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Glass cabinet for phones

PostPosted: 2014 Feb 01, 19:19
by pena
I thought I share my small "project" to inspire people who keep their phones hidden... :)

First I got a "Detolf" glass cabinet from Ikea: http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/10011055/. It costs 50?/?40, is robust (when assembled) and small enough into a small apartment. I can't have large phones or too many smaller phones because I just don't have space for them.

Then LED lighting. I wasn't aware of Dioder-products on Ikea, so I didn't go the easy way. Instead I got some LED strip: cheapest 3524 type was 20? for 10 meters, including shipping.

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The glass cabinet has a hole for bulb on top. I fed the LED strip from there and it goes down along the front pole -- the LEDs "aim" at the center so the light is distributed nicely inside the cabinet. LED strips have adhesive side, but it won't stick to a round pole and it's not recommended to round the strip, so I used regular Scotch tape every 10 cm or so and it stays tightly in place. It took about 4 meters of LED strip, if I remember correctly.

I measured that the installed LEDs consume about 0,9 amps and got a power supply which outputs 2 amps, just in case I want more LED strips or other devices installed. The supply also needed a case, power switch, etc. All that cost about 30?.
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It's not pretty because I didn't intend to have a fan on it but I rather keep the supply cool -- not that it runs hot. The cabinet comes with plastic plugs to the bulb hole, so now it has a DC plug mounted and the supply can be separated easily from the cabinet.

Alright, cabinet and lighting is there... Next some stands for the phones.

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Got three of these acrylic stands, they're bad on certain models, like Nokia 9300 sits tilted on it. Total of ?4,80 = 6? with free shipping. Item on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120805480106

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These are better and acrylic too, got 10 of these. Some larger models, like Nokia 9110, are too tall for these and can flip backwards, unless top of the phone leans to something. Total of ?14,98 = 19?. Unfortunately not on Ebay anymore, similar product: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141011425471

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Can't remember what I paid for these, probably 10?, but I got three of these for my Nokia N-series phones.

I had some old phone boxes around so I put them into the cabinet too. Boxes goes in the back of shelves, phones on stands are on the boxes, more phones leaning on the boxes, and rest of the phones lays in front of the shelves.
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Like this. Not all models can lean on a box, but most stay and won't fall down, even if the cabinet is bumped.

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And here's the full cabinet. LEDs are bright enough to light up the room dimly and they don't eat lots of power. It looks crowded but now phones aren't hidden in my drawers. Most of them have SIM cards, and I charge all of them every 6 months, so they're ready to go (well, most of them are if battery holds charge) if I need to test something or guests want to play few rounds of two player Snake. :D

Re: Glass cabinet for phones

PostPosted: 2014 Feb 01, 20:58
by spectreman
Great article, Pena !
I want to get one of these same cases myself for my phones.
However, a lot of my phones are a bit larger, being AMPS analogue ones.
I would definitely not be able to fit all of them into one case.

By the way, I would like to visit Finland one day.
I spent 6 months living in Sweden some years ago, it was fantastic.

Cheers, Chris.

Re: Glass cabinet for phones

PostPosted: 2014 Feb 02, 14:38
by pena
Thank you Chris! :)

Larger phones might have to be alone on the shelves. I mean, two could fit onto one shelf but it can carry 6 kilograms. Mine are carrying about 3-5 kg of stuff per shelf, so it was easy to decide that my old Mobira goes on the bottom. :D

To be honest, a wider cabinet made from wood with glass doors would have been nicer... This one isn't dustproof (there's ~1cm gaps around the door) and I'm quite certain that it will break if it has to be taken to a new apartment someday, even though it's toughened glass. But it was cheap and good enough so I'll live with it.

This collector seem to have three Detolf cases + one other for his (or her?) Ericsson phones: http://www.oldericsson.ch/177412076 :shock: Much cleaner layout than mine, all have stands with proper labels, and so on... :o Can't fit another case to this apartment...

Finland is quite like Sweden, except the people are somewhat different. But we invented sauna, Santa Claus lives here, we're better than them on ice hockey, and so on, doesn't matter what the Swedes say. ;)

Re: Glass cabinet for phones

PostPosted: 2014 Feb 03, 09:17
by jonny
Hi,
verry goog looking! :!: :)