This blog post is about how to make a homemade cardboard tablet stand.
Introduction
I made this tablet stand in April 2015, but I’ve only now decided to blog about it! With the instructions below I’ve provided measurements, but you can adapt the basic design for larger tablets. This stand is aimed tablets around the 7 inch size, such as the Amazon Kindle Fire and Google Nexus.
The design is cheap to build, but you might need to occasionally perform a minor repair. What I like about the stand is that you can easily fold it to either transport or store.
Warning: Because glue and scissors are being used, this stand should only be made by an adult or someone with the supervision and guidance of an adult. Also don’t hold me responsible for any costs, should you damage a tablet! You decide whether it is safe to use the stand or not.
Note: I’m calling the two different parts of the stand, ‘rests’. i.e. The area where a tablet rests on. Also please note, I took photos, but not of each step, but upon examining my design four years later, I’ve provided detailed instructions with the photos I did take. However the photos are of the original stand as I was designing and building it. The photos are to be viewed as a ‘rough’ guide and not precise photos of the final stand I created. If there are any errors in my instructions I apologise, but it should be easy to make adjustments.
What you need
- Electrical tape
- Glue
- Pencil or Pen
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Thin cardboard box i.e. cereal or crackers etc
Example photo of the type of cardboard used in the stand I created.
Part 1 – Cut the rests
- Cut the box, so that you end up with a large flat area.
- Now cut an area not smaller than 28cm x 12cm.
- Carefully fold the cardboard in half and then using the measurements shown in a photo further up this blog post, use the ruler and a pen or pencil to draw the lines for the rests. Please note the photo below was taken when I was designing the stand and shows some unused lines.
- Now carefully cut the folded cardboard so that you create two rests. Again please note that you can see an additional section on the ‘end/foot’ of the stand, which I later removed and you don’t need.
- Now unfold the cardboard you just created and use as a template, to draw the shape on another piece of thin cardboard. Then cut that cardboard template so that you have two templates.
- Now depending on how much cardboard you have available, you can either repeat step five, two more times to create four large sheets. Then cut each template in half to create eight rests. Else use a ‘rest template’ to maximise space on cardboard as shown below, again with the end target being eight rests (sections).
- Now glue two cardboard rests together and repeat this step four times, to create four thicker rests from the eight rests you created. Leave the rests for for a while, to enable the parts to dry.
- Now glue two of the rests together to create one thicker rest, which is actually made up of four thin pieces of cardboard. Repeat this process with the remaining rests, so that you end up with two thicker rests. Leave these alone for quite a while to allow the glue to dry.
Part 2 – Tape some of the stand together
I apologise that I didn’t take any photos of the stage of taping the stand together. I’ve edited two photos and added text to help you follow steps one to five below.
- Secure the inclines and ends of the two rests with electrical tape (but not the bottom and upper-top part of the rests).
- Place the two rests close to each other, but leave a gap. I used approximately a 1mm gap, but depending on the thickness of the cardboard you’re using, it might have to be different. i.e. thicker cardboard will require a larger gap, so that you can bend the stand rests to be at 90 degrees.
- Now connect the two different parts down the middle with strips of electrical tape.
- Now secure the bottom of each rest with electrical tape, but don’t join the two together with the same piece of tape. Instead use one piece of tape for the left and another for the right.
- Finally place a piece of tape at the top and over each rest, so that it folds over roughly 1cm on each side.
Final thoughts
The tablet stand doesn’t look great, but I’ve found it surprisingly durable, but how long it lasts depends on the type of usage. I apologise about the quality of the instructions.