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Printable iPhone 4 Tripod Mount

19 Sep

Over the weekend I stumbled upon this awesome Instructable by jtsubota “iPhone 4 Tripod Mount“. The parts list was short and I decided to try to pick up all the required parts after work Monday night. Unfortunately for me, my local hardware store was missing a handful of the (already short) parts list. I almost gave up and was prepared to head home empty handed when I realized I could easily modify the project using my Makerbot and make this work with what I was able to find.

I started by picking up just the bare necessities:

  • 1/4 inch hex nuts
  • 30mm suction cups

When I got home I opened up my modeling software of choice Google Sketchup and got to work replicating the basic design I found on Instructables. Rather than secure all the parts in place using screws like jtsubota did I modeled everything to press fit in place. The nut fits in very snuggly and the suction cups snap into place with a firm push. Once everything is attached it feels really solid. So much so that I can shake my phone by the tripod mount without fear of it disconnecting.

If my calculations are correct, I believe the cost of this project breaks down like this:

  • 1x 1/4″ nut $0.40
  • 2x 30mm suction cups $0.59 each
  • ~$0.50 woth of Makerbot plastic.

Right around $2 for a really solid tripod mount ready to be printed on demand. Not bad at all!

[thingiverse thing=11711]

 
8 Comments

Posted in camera, makerbot

 
  • jtsubota

    Nice modification!

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  • http://notapornsite.wordpress.com Christian

    Wow, very impressive man, I have access to a 3D printer and I was wondering if you could provide the file for download? That would be amazing. Thanks!

    • chris

      If you follow the link at the bottom of the post to Thingiverse you can find the Google Sketchup skp and printable STL from this project. Thanks for reading!

      • http://notapornsite.wordpress.com Christian

        Ohh, haha, well, thanks anyway even though it was here the whole time, i will definitely be back. Thanks alot!

  • David

    Wow! Amazing. Is there any chance I could buy four of the plastic pieces from you? I can put the rest of it together myself. I’d give you $10 for four of them and even send a self-addressed, pre-paid package for you to send them back in. All you’d need to do is drop them in the mail. Please let me know. Thanks. -David

  • http://www.brokenfotografy.smugmug.com stephen lebovits

    hey there,

    do you sell these at all? if not you should, a small kit, including cups n nut. can i buy one? i live in invermere, b.c., would you ship it to me, please?

    stephen

    p.s. jtsubota is selling his on etsy, but i think your’s is more elegant. you should market it, it’s what i have been looking for. try kickstarter.com, i sure others would find it neat and very useful! as a matter of fact, i’d like to buy a few, for friends, kewl?

    hit me back, n thanks!