Phone Holder Mounting Base (3D Printed)

DukeGaGa · Dec 12, 2017

So long story short, I've tried a lot of different solutions to put my phone on the dashboard, but still can't find the perfect mount I want, so I decided to take control and design one myself and 3D print it. Here's an early revision of the mounting base, and just to be clear, this is just a mounting base with AMPS hole pattern for mounting this phone holder (http://www.arkon.com/product/MG2APAMPSVHB-phone-mount-adapter-for-vsm-amps.html), or if you don't like the clamping holder you can swap it to any magnetic holder that uses a 17mm swivel ball mount for rotation.

Anyways, this first version turns out to be pretty good, and I've already tuned the specs a little to make sure it will be more stable. I'm also thinking about putting these for sale, but haven't really decided since printing one takes approximately 6 hours... (yeah I know, but my 3D printer is a lower end one so it takes forever).

P.S. Moderators please move to the correct section if this isn't the right place to post.

plc268 · Dec 12, 2017

DukeGaGa said:
printing one takes approximately 6 hours... (yeah I know, but my 3D printer is a lower end one so it takes forever).

P.S. Moderators please move to the correct section if this isn't the right place to post.

You can drastically reduce your printing time if you redesign the piece to be two pieces. If you print the large flat piece where the mounting base screws to, flat to the printer bed, it will print MUCH faster than trying to print it vertically.

That's a neat idea though. I'm not sure how stable that setup would be though. The grooves aren't that deep, and seems like a good bump would set the phone flying. If you aren't averse to drilling, I would drill a few holes in the valleys of the bezel for zip ties to loop around the mount and keep it secured in place.

TURTL3 · Dec 12, 2017

That's awesome that you were able to design that and have it printed.

Have you tried a mount with the clamp on the back like this? I put this on my vent by flipping/turning the vent upside and clamping this on to the top "rung" of the vent. I haven't had a problem with it yet. All the other magnetic and universal mounts just wouldn't work.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073R68TSH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

plc268 · Dec 12, 2017

Also, furthermore: if you do plan on selling them eventually, be careful what material you print the mount in. Typically, most lower end machines and people new to 3d printing print in PLA. It's a great, cheap and simple to print, but it offers little to no heat resistance. Especially in a hot car. You can actually vastly improve the heat resistance of PLA plastic by annealing it (basically baking the finished part), but it will shrink a little and you have to account for that.

But if you don't want to anneal, your best options are either ABS or PETG. Both offer good heat resistance for a hot day inside a car, but PETG is much easier and less finicky than ABS.

DukeGaGa · Dec 12, 2017

plc268 said:
You can drastically reduce your printing time if you redesign the piece to be two pieces. If you print the large flat piece where the mounting base screws to, flat to the printer bed, it will print MUCH faster than trying to print it vertically.

That's a neat idea though. I'm not sure how stable that setup would be though. The grooves aren't that deep, and seems like a good bump would set the phone flying. If you aren't averse to drilling, I would drill a few holes in the valleys of the bezel for zip ties to loop around the mount and keep it secured in place.

Thanks for the tip, I'll see what I can do with printing in two pieces. About the stableness, tbh I'm not quite sure since I just printed this one last night, and the specs are a little off due to me forgetting to add a number... any ways, I'm planning on using some anti-slip tape around the bottom part of the mount and I also extended the base so it should be more stable in the second version.

TURTL3 said:
That's awesome that you were able to design that and have it printed.

Have you tried a mount with the clamp on the back like this? I put this on my vent by flipping/turning the vent upside and clamping this on to the top "rung" of the vent. I haven't had a problem with it yet. All the other magnetic and universal mounts just wouldn't work.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073R68TSH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the support, and I haven't tried that mount, but the problem with that one is the direction of the swivel won't work with the grill facing upwards. But if I can find something that has the ball swivel at an angle that would be great.

plc268 said:
Also, furthermore: if you do plan on selling them eventually, be careful what material you print the mount in. Typically, most lower end machines and people new to 3d printing print in PLA. It's a great, cheap and simple to print, but it offers little to no heat resistance. Especially in a hot car. You can actually vastly improve the heat resistance of PLA plastic by annealing it (basically baking the finished part), but it will shrink a little and you have to account for that.

But if you don't want to anneal, your best options are either ABS or PETG. Both offer good heat resistance for a hot day inside a car, but PETG is much easier and less finicky than ABS.

Yeah, this right now is PLA, I'm planning on using PETG for the final product, no point using that for just testing. I'm also thinking about using flexible material for the feet since hard plastic might scratch against each other, that way I don't even need to put antislip tape on it, just make the dimension a bit bigger than the actual gap and squeeze the mount in there.

BeauxXL1200 · Dec 12, 2017

DukeGaGa said:
Thanks for the tip, I'll see what I can do with printing in two pieces. About the stableness, tbh I'm not quite sure since I just printed this one last night, and the specs are a little off due to me forgetting to add a number... any ways, I'm planning on using some anti-slip tape around the bottom part of the mount and I also extended the base so it should be more stable in the second version.

Thanks for the support, and I haven't tried that mount, but the problem with that one is the direction of the swivel won't work with the grill facing upwards. But if I can find something that has the ball swivel at an angle that would be great.

Yeah, this right now is PLA, I'm planning on using PETG for the final product, no point using that for just testing. I'm also thinking about using flexible material for the feet since hard plastic might scratch against each other, that way I don't even need to put antislip tape on it, just make the dimension a bit bigger than the actual gap and squeeze the mount in there.

I applaud your ingenuity, Duke. :clap2:

A friend turned me on to this Mountek magnetic mount and I've been very pleased with it. Purchased mine off of Amazon.

https://www.mountek.com/shop/catego...-multi-use-car-mount-smartphones-and-phablets

It's designed to mount in the CD player and is really stable there. But I've placed mine in the vertical groove on the left side of the video screen. The pic below shows it on the right side; but I like it better on the left. It's very stable in this groove when you tighten up the screw thingie. :cheers:

DukeGaGa · Dec 12, 2017

BeauxXL1200 said:
I applaud your ingenuity, Duke. :clap2:

A friend turned me on to this Mountek magnetic mount and I've been very pleased with it. Purchased mine off of Amazon.

https://www.mountek.com/shop/catego...-multi-use-car-mount-smartphones-and-phablets

It's designed to mount in the CD player and is really stable there. But I've placed mine in the vertical groove on the left side of the video screen. The pic below shows it on the right side; but I like it better on the left. It's very stable in this groove when you tighten up the screw thingie. :cheers:

Thanks for the support! This one looks interesting, I think I'll give it a try.

:cheers:

DukeGaGa · Dec 13, 2017

Finished with the second revision, the dimensions all fits perfectly this time, will need to apply the anti slip tape tonight and see how things goes.

mustangs · Jan 8, 2018

Any update?

Phone Holder Mounting Base (3D Printed)

DukeGaGa

Well-Known Member

plc268

Well-Known Member

TURTL3

Well-Known Member

plc268

Well-Known Member

DukeGaGa

Well-Known Member

BeauxXL1200

Well-Known Member

DukeGaGa

Well-Known Member

DukeGaGa

Well-Known Member

mustangs

Well-Known Member