After a long time with no mods online, i decided to sit down and write a DIY project of one of the projects i have done so far.

I am the happy owner of a macbook. What i always found annoying was that the screen was lower than my monitor while i was using my second monitor to view the content in dual screen.
I looked around trying to find a nice laptop stand, but most were really expensive. I looked around online trying to find a good DIY solution, and i did find some really interesting ones, such
as this one. Only problem was, i wanted it for free.

I looked around at my house, trying to find materials that could help my project, and eventually came up with a good and cheap (free) solution.

update: I just discovered that this article has been featured on MAKE! A big thanks to u guys n girls!

DIY no-cost laptop stand

The idea

The main idea was to get the screen vertically aligned with the monitor beside it. Because of that, the monitor had to be fully open. I used to have a carton box on my desk closed, And put the laptop on top of it in order to bring it higher. While i opened it once to check if there was anything inside, i realized that the laptop could fit on the back inlay of the box. That idea started working.

Materials

The materials needed for this project are pretty much very simple:

• Carton box ( i used a shoe box)
• A “Leg” (u need that in order to make the base stand higher. could be anything that can give height. I used an old closet leg i had around here.)
• Stanley knife
• Tie wraps

Step 1 - Cut the box top

The first thing you will have to do is cut the box in order to get rid of the - not so important- parts. To start with you will only need the top of the box. After you cut the top, make sure your laptop fits inside. Keep in mind the openings on the sides for cable connections. If the connections are being overlapped by the borders of the box, remove the borders but leave a small part at the end in order for the laptop not to move.

Step 2 - Prepare the leg and the holder

Now that we got the base of the laptop ready, we have to make the leg and the base for the leg. Start by measuring how far the leg has to stand behind the base of the laptop from the front. This will help making the proper measurements in order for the laptop to stand on the propper angle. After you know the measurements, take a piece of paper and write them down in real-size. In my case the length was 20cm and the height was 6cm. After you write down the dimentions, Take a piece of the box you have left, and cut out a part on the same dimensions as measured before. This will be the connection point for the base and the leg.

Step 3 - Connect the leg with the holder

Now that we have the material ready, we can connect them. To do that, we will put the leg on top of the cutout we just made, and note where the leg’s openings are on top of the holder. Make sure you align them straight. After you have your notes ready, remove the leg from the holder and using a sharp tool (in my case i used a small screwdriver) make four openings in the holder, in order to connect the holder and the leg. After the openings are made, Use tie wraps to connect the holder and the leg. After you connect the leg, you can cut the top of the tie wraps that points out. (At this point i could have used hard glue to connect the leg but for the sake of change i used tie wraps.)

Step 4 - Place a stopping point at the end of the holder

In Order to get the base elevated and maintain it connected to the holder, I used a small stop which i found in my toolbox. The purpose of it is to prevent the laptop’s base slipping down the stand. After you find the middle of the holder point, make a hole and apply the stop point.

Step 5 - Beta testing

At this point you have an -almost- working laptop stand.

Step 6 - Minor details

While i was testing the stability and reliability of the stand, i realized that the laptop base was slipping down, even with the stop point attached. After examining the stand better, i tried to find why the base is slipping down. Eventually i realized that the grip the stop point was applying was not enough. Therefor i added some “safe point” tie wraps in two places, in order for the base to get more stability over the stopping point. The downside of this was that the base was not disconnectable anymore from the holder.

Conclusion

With zero expenses and minimum effort, you can have a laptop stand. i know its not very appealing (maybe if the box was black it would help) but this one doesnt go about its looks but about its functionality. If you prefer looks i think you are better off with a payed version of a laptop stand.

Some last images: