It's clear that the pandemic impacted everyone's lives immensely and caused us to change our daily routine. Thankfully things are slowly getting better but most of us still have to work or go to school at our homes and if you're like me using a small laptop isn't always fun. And now that were coming back to school students are going to be using their laptops more than ever. If your like me your tired of slouching over your desk. I've been wanting to get a laptop stand but i want one that best fits my needs, so why not make one. Here ill show you my design process to make your own laptop stand.

Supplies

To design my laptop stand I'm using Fusion 360 a free CAD software that almost anyone can use.

My model is designed based on the material I have which is 1/5 inch plywood
A Ruler
My design was intended to be laser cut but you can build this design with a few woodworking tools such as a drill and either a (bandsaw, jigsaw or handsaw).
Wood Glue

Step 1: Finding a Solution

My desk is a bit small for me and I want my laptop to be eye level, which I've heard is better for one's posture. Because I'm want to elevate my laptop I won't be able to use the mouse or keyboard on it.

To begin, take measurements by placing objects beneath your laptop to reach the desired height and measure it in relation to the table. You should also measure how wide the stand is by measuring your laptop.

Step 2: Sketching My Model

I went through a few design iterations to get to this final design and as you can see I've made slots for laser cut parts to fit in unison like a jigsaw puzzle. If you're designing it to be laser cut make sure all the slots are the thickness of your material plus a tolerance (0.2-0.4mm) so all the pieces fit together without struggle. Also make sure the thick ness of supporting spots are strong enough to hold the laptop. Don't make the pivoting side to thin or the laptop stand might bounce or even snap.

Step 3: Modeling

My stand consists of two sandwich sides that connect with the base and a front lip to keep the laptop in place. I also designed it so that the top surface is flush when the slots are interlocked. As you can see once the top is placed it is kept together restricting the other parts from moving and this way the stand is sturdy. Most of the model is simple extrusions but you should always double-check everything aligns and measurement are accurate especial for models like this one which needs to interlock.

Step 4: Finishing the Model

In my design, I removed much of the wood from the inside so that it would feel less bulky but know if you keep solid it will be more sturdy. If you want you can download the Fusion file or the step file so you can make the model yourself.

Step 5: Conclusion

All in all, it was a great challenge to design this laptop stand and had a lot of fun while doing it. I hope I provided some help for people also designing a laser-cut laptop stand. Unfortunately, i dont have my own laser cutter so im not able to make it myself but as soon as the one i have access to is ready, ill post the build here.