How to Create a Smartphone/tablet Stand That Works Using Sugru

This instructable was created during Sugru Build Night July at Makespace Madrid. We were invited to test different uses for this new material and we came up with a few original ideas.

I decided it would be great to use it to create a minimal weight portable stand for my smartphone using some Sugru and some other easily available materials. I decided as an additional challenge that I'd use just a pack of Sugru. (and a BIC pen)

Let's see what I learnt along the way!

Step 1: Rationale for the Piece

My idea was to create a stand that could accommodate both phones and tablets. I thought about creating a two part piece and using the hexagonal pen to configure it for different angles. In brief, it didn't work as expected, so don't jumpstart playing with Sugru and read about how I solved this problem in steps 3 and 4.

The first step was to create both pieces using Sugru. I left a wider area in one of the sides of each piece and a endstop on the other side, creating a support to prevent the phone from slipping.

Once you have both parts more or less symetrical then take out the pen cap, and cut through Sugru to create an hexagonal shape.

Step 2: What Doesn't Work

Here is the final result. With this configuration, you change the angle just rearranging the shapes and at the same time, it's a foldable design...that doesn't work!

Given the leg length and the phone weight this design is not able to hold the phone and it just falls on its back. The solution is quite obvious once you learn about how balancing works.

Step 3: Fixing the Balance Issue

To create a balanced stable stand I needed a third leg, to prevent it falling on phone weight. The design is quite similar but it sacrifices the foldability and variable angle.

Step 4: Creating the Hole

Once the piece is ready just cut the whole on the center using the hexagonal pen. Remove the pen gently to make Sugru hold its shape and leave it drying for 24 hours.

Step 5: Final Result

This is the final stand using the pen to keep the phone/tablet upright. In this photo, you can see it holding an iPhone, but it should be able to stand most phones/7" tablets.

My advice to create your own design is to focus on: making the back leg strong, keep the front legs as separated as possible from the center and aim for 1 cm high endstops to acommodate most models better.

Enjoy this idea as much as I enjoyed playing with Surgru and feel free to add feedback on the comments!