On my design bench right now. another pico-ITX board 2.5 in HDD Travla power button and power and HDD activity LEDs Travla USB 4 port and audio board 1 pico power supply board. I'm tired of square corners and and am brainstorming something more 'organic' or freeform shape. Acrylic, alu., fibreglas, baked in a cake(been used) Now the question is: any of you guys got any links to freeform scratch builds? It could get smaller if I ditch the HDD and run OS off of large builtin thumbdrive. john
I love the idea, you've got my head full of ideas now Been looking at seed shapes for the last 20 minutes.
Make a deathstar It would be Really cool to have some sanded/brushed thin plexi rods that get popped out with solenoids, and they meet whilst backlit bright green, to simulate the death rays
put it in the head of this chap you can probably get one cheapish off of your local school/EMS provider/large employer if they are rotating their equiptment
I believe John's already done a manikin mod how about doing it in the body of a guitar? But so you keep the original guitar hardware, and just mill out another recess? That way you could strum, and when you get bored, plug the PC part in and fire up winamp or the like? Or, I know you put one in a kid's washing machine... Why not a toaster? Ooops. I was just spitballing ideas.. not reading the OP Actually, John, I've always thought the most attractive none angular shape is a Les Paul body Why not cut something like that out from MDF and put your PC inside. That way its something utterly different.
I really like the shape of this. Not as a kitchen though. CPU in one dumbell end and HDD in the other? I/O panel in the vertical riser part? And these just for their general shapes: vacuum sweepers? Manta ray shape has always intrigued me: Toaster?
John, Your mods seem to span every possible direction, so really where should you go next? Is there anything that you have done and looked back at to think 'next time i should do it that way?' The one thing that keeps crossing my mind, as an Idea for you, is to build on what is already there. Take some 'normal' item, like the guitar mentioned above, and stealth in a computer such that the original function is not affected. One idea I had was a model train, if you can find an old 'hot rail' model train, then build the mod into one of the rail cars such that it is powered from the hot rail as it gets drug around the track. could also mod in some speakers in another car, use bluetooth for a keyboard, etc... The only stumbling block i have thought of is the monitor. Anyway, good luck knocking down your modding block. Nano
I was pushing the idea to use cloth+glue micarta building techniques on Bindi the other day. Just like paper mache, but hard as hell when finished. You can use just about anything for a mold too. Using wood glue will be easier on the skin and lungs too. I'd go for something organic with streamlined properties. You could use a SSD with the casing removed. That makes them pretty small.
When I was into car audio we used to make interior speaker housing out of Fibreglas resin and fleece. I ran a fibreglas chopper gun for a shop that made 1 piece front ends for 55-57 Chevies for racing. Many options if you don't stay conventional. Wait! I'm telling that to you? john
in 2001 ASO frame of mind today same concept as your sink idea http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/gadgetlab/2001_discovery2.jpg ARIES 1B http://application.denofgeek.com/images/m/75spaceships/main/aries1b.jpg
I did the same thing to rebuild the actual speakers, just with linen. I'm trying to stick with junk you have around the bachelor pad.
Free form is cool, I'm thinking about such a build every day... but if you have a thick old book, plenty of time and your an "artist" a bit... prerfect for pico imo http://inhabitat.com/artist-brian-dettmer-carves-old-books-into-intricate-narrative-sculptures/brian-dettmer5/?extend=1
make an armchair PC... well something that can be attached like a small tablet to the arm of a chair to allow those all important "quick searches" between adverts on TV... a small 7" screen to go with and it would be perfect...
