Cheap! Tripod Mount for Samsung Galaxy Note 2

I actually got this idea form another instructable and modified what I saw.  This worked out great and the whole thing cost me less than $ 5.00.  It will cost you more if you don't have some of the tools used to make it though.  I apologize for not taking photos along the way.  This is my first instructable.

Supplies Needed:

One (1) 6" plastic cake separator plate. The one I used is from Hobby Lobby.  Made by Sunny Side Up Bakery....and cost about $ 1.99

Two (2) 2" binder clips (stolen from work).

One (1) Hillman 1/4" Hammer-in insert for wooden applications. It will have barbs on it to grip into wood.  You can find this at Home Depot or Lowe's in the hardware department where all the nuts and bolts are.  Will post a picture.

Some good plastic epoxy glue.  The kind that you mix two parts and it dries super hard.

A pedestal grinder or a hand file or a jig saw. (Not needed but used to cut the cake separator into a square instead of a circle, thereby making it smaller.

Two (2) blind rivets and a rivet gun.

The cake separator plate is six inches around and the fit of your phone (you can do this for other than a Note 2) may require you to cut off the edges to make it smaller. You will have to fiddle with the plate and the bulldog clips to see if your phone will work without modification....doubtful. That is what I did with the pedestal grinder.  However, if you don't have a pedestal grinder, the white plastic cake separator is soft enough that you could take the time to scrape the sides on a sidewalk or use a hand file, or use a jigsaw, etc.

Note that the cake separator plate has four (4) feet on the bottom.  Do not remove these as they are useful as a solid support if you want to stand up your phone on a table without a tripod.  They probably won't get in your way unless you have a huge tripod plate.

I then sanded the top of the cake plate to get rid of some of the bumps.  I did not sand it enough to get rid of the circle on the top, just the bumps that stood up.

I then drilled a hole in the middle of the plate just slightly smaller than the Hillman insert. What I mean by this, is you need a drill bit that is just smaller than the diameter of the part with the barbs. You are going to force the insert into the hole with epoxy glue and it must be a tight fit so that it won't come loose. 

I then used the pedestal grinder to grind off all but two levels of the Hillman insert.  You are grinding off the small side, not the side with the flange.

Coat the barbs on the Hillman insert with epoxy glue and then force the insert into the hole.  This part is hard.  You might need to force it into the hole with a vise or place the cake plate upside down on something hard and hammer the insert into the hole. It should NOT go into the hole easily or yo umade the hole too big and only the glue will be used to hold it in and it won't work long term.  Wipe away any excess epoxy.  Allow overnight to dry.

Sand away any epoxy or dirty spots.

Then take the chrome handles out of the binder clips and, IF NEEDED, use a pliers or something similar to widen them.  Replace in binder clips.

This next part is tricky, because the binder clip side UNDER the cake plate needs to be flat against the plate (look at the photos).  Hold the clips flat against the bottom and you will see that the top part where your phone goes will angle up.  Make sure when it is in this position that your phone or tablet fits perfectly.  When you have found where this should be, use a sharpie or pencil to mark where the binder clip is on the bottom.

Now you will need to drill one hole in each of your binder clips.  The hole needs to be the same size as your rivet.  Binder clips are exceptionally strong and you may need to center punch the clip first before a drill bit will get started.

Now you have marks on the bottom of the plate as well as a hole in your binder clips.  Replace the clips onto the plate and mark the hole location on the bottom of the cake plate.

Not drill the holes in the cake plate and secure the binder clips to the cake plate with the rivets.

Your contraption should now screw onto any 1/4" tripod plate and will hold your phone.  You can add a velcro strap if you need to use it with a gorillapod or something like that and want to keep the phone from falling out.

Remember that you can use the plate without a tripod too, because it has four perfect, stable legs on the bottom.

Like I said, sorry about the lack of step by step pictures.  I will make another one of these and take it step by step.  Hopefully you get the idea.

Any problems, email me at [e-mail]