DIY Time! Charging station

The wires, the wires, oh god the wires! They’re everywhere! They wrap around us! They’re consuming us like snakes!! SNAKES! Get the snakes off of me!

“I am become one with the machines!”

No, it’s not a David Cronenberg movie. This is real life! Wires, wires everywhere and not a one that syncs. It’s A Problem!

Far be it from me to tell the electronics industry how to operate, but doesn’t it seem like every phone, ipod, GPS, tablet and camera could use the same standard charger design? Are they really so different? After welcoming Screeny the tablet into our household (more on him later), we have too many different chargers and it’s annoying keeping track of them. I have to plug them in, unplug them, and then I like to go to sleep.

There are charging stations you can buy, but where’s the fun in that? None of them are exactly what you’re looking for anyway. I DIYed one instead.

Top of the station with hole for wires, sides getting glued on.


Tools:
Right angle clamps Saw Power drill (with a 1” wood boring bit and little ones for screw countersinking) Paintbrush

Materials:

Material Size Price
Pine plank 6″x1″x6′ $6.84
Pine moulding 7 feet $4.50
Pine front door 3/8″x6″x24″ $3.09
2 L brackets $1.15
Knob $1.98
Magnetic door close $1.37
Hinges $1.10
12 wood screws 1″ long What do you think these cost, 25 cents? I have no idea
Primer and paint From old buckets, but probably a dollar’s worth
Wood glue A few cents worth
Total $21.38

Not bad considering the prices you’ll find on WEBSITE NAME REDACTED. If you had the right kind of wood hanging around, this would be a lot cheaper, but I didn’t have any 1” wide pieces so I bought it. I had some moulding around, but I’m picky about it, so I bought that, too.

Maeby makes her Dobbie face. Watch your head, Maeby!

I am always looking to take stuff off the floor/desk/surface area and move it to the walls in order to save space, and since wall sockets are already on the wall, charging stations naturally live on the walls. I used this Instructable basically.  It’s pretty simple. It’s a box without a back so the L brackets can attach it to the wall.

But when it came time for the front door, I bought a 3/8” thick x 6” wide by 24” long piece of pine for $3. Instead of having to annoyingly cut it to fit inside the box, it covered the entire front perfectly, so I left it like that and attached hinges on the inside.

I put moulding right across the top of the face of the door. The moulding is both decorative and functional. It makes it much easier to walk by and accidentally smack the door open! Nice!

How do you keep your wires under control? Which charger is your favorite charger?

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