Scratch Build – In Progress Skyscraper

Sweet project! I want to see more wood magic!

 

Love it. My next project is going to look similar to the receiver : )

 

Thanks Evenge and Fozzy!

I nearly built one for a contest entry but I couldn't find the exact vintage VU meters I wanted to use. I'm still looking.

 

I finished hand painting the bottom and interior a pewter gray colour. I left the frame closest to the screen unfinished. The screen is mounted very close to or even touching the case along this surface.

I think this shot illustrates why the style is called skyscraper. Each of the sides looks like half of a skyscraper silhouette. In fact, if you chopped out the center section and spliced them together you would get a mini (upside down) Empire State-like building.

 

lol it was a frame only with LCD now it's with computer WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

buddy this is the best photo frame in the world helll yeah nice work buddy

 

I've been "adjusting" the project title to hopefully clarify that this is a computer. A computer that just so happens to have a built-in digital photo frame.

I can see it sitting on some executive's desk acting as a basic web surfer/e-mailer. He can serve up pictures of the wife and kids and maybe hit a pr0n button when no one is watching.

Hmmmm. Hidden pr0n button. Now there's an idea.

 

nice plans... wooooooot p0rn buttom ... mmm do it

 

There's no sense in hiding the buttons. I just won't label them.

Let's see...left to right....wife and kids, girlfriend and pr0n.

 

should not the pron butten be the largest lol? easy to reach
nice case really, i would like to have home server in such a case

 

What are the specs of the pc you are putting in it? and what OS are you planning on running? It would be cool if you could get a card reader in it somewhere, so you could put pictures stright on it from a digicam.

Great idea though, I love how its going.

 

Thanks for the feedback DeanMF and [MadMan]!

I'll be using a 1GHz fanless mini-ITX board from VIA. I should be getting it tomorrow. I'm also waiting (today!) for 1GB of Crucial DDR2.

I'll be running Windows 2000 off of a Compact Flash IDE drive.

I have setup a test system of similar (but older) equipment to play around with.

Direct input from a camera is not the way I'll be using this device. I prefer to bring photos into my main computer (with big LCD screen) so that I can easily "manipulate" them. Portrait-orientation presents a small challenge. I then store the photos in a network accessible folder that the Photo PC can see across my wireless network.

The biggest issue here though is backup. I don't want my photos anywhere but in one single directory. Once you start putting different pictures on different computers it all goes to hell.

Also, I'm planning on using the Skyscraper Photo PC as a headless device. I know direct photo input is possible without a keyboard and mouse but I would rather avoid that nightmare. It's going to be bad enough.

 

I personally don't like card readers anyway. Unless you have multiple cameras (what's the point?) there is no need. They can all be uploaded quickly with a USB connection. Looking great.

 

Thanks!

I use a USB card reader because I was told that direct USB uses too much camera battery power. I've never done a direct cable connection.

Maybe that's just a myth. I dunno. Anyone?

 

Unless your camera can charge from the USB cable, then it's running on battery power while it's uploading.

Some other reasons I also like the USB reader:
I don't have to load the camera's soft-ware.
I can leave the camera on the tripod and take just the card to the computer.
I can plug the reader into any computer (like a friend I am visiting) with out carrying the camera's CD around and without loading anything on their computer. And if they have a card reader already, it's easier still.

@SPQQKY - But I'm thinking, maybe some better camera's than mine just present themselves as a drive instead of requiring that the camera CD be loaded? Or maybe you need/like the camera utilities? In that case I see your point.

 

I have a Kodak DX4530 not the greatest but it works good
for me. it shows as a drive when its hooked up.

 

Apparently I'm in some sort of competition here at bit-tech so I went back through the work log. Looking back, I may have under-emphasized the effort required to apply the veneer to this project.

A couple of pics of a before and after actually represents about 60 hours of my life. Since I'm sitting around waiting for the post I decided to do a mini-tutorial on how I veneer. This is not the fastest way to do it. It is probably not the absolutely correct way to do it. It is the way I do it and I have had success with this method in the past.



Some of the tools and materials I'll be using. I'll be applying mahogany veneer to two planes of the basswood plank. One short side and one long side. There is an interaction between the two sides that I want to illustrate.



I do the short side first. The reason for this has to do with the exposure of the seam. Since the long side will be seen by the public more than the short side I "hide" the seam on the short side. This will become clearer later.

I pick out a scrap piece of mahogany that has at least 1-2mm of overhang all around the edges. In this pic I have to cut one side with my hand mitre. It is important to leave enough material around the edges to help deal with "creeping" while clamping the piece. Don't leave too much overhang because it takes more effort to trim and it is just wasteful.



I use Elmer's Carpenter glue applied to each surface using my finger. I feel I have more control over the application doing it this way. DON'T use too much glue and DON'T get glue on the viewable surface because that will affect the finish.

I use mini-clamps and a scrap piece of wood to clamp the veneer down. I check the overhangs after clamping to see if the veneer creeped over. The glue allows me some time to make minor adjustments. Using a scrap piece of wood is important to properly distribute the clamping pressure across the piece.

Wait a minimum of three hours.

 

I've got an old Canon PowerShot A410 and it doesn't require any software. I've loaded pics from my mothers Fuji Finepix and it doesn't need software either, they just appear as a removable storage device. About 30 seconds and the pics are uploaded to the computer via USB. It may take a little battery life, but I can't see it being that detrimental. To me it's just more work to take out the memory card and put it in a card reader. I suppose if you have a studio or something and want to do work at home and you don't want to carry your gear around it would be beneficial. For my purposes using the USB is quicker and easier.

EDIT: WTF is going on? Why is it when I type s o f t w a r e (<-spaces to avoid this->) it is being replaced with software?

 

Sighting down the edge to illustrate my overhang.



My tool of choice for knocking down the overhang.....emory boards. For purposes of maintaining my manly manhood I call them "sandpaper on a stick". My wife keeps me well supplied because she knows I'll raid her stash if she doesn't.



Using the long side as a guide I'm able to sand the overhang down flush with the adjacent surface. Some power tool might be able to do this quicker but it can't be this accurate or clean. Using the touch of my finger I can determine if it is "done".

 

Normally, all four short edges are done first before the long plane is done. I'm skipping these steps to keep this thing short.

Here is a photo showing me measuring and marking the length. Notice that I now have an overhang coming across the newly finished edge.



Since this is wider than my hand mitre can handle I have to make this cut "old school". First I score the line with a razor knife.



The razor knife would suffice for a "with grain" cut but since this is an across grain cut I'm going to use my Exacto hobby saw. I don't cut all the way through but just enough to snap off the piece. Dangerous but fun.