Circuit Board Bolo Tie

Looking for a great way to recycle your old phone and look nice at fancy events. This instructable will show you how to recycle your old phone to make an awesome bolo tie with minimal materials and tools.

1. 4mm or 3mm braided leather cord. Chose a color that will go well
   

   with your PCB color

2. Bolo tie tips of your choice
3. Slide with or without clasp
4. Glass cabochon 40x30mm
5. Cabochon setting
6. PCB from old device of your choice. I found that old cell phones work best as they have surface mount components with low height profile.
7. Epoxy
8. Coping saw

When chosing the area you will be using on the PCB find an area that will give you a good variety of IC chips and components. The PCB from the phone worked good for this, but PCBs from other electronics could also work. Cuts were made using a coping saw. The shape was done by cutting segments off of the board until it was roundish in shape. Cutting could also be achieved with any number of cutting tools like a rotary tool, scroll saw or others.

Use sand paper to break sharp edges and to get the desired shape of the PCB so that it will fit in the setting. 80 grit sandpaper worked well for this. Just sand the edges to not put scratches on components or silkscreen on the PCB.

Once the PCB is sanded to shape it should fit well. Assemble setting PCB and glass cabochon using epoxy. Be careful to not get too little epoxy as this will show very clearly as bubbles. Any flaw will be enhanced due to the magnifying effect that the cabochon has.

Attach the slide to the back using epoxy. Once the slide has set feed the leather cord through the slide. Now that the leather is through the slide then attach the tips with epoxy. Do this by rolling the end of the leather in epoxy and inserting it into the tips.

Enjoy your nice fancy Bolo tie.