Amazon Echo Dot Holder

thingiverse

I purchased an Amazon Echo Dot before Thanksgiving, planning to make a holder to improve its audio quality since I'd heard the full-size Amazon Echo sounded better. My goal was to give it more flexibility in dispersing sound than just sitting on the counter. My inspiration came from maker CallJoe and his Echo Dot Acoustic Stand (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1687425). Although I know CallJoe personally, being a really good maker, I decided not to remix his design but rather create my own from scratch. This way, I could have the challenge of doing it myself. I used Sketchup 2016 Pro for modeling and STL generation. You can probably use the free version and get similar results. After some trial and error, I got things right for my Monoprice Maker Select Mini, which worked out great. The design has a decent footprint on the base but is hollowed out with a dome in the center underside to reduce material usage and lightening the design. The "fingers" seem to be holding up well after a month without any issues, despite being made of PLA. However, they could break easily if dropped due to their fragile nature. I printed this in black PLA at 205C with a bed temperature of 50C on blue tape and applied a light coat of hairspray. No raft or brim was needed, but your mileage may vary. I would probably print it again using ABS or PETG and redesign the holder to make the "fingers" stronger due to typical printing being flat. You could also try printing this on its side to make the layers vertical when finished, but that would require a lot of supports. If you like this design, please give it a like.