Building a Cheap TV or Monitor Mount

This is a guide to making a working mount for any monitor or tv that has a grip on the back side. All you need for this practically free project are a few pieces of scrap wood, a dowel, some wood screws and one 3/8" three-inch bolt and a wingnut for the clamp. Aside from the screws, all I used to make this were pieces and machines at the TechShop, and so can you.

Measure inside grip, get cross-section
Grab two flat pieces of scrap wood, cut one small enough to fit in the handle
Mark a point in the center of the wood pieces, three inches out from the back of the screen
Drill 3/8 inch hole in each.

Grab another scrap piece of any shape, so long as its thickness is that of the expected distance between your clamping pieces.
Put a bolt through the holes, tighten onto the handle to make sure it works. Right before mounting, add double-sided tape for grip.

Cut a 1x3 section off a 2x4 stud. Drill a 3/8 hole through the 1x2 side, half an inch up from the bottom. Screw this piece on the front of your top clamp piece (near the screen). Measure from the hole to the bottom of the object you want it to hang from, then cut two one-inch-wide pieces  that are each an inch longer than the length you want. Drill the same size hole in these,  then fit them on the dowel to either side of your pivot block.

Secure your mount to the desk through the tops of the pivot pieces.

Optional pivoting stand: move the monitor to the angle you want to prop it at. Measure the distance between the back of your bottom clamp piece and the surface the prop will contact. Cut a dowel or thin piece to a half-inch longer than this length.
Set up two more small rectangular pivot pieces, run a dowel through them.
Secure the end of your mount leg to this dowel between your pivot pieces.
Cut a notch into the contact surface so that when the monitor is at that angle, your prop leg can swing up and rest. 
Mount the leg at the bottom of your clamp, and you've got a workable monitor mount on the cheap!