Introduction: DIY Ikea Box Charging Station Black
So I've been reading Lifehacker.com and found some really nice DIY charging stations. I really liked the Ikea box versions, but I decided to change a few things.
These were bluesman and PROD's instructables on making a charging station without switches or with individual switches:
https://www.instructables.com/id/The-IKEA-charging-box---no-more-cable-mess!-Very-e/ (Ikea charging box)
https://www.instructables.com/id/IKEA-Power-Charging-Box-with-individual-switches/?ALLSTEPS (Ikea charging box with individual swtiches)
I was really excited about this and decided to make my own version. First of all, I like black, so it had to be a black box and I wanted one general powerswitch. I also wanted to make a few ventilation holes in the back.
I used the following materials:
Ikea Ladis (40x30 box, 70 eurocents)
Ikea Ladis (40 lid, 30 eurocents)
Ikea Koppla (power strip with general switch, you get 2 of them for 4,99 euros)
A few tie-wraps.
Tools:
Drill, different sizes (depends on the tie-wraps and chords you're using)
Vile (round)
Knife
Thanks to bluesman and PROD for their nice instructables!
Step 1: Materials
Materials used:
Black box (Ikea Ladis) 40x30
Black lid (Ikea Ladis)
Power stip
This powerstrip would fit entirely into the box, but I decided to keep the part with the switch on the outside so I can easily flip it. The side with he switch is to the wall anyways!
Step 2: Fitting the Power Strip
I made a hole for the powerstrip which was a little bit smaller, in this way I was able to push it in with some force, making it stay in place a bit more easily.
I just drew around the powerstrip's end holding it against the box and then cut the hole using a knife.
I chose not to cut all the material away, I didn't cut the bottom off, providing some support for the switch-part of the power strip.
Step 3: Securing the Power Strip
I wanted the power strip to stay in place, so I drilled four holes in the bottom of the box, just big enough to fit my tie-wraps.
Two tie-wraps is more than enough to keep it in place, though I needed to combine two tie-wraps into one to be able to circle the power strip.
Step 4: Preparing the Lid
So, now I needed to make some holes in the lid to hold the connectors I wanted on top. In my case, these are two battery chargers for my cameras and two for my cellphone.
I also made some holes to tie-wrap the Panasonic battery chargers to the lid, making them stay in place.
I had to make large holes for the two camera chargers, because the connector is pretty large.
For the Nokia connectors, I made the hole just big enough to push them through with some force, making it unable for them to fall back in!
Step 5: Ventilation
After reading some comments about the fact that these boxes could get a little warm with all those adapters inside, I decided to drill some holes for ventilation in the back side.
This should be enough in combination with the switch (it'll only be on for a few hours a day max).
Step 6: Put Everything Inside!
Now it was time to put everything inside the box.
I have some extra space, which I tend to use. I can easily remove the lid and put in an extra adapter, for istance for a one-time use (and just put the lid on).
Step 7: Final Result!
So, here it is!
I actually quite like the result, though I might think about changing the power strip to a black one with a black chord.