When I started this project I had something else in mind. In fact, I bought my wife a commercially made iPad stand some time ago and I set out to replicate that. In the end this is nothing like that but… better (ok not entirely better but pretty good). And, what’s more, this one is 100% fun to build and play with.
There are some good reasons the commercially made ones are made of machined aluminum, and I am not going to lie, those are nice, but there is something about 3D printing things (at least for me) that compete with the commercially made alternatives. And, this one is as much an educational exercise as it is a tablet stand. It demonstrates:
- Print-in-place hinges & press-fit joints
- Conical thrust bearing with offset detents
- An orbital gear system
- Click joints
- Double helical gear-to-gear joints
- Twist-and-lock + threaded assemblies
- Snap fit, rotational fit, and press fit examples
I designed this to fit 11″ tablets, because that is what I have, but I imagine it will work fine with smaller and larger ones also.
I have made all the articulated joints quite stiff to stabilize the assembly and keep it as rigid as possible.
Print Settings
Functional designs (such as this one) generally require more strength than non-functional designs and more strength than the typical default slicer settings provide, so please review your slicer settings carefully.
This product was designed for a 0.4mm nozzle, a 0.2mm layer height. For best results I suggest the following:
Assembly Notes
Please watch the video I made on how to assemble it, but the following images should be helpful as well.
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