We’ve shown you some awesome smartphone mounts you can buy, but if you’d rather DIY, you can have a strong, sturdy car mount for your phone with a few magnets and our old friend Sugru. Best of all, you can choose where your phone goes — you don’t have to lose a vent or block something else just to mount it.
Now, this isn’t our first DIY smartphone mount. This famous one used a binder clip and rubber bands, but if you want a little more flexibility, all you need are some neodymium disc magnets, a coin (a magnetic one, preferably, or maybe some metal washers) and of course the Sugru. Use the Sugru to place the magnet on your dash or console — wherever you want the phone mounted. Then attach the coin (or washer) to the back of your phone or phone case with Sugru. Let them set up, and you’re done.
Over at Instructables, Sugru themselves walk you through how to make this work, and have an alternate suggestion if you have a standalone GPS unit: Namely, two magnets on the dash and two coins on the bottom of the GPS, so it can stand upright while you drive. If you’d prefer your phone on the dash, you could modify the setup to work that way in landscape, You’ll just need to put washers on your case for it to work, or create little bumpers with the Sugru so the magnets can stand upright and flush with the back of your case.
Either way, it’s simple, affordable and customisable enough that you can find a way to mount whatever phone or device you have, anywhere in the car you want to place it. Check out the full walkthrough at the link below.
Keep your tech handy with sugru + magnets + the Queen! [instructables]
Comments
6 responses to “Build A Simple, Sturdy, Smartphone Car Mount With Sugru And Magnets”
Nah, I’ll wait for wireless Apple/Android Car. This creates more problems than it fixes.
I realise that this is a re-post from the US site, but making your own phone holder is illegal in most states of Australia (definitely NSW), they must be “commercially manufactured”.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/11/australian-laws-for-using-your-mobile-phone-while-driving/
http://roadsafety.transport.nsw.gov.au/stayingsafe/mobilephones/know-the-rules.html#faq9
Came here to post exactly that.
It’s not evil week, so quit encouraging people to break the law.
I wonder if the sum of all parts are “commercially manufactured” and then put together like this, if it would be passed as okay? You would probably find that a cop wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
This is the specific line from the NSW transport FAQ:
Your mobile phone must be in a mounting that is commercially designed and manufactured for that purpose
I don’t think having individual pre-made parts would pass in any way if the officer knows the details of the rule. I personally wouldn’t risk it, phone holders aren’t that expensive.
Many phone holders are cheaper than a pack of Sugru