DIY Laptop & Tablet Mount for Treadmill

What is this, a SHELF for ANTS?

I was annoyed when I wanted to read websites while walking on a NordicTrack treadmill, and there was nowhere to set my laptop.

The little strip of plastic they put on the console as a ledge wasn’t fit for books. Perhaps it would work for magazines, but I don’t have Super X-Ray Laser Vision to read small print while walking.

I want a big IN YOUR FACE laptop screen I can zoom in on, something that DARES ME not to become completely absorbed in its large print articles and blog posts. And I want to be able to type, too.

Designed Sheet Metal Version

So first I designed a sheet metal version, to have it bent up and painted.

A cloth strap would thread through slots with some velcro-strip-on-a-roll glued to it for adjustability and fastening. And if that didn’t work, I put various holes in the plate to tie rope through.  One way or another, this thing was gonna strap to a treadmill.

Treadmill Laptop Bracket design – formed sheet metal 1

Treadmill Laptop Bracket design – formed sheet metal 1 flat pattern

Treadmill Laptop Bracket design – formed sheet metal 1 book hold-downs

Treadmill Laptop Bracket design – formed sheet metal 1 laptop fitup

Notice the previous image with a book and the yellow arrows? They’re supposed to be thin metal straps fastened with 1/8th” diameter elevator bolts, or maybe a 12 gauge wire wrapped around the fastener, to hold down pages.

Here’s a bend print: 

But then I just grabbed 2 pieces of scrap wood and a roll of duct tape and made a quick bracket.

I started thinking I was overthinking, and just throw something together.

Here’s the Junk Tech version, and it was basically free. See the pics, and if it’s not self-explanatory, ask me for more specifics in the comments.

In short:

• 2 pieces of scrap 1/4″ thick plywood, cut them both to about the same length as the laptop is wide.
  • The bottom piece is at least 2 inches wide
  • The top piece is about 3/4″ wide
    • The pieces are taped together in 2 places so as to create a “lip” or stop to retain the edge of the laptop and prevent it from sliding out and down off the shelf.
• This subassembly of 2 pieces of junk taped together was then set on top of the little plastic ledge integral to the console of the treadmill.
  • NOTE: Without having a ledge stiffly integrated into the machine, I would not trust this taped together mess to hold a laptop for long. So if you don’t have a ledge to lengthen, which is the point of this exercise, don’t try this at home.
• The wood is taped to the surface of the console in 2 places, with long enough pieces to create good adhesive surface area (both to the console face and wrap it around the tape on the wood pieces assembly).

Don’t forget to use good duct tape. I used Gorilla Tape.

Why did you make this post about taping junk to workout equipment?

Because we don’t all think the same. Here’s the funnel of who will visit this page and be happy to be reminded how The Internet really is for Everyone.

• Someone will buy a treadmill that doesn’t already have a fancy Google Maps trail-running web browser, desk mount, or large laptop shelf built in.
  • And so they’ll want to find a bracket to hold their laptop, which will hopefully fill the emptiness in their soul that not having one has created.
    • They’ll want to make it themselves or find one that’s inexpensive.
      • They won’t be adverse to taping junk to stuff.
        • But they won’t be sure exactly how to go about it until someone blatantly says “Go about it this way, it worked for me. See the pictures!”

As Ron Swanson once said: “People who buy things are suckers.”