Hi, After years of browsing these forums and being amazed by the fantastic mods I've decided to try my hand at a project of my own. The idea: To build a PC suitable for the lounge using acrylic and the tools at hand. The inspiration for the design is somewhere between the HP Blackbird 002 and a super-size Asus desktop EEE PC albeit simplified as this is still a first attempt Seeing that there is really no budget to speak of, the hardware will have to come from the old office PC currently in use as a media box and materials and tools will have to be "a dime a dozen". At the end of the day the I would like nothing more that to learn the ropes and be able to say that I too have completed a mod. Maybe I might even be able to save up enough to afford some new hardware and run Steam on the TV And that brings us to the start of this project. The last week or two has been spent making lots of mistakes and some slow progress. The Tools: ps: Yes that is the lounge you see To get the hang of working with the Acrylic I started cutting, drilling and bending some brackets that I intend to use later on in the build. Cutting: Bending: Done: Next I started on the larger pieces of acrylic and almost cut them into the right size for the side panels. The jigsaw I will be using: I was surprised at how clean the cuts are with the new blade I bought. You hardly need to sand the edges at all. But unfortunately cutting long straight lines with a cheap-@#s jigsaw does not work well and I spent the next two days trying to get the edges straight and the panels roughly the same size: And then finally coming to the realisation that I will not be able to do this without some help So after trying a couple of different approaches with the jigsaw, including some straight edges to use as guides and clamping multiple panels together, I neatly packed all the acrylic and started making some calls. To my surprise I found that a friend has been hiding a circular saw in his garage without my knowing and I was off to go and give this a try... And that didn't work either because although the cuts were straight and accurate the edges were chipped, downright shocking and nobody in town sells the right blade in the right size So with my head held high I'm back to the suppliers as they seem to be the only people in town who actually have the right equipment. They turned out to be even more helpful than expected and cut all the remaining acrylic into manageable sizes and had a good few chuckles at my expense because I didn't agree to let them cut it in the first place Which brings us to the first test fit with some of the hardware and my exclusive cardboard motherboard: And the back panel (the first real progress): Thank you donor PC: and a freehand circle Next I'm starting on the top panel and the CD ROM mount. The plan is to have the CD ROM mounted at the top of the case as can bee seen in the test fit, with the face removed in order to "stealth" the drive and re-routing the eject button to smaller panel reserved for the power switch, USB etc. Bending the first pieces of the CD ROM bracket: And a completed bracket: Yes the design is a little strange but unfortunately I have not been able to get my hands on any bolts / screws that are the right length and size. I did track down the ones you see above for the CD ROM but due to their length the bracket uses two pieces of acrylic on either side to hold it in place wile still allowing it to move up or down as needed. That's it for now, I'm quite excited to carry on with this build and it will hopefully be taking shape in the next update or two. First will be the front and top panel starting with a single strip of acrylic and a bend instead of a join and then the switches and front panel USB's. Please comment and any advice, suggestions or general musings will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks for the comments. I hope to keep your interest and plan to have some fresh updates before the end of the week.
First project & in at the deep end, good way to learn fast. Looking good so far. off topic but did you mod the lemon & lime to be 1 lol.
Thanks! Thanks! "If you don't know what you're doing do it properly" ps: Unfortunately I can't take credit for the Limon
I finally managed to set some time aside for the mod this weekend. I didn't manage too much but there is a bit of progress on the top panel. The first thing I needed was a panel that for the top of the case with space for the CD-ROM and access to the buttons and USB ports mounted on the one below. Getting the two panels to match up for the CD-ROM: Almost: Done: Next was access to the (cheap ) power and CD-ROM switches along with USB ports. And a test fit to see if we're still on the right track. I hope that will do for now... It looks like life will be back to normal this coming week and I might just have time for some real updates.
