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

hmmm, i love where this is going.
submit it to steam punk after you finish it, they will be glad to see it

 

Looking great s_q_u_e_e.

 

excuse me while i myself and
Still that does explain why i couldn't find where id seen the links posted when i went looking, i wasn't looking here!

 

Firstly great job. The typewriter idea is great. It's sad that you have to destroy a Model M Keyboard.

 

Hope everyone in the states had a nice 4th of July =) For the amount of work I have put in the last couple of days, there are a sickening lack of pics. About 1/4 of the way thru cutting off the backs from my typewriter keys (there are around 150 total), a little while after my first one had caught on fire, and the dremel caught another one and sent it into space, I sat there coated in metal dust, and considered scrapping the keyboard. This was the nastiest, most tedious modding project I have done. I perservered though, with a couple of painting breaks so I didnt go insane =)

The first pic is all of the ground down IBM keys pulled back off of the keyboard, and taped face-down to be painted. I wanted to make sure to not get any of the vinyl dye on the tops, cause I would just have to scrape it off later to get a proper glue bond with the typewriter keys later.



After a couple hours of drying, here they are =) The vinyl dye worked great. It dosent gum up the operation of the keyboard at all, and after several dozen keystrokes, there was no sign of it rubbing off. Complete sucess =)



I stripped the guts of the IBM keyboard out of the casing, and it weighs considerably less now. I was so excited that i was finally done cutting / grinding, that I had to get the keys on the keyboard, just setting on the tops without glueing so I could see what it was looking like.



Now, I won auctions on 3 different sets of Underwood typewriter keys on Ebay, and as is to be expected when dealing with less than stellar auction pics, they are all fairly different. Two of the sets have removable metal ring caps, and the 3rd set is fixed on the base. The set you see there is the ones that are not removable. I will use those for all the keys that they match, just to make it a bit easier on myself. The other 2 sets will be disassembeled, and I will print up new key faces for them all. I am going to match the font on these keys as best I can to give it a uniform apperance.

I am VERY happy to be past the slow tedious part, and will definatly get more done on the keyboard this weekend. On the case front, it looks like I will not be able to finish it up this weekend. The LCD had its delivery date pushed back to Monday by UPS for some reason, but thats the way it is I suppose =) My knobs should be here tomorrow though, so I will be able to get those set up. Willsonman on the [H]ardforums suggested that I set up a touch sensor hooked up to the brass ring that will be around the LCD for the powerbutton, and it is something that I may do. I ordered a touch switch kit to play around with and see if that is what i want to go with. Thanks for looking everyone =)

 

Keyboards looking great, and the whole thing is still as amazing as ever. Keep it up man.

 

Nice work so far.



Ya know what would be really cool? If you put an actual radio in there, ya know like a small hand held one. Or you could rip the guts out of an ipod dock and in corporate that into the case.

 

very nice keyboard work man .. this one keeps getting better and better

 

looking good.

 

Hello hello =) I actually went out and did stuff this weekend, so I didnt even look at the computer hehe. Thought I would remind myself what its like to get out of the house on a Saturday night lol. Fun was had by all, and today I got a couple of special deliveries, the reproduction knobs and LCD screen I got off of Ebay. Now, I was not expecting much from this screen at all. I only paid $40 for it shipped, but I thought what the hell I'll give it a try. (Here is a link to the auction I won to give you an idea of what I bought. Look Here!) I am VERY plesantly surprised, way higher quality than I was expecting. I immediatly opened the casing up, and removed the lcd along with the electronics that go with it. I Removed the speakers, because I really dont need them =)

I hacked apart the cables and wired in the proper ones to interface with the PC.The first thing I installed was the TV out daughterboard for the motherboard. It fit perfectly above the power supply =)



Once that was good to go, I wired the LCD up temporarially just to make sure the buggered thing was still working. Here it is as windows installs, happy days it still works.



While windows was installing, I set about figuring out how to mount the blasted thing in the case. At first I was drawing up something much like what I made to hold the DVD player, but then I thought of something WAY simpler. I cleaned off a couple of small spaces on the inside above and below the hole, and proceeded to glue in a couple of MDF spacers.



An hour or so later once the glue was dried, I used a couple of wall hanging hooks and wood screws to fasten it into the front of the case like so. The blue tape is a temporary fix to keep the screens electronics out of the way =) Works well enough for now though.



The brass ring is re-attached, the original glass is re-attached, and the computer is fully put back together. Here is what it looks like with Underworld playing on it =) You can also see the new knobs in this pic. What do you all think? I am not completely happy with them, but they will definatly work until I can find ones I am really happy with.



Now here are some shots with a couple of different old school backgrounds. Fun times =)







The case is now nearly completed. I will need to mark the glass areas that the LCD dosent cover, and paint the backside of the glass so you cant see into the case. I need to solder up the touch switch kit I ordered and see if that is the direction I want to go, or figure out what to do for it. The wires sticking out the back are kind of ghetto =) Next thing to be done is finish up on the keyboard, and start on the monitor. Thanks for looking =)

 

Man, this case is so sweet, i love this pic : http://www.shmeee.com/casemods/case59.jpg
Is it a video or just a still?

Looks very authentic even looks proper backlit...well apart from the mouse in shot i just saw! ^_^

 

Thats so cool, the old skool back grounds on the LCD work really well. And that keyboard mod is ace. Cant wait to see what you do for the larger keys.

 

agreed. The keyboard looks amazing, I love the way you installed the LCD and the old skool backgrounds are just perfect!

 

Too cool! The knobs look OK, but maybe some old bakelite ones? Not sure, but I agree with you, they look fine, but seems something else could be better.

Most mods like this don't impress me because, either they get too cute with the exterior, or the re-finishing is poor, or the innards are lacking. But you have done a masterful job on every aspect. At first I was disappointed when you went for the LCD in the front, but with the VU meter background it's awesome!

Great job. Looking forward to the finishing touches!

 

first off love the mod, I showed it to my wife and now she will "allow" me to cut up her computer too.

I know you were talking about using this as a media box have you though of winamp skinned appropriately for the LCD?


Also I don't remember if you have a plan for all three buttons but if you end up using it as a 'almost headless' meda system the outer two could be use ETCH-A-SKETCH style with the guts of an old ballmouse adding push buttons behind them to get left and right click. You sure wouldn't play quake with it but navigating music/movie libraries wouldn't be that hard.

 

Very -VERY- nice! I love this with the lcd VU meter. You did a great job restoring the casing too. I also think you should do the fodder's mouse/knob mod.

Now that it's too late... The fastest way to cut the extra plastic off the keys is to snip off little bits at a time with mini wire cutters. Polystyrene is not dremel-friendly.

I'm also curious if you found any place that sells the metal rings for underwood keys. I have one of these old typewriters, but it's missing 2 of those little rings...

 

Dude thats freakin awesome!
the Old Time Facias on the LCD HAH! What a hoot! yes i said hoot...

i love this project how much ya want for it when ya done ? JK!!

w0000t

 

looks great.

 

Where did you move the HDD? looking at the TV out daughter board image image you have a 120 in there, but its back in the lcd test image. syduck:
Is there enough space above the DVD for the drive?

 

That LCD is fantastic - I wasn't sure it would work with the retro case & steam punk keyboard, but the old-style tuning dial images look really good! Where the hell did you find them?

How are you driving the LCD - You got a dual-head graphics card in there?