After a recent replacement of my USB card reader required me to climb under my computer desk, I decided there must be an easier way. Then I remembered some plastic USB extenders that I had tucked away. After digging them out, I realized they weren’t all that cool. I could do better.
I gathered a mix of wood species from the scrap pile, and glued  up a block that would become the housing for the USB. Then I machined it to fit the USB cable that I had disassembled from its ugly plastic housing. This took some time to get it fitting well, but with the use of several small files, I was able to get it right. Its also a good thing I had extra material, because I broke 2 of these pieces before I got the good ones.
With all the machining done, I coated the pieces with several coats of laquer. A bit of hot glue secured the cable inside, and some screws attached the base.
This is a cool project. Its fun to take something and see how you can re build it to look or function better. Check out the build video below.