A little while ago I was in the mood for a new phone, the problem I found was that I could not find anything that really interested me. Sure, there is some amazing technology packed into the latest smart phones but I just wanted one for calls and texts. On the other hand there are plenty of phones that provide just the basic functions, but they all looked pretty much the same to me.
This led me to wondering about building my own, taking the circuit board from a basic phone and building my own casing and switch gear.
I started off with an LG GB102, very cheap and basic :
Removing the main PCB was simple enough, as was detaching the screen.
Now I had that, I started thinking about the design. It was not long before I decided that this was going to be one of my ‘Organically Grown’ projects, normally I will approach software or hardware with a methodical top down thinking process and spend more time planing and designing than actually coding or building. Occasionally I like to junk that way of working ( only on my own projects I hasten to add ) and write a very basic list of attributes I would like the finished projects to have and then just see how it develops 
In this instance I knew that I wanted a SteamPunk feel and decided that copper and brass would be the main materials. I also did not want a traditional keyboard and certainly not a touch screen. I could have added the fact that I wanted it to be a ‘bit different’ onto the list …. However I did not feel that was going to be a problem
I did toy with the idea of forming my own copper case for the phone but decided against it at this time. As this was to be a first try at a phone AND something SteamPunk I decided to go with a ready formed case, this would be simpler. It would also enable me to play around with the final design of the internals and externals as it would be over sized, I could then design my own case once everything was in place and working. I settled for a stainless steel glasses case from which I removed all the padding, I also removed the hinges so I ended up with just the two metal halves.
To solve the problem of it being stainless steel I got hold of some copper tape ( like the stuff used to repel snails and such ) and coated the two halves.
It was around this time I also came across some leather off cuts from a book binder and decided to add leather into my list of materials …. You see what I mean about organically grown ? This is being added to the ends of the case as you can see below :
In case you were wondering about the tarnish, it is not something I am worried about as the plan is to actually age the copper once complete. I’ve run some test with just salt water and it actually provides a nice patina if applied lightly and left to dry, then repeated. Once at the right stage it will be ‘fixed’ with a light coating of clear epoxy.
I know I could have wetted and stretched it round the edges but as this is not the final case I was not too worried and might fit some brass corner bits anyway.
The replacement for the keyboard had me a little stumped for a while, after all phone manufacturers have spent millions developing their systems and ( apart from touch screens ) nothing has replaced the traditional keyboard. I thought about an old fashioned rotary dial system, very briefly. Then I considered the technology that is associated with SteamPunk and my mind turned to the telegraph. Remembering the codes and the hardware needed to decode the entry put me off that idea ( but did spark another possible project ), however there is something very nice about the telegraph key in terms of its aesthetics … So the thought process led me to a rotary telegraphy key, so you rotate the key to the relevant position then tap out however many clicks you need. So far I’ve just built the switch array on a perspex base :
Now I had most of the basics down I decided to mount the display on an aluminium bracket that will be bolted to the case :
Cutting a hole in the case proved to be a bit of a problem as it was TOUGH. So basically drilled several holes to remove a rough area and will file it down :
Simplest solution for connecting the switch array to the phone PCB was to solder wires direct to the switch PCB. Once I have confirmed everything is working what I will probably do is just solder direct to the main part of the board then I can cut off the part of the PCB that was used for the original keyboard :
Instead of the vibrating alert on the original I decided on a flashing light, at the moment it is just a bit of a test bed :
Two ultra bright LEDs are mounted to shine down a perspex tube filled with crushed glass, I need a thinner walled bit of perspex for the final and the glass needs to be crushed finer. On the breadboard the set up is driven by a 9V battery and 555 timer but I have yet to test what the original phone can actually drive from the vibrator output. I’m working on the mounting, so far consists of 2 copper tubes and a brass tube at one end and some antique, fabric coated mains wire at the other with the perspex tube supported by a copper mount.
That is pretty much where I am up to at the moment … Stay tuned