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Making My Own Laptop Stand/iCurve

Xander562

Xander562

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 2, 2006
1,625
0
Ok so i'm going to my grandparents house for a few days on Thursday. My Grandpa has a lot of woodwork tools and i'm thinking about making a laptop stand. i Have a MBP 15.4" and it gets aweful hot. I'm thinking something along the lines of either an iCurve or just something to raise it 1/2"-1" off a tabletop. You know, to improve airflow underneath it.

I would also like to build somehting that i can put in between me and the MBP so i can have children someday. I have a few ideas but nothing solid. I am going to make it out of some type of wood, i'm not sure what kind, but we all know how great Apple computers look against wood. ;) I know there are a lot of people here at Macrumors who are pretty good designers/just have good ideas. So if you have any ideas I would like to hear them!

Also if you happen to see anything on the internet that i could perhaps model my design after, i would like to see them.

So lets hear it! All suggestions/constructive criticism is appreciated.
 
Xander562 said:
Ok so i'm going to my grandparents house for a few days on Thursday. My Grandpa has a lot of woodwork tools and i'm thinking about making a laptop stand. i Have a MBP 15.4" and it gets aweful hot. I'm thinking something along the lines of either an iCurve or just something to raise it 1/2"-1" off a tabletop. You know, to improve airflow underneath it.

I would also like to build somehting that i can put in between me and the MBP so i can have children someday. I have a few ideas but nothing solid. I am going to make it out of some type of wood, i'm not sure what kind, but we all know how great Apple computers look against wood. ;) I know there are a lot of people here at Macrumors who are pretty good designers/just have good ideas. So if you have any ideas I would like to hear them!

Also if you happen to see anything on the internet that i could perhaps model my design after, i would like to see them.

So lets hear it! All suggestions/constructive criticism is appreciated.
Click to expand...

I would make something like this. Get little rubber feet to prevent scratchs on your computer.
RTLRTCPWb.jpg


As for something that will protect your manlyness, take a solid plate of lead and cover it in rubber. It will block "harmful" heat, "AirPort Radiation", and "BT Radiation". Really, I wouldn't be concered... unless you want something to protect you if the macbook is thrown at your crotch.
 
CompUser said:
As for something that will protect your manlyness, take a solid plate of lead and cover it in rubber. It will block "harmful" heat, "AirPort Radiation", and "BT Radiation". Really, I wouldn't be concered... unless you want something to protect you if the macbook is thrown at your crotch.
Click to expand...
no,:p i'm taling about something i can put on my lap to protect me from the heat.
 
Xander562 said:
no,:p i'm taling about something i can put on my lap to protect me from the heat.
Click to expand...

That is what the rubber is for that covers the giant 2" thick peice of lead. The lead blocks out the radiation, the rubber blocks out the heat.
 
I was thinking maybe just a board with a hole in the middle. Almost like a square toilet seat. Paint it white. hmm... Maybe not
or a Board with a couple of raised runners, that it could rest on.

something like this
Code: 
 _              _
| |____________| |
|________________|

Edit:
I have Illustrator, Photoshop, Freehand, all legit, and I go for ascii art...
 
How much is your time worth to you? How much are you planning on spending on supplies? Unless you really feel the burning desire to have a DIY stand project I'd suggest just dropping by a Office Depot, Apple Store, etc. and picking up a Podium Coolpad (they're branded Targus CoolPad at Office Depot. I picked one up for $20 there.
 
How much time and money do you have to put into this? You could go with anything from a 3/8" piece of MDF with some rubber feet and a crosspiece in the back to raise the computer off the platform, to a piece made from teak or ebony that has folding feet and an adjustable piece to raise or lower the angle of the computer with inlay decorative paneling. Hell, you could even build a fan into the mix like those Targus things I've seen.

More importantly, how much woodworking skillz do you have? If it's not much, I'd stick to something real simple and try to do that well. If you're a master cabinetmaker, try to challenge yourself with something cool.

Just remember, ultimately this piece will have a life of at most 5-6 years (and even that is pushing it for a laptop) before you'll need to build a different one for your next cool new computer. And with prices at well under $50 for a good laptop stand, you may want to consider whether a different project is in order if you're going to put a huge amount of hours and money into it.

Just my two cents, from a fellow woodworker.
 
The easiest type to make is to use 3/4" boards, make two sides with about a 30º angle cut on the top, flat on bottom.

Attach on top of those another 3/4" board wide and long enough to accommodate the MBP on all sides with a little bit of a margin, then attach a thin wooden strip to the front, running the length of the front and rising about 1" up from the platform. Then drill a pattern in the computer surface for airflow. You can also attach fans underneath the surface for extra airflow.

You wind up with something that looks like my (very technical ;)) attachment.
 

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Here's the link for the Coolpad. They're $29.99 online at Office Depot. They had 'em on sale for $20 at my local store. It's small enough to stuff into a backpack and take on the road.

Podium Coolpad
 
aricher said:
Here's the link for the Coolpad. They're $29.99 online at Office Depot. They had 'em on sale for $20 at my local store.

Podium Coolpad
Click to expand...
I like those myself. I have the portable one that doesn't raise the laptop as far, but spins to allow easy display of the screen in group presentation situations. Very handy.

The more I think about it, wood is not really an appropriate choice for a laptop stand unless it's going to be part of a permanent mount like on a desk.

There's just no way to make it as light or as compact yet strong as plastics allow.
 
mactastic said:
Ooo... dovetails. Very nice.
Click to expand...

It'll have to be a very large and fairly loose-fitting dovetail to allow takedown. But yes, a dovetail.

The small block at the end of the extending "arm" should be cut so that when fully extended, it continues the slope established by the sloping block. You can turn the arms easily, drill out the sloping blocks to fit the turned arm. At the end of the arm, drill a hole to accept a wood plug, drill a channel from the top of the sloping block so that the arm + plug is free to extend but the arm is stopped by the plug at the end of extension (and also of course prevent rotation of the extending arm).

You can even have a telescopic version of the central support strut so you'll have something which can conceivably fit in a pouch of around 5.5" x 6.5" x 2".

If you have the patience and skill for bending wood, there's some really nice work I can visualise.
 
Inspired by some guy on AppleFritter, I made a stand out of K'NEX that worked very well (only dismantled when I got my specific cooling one - "ah... the drone of 8 cooling fans..." :D)
 
Sesshi said:
It'll have to be a very large and fairly loose-fitting dovetail to allow takedown. But yes, a dovetail.
Click to expand...
Loose dovetails don't hold together very well though, without some kind of mechanism to keep them in place they'll just slide apart -- at the worst possible time no doubt.
 
Obviously it's not a structural feature - the central strut is just to keep the two blocks stable when the entire assembly is sitting on a flat surface. It's not intended to be loaded in any particularly serious way. This is literally a 30-second design exercise you understand considering the skills of a basic woodworker (assuming assistance) in a reasonably well-equipped shop, but the central strut is purely, literally, a drop-in support to keep the two blocks spaced and stable.

You put the two blocks on a table then drop in the central strut. Extend the arms and sit the laptop on top. Reverse steps to pack away. Actually you don't even need a telescopic arrangement for the central strut - you can have a two-piece central strut using the same sort of dovetail engagement since it only needs to work on a flat surface.

Also obviously, this setup doesn't cover cooling while on-lap.
 
oooooohhh.... very nice! i especially like the one with dovetails,

my grandfather is a pretty good craftsman, so he will probably be instructing me, (he also has all the right tools) so i dont think difficulty will be an issue.

anyway, i like some of the ideas so far, and keep them comming!
 
Go buy a sheet of plexiglass and some small screws and be done with it! Plastic is easier to work with and less mees which is always nice. Plus you can heat the plastic up over the stove or in the oven(holding it with tongs obviously) and then curve it to your liking;)
 
I have a 1.83 MBP. I m sitting on my couch right now with it on my lap. It is really comfortable, barley warm. It is a 1.83 refurb, 512 ram and 80 gig hd. But if it is that hot then I suggest buying a professional certified iCurve just to feel comfortable with something you know others use and have had good expieriences with it.
 
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