Smartphone Tripod Adapter from Found Materials

There are plenty of inexpensive tripod adapters for smartphones out there, but why buy? There's no fun in that!!!

For this instructable ( my first ) I'll be showing you how I built a tripod adapter for my smartphone from free, found objects for nothing more than a couple of hours out of my day.

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Step 1: Tools and Materials

Since this was made from found materials this part might not be very helpful to most. I used a scrap piece of 1/2" black "StarBoard " and the temporary license plate tag that came with my bike. You can substitute with whatever suitable materials you find.

Tools used:
-Square & Ruler
-Drill w/ 3/16' Drill Bit
-1/4-20 Tap w/ Tap Handle
-Coarse file & Sand Paper
-Saw (power or hand is your choice, I used both)
-Utility Knife
-Clamps
-Gorilla Glue

Greenehouse says: Feb 4, 2011. 12:25 PM

Great instructable, keep 'em coming!!

uberklok says: Jan 31, 2011. 2:10 PM

get a block of hard foam or wood, and cut a groove in it. Drill a hole in the bottom, and drive a 3/8" T-nut into it (this is a toothed nut designed to be hammered into wood, which can be screwed onto the tripod.)

set your phone/ipod in the groove and hold it there with a rubber band or a strap made of scotch tape.

works for me

spiderham (author) in reply to uberklokJan 31, 2011. 4:36 PM

Sounds good, but the standard size for a tripod screw is 1/4" - 20 in which case a 1/4" T-nut should be used. However, if you"re going for looks I would suggest a wood insert nut.

deafanimator says: Jan 27, 2011. 9:18 AM

I saw like this that you can buy for 8 dollars on line. I am not sure how much the total you spent on material cost and several hours labor. I guess that you do for fun to build.

I found my easiest solution for my iPhone for only 5 minutes to make and only cost me 50 Cent metal bracelet for specific camera mount and iPhone case cover $5.00. I will post it and how I did. Even I can add wide view Len on it. It is very durable and safe from fall out or vibration.

spiderham (author) in reply to deafanimatorJan 27, 2011. 3:25 PM

I did do this for the fun of it. :-) Not including the drying time of the glue or taking the pics, the actual labor time I put into this was under 30 minutes. The materials I used were very easy to work with and the tools were already set up for another project I was working on. . There was no real cost to this as the 1/2" Starboard was taken out of my cut off bin and the temp tag came with my bike and was no longer necessary.

I thought about adding something to secure the phone but my adapter is only meant for stationary shots at home so I'm not concerned about it falling out.

dewexdewex in reply to deafanimatorJan 27, 2011. 10:47 AM

I use a big blob of BluTack and stick my iPod Touch to a clean surface with it. I've done some time lapse stuff with this at work from my desk, and the gradual tilt in the shots as it slowly falls over is quite mesmerising.

FonHom in reply to dewexdewexJan 27, 2011. 12:15 PM

@dewexdewex I like your style!