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.
-
- iPhone mount ready to be connected
-
- Suction cupped to phone
-
- Tripod shoe connected to mount
-
- View from the front
-
- Freshly printed tripod mount
-
- Mounted and ready to record
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!
My name is Chris. I'm a Chicago area maker and 3D printing enthusiast. This blog is a home for my DIY projects, 3D designs and other miscellany.
jtsubota
September 20, 2011 at 11:30 am
Nice modification!
Hackaday Links: September 28, 2011 | The Depot of Talk
September 28, 2011 at 10:03 pm
[...] to make those iPhone videos a little more stable, and the pictures a little less blurry? Try out this printable tripod mount that [Chris] came up with. Arduino macro [...]
Hackaday Links: September 28, 2011 | CisforComputers
September 28, 2011 at 11:05 pm
[...] to make those iPhone videos a little more stable, and the pictures a little less blurry? Try out this printable tripod mount that [Chris] came up [...]
Christian
October 10, 2011 at 10:04 pm
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
October 10, 2011 at 10:10 pm
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!
Christian
October 10, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Ohh, haha, well, thanks anyway even though it was here the whole time, i will definitely be back. Thanks alot!
David
November 8, 2011 at 4:54 am
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
stephen lebovits
December 4, 2011 at 2:49 am
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!