Note - a Laptop Stand

Intro: Note - a Laptop Stand

Note is a versatile stand that lifts your laptop screen to an ergonomic height. It's designed to work with different computer models, and it's easy to fold and stow away when the work day is over.

The stand is simple to make if you have access to a 3D printer and a few basic materials and tools.

STEP 1: Build It, Use It, Take It Apart

Note is made of a combination of plastic, wood, and fabric, and it's easy to build.

Salvage and Re-use

If you're lucky, maybe you can find and re-use an old broom stick for the wooden parts or a left-over bag strap for the fabric. The plastic pieces are unique though, so you will need access to a 3D printer for them.

End of Life

Nothing lasts forever, and neither does a laptop stand, so whenever Note reaches its end of life, it's easy to take apart to re-use or re-cycle the parts.

STEP 2: Plastic

The plastic parts of Note are designed to be 3D-printed without the need for a lot of support material.

3D-model files (CAD files) and customization

You can find the CAD files for both parts at the bottom of this step of the guide, and you need to print two of each part to build the laptop stand.

If you want to print straight away, you just need to use the STL files, but if you want to customize the stand you can import the STEP files to your CAD software of choice.

Filament and the Environment

For Note you need approximately 250 g of filament. To minimize the negative effect on the environment I suggest that you find a plastic filament that is plant-based, such as a PLA-filament, instead of a filament made from fossil oil, such as an ABS filament.

In general, a PLA-filament is less robust than fossil-based filaments, but I find that you can compensate that with a higher infill rate (higher density) of your prints.

Print Settings

The plastic parts are designed to be printed laying flat on the print bed.

I used these settings on my Creality CR-10 Mini 3D printer:

• Layer height: 0.32 mm
• Infill density: 50%
• Printing temperature: 210 °C
• Build plate temperature: 60 °C
• Print, infill, wall, support speed: 100 mm/s
• Support: Everywhere (only needed for the small screw holes, so barely any support is printed)
• Build plate adhesion type: Raft
• Raft extra margin: 5 mm

The settings produce a pretty rough finish of the parts, due to the high layer height and quick print speed, but I like the look of it, and wanted to print it as quickly as I could.

Print Time

This is the time it took for me:

• Short parts: 2 hours and 40 minutes per part
• Long parts: 3 hours per part

Stay Safe

As always when it comes to 3D printing, make sure you have your printer in a well-ventilated area to protect yourself from any harmful fumes.

STEP 3: Wood

The wooden parts of Note are made by cutting a rod into three cylinders.

1. Find a rod with a diameter of 27 mm (1.06 in) and a length of at least 705 mm (27.76 in)
   
2. Cut the rod into three parts:
   
   • 2 x 250 mm (9.84 in)
   • 1 x 205 mm (8.07 in)

If you want you can use a clamp to hold the rod while sawing and finish the parts with a bit of sanding.

Customization

If you want a wider or narrower stand, feel free to adjust the length of the rods. As long as you keep the short part 45 mm (1.77 in) shorter than the long parts they will work fine.

STEP 4: Fabric

The fabric strap used in Note holds the stand together and makes it easy to fold and stow away when not in use.

1. Find a strap with a width of approximately 34 mm (1.34 in) and a length of at least 420 mm (16.54 in)
   
2. Cut the strap into a length of 420 mm (16.54 in)
   
3. Make a loop in each end by folding the strap 116 mm (4.57 in) from the ends of the strap
   
4. Sew the loops in place

Customization

If you want to customize the angle of the final stand you can use a longer or a shorter strap. Keep the loops in the ends of the strap in the same size and your customized strap will work fine.

STEP 5: Assembly

When you have all the parts it's time to put it together.

1. Attach the strap to the short wooden cylinder
   
2. Press the short wooden cylinder through the holes in the short plastic pieces
   
3. Press one of the long wooden cylinders through the other holes in short plastic pieces
   
4. Attach the strap to the final long wooden cylinder
   
5. Press the long plastic pieces onto the long wooden cylinders

STEP 6: Screws (Optional)

Depending on the diameter of your wooden rod, and the final dimensions of your plastic parts after shrinkage, you can stabilize Note with a few screws if needed.

If you want to do that, find six countersunk wood screws with a diameter of 4.0 mm (0.16 in) and a length of 16 mm (0.63 in).

If you use a power tool I suggest fastening the screws slowly, and to stop before the screws start to press too hard to the plastic parts, otherwise, you risk cracking the plastic parts.

STEP 7: Use It - Fold It

Great work - you're done! Now it's time to try it out.

Different Laptops

Laptops have different angles when fully opened. Depending on your computer, you can turn the stand around and try out which side that works best for you - both sides are designed to support laptops (one side at a time).

Note folds itself when you lift it, which makes it easy to stow it away when you are done with your work.

STEP 8: Other Guides in This Series

Now that you're done with your laptop stand, maybe you want to check out other guides in the same series?

Here's a project in a similar style where I make a shelf for Synthesizers: Crab - a Synth Shelf

And here's a table lamp: Lighthouse - a Table Lamp

Comments

[GuillaumeDeplancke]

Very modern and nice idea! By lifting up your laptop, did you experience any better airflow/temperatures?

[Andreno]

Hi, thanks for your question!

With the laptop on the stand it's exposed to air on the bottom, and my experience is that yes, it has a cooling effect.

[mickeypop]

I made something close to this several years ago but with a key difference.

I used PVC tubes and caps to include storage, pencils, erasers etc..
Brass.supports, Black PVC tubes and red caps looked great.
.
great posted idea

[Andreno]

Hi Mickeypop!

Sounds cool - please share an image if you want to!

[mickeypop]

Unfortunately my brother borrowed it and left it in a hotel room.
The design was simple, 4 brass strips 1/8 x 3/4 x approx. 14 inch long.
Can be most anything stiff enough.
Bend both ends around 1 inch PVC to pivot.
Secure to the bottom PVC pipes and let it pivot on the top pipe.
End caps glued on 1 end, just pressed on the other end.
A twisting motion easily removed the caps.

functionally identical to this instructable but tubes with removable ends
a friend copied it but instead of brass used a PVC slat from a window blind with a little bend along the side to stiffen.

[toolkitguy]

Nice design, but I don't have a 3D printer so I will make it out of wood, but I don't have a way to decode the .step file. Can you list the center-center spacing of the rod holes in the two legs, and the distance for the "open" position? From that I can make the short and long legs, and also the strap. Thanks!

[Andreno]

Hi Toolkitguy, thanks for the comment!

Sounds interesting to make it all out of wood, I'm attaching a sideview drawing of Note in an open position with the distances between the centers of the rods.

Let me know if you need any more info, and it would be cool to see an image of the result if you want to share it.

[NirL]

This is a great design! very inspiring :) thanks for sharing!

[Andreno]

Thanks!

[jessyratfink]

This is fantastic! Very simple and nice looking :)

[Andreno]

Thanks for your comment, I'm glad you like it!