Custom Phone Mount (Top Dash Vent)

[Stang70Fastback]

Just thought I'd share my latest 3D-printed project for my BRZ

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaWia3Vv9e8[/ame]


Here are all the prototypes I went through, with the final, roughly-sanded piece in black in the bottom left. Started with getting the forks for the dash vent right, then grew it with the original goal of filling the entire vent for stability. Then eventually realized it could be made way smaller without sacrificing stability.

[22R]

Nice work ! Looks great !!

22R

[churchx]

Good work. As it's completely custom, next i'd think of making it "active mount", as in with cable fixed in it, so that you can slip phone in mount and no need for extra cable attachment step. And if you want to make it as product to sale, i'd think of means to make it universal. Easiest way to me looks like making it "flat plate" with some holes, so that wide range of Brodit phone-side parts can be bolted to your custom vent mount part & selling via ft86sf

[Drambeenie]

This is really cool. Will it work for iPhone X? When do you expect a finished piece by? I’m assuming the stands will all be sanded to get rid of the 3D print lines? I personally prefer my phone to be horizontal for navigation is that something you’ll be accommodating?

[churchx]

^ "with phone X" .. so simplest is to make it in fashion so that it can work with any phone, hence why i suggested brodit, whose mounts are two piece, one - car specific, another - phone (or tablet, though there are universal ones too, usable if with case or extended battery) specific. Would drop need to redesign for each and every phone out there.
I wonder though if "legs" that go in vents, can be made hollow (to still provide enough support), and with opening to side. Those vents are useful for blowing hot air on side windows to defog or defrost them in winter, hence imho the less airflow there is impeded, the better.

[Ryguystye]

Originally Posted by churchx

Easiest way to me looks like making it "flat plate" with some holes, so that wide range of Brodit phone-side parts can be bolted to your custom vent mount part & selling via ft86sf

Or you can share the 3d models so we can print our own universal holders

[DrButtDrugs]

I need this in my life/car.

[MidEastBeast]

You should patent the design into the vent.

[dhuang]

That's clever.

I also prefer that location for mounting my phone -- currently using a magnetic mount. I usually keep my phone landscape, allowing it to be easily charged (lightning cable is perfect length to the USB port), all the while being usable, and not obscuring any sight lines.

[DrButtDrugs]

I used a scosche magnetic mount for a long time but now I have a phone with wireless charging that I'm not so willing to sacrifice by putting a metal plate on the back of my phone. OP what case/phone are we looking at? Looks quite similar to mine. I'd love to pay you for one of these which fits my case.

[Stang70Fastback]

Sorry for the delayed reply, folks! It's a busy life.

Originally Posted by churchx

Good work. As it's completely custom, next i'd think of making it "active mount", as in with cable fixed in it, so that you can slip phone in mount and no need for extra cable attachment step.

I had originally intended on doing this, however I decided against it as I don't always like to charge the phone. The phone is already in a matte black case, and on particularly hot, and sunny days, the phone can overheat if you are both using it for Navigation, and charging it. It has a built-in safety that will disable charging during that period, but for the sake of the health of the battery, I prefer to just leave it unplugged so it never gets to that point. So I prefer to just plug it in when I feel like it (it's not that hard, anyway :P)

Originally Posted by churchx

And if you want to make it as product to sale, i'd think of means to make it universal. Easiest way to me looks like making it "flat plate" with some holes, so that wide range of Brodit phone-side parts can be bolted to your custom vent mount part & selling via ft86sf

Yeah, this initial design is specific to my phone. I was considering various options for other folks. Another option is for me to print the end ass a ball mount, and sell this as a replacement mounting method for the iOttie mount I WAS using. There are multiple options, and I could sell multiple types, but first I wanted to make my own just for me

Originally Posted by Drambeenie

This is really cool. Will it work for iPhone X? When do you expect a finished piece by? I’m assuming the stands will all be sanded to get rid of the 3D print lines? I personally prefer my phone to be horizontal for navigation is that something you’ll be accommodating?

Sanding APLA+ (the material this mount was made of) is a HUGE PITA, so I'm not sure how I am going to finish the pieces yet. They wont be made of APLA+, though, so I don't know how I'll be finishing it until I get that sorted, but I'm hoping for some sort of reasonable finish. We shall see!

Originally Posted by churchx

I wonder though if "legs" that go in vents, can be made hollow (to still provide enough support), and with opening to side. Those vents are useful for blowing hot air on side windows to defog or defrost them in winter, hence imho the less airflow there is impeded, the better.

My original idea was actually for the mount to fit across the entire vent, and then have vents in the mount to do exactly that. I determined that to be overkill once I discovered that a much smaller footprint mount could be made that left some of the vents open. I ALSO considered making those feet hollow, but I prefer over-engineering things, and I want the base of that mount to be solid plastic to reduce flex. Part of the vent is still open, so that should still allow enough airflow for the vent to be at least somewhat useful (especially since the air will flow harder through the remaining vents.)

Originally Posted by Ryguystye

Or you can share the 3d models so we can print our own universal holders

The design isn't finished yet. It still needs some tweaks. However I'm hoping I can sell the finished design for a few bucks to folks. I'm trying to slowly recover the cost of the 3D printer

Originally Posted by DrButtDrugs

I need this in my life/car.

Stay tuned! I gotta make some adjustments to this design, which was basically just Version 1 of the finished product.

Originally Posted by MidEastBeast

You should patent the design into the vent.

I wonder how hard that is. I'll look into it once I finalize the design!

Originally Posted by DrButtDrugs

I used a scosche magnetic mount for a long time but now I have a phone with wireless charging that I'm not so willing to sacrifice by putting a metal plate on the back of my phone. OP what case/phone are we looking at? Looks quite similar to mine. I'd love to pay you for one of these which fits my case.

In my case (pun intended), it's a Samsung S9+ with the Spigen NeoHybrid case.

[Kimsey47]

If I still had my BRZ I'd be blowing you up trying to buy one of these! Damn cool and useful!

[DarkPira7e]

This is awesome, when you feel comfortable selling the print files I'll definitely be sending you whatever is asked, I need this in my life.

[mrderp]

Not having to design my own vent mount? count me in.