Laptop Bubble Stand

Step 8 Add laptop

Put your laptop on it and make certain that it works.

Comments

[Klayton Kress]

What does the red button on the wall do. It makes me curious and I have the urge to press the button. On a side note great instructable

[pingo6]

do you mean in like a tech ed room? do not push the button!!! it is an emergency elctrical button that if pushed will shut off power to the WHOLE room. like if someone gets their arm stuck in a woodchipper

[ostomesto]

my school's workshop has that. It reminds me off the game dont press the red button. BUT ITS SO TEMPTING TO PRESS THE RED BUTTOM

[The nerdling]

my school's workshop has one too, but it is so crap, you don't need the key to turn it on; you just push it down then pull out and hehy presto power!!

[BBurak]

Really perfect. Good luck with your works.

[immadoc]

seriously, you could start an ebay store with this...

[ki10]

Or Etsy. Great work. I would totally buy this, since I'd have to get the holes done anyway.

[immadoc]

no access to these tools- but will gladly buy one off you for a decent price :)

[padevries]

OK that is really cool. I am actually going to do the same thing to make a "shield" for my stereo equipment so my 1yr old cannot mess with the receiver. Thanks for showing me an easy way to bend the Acrylic. Now off to get the parts and protect my equipment. (and as soon as I find a shop that can cut the holes for me I will make the laptop stand... I wonder what it would look like in stainless steel?

[AGetzler]

You can make a kid shield for your stereo by cutting off three sides of a plastic bin, and sliding it onto or under the stereo. The floor of the bin holds it in place, and the remaining side blocks the controls from little fingers.

[padevries]

Thanks, That is a good idea too. I had the extra acrylic from the stand i built and made a clear shield for my stereo. By using the clear acrylic I can still operate the stereo using the remote.

[padevries]

OK so I built the laptop stand without the bubbles and it seems to be OK (using it as I write). I notice two things 1. The back bend (the larger one), Needs to be more than a 90deg bend or the stand flexes with 1/8" acrylic and it slides... 2. You can fake a break press by clamping as shown above and using a second piece of ply-wood / 5/8x6 to bend the acrylic down as long as it fits between your clamps (make it 1/4" longer than the piece you are bending). I used an old piece of laminate flooring I had left over. This gives a straighter bend on the lip and any other bend so you don't have to go back and reheat to fix (less steps). By using wood you don't have the metal break-press "sinking" all of your heat away from the project either. Just keep the heat gun moving so that you don't scorch the wood I also took a piece of lexan (10x18) and made a shield for my receiver. All of this took only about 30 minutes not bad for my first try with acrylic. Thanks randofo for this Instructable it came in very handy. I love the bubble look but the clean look is great too.

[ANTQNUT]

This is a really cool instructable! I wish I could do it but I am not allowed to use those sorts of tools but great and cool idea and I'll try it as soon as I can use those tools!!! :P

[BRAVODOG]

Working with plastic is snap. I personally don't have access to a laser cutter so I use the old tried & true for holes, hole saw on the drill. and a tip for every one on cooling and getting rid of ripples if they occur. A tub of room temp water will cool the bend allot quicker now on cheaper lex and acryl they may crackle on you but the good stuff won't and watch the heat gun ans it can blister the plastic real quick. Me I use the plastic bender from Tap Plastic.

[Genepaquin]

Great Stand... Wouldn't it be more cost effective just to buy one online some where? How much would it cost to have someone with a Laser Cutter to just cutout the plastic sheet?

[tthan43]

good question

[askjerry]

I usually charge $0.75 USD per minute of laser time... given the number of holes and such here... likely 30 minutes on my 35W Epilog...so that would be about $23 to $30 for the cutting time. Jerry

[snigit]

Hole saws of different sizes?? Would they work or leave crappy edges?

[cptully]

They would work but leave rough, opaque edges. You can take care of that by "fire polishing" - use a propane torch to quickly heat the sawn edge. Expect to burn the plastic until you get the hang of it, so practice on some scrap.