My Garmin Venu fitness watch finally arrived after 3 months of waiting on pre-order. I was a Track-Order fiend. Needless to say, I was elated when I finally got my hands on it. The unboxing was ceremonious, everything was perfect until I realized there was no stand. Maybe my expectations were too high, but for $400 is a stand to much to ask for?
I headed over to thingivers to see what the maker community has come up with. Viola, a top notch watch stand, but it was for a Garmin Fenix. It looked like it would fit so I gave it a go, YUP it worked out.
The stand is nice because it holds the face fairly upright so you can see the time without having to pick up the watch. It's a well thought out stand; it has large slots for the straps, and a perfectly placed opening for the charging cable. I'm impressed, someone spent some time making this model.
The stand is much lighter than it looks, it slid all over the night stand. The stiffness of the charging cable would move the stand around.
I needed a way to keep the stand from moving around.
Attempt #1 – Double sided tape. It worked okay at first, I was a little worried about messing up the finish on the night stand. The Minister of the House would put me in domestic jail if I ruined the night stand. I very carefully applied some light weight double sided tape to the bottom. It worked at first but after a few days the tape started to peel and the stand was ice skating again.
Attempt #2 - A pair of strong magnets. I've heard that magnets and electronics don't play well together, but google said it would be okay since it wasn't a hard drive. I found these - rare earth, super strong, don't swallow them - magnets on amazon and they did not disappoint. A quick tinkercad mod to add a slot and it was time to re-print.
One magnet goes in the watch stand the other on the inside of the nightstand. The top of the stand is solid wood about 1/2" thick. I had my doubts on the sticking strength, but as I slid my hand in the drawer the magnets quickly snapped in place. YES the watch stand is secure to the night stand, no sliding around when connecting the charging cable. And best of all the watch is unaffected by the strong magnet nearby. To get an idea of how strong the magnets are look at them clamped between this book, still plenty strong to hold the watch and stand upside down. I consider that a success. Download the file here.
Comments