CHARGER STAND - GENUINE RETRO SOUND

In the days before blue tooth speakers were a thing, people made all sorts of acoustic gadgets to make their phone seem louder than it really was.  Unfortunately that did nothing to improve the quality of the sound.

With the advent of retro clockfaces on telephones in night stand mode, I thought it was time to bring back the sound of a genuine 70's clock radio.

This is not an easy print, but it's not too difficult if you follow my advice below.

The charger is an IKEA Livboj, which can be bought for a few dollars.  If your phone doesn't support wireless charging, don't despair, if you look on the back panel top right, you will see a “knock out” panel, right in the centre of the horn coil - it will need some perseverance, but with some effort (and maybe a dremel or drill) you will be able to feed your charge cable in through the acoustic chamber. 

Don't worry, it won't make the sound any less terrible.

PRINTING  

This was designed as a bit of a test for me, so it may need some fiddling to get it right.

Please excuse the quality of this print.  I was using it as a test after upgrading to my Mk4S, and have used a lot less support than is advisable.

I used two small dots of organic support and it all worked - I suggest that maybe a few inches (50mm) on each of the coils would give a near perfect result.

I found that a 4mm brim was more than adequate even though the contact area along the long side is just a 2mm fillet.

Using a 0.4mm hi-flow nozzle and 1.5 mm height gave a lengthy print time, but you may wish to experiment with a set up that suits your needs.

Print the body first then the trumpet cone.

The trumpet has a 0.2mm clearance for fitting into the tube.  This may be too loose for many tastes.   A little superglue will fix, or you can print a small section and adjust to taste by slightly increase the size of the print in your slicer.

ASSEMBLY

The foot should slide firmly into place, level with the fillet on the bottom of the case.

The Livboj Charger will also sit reasonably snugly in position.   Note that a Magsafe charger will work but because each different phone requires a different location, it's best to leave it loose in the recess or use a little double sided tape to locate it.

USE

Livboj can be a little finicky but it is really cheap!   Often the camera lens holds the phone just far enough away from the charger to prevent charging - just make sure that the phone sits snugly against the charger.

Note the stand is designed for cases up to 14mm - more than that and the charger probably won't work anyway, but if you need a wider version let me know.

COLOUR

If you have a multi colour printer - consider colouring the indent on the front panel and the little “speer heads” on the trumpet end - see the photos above for some ideas.