Card Phone Dock/Cradle

Repurpose old credit cards/gift cards to a phone dock. This DIY phone dock can mount almost any phone in landscape and portrait orientation. This phone dock can also be mounted on surfaces such as laptop corner or table for easy access.

2 Plastic Cards
Scissors
Lighter
Double Sided Adhesive Tape
Cutter Blade
Hole Puncher

Punch a hole on the card. The hole should be large enough for your charging cable to fit through.

Since I am using a micro USB port phone, the hole that I created on the card is around half an inch in length.

Create the base of the card phone dock by folding the plastic card. Use a wedge or glass table to fold the card to around 45 degrees. This step is simply to create a mark on the fold. Do not bend the card more than 45 degrees at this point since the card might break. Based on my experience, it is best to create the fold right on top of the hole.

After making the line where the card should be folded, heat the folded surface of the card with a lighter to make it more pliable and easier to fold. continue folding the card until the fold is around 135 degrees from the original position.

The end result should be a card that looks like a sled board with the hole just below the fold.

Create the support assembly of the phone dock by folding the opposite edges of the card up to 90 degrees and cutting the corner edges with a scissor as illustrated. Use a lighter to make the card pliable while folding to avoid breaking the card.

Stick some double sided adhesive tape below the support assembly so that it can attach to the base.

Before securing both cards together, make sure that the angle of the phone is perfect for viewing. This can be done by varying the distance between the folded part of the base assembly and the support assembly.

TIP to get the best angle: Turn of your phone, mount your phone on the card, and you should see your face from the phone's reflection.

The card phone dock can be used on top of a table or other surfaces. Since I am using my laptop elevated and using a separate keyboard, I have no use for the palm rest of my laptop. I have secured my card phone dock on it's edge with double sided adhesive tape so I can easily check my phone when working on my laptop. The phone can be placed on either landscape or portrait orientation, and the hole in the dock allows access to micro USB while on portrait mode.

Optional:

1. Use a better looking cards than the ones I used :P
2. Paint your card
3. Use velcro sticker to attach the card phone dock on the laptop so it can easily be taken out when needed.

Slight modification on the base. I cut through the lip of the base support as shown so that I can easily dock and undock the mobile phone what the micro usb is still attached on to it.

*Check out my new project on how to make a phone dock on an airplane seat:
https://www.instructables.com/id/Phone-Mount-on-Plane-Seat/