Accessories My homemade desktop cradle

[Ruggar]

I made my own desktop cradle for my DInc. When I am not at my desk I keep it in a leather case on my pocket. When it is in my car I have it in the Verizon car dock. But when I am at my desk I have no place for it. I keep my naked otherwise. I only have a Verizon screen protector (waiting for the Steinheil ones to come out). So I decided to make a desk cradle for it.

The only thing I bought new was the business card holder and mini droid stickers. The rest I had lying around the house. Here are some pics going through the process:

Materials
1x Clear plastic business card holder from Staples @ $1.99ea
2x Wire-Nuts (Ideal brand 72B)
1x Tube Krazy Glue
1x Mighty Putty
1x Can black glossy spray paint
1x Mini Android Sticker 1" x .85" from Androidstickers.com (mini Androids)
1x Dremel (to do the cutting)

Explanation of pictures:
1) Original case.

2) I cut the sides out of the business card holder with my Dremel so I could lay the DInc sideways. I put the sticker on the back of the holder thinking I would leave it clear.

3) I Krazy glued the wire-nuts in place to act as a horizontal stabilizer so the DInc wouldn't slide around and also as the rests for the landscape mode. I used the Mighty Putty and rolled out a measured length then put it in place. As it was setting I slipped the case in pressed down to give it the impression you see. This way it has a snug form fit to it and doesn't simply rest on the Mighty Putty. I went with the Mighty Putty to act as a stabilizer so it wouldn't wiggle front to back but also to elevate it just a bit so the front home, menu, back and search buttons would be usable.

4) I decided against leaving it clear and spray painted it black. I put the sticker back on after the paint dried.

 

[jbdan]

Always gotta give props to the "creative's" out there....nicely done looks great!

 

[CatsTide]

good job!

 

[paimon.soror]

Nice work! Does it currently charge the phone as well? Do you plan on making it so you can?

 

[Ruggar]

No it will not charge the phone. I've allowed room for the micro usb charger to be attached to the DInc in both portrait and landscape mode if I need to charge it without it interfering with anything. But the dock itself will not charge it. Mainly because all of my desks have a computer/laptop on them to use the USB jack for charging. Path of least resistance and all that.

The longest part of this project is waiting for the paint to dry, lol. The rest took about 10 minutes.

 

[ACD168]

well done mate.

 

[Kaelin]

Nice Job. I might have to try something like this.
Wonder if I could stick a usb to microusb cable into the mighty putty before it dries so I could just put the Incredible in the cradle and charge it. Would have to make sure the plug is covered before I try to paint it though.

 

[Ruggar]

The Might Putty dries via a chemical reaction that generates a fair amount of heat so be forewarned. Once you start mixing it and set in place you might have 10 minutes before things get too hard to work with or repair if you screw up. Although mine is over a year old so maybe it lost some freshness and you may get more time.

 

[C0bra K0mmander]

Can I pre order one??????!!!?? It is hot!

 

[Kaelin]

The Might Putty dries via a chemical reaction that generates a fair amount of heat so be forewarned. Once you start mixing it and set in place you might have 10 minutes before things get too hard to work with or repair if you screw up. Although mine is over a year old so maybe it lost some freshness and you may get more time.

I have some Mighty Putty but I have had it for awhile too. I haven't used it too much but I may have to do some experimenting with it before trying it out on a dock. There are other epoxy clays out that allow a 2-3 hour working time too.

I bought a nexus one car dock from Pro-Clip and the Incredible fits perfectly in it. I had to drill a hole in the side of it for the power cord but it works for now in my car. I would really like to be able to set the Incredible in a desktop cradle and not have to mess with hooking up a power cord every time. I know, it sounds a little lazy.

 

[bjanow]

I made my own desktop cradle for my DInc.

Paypal? I'm in, how much?

 

[Ruggar]

Thanks for all your replies.

Ok paimon.soror you have me motivated to try to get this thing to charge. I'll definitely need a right angle micro usb (Right Angle Micro B - Google Product Search) and instead of the wire-nuts I'll probably have to build my own posts out of epoxy clay.

Hopefully if all goes well I'll have another cool accessory to add to the next one. Maybe I'll make a few extras and give them away. It really takes no time to make them. I'll have to think about it.

 

[Josh2]

I would buy one for sure.

 

[Dex]

That is just too awesome.

 

[CarlWinslo]

i am a fan, and if you could get them to charge i would be down for sure

 

[greenrolaids]

I was going to carve a cradle in my desktop, but this was much easier.

i cut down a small piece of wood to hold the phone at an angle, and then drilled a few holes to fit the usb plug.

Now that i know it works, im planning on using some bondo and some streched felt to make a smooth curvy base.

Once again this is just a mock up, i know it looks ugly

 

[BetterMost]

Very Talented, Nice Job!

 

[woop]

Very creative. Nice job.

 

[paimon.soror]

Thanks for all your replies.

Ok paimon.soror you have me motivated to try to get this thing to charge. I'll definitely need a right angle micro usb (Right Angle Micro B - Google Product Search) and instead of the wire-nuts I'll probably have to build my own posts out of epoxy clay.

Hopefully if all goes well I'll have another cool accessory to add to the next one. Maybe I'll make a few extras and give them away. It really takes no time to make them. I'll have to think about it.

Haha not sure how I motivated but hey, sweet deal. One thing that might be worth doing is that on the usb cable, to punch out the two prongs that help the cable "clip" into the socket. This way it will slide in an out without problems. I know that some of the Storm 2 (sorry, ex-bb user) cradles did this which made it so much easier placing the phone in and removing the phone from the cradle.

 

[tonesteroc]

very nice