By Chris 
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]
Nice modification!
[…] 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 […]
[…] 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 […]
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!
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!
Ohh, haha, well, thanks anyway even though it was here the whole time, i will definitely be back. Thanks alot!
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
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!