Somewhat Stylish Holder for MicroSD Cards

As ever more devices use microSD cards, storage becomes a problem. Here is one storage solution. It holds 11 cards, and looks a bit more interesting than the usual square box. It is also made from cheap and easily obtainable materials. It is however not meant for people with very big fingers.

The microSD cards are held in slots cut in a round piece of wood, with enough of the card's top part sticking out to grab it by.

A plastic disc on top keeps the cards from escaping on their own. A wide slot cut in the plastic disc facilitates removing, and insertion, of one card at a time by turning the disc to the required position. In the third photo the disc is turned to the "locked" position, with all the cards being held securely in place.

A piece of stiff plastic tape used for securing parcels is fitted around the slotted middle wooden disc to keep the cards in place. Of course other materials instead of the parcel tape can also be used, for instance thin but strong cardboard.

The size of the holder of course revolves around the size of a microSD card (photo). It's measurements are 15 mm high by 11 mm wide, by approximately 0.8 mm thick. I've found that 12 mm thick material works nicely for cutting slots into for storing the cards upright, as that leaves cards sticking out by 3 mm, enough to grab it by with your fingers. And luckily plywood comes in 12 mm thickness as a standard size, making it very suitable for our purpose. The slots should by approximately 12 mm wide by 1 mm thick to accommodate the cards comfortably.

The basic construction consists of four discs, three of them wooden, and the fourth one plastic.

The first photo shows the measurements of the wooden discs. The bottom one will keep the cards from falling out downwards, the middle one will get the slots for the cards, and the third, smaller one is a spacer to hold the plastic disc at the required hight above the slotted middle part. The 3 mm discs are made out of hardboard.

On the second photo you can see the plastic disc, cut from the lid of an ice cream tub. The relatively soft plastic facilitates very smooth movement when using the disc on the finished product.

For cutting the discs, including the plastic one, I used the Bosch hole cutters shown in the third photo. As we're interested in the plugs being cut out with them, and not the holes, only the inside measurements are important to us. The smaller hole cutter is only used for the 19 mm spacer disc.

The drill bit used by the hole cutters was 5 mm diameter in my case, a convenient size for the bolt necessary to fit everything together later on.

The fifth photo shows the order in which the wooden discs will be used. On top of them the plastic disc will be fitted, everything being held together with a 5 mm bolt and an 18 mm washer.

The slots are marked out as shown in the first photo. I've found a band saw very convenient for cutting the slots, using the simple jig as shown on the second photo.

While the disc is held securely by hand, the jig is moved into the blade at the required position for each slot. After cutting the slot to the required depth, the jig is reversed cautiously (band saws don't like the reversing part) out of the blade, while still holding the disc securely in position.

Note that only 11 slots are cut, in order to leave a wide enough tongue for the "locked" position of the card holder.

It should be quite easy to cut the slots with a jig saw if you don't have access to a band saw.

The sides of the wide slot in the plastic disc are cut with scissors, and the remaining piece then detached with a 6 mm woodwork chisel, a carpet knife, or something similar.

First the bottom must be glued to the slotted middle part (first photo).

Then the parcel tape must be fitted around the middle disc with a nail (second photo). No glue is necessary if the fit is tight enough.

The third photo shows all the parts ready for assembly, and the last photo the card holder being assembled.

I've found that the bolt fits securely enough in the 5 mm holes drilled through the various discs for a nut not to be necessary. But if you find the bolt fits too loosely, it should be easy to fit a nut in a recessed hole in the bottom of the card holder.

The ease of movement of the plastic disc is regulated by how tight the bolt is screwed in.

The finished microSD card holder ready for use.

And of course you can paint the card holder in your favourite choice of colour(s).

Having filled the 11 slots with cards, the obvious question is how to organise them according to content. My solution is to mark each of the slots and its corresponding card with the same number, using a label printer (Brother in my case). The contents of each card is then jotted down on paper next to the numbers, and the note kept with the card holder.