Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Tube Radio PC -- 20 October -- Back From The Dead

One of my favorite logs in progress, can't wait for the next update.

That drive holder looks slick!

 

Looking great s_q_u_e_e. Keep it up.

 

I agree with Morphine-Kitty looking really great s_q_u_e_e! Lets see more.

 

Thats an awesome keyboard mod in that link..

And this mod is looking great - congrats on the mod-of-the-month nomination..

Now this bit I'm not too sure of.. Yeah a stealth LCD screen would be cool, but adding smoked plexi to a retro-looking mod like this is gonna be tough to pull off.. Aren't you worried it will spoil the look?

 

Voted

 

Hello everyone =) I have made a ton of progress today, it was beautiful out, great modding on the porch weather. I decided with this remake, that I wanted the option to change the hardware to whatever I want down the road. Right now it is going to have a micro-atx board with onboard everything, but its nice to have options later. That means being able to fit a full size atx board, and it will do that. Next is the problem of the PCIE/PCI slots. First off, I cut in the space I would need for a full compliment of cards with an ATX board.



Since I will not be using them right away, I decided to make a decorative grille to cover it. No need to have a gaping hole there =) I know that once I do decide to put in anything I will need to remake the plate, but for now it works, and I love the way it looks.



Next, time to cut the rest of the internal frame. The motherboard tray, the uprights, and then assembled with the top strut.







The next part had me a little worried, attaching the cage to the backplate. If it was off in any direction, not only would it not fit into the case properly, the motherboard would also not fit and the PCI slots wouldnt be aligned. Luckily I got it right the first time, WHEW!





Here is a comparison shot of the new internals on the left, versus the old internals on the right. Much better =)



Here it is with some of the hardware installed and test fitted into the case.



This is what it looks like with everything installed and screwed down. The hard drive had to go on the upper strut, there is no longer any space on the motherboard tray with it set to accept full size atx boards. It all fits quite nicely =)



Finally, a couple of shots all put together sitting on my coffee table.





Plans for tomorrow, I need to install the piece that the PCI cards will screw into, I have it cut but just ran out of time. Once that is attached, I will strip all of the hardware back out of it, give it a thorough cleaning, and stain it to better match the case. I am still looking for some appropriate dials for the front, and trying to think of alternatives to the LCD screen in the front, I agree that it may look out of place. Right now though, I am extremely happy with how it is turning out, re-doing the internals was definatly for the best.

Thanks for all the comments everyone, I really appreciate them. I just saw about the whole mod of the month contest, and I thank everyone that voted for me =) I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

 

Another beautiful day in Eugene, and another bunch of modding. Good times =) First I glued and clapmed the pci bracket into place. While that was drying, I did some laundry, fun eh? I didnt wait for it to cure completely, it isnt necessary at this point since there will be no cards installed. I pulled the clamps off, and hit it with the sander again to get it cleaned up.





I then had to run to Home Depot for a couple last minute supplies. When I was there I found some little rubber feet that are a nearly identical match to the originals.



I also picked up some handles so that I can pull the inner shell out of the case, it is rather a pain without them if it is loaded with hardware. I drilled a couple of holes to attach the inner and outer cases. One on the top, and one on the bottom =)



Out comes all of the screws and hardware, and the sealing begins. I took a pic of after the first coat and the second, but they looked virtually the same. I suppose I will just show the second coat hehe.



After some drying time (during which I worked on the keyboard, but that will come at the end) I reinstalled everything. I do like the way it is looking =)





Finally, here it is installed into the case. nevermind the wires sticking out the back, that is the temporary power switch =) I am thoroughly happy with how it looks. I am still looking for the proper knobs, and waiting on the LCD to arrive. I am going to try the LCD installed in a couple of ways, to see which one works. If none of them work, then I will just have to try something else hehe.










Now, while the stain was drying on the internal case, I started work on the keyboard. First we have the keyboard itself. These old IBM keyboards are built like tanks, this thing weighs a TON.



The first order of business was removing the caps that all of the keys had on them. You can see that I jumped ahead a bit and did the ESC key already.



Here is how i started taking each key apart, a cut with the dremel on each side.



Once the outer skirt was off, I ground off the excess. Here is the keyboard with all of the F keys finished up. This is going to take me a while, it takes around 45 seconds to a minute for each key.



After that, I get to grind the backs off of the old typewriter keys =) That is work for tomorrow though. Until next time!

 

Your rebuild is infinitely better than the first one. You really stuck with the theme of the radio (which is what i'm sure you were going for) and it turned out fantastically. Great job.

 

this Mod is probably one of my favorites since i joined the site only a few days ago. Loving the work you have done. I mighthave to search the old second hand/ antique shops for an old radio like this myself . Based on your eforts this would look reat on the old kitchen table... LCD attached to it or near it .. just in case someone wanted to "look for a recipe" ROLF.

Fantastic job man!

 

I'd recommend a laptop SATA hard drive, this could be mounted on top of the PSU, or near there, freeing up the back 120mm port to do its job.

Out of interest, whats it like for noise, i wouldnt imagine wood to be fantastic at coping with fan whine.

 

Cut that grass!! And some weed killer wouldn't hurt either.

 

the finish is looking great.
nice work on the mobo tray and back plate.

 

I can't wait to see progress on the keyboard. The case is looking good as well!

 

Here we are again =) I have to say, the definate upside to being single is when youre wrapped up in a project, you can sink all the time you want into it lol. Well, today and tomorrow will be the most boring days of modding ever. Today, I ground down every single key on the keyboard. My earlier estimate of 45 seconds to a minute per key was way too optimistic lol. At first I didnt think I would be able to do much modding today, I was supposed to give a massage, but she canceled at the last minute so back to modding I went. Three and a half hours of work later, here are the pics =)

No progress pics between the last post and now, it was a LOT of the same. Trim off the skirt, and grind down the edges. Rinse and repeat. The first pic is after I finished up all of the single keys, before I began on all of the double keys.



Now the single keys were pretty straightforward. Each of the remaining keys has the the clicky post, plus a supporting post. I decided to again remove the skirt, but leave the top of it for stability. Here is a pic of one of the double keys that is untouched next to one i have cut the skirt off of.



The spacebar presents its own problem. I need to leave a large chunk of it intact for it to function properly, but I thought I would reshape it to something a little more interesting. Sorry that the pic is a little blurry, but you get the idea =)



Here is a shot of the keyboard with all of the keys shaved down and placed back on the keyboard.



So far I have only shaved the back on one of the old typewriter keys for a test fit, here it is just sitting there, not attached permanently yet.



Tomorrow, I will shave the rest of the old typewriter keys and clean them up. Then I need to pick up some vinyl dye. My plan is to use the vinly dye to change the remains of the keys black so that they blend in better. Then removing the guts of the keyboard from the IBM casing, and creating a new casing better suited to match the tube radio pc. It should be considerably less tedious after I get all of the typewriter keys ground down.

In other news, I ordered some wooden knobs on ebay, and I should have them by the end of the week. The lcd shipped today, so I will hopefully have that also. So much to do hehe. I will finish this post up with the very beginning of the monitor mod =) I hope everyone is doing well!



@greensabbath
Thanks! I agree it came out a million times better.

@MoRBiD
Thats one of the things I am enjoying about the mod, Its not only a computer, but a good looking piece of furniture =)

@Sim0n
The hard drive really isnt blocking airflow at all, it is doing like I hoped and directing airflow, and doing it quietly. The computer is almost dead silent.

@wbdog206
Thanks =)

@ jokkos
Ask and you shall recieve hehe, most of the updates for the next couple of day have to do with the keyboard hehe.

 

nice project, its looking very good indeed.
re the typewriter keys, i've seen a project where someone did the same thing before. He ground the backs of the keys off by fixing a cutting disk to a drill press set at the correct level and then just sliding each key in and its ground. I'll hunt around and see if i can find the link to the video he made of it for you.

Edit: Aha! here it is Steampunk Keyboard
Not sure if thats much use to you, but hopefully you can save some time with it

 

great work s_q_u_e_e!
I really like the retro look of this project.
I'm trying to build a typewriter mod atm, so I've been following this log closely...
I'm sure you know this page but since Blannor asked: http://steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml
It's where I got my inspiration, too

keep up the good (old) work!
Greetz
D.R.

 

Very good work on this mod. I love the idea for the type writer keyboard. I also hope you are still going to go for the media pc look.

I just dont think this has that ol' gaming pc look.

 

Very nice work.

But if I may add a small remark,
why did u not make the back a little smaller so it fitted IN the radio.
Now it looks "attached".

 

If you will check the first post in the worklog, you can see I posted links to the Steampunk Workshop Keyboard and LCD =) They are defintly the reason I got this project going. I wanted to do a Tube Radio PC for years now, and I thought it would look awesome with a matching keyboard/mouse/monitor.

@Cptn-Inafinus
It is going to remain a Media PC for now, It will definatly work better like that for now.

@Amadeke
That was my original plan, but it physically wont fit like that, the motherboard is too wide. If you look at my first incarnation of the inner case, it didnt have the outer lip, but still stuck out, and it didnt look nearly as good.

 

Good work man I really like what you are doing with this thing. I watching for every update. Good work.