Another Day Another Simple IPad Project

  I was working at my computer today and I wanted to look at some information that I had stored on my trusty iPad.  This information was a PDF file that I needed to read that would help me with a procedure that I wanted to do on my computer.  The problem that I had was that I could not hold my iPad up to read the information by itself.  So another little project came to light immediately.  I needed a stand to hold my iPad for me.  There are probably hundreds if not thousands of IPad stands on the market but none of them in my home.  Time to start designing one that I could print on my Makerbot 3D printer.  This is what I came up with. 

 The stand is designed in three pieces so that it can be stored easily when not in use and if it got broken I could just replace the damaged part.  The red cradle pieces hold my iPad easily and securely without my having to remove the protective cover that I have on it.

 To assemble the stand all I needed to do was slide one of the keyhole shaped white arms into the receiving holes in the rear of each of the red cradles.  These receiving holes a made just slightly larger so that the arms slide in smoothly with just enough of a friction fit to hold everything in place securely without struggling to assemble or take the assembly apart. 

As you can see the iPad can be easily positioned either vertically or horizontally in the stand.  It took around three hours to print the design using my 3D printer and about $3.00 worth of plastic.  The best part about it is that I did not have to drive in the winter snow to find a stand that would have cost me at least three times as much.  Bragging rights always score big points here at the Tinker's Workshop too so that is another plus.  Already my 3D printer has been paying for itself with small projects (as well as large ) like this one. Gotta love it.