Case Mod - In Progress WHiTE radio

on this years IFA (berlin), there´s a new category for mods: modded consumer electronics or just "ce-mods". terratec was kind enough to supply interested modders with their noxon i-radio for free. i was interested !:twisted:

time´s very short so i chose a very conservative design. the shape of the radio stays nearly untouched but ill change some of the original materials to get a more precious look.
plans for the case :
- walnut veneer instead of plexiglass
- alu-buttons
- speakerguard made of 6mm alubars
- all silver-grey parts painted white
- rounding the edges with a shaper



qucik work with sketchup. dimensiosn are just appreciated. the speaker is a bit smaller in the original but that wont change the design in general. ill just scale it down.



this package arrived last week



mhh the radio is not that ugly but it´s definitly not a beauty. i dont like the "silvergreyiwishicouldberealalu" paintjobs. the used plastic tells me " i was made in china ..and i am cheap!". maybe this sounds like the iradio is just a piece of *#?$ but that wasnt my intentions. this little voices from china whisper from nearly all electronics on todays markets ( i know it´s my own fault .. i wouldnt buy the same product if they take 100 extra bucks for some real metal bling bling)



cleaning up



i found some nice veneer . not 100% shure, but it looks very much like walnut
anyway it looks exactly like the material i had in mind



the colours get closer to the final, painted , look when the wood gets wet.
this wasnt just for a better look, i needed to press it. after at least 50 years of several attics you could ride a big wave contest on it

 

good idea , can't wait to see how this will turn

 

cool ideea

 

great idea! maybe... dare i say it... Re-make part of the case from brushed or polished aluminum? just replicate the top part or something?

 

very sexy veneer
So basically you're just going to mod the exteriors?
Good luck with the mod, the plans are looking promising. How about some carbon love?

 

@ teyber .. thought of that but thin metal as part of a box? i was afraid that will sound like a tincan

@ssr yah i am a bit ashamed of just modding the exteriors. i just have 2 weeks to do this box and a lot of other stuff to do. when doing the concept i didnt even had a clue of how the box looks inside.
future projects will be more ambitious, i promise!
p.s.: no, no cf. i dont want to concentrate to just one material, there´s so much interesting stuff in the craftsuniverse. on this project i try to work with veneer , the next case will be totally different. maybe ill head back to cf some time ( hehe already plans for that ^^) but that´s so far in the future, dont nail me on that.



to cut the wood i did a mask first. makes is much easier to fit it to the box.



still a lot work until everything fits perfectly



i started with the speakerhole. the marks give me hints where i need to sand and file a bit more



done ..



veneer done so lets start with rounding the corners. ill use this shape.



before i apply the veneer, i prepared as much as possible
bondo, sanding .. paint

 

todays topic is the grill for the speaker. step one: doin masks for cuttin the alu.



i cutted the 6mm sheet with a jigsaw. the aliminium looks really ugly but it was cheap ^^



i guess there´s a lot of work to do until it fits the sketchup model from my first post



to get the right diameter i added 5mm plywood sheets. 5mm plywood + glue+ paper is nearly 6mm



after glueing everything together i sanded the base. the whole block will be glued to another wooden sheet and that connection needs to be strong.





glueing the grill right in the center of this would be quite difficult



some circles help a lot



we´re spinnin round round like a record baby ...





done ..

 

speaker grille looks good!

as for the plastic of the box, replacing it with metal could indeed make it sound, as you say, like a tin can. You could always get some thin alu and glue that to the plastic?

 

very nice bäumchen
you know, I love your work

 

that would be an option .. anyone with an idea how to get the rounded corners on the metal ? i mean a 3 dimensional rounded corner, not just simple bending. ive just little experience in cold forming of aluminium and that sounds really difficult although the look would be awesome.

 

Nice one

Just curious - hoping to understand your technique to manufacture the speaker grill - you glue the parts together (alu bars and spacing materials), then glue them on an plate in order to spin it. i think i got that part.. but what do you use for rounding the subject? Are you using sanding paper, chisel, other woodcutting tools, or something completely different?

Keep up the good work

 

If Carbon Fever is anything to go by this project is gona be worth watching. Nice work so far

 

@ dragon: you got it all right. the tool i used to cut,was an ordinary steel normally used for cuttin metal on a "normal" lathe. these steels are very short (~ 8cm) because they are mounted on a stable platform and with a lot of big screws. when turning wood you dont have these paltforms and mountings, just tools with a very long handle. you can move nearly free arround your piece. i used a handle with a mounting for steels. when turning metal they are more usefull then traditional woodturning tools, although it would be possible to use them.




works nearly done but today we use the lathe again. i still need alu-versions of the big buttons on the front ( navigation and volume)
seems to be quite easy cause it´s attached to normal 6mm poti.
the navigationknob is part of the case and hits 4 momentary switches.
the dark part in the center is for the ir diode



my workplace. the volume knob is nearly done. the center still needs some treatment. the little steels you see there are just used for detail work. the steel i used for the grill was 3times bigger and with mounting arround 80cm long. the big mounting is important to get a smooth surface.



backside of the knob. the little notch helps my finding the center for the 6mm hole.



if you use just a short or no mounting for the steels the surface looks this way.. ( no problem here, this will be the inside of the navigation button)



i need a 12mm hole in there and a 10mm drill is quick way to get close to that. the final mm can be done freehand. drillin a hole of 12mm right through a 10mm aluknob would be pain is the arse with those little steels.



navbutton done. i just glued the original "lense" inside. the ir diode will be mounted inside the button, otherwise the viewing angle for the remote controll would be 2 small ( i guess)

 

Wow Very very nice work, I like the idea, Wait to see it done. Good luck.

 

Subscribed

 

time for a final update. it was a very short project,im sorry. i promise the next one will take some more time.



the last but one layer of clear varnish for the front.



i made some decals with a freeware vector grafic tool. only a few are used for this project, the others are for another thing that´s only at planning stage atm. ill reveal that later ^^...





DAMN! this terrible picture was waitin for me when i visited IFA on first public day.
i tried to fix it but i the first and quick attempt didnt work.



a second try on the evening, after the exibition was closed for the public, worked a lot better.

 

Really nice project derbaum I love that warm wood design. Hope to see soon your new project.
Love that tool you used .. the lathe I mean .., I wish I had one

 

Damn! That's some pretty crafty stuff you done there.

Nice work keep them coming.

Mod on!!