[DIY] Magnetic, Wireless Wood Charging Stand

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malchyk

Member
Jun 20, 2012
38
11
San Francisco
Stand with the phone stuck to it, you can see the "Charged" appear on screen and the battery charging icon, indicating that the phone is connected to the Qi charger, and you see the bottom of the phone is not resting on the desk. It's held up entirely by the magnets. Sorry for the photo quality on this one, it was taken with my GNEX.
So cool! Any chance we can get a link to the wallpaper you're using?
 
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4569294

Member
Oct 22, 2010
6
1
Where could I find the wood?

First of all, great job! Posts like this are the reason I love this community. Second, where did you find the wood? I've checked on the Home Depot site and I couldn't find it. Thanks!
 

Dani897

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2010
3,615
670
Yeah, a full on knee mill would be a bit big. But I've seen the smaller mill-drills and such. Still pricey, but I do have my eyes on craigslist from time to time in the hopes of snagging something. The tooling and workholding is what really gets you though. Once you start purchasing spindles, cutters, vises, etc., the cost adds up quickly. You could easily spend half of what you've spent on the machine for tooling and work holding.

as much as i hate to do it, i get a lot of my tooling from china. measuring equipment come from ebay used, all american or japanese or swiss stuff like starrett, brown&sharp, mitutoyo, alina, i also have some new spi mics. collets and things are all imports. i also make what i can. things like fly cutters and form tools are all single point cutters i make myself. (helps to have a lathe too, mine is just a bench top sounthbend from maybe the 1940's, i still haven't checked the build date on it). if i need a specific reamer i will make "D" reamers from drill rod. i just get things one piece at a time, as i need them.

if the coil diameter is a problem because of overlap with the magnets it just appears to be an air core inductor. why not wind your own? a smaller diameter with equal turns if i remember right will have just slightly more inductance. there are all kinds of online calculators for inductor designs.

i was thinking about joining the wireless power consortium to get the Qi specs, or atleast buying the TI controller chip to get some parameters on inductors it works with. but the cost of diy is more than the cost of a pre made board.
 
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Elzaa

Member
Dec 4, 2013
37
5
Melbourne
Hey man, your charger looks amazing! Since the official nexus charger *still* isn't available in Australia and will probably cost an arm and a leg once it arrives, I think I might like to try this. Any advice for hollowing out the wood without a drill press?
 

Dani897

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2010
3,615
670
Hey man, your charger looks amazing! Since the official nexus charger *still* isn't available in Australia and will probably cost an arm and a leg once it arrives, I think I might like to try this. Any advice for hollowing out the wood without a drill press?

a hand router and a circle jig. you may have to do some arithmatic and make a wooden ring the router gets guided inside of first. once you get the OD circle, you can free hand the middle.
 

Elzaa

Member
Dec 4, 2013
37
5
Melbourne
a hand router and a circle jig. you may have to do some arithmatic and make a wooden ring the router gets guided inside of first. once you get the OD circle, you can free hand the middle.

Sounds good, thanks mate. I don't have a router yet but hopefully I can borrow one - plenty of handy friends :)
 
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Kevinik

Senior Member
Apr 5, 2010
86
1
You should make a few and sell it on EBay. I know they will go very high since this thread has been posted on Reddit.
 

kidgenius

Senior Member
May 9, 2009
69
318
First of all, great job! Posts like this are the reason I love this community. Second, where did you find the wood? I've checked on the Home Depot site and I couldn't find it. Thanks!
All you'll find at Home Depot is red oak, maple, pine, and some poplar. Maple could look nice if you want a lighter look.

This is from one of the local lumberyards around here that I frequent. I've got a bunch of walnut that I've used in the past for projects and this is just a leftover. Doesn't take much for a charger. Any halfway decent lumberyard should be able to supply wood in many varieties. You might be able to pick up some small pieces off of ebay or craigslist. Especially for something this small, you could use some really fancy woods too, like Zebrawood, Lacewood, etc. Expensive, but for this size it'd be around $10 or so.

Edit:
Here's a place near me that sells hardwood samples:
http://www.woodworkerssource.com/3_hardwood_samples.html
You would need 2 of those to make enough for a base. Obviously cheaper to source somewhere else, but this comes milled pretty close to final dimensions that you would wan.t

You should make a few and sell it on EBay. I know they will go very high since this thread has been posted on Reddit.
I'm guessing you're not taking orders...If you are I would definitely be interested...

I might make a small batch (less than 10). Would not be ready for probably five weeks due to the lead time out of China for the parts. I may PM some of you guys that are interested if/when the time comes. They won't be cheap though, probably around the $50-60 mark.
 
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kidgenius

Senior Member
May 9, 2009
69
318
a hand router and a circle jig. you may have to do some arithmatic and make a wooden ring the router gets guided inside of first. once you get the OD circle, you can free hand the middle.

Yeah, I've been thinking about it a bit more....

Larger hole in a piece of plywood that will guide a router that has a brass bushing in it like this:
144692.jpg


Only reason I did the drill press was that for a one-off, it was much faster. I don't like making jigs....I prefer making stuff instead.

Heck, you make a few jigs and you can use the router bushings to plunge holes for the magnets and cut out the recess for the board.
 

kidgenius

Senior Member
May 9, 2009
69
318
if the coil diameter is a problem because of overlap with the magnets it just appears to be an air core inductor. why not wind your own? a smaller diameter with equal turns if i remember right will have just slightly more inductance. there are all kinds of online calculators for inductor designs.

i was thinking about joining the wireless power consortium to get the Qi specs, or atleast buying the TI controller chip to get some parameters on inductors it works with. but the cost of diy is more than the cost of a pre made board.

Alright, now you're getting technical :)

I may be an engineer, but I'm an ME, not an EE...so I really don't know much about the coils. Also, almost all of the coils appear to be backed with a piece of ferrite. That may be necessary to help the things function properly. Really though, if there is less wood, the coil would probably work from a greater distance. The face of the magnets may be 1/32" from the front of the wood, but there is at least 1/4" of wood between the coil and the front face of the wood, plus an air gap of about 1/8". Hog that wood out to something like 1/8 or the same 1/32 as the magnet depth, and I wouldn't be surprised if the coil worked just fine.

I am looking forward to an adventurous soul to tear apart the official Google Qi charger.
 

TypoCorrecto

Senior Member
Mar 26, 2010
264
41
I might make a small batch (less than 10). Would not be ready for probably five weeks due to the lead time out of China for the parts. I may PM some of you guys that are interested if/when the time comes. They won't be cheap though, probably around the $50-60 mark.

Cool, add me to your list. I'm interested and I'm fine with the price...
 

NotoriousBEN

Member
May 1, 2007
6
0
I might make a small batch (less than 10). Would not be ready for probably five weeks due to the lead time out of China for the parts. I may PM some of you guys that are interested if/when the time comes. They won't be cheap though, probably around the $50-60 mark.

I'd be into that, as well. Would love to be on the list. Great work!
 

Lseven1eleven

New member
Dec 4, 2013
1
0
Interference question

From my understanding, the Qi tech uses induction to activate the receiver built into the phones circuitry. Would you or anyone on this thread be able to answer why the magnets aren't interfering with the Qi charger's mag field? Is the Qi mag field >> magnets'? Possibly the magnets are oriented to simply bend the induction field around the magnet's weaker field?

Or do I recall an imaginary chapter of Physics from years and years ago? haha.
 

hapsters

New member
Dec 4, 2013
1
0
Pittsburgh
I briefly thought about it....briefly :)

I just enjoyed making it for myself and felt like sharing so anyone could replicate it at their leisure. Thanks for the kudos though!

I'd think that this could go well with a Cards Against Humanity-like approach, where you release the how-to open-source, yet charge the lazy who want someone else to build it for them. Either way, great work.

This is where I would put my awesome Nexus 5 wireless charger.... IF I HAD A NEXUS 5! :p
 

Dani897

Senior Member
Aug 16, 2010
3,615
670
Alright, now you're getting technical :)

I may be an engineer, but I'm an ME, not an EE...so I really don't know much about the coils. Also, almost all of the coils appear to be backed with a piece of ferrite. That may be necessary to help the things function properly. Really though, if there is less wood, the coil would probably work from a greater distance. The face of the magnets may be 1/32" from the front of the wood, but there is at least 1/4" of wood between the coil and the front face of the wood, plus an air gap of about 1/8". Hog that wood out to something like 1/8 or the same 1/32 as the magnet depth, and I wouldn't be surprised if the coil worked just fine.

I am looking forward to an adventurous soul to tear apart the official Google Qi charger.

Ahh. If its backed with ferrite im not sure the standard calculators would work. They usually assume you are wrapped around the core rather than just parallel to it...
Not to mention you don't know the permeability to use without knowing the exact material of the backing.
 

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  • 145
    So, ever since I found out that the Nexus 5 had the metal disks in it to to help align the phone with the official charger, I've been determined to make my own stand. My goal was to design a stand that would hold the phone at an angle on my desk, use only magnets to hold the phone, incorporate a Qi charger, and also to look super-clean. Well, I just finished it last night. It works well and I think it turned out good. Hopefully you guys like it and if anyone wants more info or pictures, I'll be happy to provide it

    Stand without the phone. The wood is a piece of walnut, oiled and waxed, with no magnets or charger visible from the front.
    bS5OjkF.png


    Stand with the phone stuck to it, you can see the "Charged" appear on screen and the battery charging icon, indicating that the phone is connected to the Qi charger, and you see the bottom of the phone is not resting on the desk. It's held up entirely by the magnets. Sorry for the photo quality on this one, it was taken with my GNEX.
    bopPFPq.jpg
    143
    This looks AWESOME!:cool: it looks so relaxed. you should make a tutorial for this :p

    it looks awesome mate, keep it going. :)

    Thanks!

    Here's a run down of how I made it.

    Materials:
    Wood: approx 1/2" x 12" x 2 5/8"
    Magnets: 1/2" x 1/8" N48 Discs
    Qi PCB/Coil, either buy direct or yank out of another charger.

    I started with a block of walnut which was 1/2" thick, 12" long, and just a little narrower in width than the phone itself (about 2 5/8). I made it narrower than the phone, because my fingers naturally extend past the sides of the phone when I grip it. This makes it relatively simple to center the phone, left-to-right, on the stand. I started by cutting the 12" board down so I had one piece that was 6 1/4" long which would be the face, and the remaining piece would be used as the base as well as some waste area to dial in the hole depths with the drill press.

    Next, I had to lay out the holes for the magnets. The metal discs in the phone back are 49mm from the top edge of the phone to the center of the upper-most disc. The 4 discs have their centers at the corners of a 36mm x 36mm square. This began with finding the center-line of my block of wood, and then drawing parallel lines, at a distance of 18mm on either side of the center line.
    5MdzLpjl.png
    aZ3Efyfl.png


    Then, I drew perpendicular lines at a distance of 49mm + 5/16" reveal (~2 1/4") from the top. And another line, 36mm further down from that.
    PIy4ypcl.png
    qNlhpRPl.png


    Lastly, I had to find the center of the square so I could accurately drill for the coil.
    1zccHSRl.png


    Then, off to the drill press to drill the holes. I drill the 4 holes for the magnets first, using a 1/2: Forstner bit. You could also use a brad point bit, or a twist bit, but the entry hole wont be as clean with the latter. Then, I used a 2" Forstner bit to drill for the coil. I drilled each hole about as far as I could go without the spur (center point) of the drill exiting the face of the board.
    E1Tb4Jel.png
    Guu2k4ll.png


    When all was said and done, the result was this:
    WOl79uKl.png

    The deeper you can get the hole, the better. This really is a game of millimeters. When I drilled the holes initially, a single magnet in each hole wasn't enough to hold the phone. But, with two magnets in each hole, the phone couldn't detect the charger through all the wood. I drilled the the larger hole as deep as I dared, because air has a lower permittivity (easier for EM fields to pass through) than wood. Still, even with a bunch of wood hogged out, the distance was still too much. I had to make the magnet recesses even deeper in the hopes that single magnets would hold the phone, thus allowing the charging coil to sit super low in the block of wood. After having drilled those magnet recesses as deep as possible with a drill bit and not being able to drill any deeper, it was time for a more risky manuever.

    HGsjj3Kl.png

    That's a 1/2" carbide end-mill chucked into the drill press. I bored straight down, getting the holes to withing 1/32" of the face of the block of wood.
    SAFETY WARNING! This worked for me and I didn't, at any time, feel that I was in harms way. The wood, router bit, and drill press did not, at any time give any indication of any impending problems. Still, router bits are designed for the significantly higher speeds of a router, and drill presses are only designed for axial loading. If you are going to ever put a end mill in a drill press, please do not induce sideways loading on the bit. Go read up on drill presses and tool tapers and why this would be a bad idea. Do this at your own risk! END OF SAFETY WARNING

    Next, I laid out the recess for the PCB of the charger. I took the coil of the charger and affixed it to the back of the PCB using double-sided foam tape. Then put the coil into the hole and traced around the PCB.
    5FiKDHxl.png
    vZFDweYl.png
    bRkf6rLl.png


    Then, with chisels and a router plane, I excavated the waste. You can use a router, drill bits, whatever you want to eliminate the waste. I also cut out a recess for the coil wires that looped up to the PCB, and I also included a 1/2" thick slot to accommodate the USB plug and cable. After this was all done the piece looked like this:
    zLEPhBxl.png


    Next, came the base. This is from the same block of wood as the front, so the color and dimensions all match the front block. Both ends received a bevel of whatever angle felt "right". I held the front block on my desk and angled it back until it was pleasing. This then was set as the angle for all the bevels. If I had to guess....it'd be about 15-20 degrees.
    cxXFgdFl.png


    I also had to cut a 1/4" in groove, from front to back, to accomodate the USB cable. The base ends up looking like this (as a note, the top face in the picture will be resting on the desk. I turned it bottoms-up to show the groove)
    9aJhPUQl.png


    Next, I glued the base to the front using an extra thick/gel super-glue, as this was a fairly difficult piece to clamp. Traditional wood glues would be difficult, but not impossible, to use. Using the same glue, I glued the magnets into their recesses. I made the polarities all line up, so on the face, all the magnets have the same North-South orientation. I don't think this is critical though.
    H6PDyVhl.png


    Lastly, I dropped in the coil. It is not held in place with any glue or screws. The coil has a ferrite backer and the magnets end up being close enough to hold the PCB in place. They don't actually contact the magnets, but I doubt it matters as the coil appears to be insulated. The USB cable slides up through the bottom through the channel that was cut earlier in the front block.
    O2HXpN3l.png


    Turn it over, plug it in, and you are set.

    The only other thing remaining which I plan on doing, is ordering some nano-suction polyurethane material to held hold the stand to the desk. But that's just peel'n stick and should be easy enough for most people to figure out.
    10
    impressive! charger model?

    Just ordered the coil/board itself. But, it appears to be the same coil used in any of the cheap chinese Qi chargers based on some of the other pictures around here.

    http://www.aliexpress.com/item/QI-w...arging-accessory-DIY-wireless/1325747887.html

    Only $12 shipped. Takes about 2-3 weeks to arrive from China
    9
    Hey - just wanted to post photos of the stand i drafted up and had 3d printed based on yours
    This was a great little project and should look awesome on my desk - thanks for the great idea!
    4
    I would say if your going to make a small batch maybe just fab the wood and let the people that order one get the coil and magnets separate

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

    I'll probably start with a set of ready-made ones, and if there is enough interest, I can do just the wood frames and let people supply magnets/coils. It avoids the double-shipping charges (shipping to me, and shipping to others). Heck, I probably could even offer a choice of woods. Walnut, Cherry, Maple I have on hand, and I could provide others, depending on demand. That wood though wouldn't be cheap. Probably like $25-30+shipping (nothing set in stone yet of course). I'll keep you guys posted after my first batch....