DIY Notebook Stand/Cooler

I'm using my MacBook Pro intensively. The temperature rises very fast while compiling programs or editing videos. To improve the air circulation and the heat transportation I usually put a book under on edge. But I need a smaller and more transportable solution. Therefore I built this notebook stand with a simple wooden staff and some sealing rings.

The holiday season is coming and you might need a small gift.

Step 1: Materials and Tools

What's needed?

- A wooden staff. The diameter determents the height of the air gap

- 3 sealing rings made of rubber. The diameter should be a little bit smaller than the diameter of the staff. You can use rubber bands as well. In this case it's easier to fit the right size (Thanks to MikeNykoruk and others for this idea)

- A saw to shorten the wooden staff and the make small grooves for the rings

- Some sort of measuring device (carpenter's rule)

- Pencil for markings

- Piece of sandpaper

Step 2: Sawing and Grinding

First cut the staff and make it a little bit shorter than the width of your notebook. Use the saw to engrave three grooves for the sealing rings (~1mm depth). Cut one groove directly in the middle and one on each side of the staff, with a little margin to the edges. Tip: Use the saw parallel to your working bench and slightly roll the staff.

Use the sandpaper to grind the edges of the wooden staff and to widen the grooves a little bit. Now you can put the rings over the staff a place each in one groove.

Step 3: Done

Your stand is finished. Now you can place it under the your notebook. It fits perfectly in my notebook bag.

Comments

[mickeypop]

PC laptops are forever getting warm and i have found it is always airflow that proves to be the issue. Those cooler boards don't cool well and never as much as just plain air space underneath. Being the engineer i tested and got an average 22-26% cooler with the spacer than the fan boards.

I have been using similar to yours for years now but with minor differences.

I use a 1" PVC tube with end caps. I grind off a bit of the side of the caps so it will not roll and only glue 1 cap so pens rulers etc.. can be stored as well.

all in all they are great to have....Good instructable - hope allot find it

.

[buildandsewandstuff]

Oooh, love the storage idea! My first thought was, what a great place to keep my earbuds that I use sometimes when viewing videos.

[Crucio]

I like that storage idea, too. But you can combine the two projects (use O-rings instead of grinding) and have the best of both worlds.

[mickeypop]

the problem with your combining idea is it still has no flat side to keep the rolling under control.

Grant you the o-rings "give" some traction, but they still leave it round and can still roll out from under the laptop.

The flat cut-away on the caps deal with that issue so the rolling is gone.

If the o-rings are added they lift it up enough to roll again and defeat the point of making a flat side.

[jyo001]

If you travel with your stand, do you store items inside the tube?

[mickeypop]

Yes.
I have a mechanical pencil, eraser, yellow highlighter, 12" ruler and extra leads, all on the tube

[Stish]

Very nice idea with the PVC tube. You should write an instructable about it. I thought about cooling boards as well, but I need a portable solution, that's why I use the stick.

[zposner]

Does it roll out from under the laptop

[Stish]

It works for me and doesn't roll out or around at all. There are some great ideas in comments how you could deal with this problem if it occurs.

[suziehotrod]

I got a dowl rod the appropriate diameter and drilled out two wine corks and glued and stuck them on the ends. Provides a lot more air flow.

[Crucio]

I bet it looks nice, too. Upload a pic if you can.

[KimberleyH]

I like that idea. I was looking for something small that would tilt my wacom tablet at an angle, that would work.

[peterjens]

If Apple made these, there would be an Apple logo and $129.99 price tag on it.

[Crucio]

Seriously, though, an apple logo on the ends of the dowel would make great finishing touches to this really nice project. A simple marker or, even better, wood burning tool could achieve this in no time.

[skagit]

lol...wonderful comment

[Stish]

Well then I'll put a pear on it and sell it for 99$ ;) ...but not in rose gold

[mickeypop]

probably more like $199.95

Apple never sells cheap

[jyo001]

This is great!

[maniacse]

I am using 4 boxes from mints (TicTac), but those are not aligned and not so nice as this one. But it works.. :)

[thepoisonivy]

This is cool...hey a pun...sort of. I will make this, however, because there is literally nowhere in my house that is level, I will sand down the rings to give them a flattish plane and hopefully prevent rolling. I love Instructables like this - brilliantly, deceptively, simple hacks for things that actually make a difference in my day-to-day...Danke!