Case Mod - In Progress Project: Atomic Breadbin

Well christmas is fast approaching and I need to make my mum a media pc for her kitchen as her present. Now as she has an old fashioned type kitchen it needs to blend in. I asked her what features it needs to have and just as I thought she had no idea...

I decided to think what things would be useful in a kitchen and base the hardware around these ideas. So...

The main use for the pc is a replacement for her old tv, so a twin tuner Tv card is a must, id like to expand on her old tv's features so will be adding a laptop dvd-rw drive and some better speakers too. For music side of things I will be using a Matrix orbital typhoon screen to show track info etc (kindly donated by Matrix Orbital) and handily this comes with a XP MCE remote.

Next up is internet use, so wi-fi is a must (cant have wires all over the place). I will be adding links to recipe sites and weight conversion tools etc ( yes im hoping for a a nice meal after building this).

So as the name suggests, this needs to fit in a breadbin.. So I decided on using a Dual Core Atom 330 and intel board. Here lies the next problem... 1 x ddr2 slot and pci only. 1gb ddr2 should be fine (i have some spare but only 1gb modules) but you try finding a decent PCI twin tuner tv card. I finally decided on the Pinnacle PCTV Dual DVB-T Pro 2000i (any sugestions on something better would be great).

Anyway anough waffle and on to some pics....









This is the dual Atom mobo, actually it was the only one I could find...



The tiny 90watt Pico PSU, how cool is that. Well the only disadvantage is that you still have a laptop type DC power pack that you have to plug, but that doesnt really affect what I want to do.



Red and orange Delrin vandall switches.



The Matrix Orbital Typhoon GX LCD display. Kindly donated to me from the Kind folks at Matrix Orbital. One of the few companies where I would be happy if my hardware went wrong, as the guys there are such a joy to deal with







The Breadbin itself, thats a 10p coin next to the mobo..





and finally 1GB (im using one stick only) of Corsair ram.

Im still finalizing the other bits of hardware. So any suggestions would be great.

Sponsored by :

http://www.matrixorbital.com

 

why the choice of memory? isn't it a little bit overkill, and a waste of a second dimm module?

Loads of room in there for all sorts of goodies!

 

It was part of my prize bundle from Custom PC, Im using DDR3 now so had it lying in the drawer. Yeah my head is full of weird and wonderfull ideas for that space at the moment...

 

Anyways, got some new parts yesterday, I think I have everything I need now



Not a great fan of these trackpad keyboards myself, but then its not me who is gonna be using it...





these speakers have to be heard, they sound amazing and really pump out some volume... the casing is really high quality, pity they will be ripped apart!



2.5" 250gb WD Scorpio 7200rpm sata... kinda says it all really, was best I could find for price/performance/size.



My lovely piece of walnut veneer, and no, I have no idea how to fit it. Last time I applied a veneer it was 12 years ago at school.

Anyway, onto the mod itself.



These speakers are a real pain to take apart, check out the copious amounts of glue below, its real hard too so is prob some type of epoxy.



Any Ideas how to remove these tweeters easily would be great

 

Dremel?

And, I love those mini mobos. Totally sleek and sexy. I need to come up with a project to make with one of them.

 

Great idea skunkmunkey. Shes gonna love it. Esp since it was made by you.

agree, about using a Dremel.

 

yeah, i think it will have to be the dremel, will get that done this afternoon, thanks Bill

 

on to the build itself : 1/11/08

Ok, I finally go those speakers disected with the help of a small blowtorch and a lot of patience...

So on to the build itself. First off I made a frame to support the front panel, no more nails and pins was all that was needed for this job.



Next I made a front panel from MDF, and marked out where the speakers were to be placed..



And with the help of this



Made this..





Luckily I had a holesaw that fitted the speakers perfectly. For those who are worried about the magnet etc, they are very well shielded. I may make a small modders mesh cage for them to be on the safe side tho.

 

Looking good so far

 

Veneer Crazy 6/11/08

Thanks mate, big update coming....

I sucessfully managed to glue on the veneer with no mishaps not bad considering I havent really doen it before. Was a rather enjoyable experience too. I used No More Nails Express wood glue and painted it on quite thin. I then clamped the piece together with between 2 pieces of MDF and every clamp I could find. I let this dry overnight and then cut out the holes for the speakers and switches. Veneer is a real pain to cut, you have to slice gently until you can snap it or you risk chipping the veneer off.

After an hour of sanding I ended up with this





I then followed that with 5 coats of



and dyed then MDF that hadnt been veneered so it blends in.





Then It was time for the speakers to be glued in (im not risking splitting that veneer) for which I used Gorilla Glue





Im pretty happy with the end result so far

 

I like it! The veneer looks great. I always thought veneer was like a vinyl film, I didn't realize it was wood and crackable. You gonna put some speaker grilles over those suckers?

 

Eeeellllllliiiiiioooooooot! Phoooooonnnnneeeee Hoooooooommmmmmeeeeeeee!

 

Glad I wasn't the only one to see that.

I have a wood breadbox in my closet awaiting a date with saw blades and sandpaper myself, but that'll be a few projects from now.

 

looks more like the robot from short circuit... johnny 5 is alive!!! I had planned for the dvd drive to go at the front to break it up a bit but couldnt due to the speaker circuitry being in the way.

 

ET or Johnny5 - It's obviously shocked to be in a breadbox.

 

Great job so far looks good.

I'm thinking ET, don't open the flap too quickly may scare people seeing a face looking at them from inside a breadbin lol.

 

IMO walnut veneer is very hard to work with. It is very brittle around the edges. Nice job with it. Looks like a fun project.

 

LAMO

Looks great mate. How does the veneering look in the flesh? Its something i want to try i'm just waiting on a project that warrants it.

 

Nice project. Looks like a scary face lol.

 

very very cool mod idea