The Charming Power Supply You'll Actually Want to Put Display

I had a problem...

With all of our electronic devices we needed a way to easily plug them in and charge them. Plus we needed it in the living room where we use our devices.

Trouble is, traditional power supplies look pretty boring. They're loathsome and offensive brutes. Something better had to be made...

I'd always liked the look of traditional rotary style telephones. So after a bit of deliberation, the idea was hatched in my head:

A power supply that was integrated into an old telephone. It would add some charm to the living room while also giving us power to charge our devices! Perfect!

I also made it so there was always a lighting cable to charge our phones. It's hassle to run and get the cord constantly even if the power is there. So I had the idea to replace the cable the runs to the headset with a lightning cable to charge an iPhone. You can swap this out with the appropriate cord fro your phone.

Let's get to it...

• An old rotary phone
• A USB wall charger (preferably with 2 outlets)
• A snap-in power receptacle
• A phone charging cord (preferably a coiled one but I couldn't find one long enough. Let me know if you find a long coiled lighting cable)
• A male 110 feed through cord plug
• A USB cable mount
• Extension cord
• Screwdrivers

Unscrew and remove the guts of your rotary phone.

I kept the mechanisms for the rotary and the headset to push down. It was a little tricky to fit all the components in there with that stuff remaining but it was worth it to me.

Everything else you can unscrew or cut out and throw away.

Mark and cut the holes for the USB and 110 plug.

I used an exact knife for both and the results were good enough. Not perfect but I'm happy with it.

Snap in and glue the 110 receptacle if necessary

Screw in the USB receptacle

Take the wires from the 110 receptacle and feed them through the 110 male plug.

Plug your USB converter into the extension cord.

Plug in the 110 power into the extension cord.

Plug the lighting cable into the USB converter.

Plug the USB receptacle into the USB converter.

Fit the components into the rotary phone casing and screw it back together.

It'll probably take a little finagling to get it all in there but stick with it, it's possible!

I had the extension cord run out of the back opening on the phone case. And I ran the lighting cable through the sexting hole where the previous cable to the headset went.

I used this other instructable to coil the lightning cable: https://www.instructables.com/id/Coiling-a-USB-power-cord/

It worked pretty good but I'd like to replace it with an actual coiled cable if I can find one long enough some day. Let me know if you find a longer coiled lightning cable!

Then the lightning cable plug fits perfectly into the headset plug. I just have it rest in there when I'm not using it so it looks good. Then I just remove it when I want to charge my iPhone.

That's it! You're done!

Enjoy your elegantly charming new power supply. I'm sure you'll be proud to put that thing on display in your home!

Let me know if you end up trying this or have ideas for improvements or variations.

- Trav