Ikea Skadis 'Charger Tree'

I'm probably not alone in experiencing a slight frustration over finding cables and charger bricks for the entire family's collection of phones, tablets, and other gadgets spread around the house - except, of course, for the one you (or someone else in the family) is looking for right now.

Originally I solved this by using a white board and gluing phoneholders to it. Hiding the electronics behind it and then sticking it on the wall made for a nice, convenient place to put everything that needed charging, and the family ended up calling it our 'charger tree'.

I've now made a new version of this, using a 36cm. x 56cm. (14 x 22in.) Ikeas Skadis board instead. It is more flexible in that I can make my own and add as many different holders as I want or need, it has a nice LED backlight and looks much nicer.

I've added the instructions for my setup below, as well as the few holders I've made so far

• Tickwatch 5pro
• ClasOlson round base battery pack
• Generic phone holder
• Generic batterypack holder
• Jabra Elite10 holder

I've also added the 'backplate template' - the part with the plugs for attaching what I make to the Skadis, so you can make whatever you need for yourself.

I hope you enjoy it, and best of luck.

Step 1: Attaching the main wall box

Depending on your needs, you can choose to use only the main wall box (SCT-Box.stl) and the accompanying LEDpanel.stl, or the box and led extenders. The guide below assumes you will use both. A tip is to read through the guide once before doing the project.

Assemble both boxes and place them on the wall where you want it (image 1 below). Remember that the Skadis plate is big('ish), so remember to double-check that everything will fit nicely.

Mark the screw holes you are going to use to fasten the boxes (I've made several to allow for different scenarios), and then remove the top box for now.

Fasten the main box to the wall using the marks you made (image 2).

Step 2: Attaching the extension cord / plugs

You will need long strips to attach the extension cord to the main box (or use two together, as you will see I did in the images below).

I've made numerous points for threading the strips you're going to use to fasten the extension cord. They might seem excessive, but since extension cords (plugs) come in all kinds of variants, I had to add so many of them.

Holding the extension cord in place, find the correct holes for your strips (as seen in the first image below). Put at least two strips in spots where they won't interfere with the plugs or knobs, and remove the extension cord.

Slide the strips down the back and through all the holes (image 2). Note that the hole in the back corner is curved inside, so using a little force should help if the strip seems stuck or won't bend easily.

Put the extension cord back in the box and secure it with the strips as shown in image 3.

Step 3: Add chargers, LED and cables

Now, add all your charger plugs and cables, as shown in the image below. Note that I've used an extension that uses rotated plugs, which is important because it adds the necessary space between the cables and the LED wall (see next steps) to keep everything safe.

During the next steps, please ensure that everything fits nicely, not forcibly bending any cables or using bricks that are so big that they push up against each other. I'm not responsible for unsafe setups.

Step 4: Attaching the (first) LED panel

Now slide the first LED panel in place using the slits (guide) in the wallbox. Ensure that the LED attachment points are pointing inward towards the wall since the LED will/should be facing the wall for a nice spread of light.

Step 5: Adding the second wall box

Next, slide the second wall box (box extender) in place as shown in the image below. Make sure it fits tightly in the slit since you'll have issues attaching the Skadis board later on if you don't do this right :-)

Use a screw or two to fasten it securely to the wall.

Step 6: Adding the second LED panel

Slide on final LED panel (extender), ensuring a tight fit (image 1)

Now use holes/points on the led panels backside to slide the led strips through and secure them in place (image 2). Doing this should eliminate the need for using their glue strips, so you can reuse the LED strips later on for other projects :-)

Step 7: Attaching the Skadis board

Attach the Skadis board.

Now you see why I made the LED panels. They nicely hide any electronics and plugs inside the boxes and give a nice backlight effect (see image below). Since these panels are about 1cm. in from the Skadis board, you can add stuff on this part of the board as well.

Step 8: Adding bits and bobs...

Now you can add any phone, gadget, or battery-pack holder you like. Use any of mine or make your own using the provided template (image 1). It's all up to you. Here are some suggestions though:

Print out the 'Root' model and use it to collect and nicely present the cables now hanging out from under the Skadis, as shown in the second image.

If you use my backplate template, here are some notable points. They are made to stick a bit out from the board for two reasons, the first is to add a 'clip' (on both sides) you can attach the cables on when not in use, or (secondly) just lay them over the top instead. As a bonus, it has a nice flat base that will help when printing out self-made parts using this template.

Final thoughts

I hope you like my little project and would love to see what you make of it. Also, if you make any holders, please give me a heads-up since I Probably want to use it as well :-)

Category: Organization