This is (another) one of those projects that has been more than a year in the works. It started as something quite different but in essence, it was intended to be a pocket-size tool to hold a phone for watching videos in a multitude of situations. And, now I am finally happy enough with it to share it. It is as much a fidget toy as it is a multi-widget. But it works well and challenges your printing skills. With a well-tuned printer, this prints perfectly and all in one piece (print in place). It can hold your phone in numerous positions and situations.
This multi widget can hold your phone upright on a nightstand or shelf, at multiple angles on your desk, it can hang on a vertical face or a seat back (think airplane seat), it can also hang on a laptop screen or glass edge, it can also hold in a slot above a closed drawer of a cupboard, and probably more.
This one is going to be a challenge to document but here it goes…
In the widget’s most basic setup, the Phone Tray [2] rotates forward, the Phone Tray Lip [3] rotates forward to keep the phone from sliding out of the tray, and the Back Stand [4] rotates out 180° to stabilize the stand.
After that a more stabilized and angled stand can be made by folding the Back Stand [4] back away and flipping out either of the two sets of Arms [5] or [6] to lean the stand backwards at two different angles.
After that, if you fold the arms back and flip up the Thin Hook [10] you can hang the widget from any thin surface like a laptop screen. The Back Stand [4] can be used to angle the phone if desired.
Then rotating the Thin Hook [10] another 90° to the back positions it to be “wedged” in between a drawer top and its cabinet or a cupboard door and its cabinet. The Back Stand [4] can be used to angle the phone if desired.
I listed the above configurations before the next ones because to use the next ones you have to rotate the Thin Hook [10] 360° from its original location and as you do that rotate out the Upper Frame [7]. Sounds weird but it works when you have it in your hand.
Then with the Upper Frame [7] rotated out, you can flip down the Claws [9] to form another type of hooking arrangement that will allow the widget to be hung from larger objects like the back of a chair or door. But you can also slide out the Slide [8] and Claws [9] by pulling on the Slide. It has a detent at 0mm, 5mm and 10mm positions allowing it to be used in or out.
In this configuration, you can choose to use the Back Stand [4] or any Arms [5] or [6] to adjust the viewing angle of your phone.
In the end, its usefulness is moderate, but the fun factor is pretty good. And, I think for the most part you have to play with it to understand how to best use this thing.
Printing
Based on my own experience, I strongly recommend using my first layer squish tool if you have not got your first layer finely tuned before printing this product. If your machine is not set up well before printing this, the hinges, pivots and detents may not work as well as they should.
Material – I generally use PETG because I like its printability, durability and flexibility; and when printing well it is almost as clean as ABS. I have also printed it in ABS+ which works well too. I suspect you could make this with PLA as well but I have not tried it.
My Setup:
Nozzle = 0.4mm
My Settings:
Layer height = 0.2mm
Line width = 0.45mm
Wall count = 4 (1.6mm)
Infill = 40%
Support = Designed to print without supports.
Orientation: As shown in the screenshot.
Post Printing: It does not require anything special post-printing but there are a few things that might be helpful to know. Check out the following video to get an overview…
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