Step by step

Step 1

Print out the downloadable plans and use them to carefully mark out and cut the wooden strips, then sand the ends and surfaces smooth. Mark the positions of the holes with a sharp pencil. A sawing board or block can help keep the ends square.

Step 2

Use a 6mm bit to drill the dowel holes. It’s a good idea to tape pairs of strips together, so the holes align. Some pieces require you to file or sand the ends to round them off. A pillar drill helps keep the holes vertical.

Step 3

Some of the strips are glued together. We used temporary dowels to keep holes aligned and small clamps to apply some light pressure. We used a plane to form a dovetail from an offcut and glued this to another block (trimming to size when dry).

Step 4

After carefully cutting out the top and bottom plates, drill chains of holes to remove unwanted material. Use a chisel and/ or files to refine the shapes, forming neat rectangular holes and slots. Check the softwood strips can pass through nicely.

Step 5

Make a phone “ledge” from another softwood strip and small piece of plywood, and the cam knob (we used a hole saw to cut the discs from plywood and glued them). Once dry, drill an off-centre hole through the knob. Smooth and paint parts.

Step 6

Once you have checked all the parts operate smoothly, assemble them. We pushed the dowels in with no glue. The penny washers bridge across the square hole in the base plate so you can tip and rotate the phone and then tighten with the rear wing nut.