Wireless Charging Station

I recently purchased a smart watch and wireless earbuds in an effort to make myself more accessible and untethered. After a few days, I realized this change tripled the things I needed to charge and the cables needed to charge them. I came to the conclusion that a charging station was the best option for me as all of my devices can charge wirelessly.

If you want to make a charging station yourself, I've added my template however it was made specifically for the Samsung Galaxy line of devices. Feel free to adjust as you see fit.

Materials:

• Two Wireless Chargers
• USB Power Supply
• Scrap Plywood
• Scrap Walnut
• Hardboard
• Walnut Veneer
• Rubber Feet
• Assorted Hardware
• Lacquer
• Black Spray Paint
• Foam
• Screws
• Wood Glue
• Two Sided Tape

Tools:

• Band Saw
• Table Saw
• Router
• Disc Sander
• Spindle Sander
• Lathe (or forstner bit)
• File/rasp
• Clamps
• Drill
• Drill Bits
• Chisel

Print 5 copies of the attached template. Glue one to a scrap piece of 3/4 in. plywood and cut the exterior of the dock. Place the USB charger just inside of the curve on the back portion of the dock. Trace the outside of it and cut it out.

Trace a line 3/8 in. from the outside around the base and using a router, cut a recess 3/8 in. deep. I am not the best with free hand routing so the edges are a little rough. Cut a piece of 1/4 in. thick plywood to fit in the bottom on the table saw. I sanded the corners to fit in the base. Transfer the USB charger cutout onto another piece of plywood and cut it out.

If you purchased the same wireless charger I did, the coil of each can easily be removed. On the bottom, pull the rubber bass off completely showing 4 screws. Remove these screws. Turing over the charger, wedge a knife into the opening along the edge and pop it apart. Remove the circuit board from the housing with the remaining two screws.

Cut another copy of the template out on a piece of 1/4 in. plywood. My orientation of the coils on the plan was backwards and wouldn't fit how I had them oriented. I removed them from the uploaded version to prevent confusion. I placed the inside of the coils over top the center points of where my devices will be placed and traced around them. I cut them out along with space for USB cables with a band saw.

I cut a large section out of the bottom two pieces of plywood to allow for the coils to be removable from the base and to allow space for the USB cables. I cut a cover out of the scrap that was cut out of the inner hole. More wood will be removed from this cover in a later step along with adding screws to secure it in place.

Cut out a piece of hardboard for the top so there are a total of 4 pieces of wood that form the base.

Cut the center from another copy of the template and glue it to a piece of walnut. The exterior was shaped with a band saw and disc sander. The inside was removed mostly with a forstner bit then cleaned up with a spindle sander. A small roundover bit was used in the router to break the top edges.

Cut two pieces of walnut:

• 2 1/2 x 2 x 5/8 in.
• 1 x 2 x 5/8 in. (this is shown longer in the pictures above but is later cut short)

I used a lathe to turn a recess in the end of the larger piece the size of the watch charger. This could be done with a forstner bit, however I didn't have one the correct size. Use a thin file to shape the channel for the cord. Cut a matching channel in the other piece of wood. Cut miter joints on the end of each piece a walnut and glue together. Using a table saw, cut two splines in the miter to increase their strength and glue in place.

Round over the miter joint using a disc sander. Alternatively you can use a roundover bit in the router but my sander didn't need any setup.

Glue the base together and hold tight with spring clamps. To make alignment during the glue up easier, only make one glue joint at a time. Let the first two boards dry for about 20 minutes, then glue the third and let dry for 20 minutes and so on.

Using some scrap foam found around the house, glue them in place under the USB charger and then as well over top of the two coils. Drill a few pocket hole type holes in the cover to secure the coils in place.

After thinking about this, I decided I wanted a little more support on the back of the unit so the veneer didn't break easily. A piece of hard board was cut the size of the opening and a hole was cut in place for the cable. Some small edge supports were added as well shown in the next step.

Cut a piece of veneer just longer than the perimeter of the base. I used a band clamp to glue it in place, but an easier solution I though of after I was finished would be to glue one face of the veneer at a time. Glue the front in place and let it dry then glue each side, followed by the back. Use whatever method you prefer. Spraying the location of the corners with a little water will soften up the veneer and allow it to bend more easily.

Glue the top piece of veneer in place using a lot of clamps. Once dry, carefully trim the veneer and bring flush with the edges using sandpaper. Sand the entire surface with 220 grit sandpaper.

Using another template, mark the locations of the holes for mounting the watch charger. Drill clearance holes in the base that will allow the mounting hardware to pass through. Copy these holes in the watch charger mount and drill smaller holes that will allow the wood threads to grab onto the charger holder.

Drill two counterbore holes in the underside of the dock. This will allow space for the nuts and washers to be tightened.

Drill a small hole along the track that the wire will pass through and remove the charger holder. Trace the outside of the USB plug and cut it from the base. Be sure the trace marks are not visible when the holder is in place. This will ensure you can pass the USB plug through the top of the dock but no holes are visible once assembled.

Cut the hole using a small chisel. Pass the USB port through the hole and attach the charger holder to verify everything functions correctly.

Using another template, glue the earbuds bracket in place. Unfortunately this image was lost. But a small amount of glue will suffice. Hold it in place with something heavy while it dries.

Remove all electronics and apply 3-4 coats of lacquer. Touch up any scratched paint on the bottom and apply a couple coats of lacquer to seal everything.

Insert a small piece of two sided tape to the recess of the watch charger holder. Feed the USB cable through the hole in the top and attach the holder with nuts.

Insert all electronics inside the housing. The inner bracket for the coils was cut away a bit to allow more space in the dock for USB cables. These cuts were all performed on the table saw.

Tidy everything inside with a few zip-ties and verify everything works.

Attach feet to the bottom of the dock. The screws from these feet will also hold the bottom cover in place. One of the feet didn't have anything to screw into on the dock, so it is held in place with a machine screw and nut.

Plug the dock into the wall and verify everything charges correctly.