Rock Climber IPhone Dock

This Instructable will walk you through making a cute little rock climber smart phone stand. I made this so It could old my phone while I bake, which I do a lot!! I've found that it's great for displaying my recipe in a hands free, butter smear free place.

We will be using the following tools:

1. Scroll Saw
2. Router (or table saw)
3. Nail gun (or drill)
4. Sander

And the following supplies:

1. 1' X 1.5' of 3/4" thick plywood
2. Polyurethane (or other sealer)
3 Paint is optional.

Let's get started with making this little guy.

You will need to cut the plywood into three pieces.

1. 5" X 5" square for the climber
2. 6" X 4" rectangle for the back
3. 5" X 4" rectangle for the base

Click on the image of the rock climber and print it off. You shouldn't have to adjust the zoom as its already sized to be approximately 5" by 5". Check out the video for an idea of how big that is next to an iPhone 6S.

Cut away he excess paper around the climber. Spray the back of the climber with 3M adhesive. Flip him over and press him against the 5" by 5" plywood square. You can also use a glue stick to do this step if you don't have 3m adhesive

I used a scroll saw to cut out the rock climber, but if you have a jig saw you can also use that. Just follow the lines of his body and try not to cut in too deep.

Once the guy is completely cut out, peel off the paper and sand all the edges down.

We need to make a long trough to rest on the climber's hand and hold the phone. To do this, you can either use a router with a 3/8" bit or a table saw to cut a trough approximately 3/8" into the plywood. The trough should be at minimum the length of your phone with ledges that are about 1/8"-1/4" inch thick.

Once you've cut the trough, sand down the edges and drill a hole directly through the center for the charging cable. For an iPhone lightening cable, you will need to drill 2 3/16" holes side by side.

Now it's time to glue the trough to the climber's hand. Make sure the slit is facing up towards his head. Clamp it and let it dry.

Take the 6" by 4" piece of plywood and cut a slight angle on one of the 4" end grain sides. I cut an angle of 15 degrees. This is so that the stand doesn't create a 90 degree angle, but rather 115 degree with the surface it's resting on.

Using wood glue, fix the angled edge to the surface of the 5" by 4" piece. Shoot some nails into it to hold it in place or use a screw to hold them together.

Let that dry and then sand it down. If you want to paint the stand, now would be the time!

Make sure the climber you cut out sits flush against the 6" by 4" back. Both of his legs and his arm should all be resting flat against the back. If they don't, use a sander to flatten them out.

Apply some glue to the three limbs, and push him against the back rock. Allow him to dry for a couple of hours. Make sure that you use a decent amount of glue because that's what's holding your phone up!

I love the way that polyurethane finishes plywood so I basically use it on any plywood project. So lather on the polyurethane and let it dry! Of course, you can use finisher that you like :)