Apple Watch Stand

If you have an Apple Watch (or similar) you might want to charge it in style. I got a new watch and decided to build a nice wooden charging stand for it. It’s an easy project, and can be done from leftover scraps of hardwood you may have lying around.

A piece of hardwood, 1-1/2 inches wide by about 12 inches long by 3/4 inch thick. I used cherry wood.

1/4 inch dowel, short

Wood glue

Table saw

Drill press

In the steps below refer to the attached drawing for dimensions and construction.

For the base cut a 3-1/2 inches long piece of hardwood, 1-1/2 inch wide and 3/4 inch thick.

Upright Piece: Cut a 2 inch long piece of hardwood, 1-1/2 inches wide, and 1/2 inch thick. Both ends are mitered at 30 degrees.

Horizontal Piece: Cut a 2-1/8 inch piece of hardwood, 1-1/2 inches wide, and 1/2 inch thick. This piece has a 30 degree miter on one end and a straight cut on the other end.

The Apple charger disk is about 27.5 mm diameter. I only have a 30 mm Forstner drill bit, so I cut a 30 mm diameter recess, 5.5 mm deep, 3/4” from the straight end into the horizontal piece. A 3d printed adaptor clip will secure the charger disk into this recess.

I also drilled a 1/4” hole all the way through the horizontal piece to facilitate removing the charger disk if necessary.

Next you need to cut a slot into the horizontal piece for the cable. I did this with my table saw sled, refer to the pictures. BTW, playing cards make wonderful spacers for fine tuning the setup and making small adjustments.

Now it’s time to glue the upright piece to the horizontal piece. Use blue tape to hold the pieces together while the glue dries. After the glue dries you should strengthen the joint: drill a 1/4 inch hole into the miter joint, 0.75” deep, and glue in a short dowel. Trim flush when done. This dowel is a nice looking accent on your watch stand.

To join the upright to the base I cut a couple of matching grooves into the base and upright, and used a spline for alignment and strength. The pictures show how I did it. Again, playing cards make great shims.

Trim the spline and sand the edges and faces of the watch stand before finishing. I used Danish oil, two coats. Lastly I 3d-printed an adaptor clip ring (30mm OD, 28mm ID) for a tight fit of the charger disk into the recess.

I am very happy with the look and function of the charging stand, so I made a second one from walnut and maple.