Wooden Box Mod for Dual 18650 Batteries

In this instructable I show you how you can build your own wooden E-Cigarette / Box Mod - or at least the steps I used to create mine.

What you need

Wood:

• A piece of wood for the frame which is roughly 20mm (0.8”) thick and at least 120mm x 64mm (4.8” x 2.5”) tall

• Another piece of wood for the front and back panel which is the same size but about 5mm (0.2”) thick

• 4mm dowel / pin

Tools:

• A saw (jig saw, scroll saw or even a coping saw)
• A drill with a few drill bits. The size of the drill bits depens on the 510 connector, button, magnets etc you use. I would recommend a 4mm drill bit and a step drill.
• Wood glue, sandpaper, clamps

These are all the tools you really need, but a dremel is also very useful on projects like this.

Mod Parts:

• 510 connector
• Switch
• MOSFET (IRLB3034) + 15k resistor
• 2.5mm² or 1.5mm² wire
• 0.5mm² wire
• Battery sled for dual 18650 batteries
• Eight 4x2mm round magnets

Some of the parts I used are discontinued, so I picked similar ones. These parts are just examples, you can also use different parts like colored switches etc. Or you could order elsewhere, depening on where you live.

After you sourced all the parts it's time to cut and drill the pieces of wood.

You could either use this instructable as inspiration for your own version or you can find the most recent version of my mods to download on my website Build Plan: Wooden Box Mod The download for the .DXF-File to print out can be found on the bottom of the page. (I am currently reworking the build plans on the website to make them clearer)

I used a template to transfer the dimensions and the position of the holes to the wood. To start cutting I used a big drill bit to drill a hole in the middle of the frame and then continued with the scroll saw to cut out the mittle part. A jig saw gets the job done as well. Cut close to the line, but leave some extra space for sanding later. Especially on the front and back panel it is better to have some more material that can later be removed.

In the frame and front/back panels I drilled 4mm holes for magnets and alignment pins. Also I drilled two 12mm holes for the 510 connector and the switch (make sure to drill the right size for your parts, some 510 connectors have a bigger diameter)

In order to to align the front and back panel perfectly with the frame I decided to use small pins. Two of them on the back and two of them in the front. The front will also include two magnets. This way the front panel is held in place with the magnets and sits firmly in its position.

These pins also help to align the pieces while sanding without the need to permanently glue them together. A quick way to remove the extra material on the front/back panel is to use a belt sander. You could also do it by hand, it just takes a bit longer. But for the finishing touches and to make it feel good in the hand, hand sanding is the way to go.

This step is optional. But since I own a laser cutter, I decided to make this mod even more personal by adding my own engraving to the front. If you do not have access to a laser cutter you could also use a CNC mill or maybe you could try to create your own engraving with a dremel. Or just leave the wood as is.

Please make sure that you only build an unregulated mod like this, if you know about battery safety and have a rough understanding of the wiring diagram. The MOSFET is no short circuirt protection nor a reverse polarity protection, it simply is required to switch the high current.

A short summary of different types of mods anda short explanation on how power, current, voltage and resistance work together can be found in my Basics for building a Box Mod.

After this short warning, lets continue with this built.

The wiring diagram shows thick lines for the thicker wires (1.5mm² or even 2.5mm²) and thinner lines for the thinner (0.5mm²) wires. Since I am not using this mod for extreme high power (max. 100W, usually less) I used the 1.5mm² wires since they are easier to work with.

After installing all the components inside (which was more complicated than I expected) I glued all the pieces together. For the wooden parts I used wood glue and for the battery sled I used epoxy to connect them permanently.

Once the glue was dried I applied some finish. I used some oil to intensify the contrast on the plywood and to darken the wooden panels. I prefer using oil over varnish because this method also maintains the feel of wood. From time to time you need to reapply the finish to keep the wood protected.

I also added a little 3D-printed cover to hide the electronics to give it a more clean look when the front panel is off.

Do you have any more questions or ideas how I could improve this instructable? Feel free to hit me up.

If you are interested in more mod designs, I uploaded another instructable for a squonk mod which is partially 3D printed and partially made of wood: 3D printed squonk mod

More pictures of this and many other mods can be found on my instagram page: modern_crafts