DIY Vertical Laptop Dock/Stand | Desk Organization

This tutorial shows you how I made a metal and wood MacBook dock for my laptop. It holds my laptop vertically when I plug it into my desk monitor. Docking it minimizes the footprint on my desk and transforms my computer from a laptop to a desktop when it is closed and plugged into my display. Looks so clean, too!
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Materials and Tools I Used:
Maple Dowel 2" Round: www.woodcraft.com/products/ma...
3/4” Plywood Scraps
Miter Saw: amzn.to/2MwJJDG
Wood Glue: amzn.to/2BwuROx
Table Saw: amzn.to/2w8CTtY
Maple Dowel 3/4” : www.woodcraft.com/products/ma...
Spray Adhesive: amzn.to/2OVQ73X
Felt: amzn.to/2DWgPIu
Sheet Metal - 16 gauge
Angle grinder: amzn.to/2KADZ84
Orbital Sander: amzn.to/2uWHM8A
Paste Wax: amzn.to/2BPcoiK
Drill: amzn.to/2o4lYV2
Counter Sink Bit: amzn.to/2KtOXMl
Matte Polycrylic: amzn.to/2TDOAFQ
Instagram @MakerGray / makergray
Facebook / makergray
Website www.makergray.com
Music by: Joakim Karud / joakimkarud
Thanks for watching!
Erin Longfellow
Maker Gray
I'm Erin Longfellow and I'm a maker, DIYer, builder, designer and content creator. My goal is to help you learn that you too can build or DIY what I make, or anything you need, with easily acessible tools and materials. On this channel you're going to find different builds and designs with a modern emphasis that are DIY friendly, mostly through woodworking, metalworking, construction and home renovations. Be sure to subscribe and enable all notifications! And thanks for watching!
#makergray #laptopstand #diy

[@guiturtlewood]

Clever way to cut the round dowel along it's length! Great design all around. Looking forward to future projects!

[@MakerGray]

Figuring out how to cut the dowel was the hardest part. Thanks so much for watching :) More to come!

[@DesignCraftWorkshop]

Erin, I love the simplicity of all your projects! The design is amazing!

[@MakerGray]

Thank you so much Bao!!

[@SmallFryCreations]

Top video and build Erin! What a neat idea for cutting the dowel in half!! Love it!!

[@MakerGray]

Thank you so much, Ainslee!! Really appreciate you watching :)

[@FigmentsMade]

Nice video and great design! I like that you kept the wood finish simple. It matches the sleek design very well!

[@MakerGray]

Figments Made Thank you so much! I really appreciate it!

[@FredMcIntyre]

Awesome job Erin! 👍🏻👊🏻

[@MakerGray]

Thanks so much for watching, Fred!

[@Xquisitink]

Nice build. Simple and sleek, good job.

[@MakerGray]

Thanks so much!

[@Phenom9600]

Great and simple build! Thanks for the inspiration!

[@MakerGray]

Thank you!

I was looking for something like that Thank you

[@PLOttawa]

This is really lovely. Wish I had your talented craftsmanship!

[@MakerGray]

Thank you very much!

[@heyimamaker]

Awesome, I made one for a friend of mine years ago and we called it the Apple Toaster. Nice work!

[@MakerGray]

Haha I love that name! Thanks!

[@petrchutny]

Beautiful stand, really :) Thanks for making this video!

[@MakerGray]

Thank you so much!

[@garrettvannorden7723]

Although a good design, and very nicely crafted. The macbook pro vents out the rear, right by the screen hinge, having it face downward like that lets heat collect during intense computing.

[@musicanoofficial7233]

Garrett VanNorden I run Photoshop and Illustrator simultaneously on my 2017 MacBook Pro 13 inch with a stand similar to hers. Never had any heating issues.

[@geekimportsgadgetsdevices41]

That's great. Congratulations.

[@vaespx5103]

Excellent!, I will try

[@jimotabs9386]

You inspire me,very good job and video...

[@MakerGray]

Thank you so much!

[@ciborne]

Very nice ! I need the same for my MBP 16” 😃

[@MakerGray]

Heck yeah 16”! 😎

[@ohlooocha]

I enjoyed watching this! id have to buy one in the store for now but wanna be like you in the future! :D

[@MakerGray]

You can do it! Thanks for watching!

[@hannaharnold2223]

Super sleek 🙌

[@rmk_ro]

The end finished product was quite nice! Well done! One question: did you plan the whole sequence out prior to starting the project? If yes, then walking us through the process would add to the awesomeness of the video & the project.

[@techreviewireland7528]

Lovely,, Great job

[@MakerGray]

Thanks!

[@berniceyw]

Very nice!

[@MakerGray]

Thanks!

[@jgarale]

nice work!!!

[@MakerGray]

Thanks so much!

[@jgarale]

@@MakerGray you welcome!!

[@tim78676]

Sweet! Good job, Erin!

[@MakerGray]

Tim Thompson Aw thanks so much Tim!

[@tiago123sousa]

Very good. I'll do one.

[@autisticdad]

It's beautiful work. It looks like I need a horde of tools, so I will seek a bought solution. Will subscribe though.

[@tomsdreamshopworx]

Cool design! Not sure how many teeth on your saw blade, but a 24th ripping blade would help there. Also, a rotary fabric blade would work very well for cutting the felt. Keep up the great work.

[@MakerGray]

Those are great tips. Thanks so much!

[@viniciuslira941]

Perfect!

[@Gilligorm713]

Solid!

[@sandragee2864]

Maker Gray, So simple and industrially elegant a design! I've gotten frustrated with using felt and glue as you did on the project because I just can't seem to get my cuts and placement of fabric precise enough. An expensive but less frustrating solution that I have found has been to use some stuff from a website called flock it dot com. I first ran across this product at Rockler in the jewelry box supplies section. I apply the product much like how I would apply glitter: instead of sparkly irritating metallic particles, the flocking stuff is pieces of fiber (either nylon or rayon). The fibers come in many colors (which you'l find on the website since Rockler has only the blue, marroon and hunter green), and it is suggested that you use the color matching oil based adhesive. There is a colorless waterbased adhesive option but I think that it is not as durable. I like being able to use masking tape to outline where I want the adhesive and the "velvet" to be. I think that the method you use of cutting squares whose sides are the diameter of the wood rods is a slick way of ensuring that you have stability on the table saw when you cut the rods in half. I think that I will try making this since I have been debating how to increase open space on my desk. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@MakerGray]

Wonderful idea! Thanks so much for the tip. I'd love to try that sometime. Thanks for watching and I hope you do make the laptop dock!

[@Mo7ammed.Siddiq]

Awesome

[@basuramanya]

Thank you for this video. It was exactly what I was looking for for my new desk.

[@MakerGray]

Awesome! I’m so glad to hear that. I hope you make it. I love mine.

[@NirvanaWoodWorksbyJanie]

Is it weird that I think this stand looks sexy 🤷🏻‍♀️? Lol I like the really neat trick you used to cut the dowel on the table saw 👌🏻

[@MakerGray]

Hey thanks! And nah, not weird. Beautiful design is sexy :)

[@JustinKrausePhotos]

Looks great!! I can do all but the table saw bit as I don't have one.... Soooo I guess I'll have to risk it clamped in a workbench with a circular or jigsaw....which do you think would work best?

[@MakerGray]

Thanks! Hmmm. That's a hard call. A straight line would be so hard to make with a circular saw on this piece. Out of the two, I'd mayyyybe try a jigsaw? But if you can find someone with a table saw or even a bandsaw, that would be ideal

[@carlosmarui]

Interesting, but in the case of the MacBook Air, it warms up and turn on the fan frequently. So it would be good to keep a distance from the air vent which is where the basis sits on the dock.

[@VhangorD2]

awesome

[@MakerGray]

Thanks!

[@ahmadrezarivandi1016]

nice

[@berean77]

Looks good, nice work. Would be good if you added the screws to your list.

[@MakerGray]

Thanks!

[@chittytherobot]

that looks beautiful ! btw , is there is a reason why you did not want to make the base out of wood as well ?

[@MakerGray]

Thank you! I used metal on the bottom to add bottom heavy weight (for support)

[@rodrigoquintos1889]

El dock es perfecto.

[@MakerGray]

Muchas gracias!

[@adalt]

i need that

[@tharunv6056]

wow

[@jorgevillarreal2245]

Why I didn't saw this video before going to amazon.com ? :(

[@TDPlayz]

I love seeing girls building things (I am a girl) because it’s such a stereotype that only guys can! Both my parents, my sisters and I make projects like these all the time and I love this video :) EvanandKatelyn is also a great example of this 👍🏾

[@MakerGray]

Yes! I love this. Definitely a stereotype and I'm so happy to see it changing. Thank you so much for the kind words and for watching! I love supporting other female makers!

[@talwarpulkit]

DIY for people who have such tools.

[@armin6325]

Can it hold a 5 pound laptop

[@MakerGray]

I don't know why not. My laptop doesn't weigh that much. For a bigger, heavier laptop, I'd obviously increase the size and add more weight to the bottom.

[@armin6325]

@@MakerGray any suggestion on what I can use to weigh it down

[@MakerGray]

@@armin6325 I added flat stock metal to the bottom of mine for weight. My first thought would be to just add another layer(s) of metal until you get enough weight.

[@armin6325]

@@MakerGray oh ok

[@hisenbredrakiman8452]

Can I buy one from you please 😂😂

[@tigeroats913]

Let's get the no. Of comments to 69, it's 64 now

[@brooklyner6]

Plz sell it on Amazon !

[@marcosapereira]

I don’t think you should use it as a dock because this design obstructs the ventilation exits at the bottom edge, near the hinges.

[@MakerGray]

That's a good thought. But in the 1.5 years I've been using it, I've never had a ventilation issue. Even while running the creative suite.

[@Dewabarasunderan]

DIY Step 1: Bis heavy machinery

[@timdoehler3043]

Debate dock vs stand all you want... But this is definitely not vertical - it's horizontal. I was looking for something like Henge Docks vertical docking station and came up short here. Nicely made, just horizontal.

[@rehmanarshad1848]

The video is nicely made, but when I think of a dock; I think of a dock that allows me to access, more IO, and connect to external displays, and for that reason I'm out!

[@TDPlayz]

rehman arshad sorry I’m late!

[@junkano]

Okay so you happen to have gear. What do I do if I literally have none of the the tools in this video?

[@martinkoto4ev]

Тех кто на фронте ДЕРЖИТЕСЬ РЕБЯТА Тех кого фронт забрал БОЛЬШОЙ ПОКЛОН

[@jozefsavel730]

That is not a dock, its just a stand

[@MakerGray]

Nah. I'm going with dock. It is constantly used to dock my computer when plugged into my big monitor. It's my docking solution.

[@SchioAlves]

Okay, this is more of a stand than a dock

[@wesleysantana2238]

Things with this heavy machinary should be considered DIY? She really did it by her self, but who is watching can do?

[@atinder2006]

DIY with few thousand dollars of equipment.

[@MakerGray]

Hmmmm. Miter saw: $150. Ryobi table saw: $199. Ryobi angle grinder: $44. My math isn't adding up to "a few thousand"

[@atinder2006]

@@MakerGray it's because you are looking at it upside down lol