Widen Clear IPhone Case to Accept Accessory

In this instructable, you will learn how to change the opening in the bottom of an acrylic iPhone case to accept a charging accessory that is otherwise too wide for it.

This photo shows the case itself (the pink thing in the back is a stick-on LCD flashlight) and the charger. The charger is clearly too wide to fit through the bottom, making it impossible to charge the iPhone in the case.

For this instructable, you only need a Dremel or rotary tool (I used my jeweler's rotary tool) and a compatible sanding accessory. I tried a few different accessories, but for the whole instructable, I only ended up using the one pictured below. It fit in the opening and did the sanding I needed.

Be sure to wear safety glasses and a mask any time you are sanding if you value your ability to see and breathe. Seriously. Plastic dust is pretty toxic.

Oh, and I had my iPhone playing music in the background while doing this - awesome!

Slowly sand the opening to fit the accessory. I prefer a variable-speed rotary tool because it gives you more control. The foot pedal is ideal. Test the fit often. It took me about 15 minutes to get the right fit, and I had to test it with the charger attached a few times to get it perfect.

The sides you have sanded will be a bit rough. If you have a polishing accessory and want to polish it, go for it. None of my accessories worked for that. Probably a fine sanding piece would work well, but I didn't bother because the rough insides are totally unnoticeable when the iPhone is in the case. Be sure to get off any plastic bits/sharp edges with the sander.

Clean off all the plastic dust - a microfiber cloth works well for this. And make sure it continues to charge - my charger would gradually get pushed out until I made the fit just right.

Enjoy your in-case charging! No more having to take the case apart to charge on the go!