Tag: stand

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Arm for Phone Photography & Video

I needed a way to shoot video and photos on my phone while facing straight down at a desk. I grabbed one of these adjustable suspension arms with the thought that I would figure out some way to mount my phone to it… and I did. (Ugh! I got the arm for less than $10 but it’s closer to $20 now.)

As luck would have it I found some GoPro mounts in a dumpster a few weeks ago, including a 1/4-20 mount which screws onto the end of the arm. I then laser cut a piece of 1/8″ Baltic Birch and as luck would also have it it only takes a little bit of sanding to get it to fit into the slot of the GoPro mounts.

I drew up a piece that was approximately the size of my phone, and then put in some notches where the camera is, and made it so I can flip the camera around either way. (I also cut one without the “speed holes” in it.)

This is what I used to shoot the video for my Syncing a Behringer RD-6 to a Pocket Operator via a Pi Pico post. I’ll use this whenever I need a steady shot or I need both of my hands free to twiddle some knobs.

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PVC Pipe Egg Stand

Egg Stand

In my last blog post I mentioned using a piece of PVC pipe for an egg stand. Well, I did eventually do that, and it worked well.

It was as simple as a few minutes with the coping saw and the Dremel, and I had a nice little white stand to put finished eggs on to take photos of.

Egg on stand

This looks much better than the poorly constructed cardboard tube stand you may have seen in the original pirate egg photo.

(Now the next challenge will be finding the optimal way to photograph white eggs on a white background.)

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iPad Needs a Stand

iPad Stand

I’ve already told you that the iPad needs a case, but you should know that the iPad could also use a stand. I like the Macally METROLPAD case, but it didn’t have a built-in stand as many cases do, and as I used the iPad more and more, I realized a stand would be useful.

iPad Stand

Rather than buy one, I figured that making one would be a good idea. I took a piece of wood from the scrap pile, and using the jigsaw cut a notch into it. The one on the left is an early prototype I made before I actually got the case. Once I got the case I had to make a new one with a bigger notch. The prototype was also not that great at keeping the iPad standing, so I moved the notch up towards the front. (The one on the left could probably be turned into a toy car if I added some wheels. :)

iPad Stand

Here it is in action. I should probably make a bunch of these and just leave them around various places in the house so I always have one handy.

iPad Stand

Here’s the rear view. One issue with the stand is that it works fine in landscape mode, but not so much in portrait mode. (It works, but it’s sort of “precariously balanced” to say the least.) If I really want to use the stand with portrait mode, I may work on a new one that works a bit better with both orientations.

iPad Stand

If you’ve got some scrap wood and a saw, make a stand, it’s pretty easy. Note that the stand is also backwards compatible with (many) iPods and iPhones.

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