How to recycle an old cellphone into a Steampunk desk-phone

If you got a vintage phone or received it as a gift and now you find it antique or useless, there is a better thing you can do with it rather than just throwing it away. In this post you will learn how to upcycle your old vintage phone to a more useful stuff. You can create a steampunk desk-phone using the old vintage phone. Read on to know how to recycle an old cell phone into a steampunk desk-phone.

Difficulty level: The difficulty level of converting your old vintage phone into a more useful desk-phone is moderately challenging.

Time required: Varies from person to person

Resources required:

1. A vintage phone

2. A mobile phone

3. Wood (which will be used to make the case of the desk-phone)

Instructions

Step 1: The headset

In this step you will concentrate on the headset of the vintage phone. You can remove the black microphone from the vintage headset and connect it with a mobile (such as Nokia) handsfree so that the mobile phone can be heard from the microphone. The sound will be loud and clear.

Step 2: The keyboard

In this step, you have to make the keyboard of the desk-phone case. You can remove the whole keyboard from the front of the mobile phone so that it do not gets dialed automatically. Now, you can use the push buttons and connect them accordingly so that they can be used to dial on the mobile phone. You can connect the cell phone on the back of the desk-phone case.

Step 3: The case

In this step, you have to make the case. The case can be made using wood and can be colored with stain to give it a natural look. On the front of the cover of the desk-phone you can attach the display cover, the keyboard and the switch to turn the phone on and off.

In this step itself you can attach the charger for the mobile inside this cover so that the mobile’s battery does not gets discharged. After doing this you can hand the case on the wall or can place it on the desk (after all its a desk-phone). Your steampunk desk-phone is ready.

Step 4: Receive calls

Now you can use the desk-phone to dial or receive calls on the mobile.

Frequently asked questions

1. What type of cell phones can be used for making the desk-phone?

Ans: All the cell phones that support hands free feature can be used to make the desk-phone. These may include Android, Windows, Blackberry and so on. The head set of the vintage phone has to be connected to the hands free feature of the cell phone so that it seems that the desk-phone is used to make the calls rather than the cell phone.

2. The push buttons of the vintage phone are damaged that they cannot be used in the desk-phone, from where can I get the push buttons?

Ans: No problem if the push buttons are damaged. You can easily order the push buttons you want for the desk – phone using the internet.

3. Will the mobile phone attached inside the desk-phone be switch on forever?

Ans: No, the phone will not be switched on forever. Everything is available on the internet. You can easily order the push buttons you want for the desk-phone using the internet. You can also decide the quantity of push buttons you want for the desk-phone.

Quick tips

1. To give it a more new look you can print the keyboard push buttons label and attach them onto the push buttons.

2. You can also paint the wood (used to make the case) with the stain to give it a more natural appearance.

Things to watch out for

1. Be careful while soldering the keyboard of the desk-phone.

2. when you are cutting the wood to make the case, wear all the necessary safety equipment.