Adjustable Portable Tablet Stand From Dvd Cover

This tablet stand can be made from a standard dvd cover in a matter of minutes. The stand angle is easily adjusted. When not in use, the stand takes up only as much space as a dvd cover and weighs practically nothing. You can also decorate the backside with swappable images/prints.

Things you need: a dvd cover, about 1 meter of thin and preferably slippery string with decent tensile strength (e.g. fishing line or gift wrapping ribbon), something to use as stoppers on the string (beads, fishing line sinkers), a knife or other tool to cut plastic.

Snap or cut off the plastic clips that hold the inside leaflet. Cut the corner on the short edge as shown. Do this step on both front corners. I just used a knife to work the plastic, perhaps a hacksaw might work better but I don't have one.

In one corner of the backside, make two slits or small holes for a string (here I have the string already threaded through the slits). I used gift wrapping ribbon because it's slippery and reasonably strong. Here, the holes don't need to go through the outer plastic film, so I slid a piece of cardboard underneath the film and cut from the inside.

In the opposite corner, make an appropriately shaped "keyhole" (according to the type of string and stoppers you use). Here, the outer film is also cut.

Thread your string first through the two small holes. Then thread both ends of the strings through the holes in the front cover (where the leaflet clips used to be). Then pull the strings through the "keyhole".

With your tablet on the stand, find the appropriate spots for your stoppers. I used pieces of crappy old speaker cable, about 20 mm long. I rolled the gift ribbon one around the cable piece, then used pliers to clip the cable tightly around the ribbon.

To achieve sufficient balance and sturdiness, the top edge of the stand should always touch the tablet ABOVE the center of the tablet. And when viewed from the side, no part of the tablet should reach further back than the base of the stand.

Afterthought: I could have used fishing line instead of ribbon and lead sinkers for stoppers. That would be really durable and also more "professional" looking :-)

We are basically done here. You can clean up the cuts e.g. with sandpaper. Or heat. I heated up a carpenters knife on the stove for about 30 secs, then used the hot knife to melt down sharp edges. Perhaps this would have been the best method of cutting in the first place. Be careful not to get plastic on your stove: wipe the blade clean (i rubbed it against cardboard) before it cools down too much. Oh, and also, don't burn yourself and be careful with knives and stuff :-)

Protip: DO NOT try to protect the stove with aluminum foil, like I did. The foil melted onto the stove, which obviously is harder to get off than plastic.

Note that you can decorate the back/outside of the stand by sliding in a nice photo, or anything you can print or draw, or why not a piece of cloth.