Baron sent us another amazing project this week. This time, he’s created a custom, low impact (no screws) wall mount for his iPad. Perfect for apartments and rentals, but easy enough that everyone should try this hack. Great for kitchens, as you’ll see Baron describe below.
“I wanted a mount to hold my heavy iPad 3 in the kitchen so it would be easy to view and out of the way of food prep when ingredients and liquids are flying about. This would allow me to easily view recipes and even use it to watch videos or listen to music while cooking and washing dishes.
Mounting the iPad to my kitchen cabinet door would be ideal so it would be high up at reading level and away from splashes. It also needed to be secure enough so I could still open and close the door without fear of the iPad from flying to the floor.
I have seen wall mounts being sold but they do not accommodate my iPad with in its folded back keyboard case which is thick. I needed something that could take the weight of my iPad+Keyboard Case at 2.5 pounds (1.13 kg), the thickness of the combo, ability to hold the iPad both in portrait, landscape, and the ability to be mounted without drilling holes.
InstaMorph to the rescue!
For the bottom holder I used two wire hooks by Command so the adhesive strips would be removable when the time came to do so. Each hook is rated at 5 pounds (2 kg) so with two hooks on the bottom I am only using 25 percent of the rated capacity for weight. I covered the hooks with heat-shrink tubing to cushion the bottom and to create a non-slip surface. These hooks were spaced so they would safely hold my iPad in portrait or landscape.
I then created a custom pressure pad hook using InstaMorph that would hold back the top bezel of the iPad. I shaped the vertical mount part of the holder and left it in a flat bowl of hot water while I shaped the pressure pad hook portion using a second bowl of hot water. Then I placed the rectangular mounting surface onto a piece of non-stick aluminum foil on the counter to create a flat back surface and added the pressure pad hook piece melding them together while hot. After it cooled a little I put my iPad, in the open configuration, between the surface mount and pressure pad to let it fully cool so the space between the mount and iPad would be perfect.
I later decided to add a little pull handle at the top of the mount to make it easy to pull off. I got more InstaMorph, reheated the top part of the mount and melded the newly shaped pull handle onto it. That’s the great thing about InstaMorph, being able to make changes anytime an idea strikes.
When the InstaMorph was cool I added some little felt pads to the pressure pad and a picture hanging Command Strip to the mount. This Command Strip doesn’t have the fuzzy Velcro type of surface, the surfaces are tiny plastic stubble and it’s rated for 16 pounds (7.26 kg) sheer weight capacity but luckily it less than that when pulled straight off. I’m figuring the lack of the typical Velcro fuzz would be less prone to having tiny fuzzy bits falling into my food prep.
Another picture hanging Command Strip went in a position that could accommodate the pressure pad mount when the iPad is in either vertical or horizontal position.
Now I don’t have to waste counter space for my iPad or risk it getting splashed. I just place the iPad onto the bottom hangers and secure the top with the pressure pad. It seems to be pretty solid and even without the top pressure pad the iPad will stay on the hangers leaning back against the cupboard door but the custom InstaMorph pressure pad really makes this work securely.”
#electronics #ipad #stand #holder
