Comments posted organically
SelectSmart.com Homepage
Display Order:

Have I got this right...?
Crime by Ponderer     January 7, 2025 7:40 am (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: HatetheSwamp (15 comments) [160 views]


Trump's America, home of the fact free.
Fact Check by Curt_Anderson     January 7, 2025 12:19 pm (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: HatetheSwamp (8 comments) [140 views]


pb's Legal Goober #1 on lawfare and the Manhattan trial
Law by HatetheSwamp     January 7, 2025 6:51 am (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: meagain (7 comments) [87 views]


Mexican response to Trump.
Politics by meagain     January 7, 2025 6:52 am (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: HatetheSwamp (5 comments) [34 views]


McDonald’s is the latest company to roll back diversity goals
Gay & Lesbian by HatetheSwamp     January 7, 2025 3:38 am (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: Indy! (1 comments) [26 views]


Canada's US election night coverage video
Media by HatetheSwamp     January 6, 2025 1:44 pm (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: meagain (3 comments) [79 views]


January 6, 2025. Fourth anniversary of that mostly peaceful protest
Government by HatetheSwamp     January 6, 2025 9:59 am (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: Indy! (11 comments) [85 views]


Is Trump as incensed as he seems or are his histrionics an act?
Personality by Curt_Anderson     January 6, 2025 12:19 pm (Rating: 5.0) Last comment by: HatetheSwamp (7 comments) [77 views]


Giuliani Is Held in Contempt of Court in Defamation Case
Law by Curt_Anderson     January 6, 2025 2:27 pm (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: Donna (2 comments) [35 views]


Las Vegas terror bomber: A DEIed Green Beret
Government by HatetheSwamp     January 2, 2025 8:32 am (Rating: 0.0) Last comment by: meagain (46 comments) [472 views]


How-to selectors, pages, etc.
A unique and practical gift idea you can make at home: personalized smartphone stands.
By Curt_Anderson
December 6, 2021 9:02 pm
Category: How-to

(5.0 from 2 votes)
Rules of the Post

SelectSmart.com SelectSmart.com SelectSmart.com


I exchange Christmas gifts annually with five running buddies. We had been keeping our gifts within a ten dollar range but that price limit has been creeping upwards over the years. None of us are religious, but three of my friends were raised Jewish so these are really Christmas/Hanukkah gifts.

I figured this was a good year to make handmade gifts. There is the supply chain issues for one thing. For another reason it's been getting harder and harder to come up with unique but practical gift ideas.

My idea was smartphone stands. I have a limited collection of tools So I came up with a simple design that I could make with the tools that I own. My design required a saw (I have old chop saw which I picked up at a yard sale), a power drill and vibrating sander. I also used a two-inch hole saw (see third image below) and a round rasping tool which are both power drill attachments.

The wood for the project was thin oak boards (2.5" x .25" x 4'), half inch round oak dowel rods and one inch square dowels (probably pine). The material cost was $4.40 per unit.

The tricky part of the project was the accuracy required. So I made jig so I could align the holes exactly. If you look at the images below you can see that the round dowels needed to fit perfectly into the square dowels but they also needed slide freely through the oak boards. So I drilled through the boards into the square dowels using a brad point drill which makes it possible to center when you are holding the drill by hand. If I had a drill press it would be easier to keep things aligned. Using the round rasp I enlarged the holes slightly in the oak boards. I also used the hole saw to make feet in boards.

I happen to have some polyurethane for floors leftover from a previous project which I used to coat the stands.

To personalize the gifts I made two-inch holes through the oak boards to make a cameo-sized frame for photos of my friends. I made pocket sleeves to hold the photos out of some old plastic essay covers from my kids' school days. I glued the pockets to the back side of the boards.

If you look at the images below you can get a good idea of how I made these smartphone stands. Since the legs slide through the holes, the angle of the phone is adjustable. Incidentally, the stands are stable and well-balanced regardless of the phone's angle.

As I said the cost of the wood for each stand was $4.40. I used quite a bit of sandpaper. Have to admit that I spent a good deal of time on the stands. I am a believer in measuring twice and cutting once. Since I took my time on these so I don't want to calculate my labor costs. Fortunately I have a lot of time for projects like this and I enjoy it. Since the design is my own, I couldn't really find anything exactly like them on Amazon or anywhere else. I found some simple and nonadjustable wooden smartphone stands for as little as $10 although $20 and up was the more usual cost.


Comments Start Below


The views and claims expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of SelectSmart.com. Not every statement made here can be assumed to be a fact.
Comments on "A unique and practical gift idea you can make at home: personalized smartphone stands.":

  1. by Donna on December 7, 2021 7:15 am
    Way cool! I hope they appreciate your work.


  2. by islander on December 8, 2021 4:02 pm

    What a great idea! Messing around in my little woodworking shop is one of my hobbies!


  3. by Curt_Anderson on December 8, 2021 4:42 pm
    I've given away four of these smartphone holders so far. They are a hit with my friends.

    Islander, if you are woodworker, I bet you could improve on my design. I am function before form designer, so I tend toward the utilitarian.

    I don't have anything that would qualify as a woodworking shop, but I have a shed with a decent collection of tools that I use as a handyman on my own house and couple of rentals that we own.


  4. by georges on December 8, 2021 7:56 pm
    They look pretty great!


  5. by islander on December 9, 2021 5:50 am

    Curt, I too favor function over form. Not that I don’t appreciate form, I absolutely do, but if I have to sacrifice one for the other I’ll always lean toward function over form. My wife, however, keeps things a little more balanced which is probably a good thing. If I lived alone who knows what the house might look like !! LoL 



Go To Top

Comment on: "A unique and practical gift idea you can make at home: personalized smartphone stands."


* Anonymous comments are subject to approval before they appear. Cookies Consent Policy & Privacy Statement. © 1999 - 2025 Selectsmart®.com - Do not copy without written permission. All Rights Reserved. SelectSmart® is a registered trademark. | Contact SelectSmart.com | Advertise on SelectSmart.com | This site is for sale!

Find old posts & articles

Articles by category:

SelectSmart.com
Report spam & abuse
SelectSmart.com home page