Dress up your QI Charger with the Scroll Saw.

When I purchased the new iPhone this year I was happy to see that they now supported QI charging. For those of you not familiar with QI charging let me explain. A QI charger charges the smartphone by simply laying the phone on the charger. No connection to the phone is necessary. They are very convenient.  The newer iPhones support QI charging as well as many Android phones. Check you smartphone specs before you buy a QI charger.

One problem though. They are usually ugly. I decided to dress mine up a little by making a wooden enclosure for it. The enclosure also makes it easier to line up the phone with the charger. If they are off center charging will not start.

This is the QI charger I purchased from Amazon. It is an incredible buy at $8.99 as of this writing. This pattern is designed around this charger. You probably won't find one cheaper so this is a good one to experiment with. The first one I purchased was over $50. This one seems to work even better than the expensive one I purchased. 

Installing this charger in the enclosure has not impacted the charging time at all. The top of the wooden enclosure is around 1/16" thick and does not seem to affect the charging at all.

Click to watch the video.

 I milled the top as thin as I could get it then sanded it to the 1/16" thickness.

The purchased charger is approximately 3/8" thick. I used 1/2" thick wood and just shimmed the charger until it was flush with the top. We want the charger as clos to the phone as possible. 

 I just used a small piece of wood for the shim. I sanded it until I got the righ heigth on the charger.

I installed the back plate with screws. I want to be able to remove the charger if needed. Notice that I countersank the pre-drilled holes. I did not want the screw heads scratching my desk. Rubber feet can be added if you prefer. 

 I great tip for driving these soft brass screws is soap. Apply a little soap to the tip and it will screw in with ease.

 I made a mistake here. I put glue where the lightning bold fretwork is on the top. I had to wipe off some of the glue. Pay more attention than I did when applying the glue.

Lots of clamps are called for. You want the seams to disappear as much as possible. After the glue dries, sand the edges until flush. I gently rounded the corners and broke over all the hard edges. Apply the finish of your choice and you are ready to charge in style.

Buy the QI Charger

Currently $8.99 on Amazon.

Brian Hall and Son Painted project.

I have said it before but I'll repeat myself. I am not a big fan of painting wood. I love the look of natural wood. I have also seen too many poorly painted projects. Painting is difficult to execute well.

I received this picture in an email today. It was from Brian Hall. Here is what he wrote. This is one case where I think this project looks very nice painted.  Brians son definately does a nice job with his airbrush.

Hi Steve,

I am new to scrolling and have been watching some of your videos on YouTube. I found your fish bowl pattern that you kindly supplied on your website and thought you might be interested in the finished result. What makes it different is that my son, who is a dab-hand with an airbrush, painted it and I think he did a brilliant job.

Regards

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Inlay these coins into that special project

using only a 1" Forstner bit.

I did not make it to the post office today in time to get the outstanding orders shipped. I will take them to the post office first thing Monday.

I'm starting to get feedback from customers now. The response has been very positive. People seem to like the new design. Thanks for all the orders.

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Products for your consideration:

Scroll Saw Pattern Design Tutorial: DVD
Let me teach you to create a beautiful wooden portrait pattern. I will show you everything you need from start to finish. The video will show you the free software program you can download for Windows or Mac OS. I will show you how to install the program and configure it for best results. 

Then I will show you the technique to take your photograph and make a pattern from it. When the pattern is complete we will go in the shop and cut it.

The DVD is $10 plus shipping. This is a data DVD that you will use on your computer to watch the video tutorial  

Every Scrollsaw Workshop Pattern from 2007-2017 in DVD

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The DVD also works fine on a MAC. The viewer program is not MAC compatible but there is an included PDF with all the patterns shown as thumbnails for easy viewing. 

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