of the outside would be andthis was to remove the stuff that was inthe way of the square reader and use thechisel just to clean it upI had to spend a good amount of timesanding all of this stuff because withthe router and with the table saw therewas a lot of burning and on all thedifferent parts of the wood especiallywhere the router had been usedI made a place to cut out for the powerconnector to go injust so that I didn't have to take thisthing out of the case to be able tocharge it then I measured on the iPad towhere the camera opening is and I wantedto drill a hole there next time I'lldefinitely do a cut out around thecamera rather than drill hole for itthen I took the front panel and ran itthrough the table saw to get it to thethickness that I wanted which was alittle bit under a quarter of anso this was pretty nerve-wrackingbecause I kept feeling like I was justgoing to drop it and split it and we'regoing to explode but it actually workedout after some more sanding I hit itwith several coats of spray lacquer witha little bit of sanding after the firstcoat only then I wanted to make thestand so I cut down three pieces ofteak and two of themI put 45 degree angles on the top ofthem and the third one was going to bethe centerpiece that rotated then Ifound the center of each one of thesepieces and measure the distance from thecenter to the outside of the 45 degreeangle that distance gave me where thecenter point should be in the piece thatrotates with all three of these piecesbolted togetherI was able to spin the centerpiece andthen use a pencil to mark the arc thatwas created by this piece moving when Itook it apart I could see the profilethat need to be cut away on both piecesof wood with this profile gonethe ipad can rotate freely I both ofthem back together and took them to thesander again just to smooth out theround part I left the 45 degree anglesas they were because those were the restsfor the iPad then I cut a base down toget everything back over the round overbit just to smooth it all out on theback panel I figured out where I wantedthe center to be which isn't actuallythe center but I marked where the twoholes are going to be drilled to connectit now countersunk these holes so thatthe screws would sit down and notinterfere with the back of the ipad thenI place the block where it needed anddrill some pilot holes through the backinto the blockI did a similar measurement on the baseto figure out where the two uprightswe're going to sit and this was a littlemore complicated than I thought butfollowed pretty much the same process Imarked it and then countersink the holesso that they wouldn't scratch a tablethat they were sitting onflipped it over the place the uprightstape them in placeflipped it back over and then did thepilot holes in it was just a matter ofscrewing everything togetherso after some sanding some more lacquerand putting it all together you end upwith this now the way this works is youcan put in the order for the person onthe iPad you can slide the card and thenyou flip it over and then the person canput in your pin or sign or do whatevernow this also work as a portfolio I canhave a slideshow going in my differentpieces stuff that I don't have at theshow for sale but then people can see abroader view of my workI'm just from walking past overall Ithink it turned out pretty good I meanit was definitely a prototype and Ilearned a lot from it I have severalthings them in the change if I doanother one and hopefully I can come upwith a design that I can reproduce andsell but you knowfor this one I think it turned outpretty good I have another announcementearlier this month I did a live Q&A onyoutube and had a lot of people thereare a lot of awesome questions and itwas a really good time I really enjoyeditso I want to do that again but insteadof just me doing the Q&A I'm going tohave a special guest and it's somebodythat you know from YouTube you willdefinitely not want to miss it's gonnabe a lot of fun and it's going to be inJuly sometime and when I get the datenail down I'll let you know plenty aheadof time so you can put it on thecalendar and you can come with lots ofgood questions but it's gonna be a lotof fun so I'll let you know about thatthanks for watching guys and I hope youliked this one if you did let me know inthe comments and be sure to check outIliketomake stuff.comhave this and all my other content livesthere there's a lot of different type ofstuff and I have some blog post comingup there about my shop build that arenot video related so if you want to seethose be sure to check out the websitealso check me out on Facebook peoplebeen posting pictures of the stuff thatthey're building on my facebook page andthat's awesome I love to see it so comecheck me out there see what other peopleare buildingalso be sure to check me out onInstagram it's been really cool overthere to see what other people areworking on and I get a huge amount ofinspiration from the people on Instagramso be sure to check that out if you wantto support these videos and all theprojects that I do you can buy a t-shirtyou can buy some handmade items that Isell you can support me on patreon andevery little bit of support that you cangive is really helpful to methanks for watching guys I'll see younext time\n"
