This year I have made most of my Xmas presents, using a number of the facilities at Nottingham Hackspace.
My mum received a Kindle and I decided to make a case for it. Through people at the Hackspace, I had come across an interesting hinge which could be made using a laser cutter and ply wood. The cutting pattern is such that enough material is taken away to allow the wood to flex and create a hinge. The design was first seen on thingiverse.
Another hackspace member (and founder of Northackton), Martin Raynesford, had created a .dxf file for the size of the new Kindle. This is available here.
I used this as a starting point but found that the laser cut hinge was too close together for our laser. I edited the hinge. The .dxf pattern (created using Draftsight) is available here – the .dxf kindle case files.
This design is also available on thingiverse.
The final cover is shown here. Used the etch facility to add an image to the front and a simple elastic holder to keep the lid closed. I was pretty pleased with it in the end, as was my mum.
The hinge on my first case took a bit of a beating so I also made the hinge wider. A good tip I found was to wet the wood and then fold it over and let it dry.