Introduction: Cardboard Kindle Keyboard Case
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About: Basically, I just really love duct tape and electronics. I've been fixing my broken electronic items since I was about 14 years old, and I've been obsessed with duct tape since I was 15.
I bought a Kindle Keyboard a couple of months ago, a broken one I might add, and I got it replaced, when I got the broken Kindle, I realized I needed it to be protected, and after a quick online search, I found the cheapest protective case to be expensive, I'm just a teenager who lives off of a £15 a month allowance, this makes it hard to do a lot without earning money first. So I though, lets make an inexpensive, yet protective case for when my new Kindle arrives. This was what I did.
Step 1: Gathering Materials
Quick and easy:
-Carboard (a lot)
-Brown paper (I used expensive brown wrapping paper I had left from Christmas)
-Scissors/Knives
-Stapler
-Carboard (a lot)
-Brown paper (I used expensive brown wrapping paper I had left from Christmas)
-Scissors/Knives
-Stapler
Step 2: Cutting the Back Piece
The easiest step, first I found the dimensions of the kindle, according to online searches, and I found these to be 7.5" x 4.8" x 0.40", this made my first job easy, cut a simple rectangle of cardboard measuring 7.5" x 4.8", cut more rather than less if you're not precise with a knife.
Step 3: Cutting the Front Face
The screen size is roughly 3.6" x 4.8", so I cut a paper template and just slowly reduced the size from there until it fit ontop of the screen perfectly.
I cut another piece of card the same size as the back piece, from there I measure how far along and how far from the top the screen is, then I laid the paper screen template and traced around it, I cut the screen shape from the cardboard and placed it to the side for future templating.
For the keyboard section, I roughly measured the area around the keyboard, I took the measurement, and made a template of this too. I cut more than the measured amount off to ensure the buttons at the edge of the keyboard could still be easily used.
The four buttons situated on both sides of the kindle were the hardest part, but I slowly cut away at the edges until all four buttons were easily accessible, as with everything else, I cut more than what was the actual measurement.
I cut another piece of card the same size as the back piece, from there I measure how far along and how far from the top the screen is, then I laid the paper screen template and traced around it, I cut the screen shape from the cardboard and placed it to the side for future templating.
For the keyboard section, I roughly measured the area around the keyboard, I took the measurement, and made a template of this too. I cut more than the measured amount off to ensure the buttons at the edge of the keyboard could still be easily used.
The four buttons situated on both sides of the kindle were the hardest part, but I slowly cut away at the edges until all four buttons were easily accessible, as with everything else, I cut more than what was the actual measurement.
Step 4: The Flap
I added a flap to cover the front face of the Kindle, for when the Kindle was not in use. this is the most protective part of the casing, as screen damage is the most common problem Kindle owners face, I noticed retail cases turn into a stand as secondary function, and wanted to implement this in my case, so the front flap had double use.
To make the flap, cut another rectangle of cardboard the size of the back of the case, this is all you need to do for now.
To make the flap, cut another rectangle of cardboard the size of the back of the case, this is all you need to do for now.
Step 5: Putting It All Together!
Next take the brown paper (or whatever you've decided to use) and cut strips of brown paper like take, they should be thick enough to go from the top of the side of the Kindle down to the page buttons, and then from the bottom to the page buttons, they should also be able to wrap around the top of the Kindle case to the bottom. Images probably describe this a lot better.
Next take an old eraser, or some Blu Tack and put in underneath the cardboard in which you are going to stable it too (I cheated and stapled onto the broken Kindle, I didn't care about damaging it) you then need to bend the legs of the staples inwards and push them into the cardboard so that you don't scratch your Kindle when taking it in and out of the case.
Finally add the flap, this is tricky, so refer to the photos if you don't understand fully. You make two thick strips of brown paper, first staple them to the flap itself, three times ideally, but not next to the edge of the flap. Place the flap on the case as if it was already attached, fold the strips over and hold them down, staple three times again on the back of the main case, not near the edge again, this ensures your case can be used as a stand too.
On all of the joins, I recommend using PVA or wood glue to secure the tape to the cardboard completely.
Next take an old eraser, or some Blu Tack and put in underneath the cardboard in which you are going to stable it too (I cheated and stapled onto the broken Kindle, I didn't care about damaging it) you then need to bend the legs of the staples inwards and push them into the cardboard so that you don't scratch your Kindle when taking it in and out of the case.
Finally add the flap, this is tricky, so refer to the photos if you don't understand fully. You make two thick strips of brown paper, first staple them to the flap itself, three times ideally, but not next to the edge of the flap. Place the flap on the case as if it was already attached, fold the strips over and hold them down, staple three times again on the back of the main case, not near the edge again, this ensures your case can be used as a stand too.
On all of the joins, I recommend using PVA or wood glue to secure the tape to the cardboard completely.
Step 6: Case Is Done!
I've also included the photos of when my new Kindle got there the next day thanks to Amazon Prime (a service I highly recommend if you're a frequent customer on Amazon). But your case is officially done!