DIY Book-like iPad Case (Dodo / Moleskin style)

I stumbled over the following instructable for a moleskin iPad case (credits here for the maker of the case which inspired me to make my own case):
http://www.themoderndaypirates.com/pirates/2010/06/how-to-make-a-moleskine-ipad-case/

Also, I found the Dodo-case for iPad on the internet and thought, I could combine both in a DIY book style iPad case for the iPad I purchased 2 weeks ago.

I have used the iPad for 2 weeks and the DIY case for 1 week now, and both just works perfect.

If you like this instructable, leave me a note. I would love to get some feedback.

Like always, this instructable requires to work with tools, so don't hurt yourself.
If you get hurt during the process of making a DIY case according to my instructable, I'm not liable for any damage to yourself or your device for which you create the case.

Take care and have fun "making".

Thanks for the comments and warm words so far. 

I had another idea which would be easy to add here. I bought a silicon case last weekend just for at home because I like the slim design of the iPad. But I thought it would be awesome if the iPad could go into the case including the silicon case. This way, you could use it without the "book" at home and just insert it into the "book" for on the go :-)
 

Step 1: Supplies

Supplies in the picture shown are (left to right, top to bottom):
- photo magnets (I didn't use those, see additional notes at the end)
- L-shaped wooden profiles (for the frame for the iPad)
- foam tape (for supporting the iPad in the frame)
- red fake suede self-adhesive foil / film
- black fake crocodile leather foil / film
- card board (this was some kind of a corrugated card board box of a shirt I bought)

Tools:
- files
- saw
- miter saw
- sandpaper
- scissors
- knife (scalpel, cutter)
- steel ruler or any other ruler with a steel edge for cutting
- clamps (binder clips in my case)
- wood glue
- strong all purpose glue (pattex in my case)

Comments

[latinojuan]

Hello, I am very interested in making this, for the Nexus 7. I am thinking about modifying this in that I might try and find an old book that is the correct size, and use its spine and cover, removing the pages, etc, and then cover that cover.


Question to anyone in america, Where would I find L-shaped profiles? Home depot? or like MIchaels? I have access to my school's wood shop, so making them from scratch wouldn't be out of the question, but an unnecessary step if I can make them.

Also, where do you think I would place the magnets for making a Portenzo Intellistand feature? And where would I get magnets, you think? From the strong refrigerator magnets?

Thanks for this tutorial, it's great!

[grant furniture man]

1/4 round molding flatten on one side would work can be bought by 8 foot stick at lowes , home depot.

[Mike73]

I thoght about using an old book, too. But It never crossed my mind that I could just rip out all pages (duh!). And only cutting out the portion of the pages to accomodate my iPad seemed too tedious.

For the L shaped profiles I would start looking for the modling section at a local home depot, lowe's or such. I doubt Michaels has profiles that are big enough.

I like the stand feature. Maybe, instead of using magnets, you could try to make a groove in the cover where the edge of the frame just can slip in. I have the feeling that magnets could get too bulky and disturb the overall look.

Make sure to let me know if you mad one ;-)

[arielslice]

A little tip for friends in the US... I was having trouble finding the L-shaped wooden profiles. Seems pretty self explanatory but no one at the hardware stores knew what I was talking about. After digging around on my own I found most of them are labelled as "outside corner moulding". Hope that helps some people.

[Mike73]

Great hint. Thank you.

[rionmv]

I've been interested in making my own iPad case and I have read many instructable/DIY posts about making one. I've been running through all of these different ideas in my head and one of the things that I was thinking about doing (if I ever actually get around to making one) is buying a cheap plastic snap-in style iPad holder and then just affixing it permanently inside of whatever I decide to use as the outer cover. It may take some of the DIY out of the process, but all of the holes/cutouts would be in the perfect places, and it should hold and let go of the iPad with no problems. In my area (Ohio) I have seen these cases at places like Five Below (everything costs less than $5), Marshall's, Big Lots, etc., and also online. Just a thought.

[latinojuan]

sugru dot com, it's a self curing silicone rubber. it's awesome. you could wrap the tablet up in Cling Wrap, then place it in the frame w/ the Sugru in the corner, forming a mold for where you want it to go.

then, the next day, take it out... somehow.

do you have problems taking your ipad out of the case?

(for some reason i can't just "reply" to your comment, I have to start a whole new one...)

[Mike73]

Getting my iPad out is no problem using the foam at the sides. The foam holds the iPad well (I can even turn it upside down, carefully), but the iPad can be removed very easy, too.

[latinojuan]

I thought i replied to this. oh well. yeah, i think i'll try and make the L shaped brackets. ever thought to try and use Sugru in the corners of the frame? similar to what Portenzo uses?

also, i wonder if they hide the magnets in the frame, like in a cut-out.

[Mike73]

I couldn't track down sugru here in Germany although I wanted to try it for some project. But I don't even recall what it was. For the magnets I would definitely go with cut outs and then cover them so they're not visible any more.

[Mike73]

It probably took me 3 days including to get all the items I needed. I think, if you could get some thin magnet tape, you could even include the wake up upon opening the cover. I haven't made another one for my iPad 2, but I have the apple cover and it sure is nice to open the cover and the iPad turns on. I fiddled around with a magnet once and it doesn't need much to activate this function. You just need the right position for the magnets. Have fun making one. If you do so, post a picture so others can see gow it works for the iPad 2.

[Mr.G3]

Firstly I'd like to congratulate you on a great iPad case and thank you for the instructions. I'm definitely goiing to try and make this. Do you know if it will work with the current dimensions if I wanted to use the iPad smart cover as well as the book style case? Thanks

[Mike73]

I have a iPad2 also and tried putting it in the bookcase. With the 2nd gereation being thinner, the iPad sits deeper than the 1st generation. Due to the hinges of the smartcover, the frame will be too small. But you can easily measure the outside dimensions of the iPad and smartcover and accomodate the build accordingly. But if you make a bookstyle case, you kind of defeat the purpose of the smartcover. I would suggest making a bookcover and add a magnet to the book cover so you have the instant on effect just like with the smartcover. I tried a magnet once, held it to the side of the iPad's front, and viola, the iPad really turns on and off.
I hope I could help. If you decide making an iPad2 case it would be awesome if you would post some pics.

[ktvalverde]

What exactly is 15mm L-profile? Is that a trim of sorts? I browsed through the local Lowes and couldn't find anything that matched. I sorted through all of their trim and I even asked after 15mm L-profile. The local Ace Hardware didn't seem to have any either.

Anyone have a suggestion on where to get the wood for this project?

Mike, where did you get your L-profiles?

[Mike73]

Hi ktvalverde, I bought ny L-profiles at a close by OBI home improvement store in Germany. So basically you're looking for a trim profile that is L-shaped and both "legs" of the L is 15 mm in length. The 15 mm is about 19/32 of an inch. I hope this helps.

[ickes634]

How much did it cost you to make this? Also did you have any materials left over? I am trying to make about 5 or 10 of these for gifts.

[Mike73]

I think, considering materials I had to buy (the self adhesive leather stuff, the l-shaped profiles), I think it was about 15 bucks (I used card board and glue I had lying around at home, so there were no extra costs for these).
And I think I could have made about 2-3 of the cases (except for the profiles, but they were really cheap).
I think about max. 30 bucks should at least get to you up to somewhere between 5 and 10 pieces.

[Chickpea123uk]

Thanks for the great instructions. I made an ipad case according to the instructions and it turned out great. I'm going to make matching cases for my phone and ebook reader.

[Mike73]

It looks awesome. Thanks for sharing the pictures :-)

[peggyzoewong]

Hi, I just re-discovered Instructables. I was browsing and saw this. I did something similar back in Sept 2010. Just wanna share with you. http://clothwithpegs.blogspot.com/2010/09/ipad-case-by-booked.html
I like that you used L-section woodframe and added the foam tape for a secure fit.
Now that I am a user here also, I hope to be able to share some projects here too. ;)

[Mike73]

Great that you found your way back to instructables.
I checked your blog, but unfortunately it seems to be gone.
This is the message I get:
"Sorry, the page you were looking for in the blog cloth.with pegs does not exist."

[peggyzoewong]

hmmm ... that's strange. I just checked the link and it worked fine ... ;)
oh well, merry xmas!!!

[Mike73]

Hmmm. I just checked again, too. And voila, there it was.
Merry christmas!

[peggyzoewong]

Hey yes!!! Merry Xmas to you too!!!

[anniejade]

great job!! where do i get the adhesive foil/film?

[Mike73]

I got the film at a furniture store. But this store is somewhat special as it also carries some home improvement stuff.
Depending on where you live, you may get lucky in a furniture or crafts store.
I hope you can find a source. I like working with the film and they have a big variety of different sorts and colors here.

[mhoward2]

Where did you get the L-profile for the edges?

[Mike73]

I bought them at a local home improvement store. I think in the US you could something like those profiles at Lowes or Home Depot. In Germany those profiles are being used to trim edges and stuff.

[jmahjoub]

Hi,
Great looking cas! (:
Do you think it would be possible use leather instead of the wooden parts, or would you loose the sturdiness?

Thanks

[Mike73]

I'm not sure how you want to replace the wooden frame with leather. Can you specify a little more detailed?
If you think about sewing some leather frame to the back of the case, and if you have the case closed when transporting the iPad (even if you're just moving between rooms), then I think it should be doable. But you could also have the wooden frame and wrap it in thin leather.

[roparom]

Mike,
I have just finished making my own version of this. Have a look if you're interested. Thanks very much for the guide, it has been very helpful indeed.
Cheers!
N

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28100319@N07/5641327592/in/set-72157626547438328/

[Mike73]

I just checked your pictures on Flickr. You made a great case. I should add an iPad2 tag to my instructable as the manufacturing process applies here too. By checking your pictures I was reminded that I'm also looking for a place where I could effectively showcase my pictures. But Flickr belongs to Yahoo, isn't it? Anyway, thanks for providing feedback and I'm glad that my instructable was helpful to you.

[icosahedron]

How secure is the iPad in the frame? Can you turn it upside down and not have it fall out?

[Mike73]

My iPad cannot fall out. I wanted the iPad to just stick in the frame, but due to using basic tools (while sawing the frame), the frame got tighter than I intented.
So it depends on how tight you design the frame.
If the frame is too wide, you can still stick a thicker tape into the frame.

[icosahedron]

Awesome. I need to go back and get higher L profiles it seems. Your instruction say 15mm. I bought some decorative molding thinking that would be sufficient.

How did you round the corners of your frame?

Thanks for the quick reply.

[Mike73]

Hi icosahedron,
I would have answered yesterday, but I couldn't reach instructables servers.

The round corners are actually not my idea. The profile I bought did already have them. I would have prefered an edged one, but couldn't find any.
If you like the rounded corners and cannot get a profile that shape, just use a file to get the round corners.
Put the profile into a vise.
Make a 45 degree angle on the sharp edges you want to have rounded. Then you get 2 edges where there was 1 first. Then just go from there and break those 2 edges and make them 4 and so forth. Repeat as many times you deem necessary. After you're ok with the basic shape, use sandpaper to get a nice smooth rounded corner.
I hope this wasn't too bad for an explanation.

[abih]

when you say you have an idea after the fact to "use it without the "book" at home and just insert it into the "book" for on the go" do you mean make a silicone case big enough to fit the ipad with the case on it?

[Mike73]

I'm not sure if I understood your question correctly, but I bought my silicone case after I had made the "book". So the iPad in the silicone case doesn't fit within my "book". But you could make the "book" big enough to accomodate the iPad and the silicone case.

[Blackdog Barker]

Wow Great Job.. Mine looks a little different, more complicated. This looks easer to build. I like how you did your corners.. My leather was hard to get pined down.

[Mike73]

I had some problems right in the corners where you have overlapping materials. But some glue and pressure did the trick. Did you post yours?