Do you need a stable and cheap phone stand to use while making speaker phone calls, listening to music, watching videos/movies, using the phone for self portraits or as a security camera, etc.?

Here is a stand with minimal effort and expenditure.

Warning: You DON'T need a 3-D printer for this project.

Step 1: Bill of Materials

If you are looking for a sturdy, stable and cheap/free phone stand, your quest ends here. This project is about up-cycling/recycling a useless and obsolete article into something useful used occasionally.

First, you will need to find a case for an audio cassette. If you are old enough to know what an audio cassette is, you may have them stashed some place in the house. If you are not that old, ask grandpa or grandma if one can be spared.

The specific type we need is as shown, where the cassette is held in the lid which flips shut over the main body. There are other simpler kind but they would not be useful as a phone stand. The one I have used is from a FUJI DR-I audio cassette.

Step 2: Let Us Build It

Now, what you need to do is open the cassette case and remove the paper liner/label if there is one. Once you have done that, you are ready to use the case as a phone stand.

Step 3: Final Assembly

So, you have removed the paper liner from the case. Now open the case all the way and set it on a stable and level surface and you are looking at your phone stand. Make sure your phone is not too fat otherwise it may not fit. I found that a Kyocera Hydro Icon just made it where as a larger but slimmer Huawei 5X Honor made it comfortably in this stand. I believe that most iPhone models will fit as they are slim.

For now, the phone will fit only in vertical orientation.

If you want to have a stand for watching movies on the phone, you may have to bring out a Dremel or similar tool and carefully cut down the side panels enough to accommodate the phone in horizontal position. This will be a delicate operation and i have not yet performed it. I may update the instructable in near future with that step.

For now, enjoy the stand for facetime or skype calls, etc. You may also cut down the 2 posts in the lid of the case where the cassette sprockets were intended to be held and then you may use the case to hold candy or gum or anything else, like credit cards and it will be a multi-function phone case.

Step 4: Cutting the Side Panel for Horizontal Orientation

Here is the update to cut the sides for landscape orientation.

Cutting the side panels was easier than I imagined.

First I marked the line on each side with a small flat bladed screwdriver where the case intersected the lid in open position. This is shown in pic. 1 above.

Then, carefully remove the lid from the case by pressing outward on the panels that act as hinges and easing the lid out.

Then I used a hacksaw blade without its frame to cut along the lid on both the sides to the marks we made. See Pic 2.

The lid was scratched up a bit by the hack saw but one can prevent it by taping a paper on the inside of the lid while cutting.

Then I scored the marks deeper with a small flat bladed screwdriver and then snapped off the area that needed to be removed. See Pic 3.

Pic 4 shows a Samsung Galaxy S4 phone resting sideways in the stand.

The stand is now ready for landscape or horizontal orientation of the phone. Snap the lid back in the case and you are ready to use the stand.