Cheap and Expandable Laptop Bed Stand

Hi everyone!

It has been few years that I wanted to buy a laptop bed stand to use when I am watching series or movies lying in my bed... But today I decided that I would built it, so it would be cheaper and I could make it my own way!

Indeed I wanted a stand that would be not too long and heavy and could fit for 1 person, but also not too short so I can have company to watch my movies with...! Therefore I decided to built my own expandable laptop stand out of PVC tubes.

So I made a video showing the making process, check it out:

But if you cannot read the video, don't worry I also wrote the steps for you!

I bought for this instructable:

• 2 meters of PVC tubes 25mmØ
• 4 meters of PVC tubes 20mmØ
• Tees
• Elbows
• Clips
• A rope
• A box lid / plastic plate / or anything that could serve as a stand

Some tools you might need:

• A saw
• A drill
• Scissors

When you have everything you need, the first step is to take the measurements you want for your stand. For example, I checked how high, how long and how large I wanted it to be. Then I have cut the perfect segments out of the PVC tubes.

The next step is just to assemble all those segments altogether with the elbows and tees, and it is quite easy to disassemble and do it again if you does not like it. This is your stand armature!

Here is the useful idea I had for the stand, to make it retractable.

The principle is simple, both of the side parts are connected through bigger PVC tubes (25mmØ) in which thiner tubes (20mmØ) (fixed to the side parts) can slide.

The important thing here is to block everything in this position, otherwise the stand can collapse, but the stand also has to move to be retractable! To do this I fixed the 25mmØ tube to the sides with ropes. When the stand is elongated (for 2 persons), the ropes are stretched and the stand do not collapse. And when you want to retract the stand, the 20mmØ tubes slide in the bigger ones, the ropes are free, and the stand can be adjust for one person.

As a stand I choose a box lid, because it has the perfect size. I drilled 3 holes on one long side of the lid (the front side of the stand), and I added the clips. With those clips it is then possible to fix the lid to the PVC armature, on the 25mmØ tubes, and you can open and close it.

On the back side of the lid, I drilled 3 others holes and added the clips again, but I have cut those clips in half so they cannot be fixed to the PVC tubes but just lay down on it (and this is needed for the next step).

As you might want your computer a bit tilted when watching movies, you can add a supplemented PVC tube with clips on the 25mmØ on which your stand is fixed.

Then I guess you are ready to try it ;)