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Topic: 3D printed phone mount for tripod - with 3d printed hardware!

I dont have a good digital camera - yeah, I have an el-cheapo, but lets be honest - today's cell phones take better pictures.

so in order to use my phone camera on a tripod, I had to have a way to mount it to the tripod...

Found a universal phone mount on thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:366210) and printed it out with the intention of going to the hardware store to get the required hardware to make it work...

that was about a month ago...

today, I was asked about taking some pictures of something and the tripod would be VERY useful for this project... but I still have not been to the hardware store... hmmm...

McMaster Carr has CAD files of most of the hardware they offer, so I went and downloaded the CAD file for a 1/4-20 nut that is required for attaching the mount to the tripod base (the part that screws on to most cameras). Converted the CAD file to an STL, loaded it up and printed it out (4 of them actually) at a fine layer height... it worked!

http://soliforum.com/i/?m7fw5gW.jpg

http://soliforum.com/i/?8TQN3Rz.jpg

so then I needed some way of connecting the 2 halves to actually hold the phone in place... I had some M5 threaded rod on hand... back to McMaster Carr for some M5 hardware... downloaded a standard nut and a thumb nut...
Since the phone holder was designed to use 1/4" hardware, I needed to increase the outer diameter of the standard M5 nut just a little so it would fit snugly in the nut pocket. Once that was done, I saved as STL, sliced and printed out 2 of each piece...

http://soliforum.com/i/?BhpoTWg.jpg

the M5 hardware has a much finer thread than the 1/4-20 does, but it still worked out pretty well. the standard nut I wanted to use on the bottom was a very tight fit, which in this case was a good thing - i dont have to worry about it coming loose. I had to use a pair of pliers to hold the threaded rod while turning the nut on with a small crescent wrench...

http://soliforum.com/i/?iUeix5y.jpg

for the thumb nut - to be used on top - I decided to go ahead and use an M5-0.8 tap on the threads to make turning it a bit easier...

and it all works quite well...

http://soliforum.com/i/?X0LvRYN.jpg

http://soliforum.com/i/?ndEXoQg.jpg

so now I can go take those pictures with ease! Got to love using a 3D printer to print out hardware so you dont have to make a 30 minute trip to town to go to the hardware store! big_smile

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

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Re: 3D printed phone mount for tripod - with 3d printed hardware!

Nice!  Gotta love stuff like this!

SD2 - Stock - Enclosure - Heated Bed - Glass Plate - Auto Fire Extinguisher
Ord Bot Hadron - RAMPS 1.4 - Bulldog XL - E3D v6 - 10" x 10" PCB Heated Build w/SSR - Glass Plate
Thanks for All of Your Help!