DIY Wooden Self Adjusting Fold-able Selfie Stick Under 2$

SELFIE? or a Mental Disorder?

Lol whatever is it but we live in an era where documenting proof so necessary. Either a photo or it didn't happen. "SELFIE"s are way too mainstream nowadays. You'll see even a 7 year old taking selfies. Where there are selfies, there are selfie sticks. Normally a selfie stick ranges from 10$ to 50$ depending on its features but I am way too lazy to go and buy one so I thought why shouldn't I make one? Its easy, convenient to carry, stylish, the design is FOLD-ABLE & SELF-ADJUSTING, its even less than 2$ and most important, you don't need any fancy tools or machinery to make one so. Just a saw, hammer and drill machine will do the trick.

Step 1: Materials & Tools Required

Tools Required

• Hack-Saw or any ordinary saw that can cut wood
• Hammer
• Drill Machine
• Vice or Clamp (optional but recommended for cutting)
• Filer/Sandpaper (optional but recommended for finishing)

Materials Required

• 3 x (1" x 1" x 12" ) wood bar (they are normally available at every hardware store in 10 ft or 3 m length. One 10 ft bar can make 3 selfie sticks depending on the size you want. Here i am making it of 3 ft or 1 m. They are also usually used in making frames of doors and windows.)
• 1 x 6" wood bar
• 3 x Wing nuts
• 3 x 2 1/2 inches Bolts
• 1 x 1/2 inch nail
• 1 x 1 1/2 inch bolt (but very thin)
• 2 x Nut and Washers (for very thin bolt)
• White Glue (very small amount)
• 1 x Rubber Band or Elastic Band

Cost of Materials

These prices are of Pakistani Currency Rupees (PKR) and approximately 100 PKR = 1 $. So I am listing both prices, in PKR and converted to $ too
• 10 ft or 3 m Wood Bar = Rs. 70 or 0.7$
• Wing Nut + Bolt = 4x25 = Rs. 100or 1$
• 1/2 Inch nail = 2 dozens for Rs. 10 or 0.1$
• 1 1/2 inch bolt, nut and washers = Rs. 10 or 0.1 $
• White Glue (It was available at my place and its optional, you can use nail instead. I used white glue because it is super strong for wood and to avoid nail marks for beauty)
Total Cost = 70+100+10+10 = Rs. 190 /= or 1.90 $

See, the total cost is under Rs. 200 or 2$ !

Remember instead of 1"x1"x12" wood sticks, you can use any type and size of wood or even any material you like. Its not limited to this instructable, you can use your creativity and imagination to make this even better and with ease.

And Yes theres a difference in dimension of wood i m using . its actually 3/4"x1" in thickness. You may notice it in pictures but to avoid confusion, i've mentioned 1"x1" everywhere !

Step 2: Cut Your Wood Into Required Dimensions

For the arm of Selfie Stick, you need:
• 3 x 1 ft long wood (well thickness is upto your choice but i chose 1" x 1")

For the Head of Selfie Stick, you need:
• 2 x (1" x 1" x 1") small blocks
• 1 thin sheet of wood cut in 8x1 inches or you can slice your wood into a thin sheet or you can even use 1" x 1" thick wood if you want. I used thin sheet for beauty but it isn't really necessary as slicing it up isn't easy with hand without a table saw. I want to make instructables easy and they should not require any professional services or tools which a common person do not have. You can use ply wood too if you have extra at your place.
• 2 x (1.5" x 1") thin sheet or ply sheet to stop the mobile from slipping.

Step 3: Assemble the Head of Selfie Stick

STEP # 1: Drill hole in your one 1"x1"x1" block. Drill another slightly larger hole from both sides so that the nut and head of bolt goes inside the block (see photos). BUT BEWARE: you have to see from which side you are cutting or drilling because i m using spruce (partal) wood and sometimes it gets chipped (see photo)

STEP # 2: Take your 8"x1" sheet and you have to cut a slit or channel for your bolt to slide up and down to adjust the width of your desired phone. Remember its adjustable and you can hold any phone of any size of shape in it. To cut the slit drill many time very near on the whole sheet in length (see photos). First make marks so that drill machine wont slip. Drill so near that after few times it almost become a single slit but it would be very rough right now. That a thick Sand paper or Filers and start filing until it becomes smooth and straight. (see photos). That slit should be thick enough so that you bolt can travel through it easily.

STEP # 3: StepGlue the other 1"x1"x1" block at the bottom of that sheet and drill across that block. That hole would be used to set the angle for the selfie stick (see photos).

STEP # 4: Glue the 2 x (1" x 1.5") sheet on the top of those two 1x1" blocks (see photos). Yes the sheet is bigger because it will prevent the phone from slipping in case of mishandling or accident.

STEP # 5: Now at the bottom (the side where you nailed the block) on the opposite side, hammer a nail slightly tilted downwards. This will provide a steady hold for rubber or elastic band (see photos).

STEP # 6: Insert that block in which we added a bolt through the slit we cut on the sheet and tighten the nut from the behind with a washer (see photos).

VOILA ! your head assembly is ready. not only on a selfie stick, you can use this head on a tripod too to hold a smartphone or table on tripod by adding a nut on the bottom of the head.

Okay its a bit rough looking. See the polishing and sanding step for a finish look.

Step 4: Assemble Arm of Selfie Stick

1) On one 1 ft long stick, drill hole on one end only.
2) On one 1 ft long stick, drill holes on end on both sides.
3) On one 1 ft long stick, drill hole on one end and drill another hole at other end but in different direction (see photos).

Add Bolt and Wing Nuts as shown in above pictures.

Step 5: Attach the Head to the Arm

Attaching head to arm? sounds creepy if we are talking about humans, LOL.

Anyways attach the head to arm by the bolt and wing nut as shown in pictures.

TADA ! Your selfie stick is done (y)

Step 6: Polishing

Use sand paper and sand the whole stick or you can do it step by step as you go. a nice way to sand is to attach sand paper to a block of wood and then rub it on any any surface. For further finish and polish, instead of using fancy wood polish, use ordinary cooking oil. Apply cooking oil on a tissue paper or a piece of cloth or cotton and rub it along the whole selfie stick. Cooking Oil also gives the same shine and finish as Fancy varnishes do. You can also paint if you want but i liked the texture of wood and decided to remain it like this.

Step 7: Further Variations

You can further use the head of selfie stick on many other places like tripod or a fix stand for time lapse and etc. my tripod got broken and i urgently had to use it and all the shops were closed so i modified my head into a tripod (see photos).

Some Smartphones have features that you can take a snapshot just only pressing the volume buttons. You can attach a hands-free to your smartphone and press the call end or volume up down button to take pictures and it will work as a remote too for your selfie stick or just buy a bluetooth remote and attach !

Or you can extend the arm of selfie stick for more range.

And apologies for typo or any other mistakes in this instructable. I would be very glad if you make one and show my in comments or comment if I did anything wrong or if any improvement is required.

Thankyou

Munir Nizami