Reusing an old tablet as an alarm clock

With a simple homemade stand, an old android tablet makes a decent alarm clock.

I was cleaning out my closet recently, and found my old Nook Color. This is an android based e-Reader that I had replaced with a more powerful tablet a long time ago. Rather than take it to the electronics recycling, I decided to "upcycle" it into an alarm clock.

I had replaced the built in operating system with CyanogenMod before putting it in the closet. After charging for a while, it powered on and worked perfectly, and surprisingly, the battery still held a charge. Unfortunately, the Nook Color is an old and slow tablet by today's standards. After using it for a few minutes, I remembered why I had put it in the closet. It could, however, run the clock app perfectly. Which was more than I could say about my old alarm clock.

My old alarm clock/CD player. This was the worst alarm clock I ever had.

My old alarm clock holds the record for the longest I have ever used one, and coincidentally, holds the record for the worst one. The buttons were confusing and difficult to press. The radio did not work well. Most importantly, as far as clocks go, it did not keep accurate time. (The CD player, however, did work)

Time to replace it.

Scrap oak: 1x4, 1x2, and 3/8" dowel

Most of my scrap wood is pine and particle board (that I should probably just throw away), but I did have a little bit of oak. I found a short 1x4, 1x2, and a 3/8" dowel. My plan was to have to two short pieces to hold the tablet, with a dowel in front to keep it from sliding forward.

Rough mock up of the tablet sand

The supports are short pieces the 1x2 cut at a 85° angle

Added a bevel on the underside of the bottom piece, and a smaller bevel on the top side. Glued the supports to the bottom piece. Also did some sanding.

Added the dowel, a couple coats of spray lacquer, and some rubber feet

The stand and my new "clock" work very well. I don't have to worry about setting the correct time or changing it for daylight savings time. Eventually, I'll experiment with using it as a digital picture frame as well, but for now I'm just happy to have a decent alarm clock.