Great Christmas gift, done in an hour

Asa Christiana, editor, Fine Woodworking magazine

17 users recommend

Your can make this iPad stand from scrap wood in an hour or less. The natural material contrasts nicely with the high-tech tablet.

Steve Casey

The stand holds the iPad in the vertical position too, with a little cutout for the home button.

Steve Casey

Your can make this iPad stand from scrap wood in an hour or less. The natural material contrasts nicely with the high-tech tablet.

Photo: Steve Casey

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A past contributor to FWW, Steve Casey, has a great small gift item on his website. It is a simple stand for an iPad, and he welcomes anyone to make them on their own. You can make them with scraps, in an hour or less.

I've got an iPad myself, plus the Smart Cover from Apple that doubles as a stand. The trouble with the Smart Cover is that it doesn't always hold the iPad at the right angle, especially if you use your iPad with a separate keyboard (Bluetooth). This wood stand holds at it about 45 degrees which is perfect if you're not trying to type on it, but just view it clearly at a desk. It can hold it horizontally or vertically, and there is a little cutout for access to the home button in the vertical position.

I'd make at least 2 or 3 at a time for safety's sake when ripping the angled groove. The finished size is about 5 in. wide by 3/4 in. thick by 7-3/8 in. long (for an iPad2), so to make three of them, start with a board that is 5 in. wide by at least 2 ft. long. The groove needs to be about 7/16 in. thick for an iPad, cut at 45 degrees. Lay it out completely along the entire length of the stock, but before cutting it, clamp the board at an angle in a drill press and use a Forstner bit to cut out the dimples for home-button access. Then bring it to the tablesaw to rip the slot.

You can make the slot with multiple passes with a single blade, or for a flatter bottom, with a dado set in a single pass. Leave at least 1/4 in. of material at the bottom of the slot for strength.

Then chop the three stands to final length, round the corners, and round all the edges so the stand is friendly to the hand. Last, apply a finish. Four or five coats of Waterlox is great on any wood, or for even faster results, go with four or five coats of shellac (each coat will dry in 1/2 hour or less, but leave the last one for a few hours before rubbing it out with steel wool and adding a coat of wax). Afterward, I'd glue felt on the bottom to make the stand friendly to the tabletop too.

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Comments (7)

dctm55 writes:
Great suggestion !
Posted: 10:49 pm on December 26th

nznix writes: and the centre point for the forstner bit?
Posted: 5:57 pm on December 19th

nznix writes: how far back from the front edge should the slot begin?
Only got a few days to make a bunch of these for xmas gifts...

Posted: 4:55 pm on December 19th

AsaC writes: Good question. The home button is centered, so the dimple should be too. the slot should be about 3/4 in. deep (forgot to mention that earlier) so none of the screen is hidden. That means the dimple needs to extend about 5/8 in. from the top surface to give good access to the button. I think a 2-in.- dia. Forstner bit will make a nice dimple. Of course, you would be using just a section of the bit's diameter to make a 5/8 deep dimple.
Have fun.
Posted: 8:59 pm on December 18th

mrschultz writes: This looks like a nice gift project. Since I don't have an iPad to use as reference, what size forstner bit should I use, how deep should I drill, and where should the hole be located?
Joe
Posted: 10:11 am on December 18th

AsaC writes: Me too. The onboard keyboard works fine, and the Smart Cover holds it at a good angle. But with a separate keyboard the viewing angle is a bit low. That's where this stand comes in, I think. Plus it is a good angle for watching videos or whatever. But hey, it is yours, so you can sell it better than me!
Posted: 4:57 pm on December 16th

Steve Casey writes: Hey Asa, I use my unit with the onboard keyboard to type all the time. You might want to use silicone tabs for the feet instead of felt. That way when using the device keyboard the unit won’t be sliding away from you as you are typing. SC
www.stevecaseydesign.com
Posted: 1:39 pm on December 16th

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