Modding How many hours do you spend looking and thinking?

Discussion.
I am at a point in my project log, where I am spending a lot of time looking, thinking, and NOT modding. Anybody ever been here? I spent about 4 hours placing parts and re arraigning my mods internals. Lucky I always have more than one project or I would get frustrated. Comments?
John

 

You made me feel better already... I'm not alone...

Around here its 95% thinking, planning and re-thinking... 5% hands on work.

 

Thanks a lot. I am glad I'm not alone here. I will be capable of your modding skills in about the year 2525. I've been doing this modding thing for about 10 years now but I am just coming out of the closet and sharing.
John

 

I've been planning for years and haven't even finalized my ideas. You guys should feel great about yourselves being that you both started to mod already.

-Noswal

 

Oh sure. Thinking is how it gets done with minimal error!

 

minimal error? sounds edible, what is it?

The way i normally do it is to start building, and think while i build. Then, when i'm done, i build it again, but without all the mistakes and with the generally better production values of the second go

This method allows me more hands-on time, which i like, and it also makes me think about things from a different angle. It can be quite consuming on materials though....

 

i often just sit and think up different ideas for my mod. on sunday i sat online for like 5-6 hours looking at different parts to buy for my mod. LOL!

if only i had the money to redo some stuff. im happy with mine so far but ive thought of different ideas that i also like.

 

I don't know if hours, but I spend quite some time planning them.
As somebody already said it, it's important if you want it to be as error free as possible and without having to spend more money or having to redo.

It's the same as measure twice, cut once.

 

I think about a build hours and hours on end my friend. Every time I Want to do something it's like opening a can of worms. So many solutions to one problem, and one solution affects all the other problems, which I am then forced to find another solution for. So I don't even get much done practically. It's in My head. :S

 

see, that's why i just pick up a dremel and only start thinking when the disk is spinning. Sure, it costs a bit more plexi, but failing deliberately on the first try actually ensures succes on the second for me.

 

LOL, Xtrafresh. Modding off-the-cuff like that and getting results not exactly what I wanted is what I call "dynamic variables'.

 

I have spent a whole day sitting in a freezing-ass garage looking at a 1/4 finished case thinking "WTF.....I dunno....mabye I can...Crap it won't fit....WTF....I dunno..." and so on.

 

The thinking part is constant. I have a massive sketchbook filled with doodles and ideas that pop into my head. By the time I start to build, I already have most of the basic layout worked out.

 

that happens to me all the time when I'm doing DIY projects even though I know what I need to do

 

Indeed. I like to justify this by telling myself that things get better with each iteration

Have you looked at my worklog lately? I'm about 60% into the build, and STILL not decided about which switches to use and where. I have decided on a new DVD-drive positioning 4 or 5 times now, and i discarded all those now. I'm at my third HDD tray. I made the final decision for the material usage of the mobo tray 2-3 minutes before i started fabricating it. I made three final choices of casefans. I knew roughly where the VU, Temp & Fanspeed gauges would go, but made the final decision with the jigsaw in my hand. I stickered the desk and put it in place, but i was ready to trash the sticker and go for paint on the spot. As of yet, i don't have a detailed cable plan. I'm even undecided about the exact height of the case i want the final product to have. I dump a piece of plexi in the oven, and then start setting up a bending rig. The list goes on!

But still, i'm able to make progress, and end up building a pretty damn cool mod IMHO. So maybe planning planning planning modding planning planning planning modding is the best way to go, it's sure as hell not the only way to get things done.

 

don't worry, i have pages of brainstorms aswell.

I just remembered, SUPERBAD!! that kid couldn't stop drawing doodles, everywhere! There were some truly excellent doodles in that collection

 

I have to add G-gnome to the notebook list. The builds take forever but the notebooks keep the thoughts going. I could never tackle a build that complex without my notebook.
We should start a thread with 1 picture or scan from our notebooks. Wouldn't have to be anything we are working on just a page.
John

 

Eh, I usually just jump into the mod. The only planning I do is when I have the piece in my hand. I may research what is going into the case, just not how the case is built. I do not like planning that much really. Guiding myself by a set of variables leave me no room for innovation. Thats just how my brain works anyways.

 

I planed/skeched up my build under a period of 2 month before i started to buy the materials that i needed and making a paper model,under that period of time its just like Cheapskate says a constant thinking for me, i think that the planing stage can be even more exhausting then the actual build.Even when i thougt i had every posibility/solution worked out i have still been making some changes to my build.One thing is for shure and that is when i start digging in to the actual build i want to have moust of it figured out so i just can enjoy myself when i work,i guess im not a guy who improvise very well and needs to have constant control, it has probably something to do from some part of my childhood .

 

Hi.

I'm new here, but have been building stuff for a long time.

Often-times I will stop a project for days, weeks perhaps longer in order to consider carefully what I am going to do next, or how I am going to dig myself out of a hole that I have put myself in.