PVC Laptop Stand
Cheap, easy, and effective… what better way to start this place off with? In this post we will be building a stand for your laptop for well under $5.00! In addition to increasing air-flow and elevating your laptop’s screen, this simple project will also be able to hide a couple of your computer cables and remove a little bit of clutter from your desk.
Design
To start things off, I would like to say that this is not my own idea, or design. The idea came from a project posted on Instructables.com, and is actually a combination of two different designs found. The original design (found here) acts more as a flat shelf, bringing the laptop up off of the desk and the only supports being in the back of the stand. I didn’t think that would be very safe, and I also didn’t like the style of it, so I wanted to make something different. Luckily in the comments of that project was the link to another person’s take on the project, who also had concerns similar to mine. Their design (found here) was a lot closer to what I envisioned mine as, a prop to raise it up off the ground at an angle. for my stand, I took the prop-style design but also added some holes on the back-end to allow for cable routing.
Tools you will need:
- A saw capabe of cutting through PVC pipe
- Sharpie marker (to mark your cuts)
- Measuring tape (not required. more on this later)
As stated earlier, one great aspect to this project is the very low cost. I planned on making at least two stands so I went with a 10′ length of PVC pipe and bought double the required connector pieces. The final cost was about $4.50 – including sales tax. After making both of my stands I ended up with about 3 or 4 feet left over.
Materials you will need:
- A length of 3/4″ PVC pipe – 5′ at least I would think.
- 2 3/4″ PVC corner-connectors
- 4 3/4″ PVC T-shaped connectors
Cuts
First and foremost – I didn’t measure any of the cuts while making this. It was all eye-balled. I would put the PVC pipe next to the laptop and draw a small line with a sharpie marker where I thought should be cut, and if it was too long, I would cut it down a little bit more and check again. Remember that you want to cut too long before you cut it too short. After you make your cut, use a towel or rag to wipe away any dust left on the pipe. When I was cutting for my stand, it seemed like the dust irritated my skin if I got it on my hands, so try to avoid getting it onto your skin, and wash it off with soap and water if you do manage to touch it. Use gloves if you are really worried about it. Also note that your cuts do not have to be completely straight. The PVC pipe will just be fitting together to the connector pieces and the ends will not be visible. If you feel they are too jagged or rough feel free to use some sand paper to smooth it down, though it isn’t necessary.
Another thing to remember while you are planning your cuts is to be sure you won’t be blocking anything off that you need access to, such as switches or cable plugs. With the design we are using the only area you really have to worry about is the front of the laptop. On my laptop, I have a network switch, sound jacks, and a memory card reader right on the front, and the memory card reader is pretty close to the outside edge, so I measured it out so that the support bars were sitting right underneath the edges of my laptop’s base and not blocking my card reader. I also made one for my dad and since all of his ports were on the side and back of the laptop, I was able to have the support bars closer together, lending a bit more stability to it.
I wanted to be sure I had flexibility with height, so for the small connector pieces on the back that determine the height, I made three sets of different lengths, each about an inch and a half shorter than the one before it. (As these are the only pieces that are not dependent on the size and shape of your laptop, the sizes would be wise to have. I don’t have the measurements of these pieces right at this moment, but I will post them later on when I can.)
Putting it together
While putting it all together, make sure it fits snugly together. To be sure the back connectors are even, measure the distance between the two t-shaped connectors with your tape measure and make sure they match. If you don’t have a tape measure, use anything else you can judge distance with, like a pencil.
If you are going to be using the cable routing, you will probably have to take some of it apart to make the cables fit around the edges of the frame. If you are simply running it through the flat strip in the back then it shouldn’t be an issue. If you are running a cable through to the front of the laptop, you might want to try turning the front connectors inwards a little to help the cable not have to bend as much. I have my speaker cable run through this way, and just leaving the connectors straight up, the cable seemed to stick up quite a bit and was very distracting. Another thing to note is that the t-connectors in the back can work with the opening either facing up or back. Choose which way works best for you, and even use one of both if your setup requires as such. The connectors on the bottom will only work with the opening facing outwards.
Future
I am very happy with the way that this project ended up, though in its current state I have at least two ideas for ways that I can improve it. The first, and more important idea would be to get some rubber pads to fit on the bottom of the stand. It sits perfectly on is own, but if you put any kind of pressure on it or the laptop, it can slide very easily. I didn’t think of this while I was planning things out. The other idea would be to paint it. The white doesn’t look bad, but its not for everyone.
If you have any questions, comments, or ideas on how to improve this laptop stand, then shoot me an e-mail at sunny [at] h4xful [dot] net and I will get back to you.
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- Published:
- 03.22.08 / 6am
- Category:
- Other
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