Concrete Stand for your iPad 2026

In this article we will teach you how to make a concrete stand for your iPad in a plastic popcorn bucket in a practical way.

You do not need to have prior experience working with concrete, but you should be comfortable cutting thin plastic with a hand saw, molding Styrofoam, and mixing and pouring concrete.

Cutting the plastic shape, sanding the base and making the shelf that supports the device out of wood or tile.

Steps to build your own concrete stand for your iPad:

Time required: 1-2 hours + 2 days to dry

Weight: 4-6 pounds

Materials to make the concrete support for your iPad:

• Plastic popcorn shape
• Bag concrete mix: non-aerated, 5000 psi is ideal (a 60 lb. bag will make about 12 of these shapes)
• Pro-Formula Mix (1 cubic foot box per two 60 lb. bags)
• Sealer
• Wax
• Styrofoam (small pieces of scrap metal)
• Wood (5″ thick)
• 2 Parts epoxy

Tools:

• Rule
• Permanent marker
• Transparent packing tape
• Hand saw (Japanese style with fine/medium teeth)
• Razor Blade/Utility Knife
• Sandpaper/Handheld Diamond Polishing Pad
• Slotted Screwdriver/Phillips Screwdriver
• 1/16″ Drill Bit
• Silicone (100% silicone, door and window sealant)
• Rubber gloves
• Safety glasses
• Mixing Buckets
• Plastic scraper

Step 1: Measure, Mark + Cut the concrete shape

• Mark two adjacent corners at 7½” and the other two at 6¾”. Draw four lines connecting the dots with the permanent marker. This is the cut line.
• To help support the plastic container while cutting, cut a block of Styrofoam (about 3¾" x 3¾") and push it into the opening of the form.
• Starting from a corner, I gently saw back and forth to begin a straight cut. Go slowly at first, alternating back and forth between the corners until you can connect the slices and cut them. Repeat on remaining sides until cutting is complete.
• Clean the edges of the plastic with some coarse sandpaper (80-100 grit) and be careful not to scratch the inside of the form (any scratches will transfer to the concrete).

Step 2: Make, tape, silicone + Install the foam

• A piece of foam, rubber, plastic, felt, etc. which is clamped inside the form to create a void, gap or opening in the concrete. For this piece we will use a small one to create a gap for the "shelf" to slide in. It should be about ¼” thick if you are gluing the shelf in place.

Styrofoam:

• Cut a small piece of Styrofoam with a saw or knife into a rectangle and sand to (1½” wide x ½” tall x ¼”- ½” deep).
• Wrap the Styrofoam with clear packing tape. This will prevent it from adhering to the concrete and will give us a smooth surface.
• It might be helpful to make a small cardboard template to use as a guide to center the foam on the form. Apply a thin layer of silicone to one of the ½” faces and press it down to remove any excess silicone that squeezes out and wait a few hours for it to dry.
• Drill or cut a holesmall (1/16″) hole behind the knockout and install a short 1″ screw so the knockout does not move away during pouring. (The silicone will prevent the concrete from seeping between the blind hole and the wall of the form. If that happens, the blind disc will move and could be lost completely. The silicone also prevents the foam from floating to the surface: the foam floats on water and the concrete contains water: the screw will hold the foam in case the silicone does not.
• After the silicone has dried completely (at least 3-6 hours and up to 24), remove the excess with denatured alcohol and remove any residue from the form.

Adhesive backed felt foam:

• Find a heavy-duty felt with an adhesive on the back, cut it to the size of the foam, stack two or three pieces together.
• Wrap the felt pile with clear adhesive tape, remove the adhesive and secure it to the inside of the form. The advantage of this method is that you don't have to wait for the silicone to dry. The downside is finding and paying for felt!

Step 3: Mix, pour, vibrate, cover and dry the concrete

• Start with a one-gallon bucket (or an old bowl). Measure out 1 ½ popcorn containers (about 6 pounds) of scooped concrete and pour it into the bucket. Add Pro-Formula Mix (1/24th of 1cu). Mix well and break up any large clumps of material. Agregue alrededor de 6 onzas de agua a la mezcla, siga revolviendo a mano o con una espátula o paleta, siempre raspando los lados y el fondo del cubo. Gradually add about 6 ounces more water until the consistency is like liquid oatmeal.

THE IDEAL CONCRETE MIX
When mixing concrete, it is important to keep in mind that the least amount of water used relative to the cement produces the least amount of shrinkage and produces the strongest, most durable concrete. At the same time, the mixture should be fluid enough to fill all the gaps in the mold. A mixture that is too dry is difficult to pour and vibrate; A mixture that is too wet is likely to shrink excessively and crack.

When concrete is fully mixed, you have approximately 20 to 30 minutes before it hardens and becomes unworkable. You can shake the concrete by squeezing it in your hands to regain some fluidity if it gets too hard.

• Pour the concrete into the form, but be careful not to dislodge the foam. While pouring, rub the concrete around the inside walls of the form and under the knockouts to cover the surface with concrete. This will help minimize trapped air.
• To help air bubbles rise to the surface, vibrate the concrete by touching the base of the mold on the table for a few minutes. Your final piece will always have some air bubbles if you are not using a commercial concrete vibrator. If you're not getting results that you like by hand vibration, you can try using a handheld orbital sander or saw without the blade and vibrating it against the form walls.
• After the form is vibrated, place a ¼” piece of foam under one side of the container so the top surface is level.
• Smooth/Flatten the surface with a plastic scraper. Take some time to remove excess concrete from the sides of the container, and get the top surface as smooth as possible (this will minimize sanding later).
• Carefully move the form to a place where it can dry for up to 2 days. Cover with a plastic bag or painter's plastic wrap. This helps keep heat and moisture in the concrete so it doesn't dry out too quickly and crack. For this reason, DO NOT place the concrete to dry in direct sunlight, keep it indoors or in the shade.

Step 4: Unmold the form

Stripping is when the forming materials are removed from the dried concrete. Sometimes the concrete can be removed without destroying the form, but in this case we are going to separate the plastic little by little. Any cuts you make through the plastic will scratch into the concrete, so be careful not to cut, pry, or scrape the concrete in any of the following steps!

• Wearing rubber gloves and safety glasses, prepare to unmold. Scrape excess concrete from the plastic form with a razor blade.
• Start at the opening of the container, peeling off the plastic by hand and cutting it with a razor blade.
• Break the plastic with your hand or pliers. Remove a little at a time. Peel back, cut, break. Do this as carefully as possible, being careful not to scratch or chip the concrete.
• Be very careful when removing the bottom of the container. On each side of the form there is a tab. A small screwdriver or chisel and a quick tap of a hammer will help free those tabs.
• Once the plastic form has been removed, pry off the cover with a flat screwdriver.

Step 5: Sand, grind + make the concrete shelf for the iPad

• Flatten the base by sanding the bottom surface with a rough 120 grit handheld diamond polishing pad. Alternatively, use a belt sander and ideally a 5" wet polisher with diamond pads suitable for concrete.
• Using a hand saw, band saw, or tile saw, cut a cornice that fits into the groove created by the foam. It would be easiest to start with a piece of wood that is the same thickness as the knockout (in this example, ½”). Softer woods will be easier to cut with hand tools if you don't have access to a belt. You don't really need power tools for something like this.
• Apply to concrete with sealer and wax before gluing trim in place with two-part epoxy.

Step 6: Concrete iPad Stand, Finished Images

Your concrete iPad stand is now complete. We believe design is dynamic, always fluid, so we've rounded up a few other projects made from this humble popcorn container.

We're sure you can come up with plenty of your own ideas for this clever container; We'd love to hear from you and see what you've created.

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