Man on the street Mod Optical drive to switch panel mod Let me introduce myself. I'm just your average chap, no engineering skills, no fancy tools or behind the scenes guys helping out, but I'm willing to have a go and learn new skills and enjoy myself creating something at the same time. My mods are intended as very basic and to show what you, the man on the street, can do with a few basic tools and a bit of patience and perseverance. I aim to show that while undoubtedly truly great results can be achieved with an engineering degree and access to high end design and fabrication equipment and a paint shop, it's also possible for your average chap (or lady of course) to make something bespoke and professional looking themselves using nothing but basic tools and techniques. I am not claiming to be unique here, neither am I claiming credit for the ideas shown as many of these will have been done before by others. My aim is just to show these ideas and techniques in the hope that it inspires others to have a go and get modding. First up is a modification of an old CD ROM drive, turning it from a knackered old piece of prehistoric kit into a multi function switch box that can be installed into any 5 1/4" drive bay. First thing you're going to need then in any old optical drive, If you haven't got an old one lying around you can usually pick them up at boot sales for a few quid or so. Maybe have a word with your friendly neighbourhood PC sales and repair shop. they may have some ready for the skip and you'll be saving them the trouble You're also going to need a either a solid plastic optical drive bay cover or a small piece of steel or aluminium to make the front surface of the switch unit. It's much easier to do this mod with the drive bay cover, but I happen to think it looks better with a piece of metal as the mount for the switches. In case you're undecided I'll be covering both methods. We're obviously going to need some tools as well, as we can't do this with our teeth. If your living at home, odds are your old man has some of this around the place. I'm also fairly sure he'd be delighted to help out in a "Father and son bonding session" way. If you no longer have the benefit of the Bank of Mum and Dad then you may well have these around, otherwise it's a trip to the hardware store for you. Car boot sales are also great for picking up new and second hand tools very cheaply However you get your mits on them you're going to need the following as a minimum: An electric drill A drill bit that corresponds to the size of the switch you're going to use (probably quite a large bit) A Hacksaw or junior hacksaw. with both flat and fret blades A straight edge (preferably a steel ruler) An adhesive such as "liquid metal" or "No more nails" Selection of screw-drivers, flat and Philips head in varying sizes (these will stand you in good stead anyway) if you're doing the metal front variant then you will also need: Some metal files D, rat tail and flat medium size A square (for making sure your angles are 90 degrees You're also going to need some way of holding the item you're cutting or drilling. Obviously a vice is best, but if you don't have one and don't fancy splashing out then a selection of G-Clamps will do. Some bits of wood about 20cm long and 2.5cm square (measurements not crucial, you're going to be using them to help clamp things etc. You are of course going to need your switches. Which Switches you go for depends on a few things What you want to control with them, What you want them to look like, How much you want to spend. And most of all which ones you WANT. The best bit of this Mod is you get o choose exactly which switches you have and how many. I'm a bit of a fan of the Military style "missile command" toggle switch. this style of switch is also popular amongst the auto modding community as a means of engaging their NOS. Looking for something with a bit more stealth? You can't do much better than a Vandal switch. Available in a variety of finishes, styles and lighting options. Want something nice but maybe a bit cheaper? you'll be pleased to know the internet positively heaves with websites selling all manner of cheap and stylish switches. Stage 1 Dismantling the drive. You've got your switches, you've got your tools and you're sorted with everything else. Time to crack on. First things first, we need to take the drive apart, strip the guts out of it. We're not bothered about the internals, they're going in the bin, but we don't want to bend the case in any way. Unscrew all the screws on the base, usually 4 and ease the smaller base section away from the larger upper section. In my experience these drives all vary a bit inside with regards to how the mechanism is held in place. A bit of prying and poking around inside should have you work out how to remove it. retain the two case sections and the front facia. All the rest can go in the bin. Stage 2 making the front panel I'm going to cover the method that uses the metal plate first as although not difficult it's the harder of the two, so if you can do this, and I'm sure you can, you can do the plastic drive bay mod easily. if this method seems a bit too much or your not feeling brave enough just yet then carry on reading and you'll get to the bit where I use a plastic drive bay cover. Putting the case elements to one side take the plastic facia and using a hacksaw cut out the centre leaving a small margin around the outside. What you're left with should look like the image below. You now need to find some material for the new front of the switch box. I've used a few materials over the years I've been doing this mod and have found that either a thin piece of steel or a thicker piece of aluminium work very well. whatever you choose it needs to be fairly rigid as it will be used to mount the switches so having it flex every time you push a button or flick a switch would be a tad annoying. You can get small sheets of steel from your local hardware store for about £5, but you may well have something knocking about the place. You only need a piece about the same size as the front of a drive bay 147mmx41mm to be exact (at least that's the measurement I use, but do please measure your own) Having decided how many switches you want to use you need to ensure they are spaced evenly along the panel front and all at the same level. Well all at the same level is the easy one, measure the height of you drive bay cover, divide by 2 mark both sides of the cover, check your measurements again and if correct draw a line between them. You now have the centre line for your switches. Time for a bit of basic maths i'm afraid. Essentially what you need to do is work out the spacing for the centre point of each switch leaving a gap in between each switch which is big enough so it doesn't look to crowded. In my experience 4 or 5 switches max. Allowing a margin at either side of the panel, measure the length of your drive bay and divide by the number of switches you have and that will give you the spacing. I usually draw mine out on a bit of paper first to check I've got it right. Mark the centre points of all your holes and then secure the panel ready for drilling. The drill bit you need will be determined by the diameter of the barrel of the switch you are using, Take tour time with the drilling and remember to wear eye protection at all times. It's a good idea when drilling to place an inch thick piece of wood under the item you are drilling. This gives a better finish to the hole and also reduces the risk of you drilling into something you didn't mean to. Ok you've done all your measuring you're 100% sure everything is spot on and you're ready to drill. Not so fast. Time for a break, put the kettle on, have a brew and chill. When you're ready, come back and have a final check of your measurements before you carry on. You'll be surprised how often the final check reveals something really obvious you missed. .......................................... Ok you're back from your cup of tea, refreshed and ready to go. Check the measurements one last time and then drill them holes! If all has gone to plan, what you should now be looking at is a piece of metal with holes in it where you wanted them. try inserting the barrels of the switches into the holes you have made. If you haven't got the holes quite right a bit of a going over with a rat tail file should sort them out A quick test fit over the frame you made earlier should confirm all is well. If you're doing this mod you're probably going to want to spray the metal plate the same colour as your case, or perhaps even a contrasting colour. it's up to you, it's your mod. I'm not going to go into painting techniques in great depth here, however I do plan to cover them in a later tutorial. Suffice to say you'll need to sand it all down smooth with 800grit paper, remove any dust and grease. spray with undercoat and then after drying 2-3 coats of top coat. You might also want to spray up the rest of the parts of the drive bay case at the same time for that nice uniform look. ....................................... After waiting for your paint to dry the next step is to attach the metal face plate to the frame you made from the old front of the DVD drive. This is where your no more nails or liquid metal comes into play. I've named these as I have experience of both and found them to be very good, but a quick trip to your hardware store will reveal that there are many other brands to choose from. Run a thin bead of adhesive around the front surface of the frame, press the metal plate into place, wipe away any adhesive that squeezes out (that's why its best only to use a little). Now put it somewhere safe to dry for 24 hours or however long your glue tells you. After it's dried you then need to glue it to the front of the DVD drive. The process is essentially the same as above, and remember to be sparing with the glue. If all has gone well you should now have something that looks like this. Don't worry if your holes aren't perfectly round, (like mine), the flange on the front of whichever switch you're using will cover a multitude of sins (remember we're not engineers, we're guys in sheds) I've gone for an arrangement of holes that enables me to mount 3 toggle switches, and 2 Belkin vandal switches. The toggles will control lights and the Belkins will be my new power and reset switches. Insert your switches following whichever instructions came with the ones you purchased. There's plenty of room to work as you haven't yet attached the top of the DVD case. All toggle switches Next step is wiring the box up. Now there's no way I can go through every permutation, whatever it is your switching needs to be wired as per it's instructions, however as there's a fair bit of room inside the box, if you're using ccfls there's plenty of space to put the little black boxes that come with them. Simply attach them to the inside of the DVD box with Velcro tape, glue or double sided tape, making sure that the side with the vent holes in it is not obstructed This is a pic from the first switch box I ever made. The custom wiring loom you can buy as an option with the Belkin switches having wired up your switches and left enough wire and connections at the rear to hook up to it's time to re-attach the DVD drive lid panel. Sit back and bask in the glory of your modding might. ................................................................ Plastic front method By far the easier option, but not as robust. The main differences from the metal plate techniques is that we are going to be using an old drive bay cover. If you don't want to be spray painting then best to use one from the case you have, if not you'll need to find something that looks a good match. You may have some left over from another build or old PC, If you're going to be spray painting then it really doesn't matter what you use as long as it fits. The bins in the back room of your local PC repair and sales shop are a good place to start, ask nicely and you'll probably get it for free. The drilling and spraying processes are the same as for the metal plate version. Gluing is also simplified as there is only one step. Yup you guessed it you're going to glue the Drive bay cove to the front of the DVD drive. A few pictures of the Drive bay cover version should speak for themselves.
