Apple Watch Night Stand and USB Hub Encaser

Every child has some Legos at home, no matter big or small.

When he or she grew up, those old time favourite toys ended up in a box, in the closet, donated to those in needs, etc.

Every computer geek has some peripherals, no matter simple or fancy.

When he or she bought stuff over time, some items got replaced and those latest gadgets ended up lying everywhere on the desktop. Particularly troublesome are cables.

I am not a big fan of lego. Actually I was triggered by someone building an Apple Watch stand using Legos. I was inspired and wondered: my kids had Legos lying around, can I built a similar one too? I went to build one. Well, an ugly one.

Never mind about my lack of artistic sense. I was always troubled by the need to organize my gadgets and cables when new stuff arrive on desktop for my iMac.

This time, I want to get some help from Legos. Ok, I know I am not a master builder but everything is awesome.

Step 1: Step 1. Set Your Goal of the Outcome

First of all, I want to lay down some goals for the outcome:

1. It has to house a USB 3.0 hub

2. Some USB ports are already occupied for Lightning cable, Micro USB cable, and a 30-pin cable and a magnetic charging cable for Apple Watch.

3. It has to hide all cables

4. It serves as a night stand for my Apple Watch. Better can tilt, swivel or both.

5. The whole set has to set in the space between the bottom of the iMac panel and the stand. 75 mm will provide me with some clearance.

Step 2: Step 2: Treasure Hunt

If you have kids, you can locate Legos relatively easily. But make sure you are not messing around with those they are currently playing.

The hard part: find the parts that you need.

It depends on what objectives you have set. For me, since the whole set has to move in and out all at once beneath the space of the iMac panel, finding a thin, flat surface is the first thing I need to do. I ended up with many small tiles but not big enough.

Step 3: Step 3: Make a Flat Surface for Bottom

I collected a few tiles, piece them together to form a larger surface to house my gadget.

Step 4: Step 4: Make a Housing for the Magnetic Charge Cable

Lucky enough, with some search, I ended up making a housing for the Apple Watch magnetic charge cable. The housing dimension is just right. I also added some blocks so that this part can tilt. I made 2 versions. The first version breaks easily. The second one is better. So I ended up using the second one.

In order for the cable to set inside the housing, I used some blu-tak. Actually I used quite some blu-tak throughout the whole project.

Step 5: Step 5: Continue to Make the Whole Housing

I happened to be able to find a block that has an axle inside. So the other block can rotate. This is perfect for me to have a housing top that can rotate so that I can easily remove, or just turn a bit to manage the message cables that hides underneath.

I then stuffed all cables from behind into the casing. Also stick the USB hub on the rotatable top with blu-tak. Pulled the cables from the windows in front. The windows are meant to support another thin top layer so that I can make this more rigid.

I also stick my USB card reader on one side with blu-tak. Yes, lots of blu-tak.

Putting them all together, I tried the tilt angle of the magnetic cable housing with the Apple Watch . It looks good. Then I tried with a real Apple Watch. Looks good too.

Step 6: Step 6: Some Amendments

I used to think the cables can be stuffed into the underneath through the windows and I can close the windows with a total tidy look.

But it turns out that the cables are too messy underneath. Once you pulled out, you cannot stuff them back. So the windows ended up useless. Plus the windows cannot be closed so they ended up swinging forever. So I decided to remove them. Looks better.

But how to handle the little tails stuck out from the windows? I added another top layer so that the cable ends are hidden behind the new top.

Step 7: Step 7: Final Touch Up

As stated before, the whole set will sit under the iMac panel. So again, blu-tak saves the day.

Also, I don't want it to be to bored, so I added a tree to give me a holiday feel and a mini figure with a sword to protect my belongings. XD

Anyway, I found out that the Apple Watch stand should be a little bit higher so that there are more space for the watch strap. I ended up adding one thick block to move it up.

I hope you will find this fun. You will end up building your own version, not similar to mine.