Hey everyone! this is my first major mod just to let you know, i wanted a computer that was mobile, but diddnt have to give up power (ie- 7pci slots, good processor, apg, room for expanstion) but still small. After toying with many ideas, pyrimads, spheres, and some more unique shapes, i decided to go with a cube. Its going to be a 13x13 lexan/acrylic cube, which is just large enough to acomidate a full-size atx board, but small enough to fit on a plane , or carseat. I diddnt want it to be a regular acrylic mod either. Im trying to dual-color the acrylic and possibly frost some parts of it. This way it can look kool, not give up power, AND be portable. Ok, so ive been planning and saving for this mod since thanksgiving, and i finially have everything i need to get started, heres the system spects... motherboard- shuttle an35-n ultra with nForce 2 chipset 2x- 256 pc4000 500mhz dual channel ddr Amd athalon xp 2500+ (might overclock it?) loads of extras like wireless card, sound card, and possibly a new ati 9700 i got a sheet of plexiglass from homedepot for $10, and the guy gave me some scraps 2, which will come in handy later... first i gathered all my plans, rulers, sharpies, etc together and started measuring... just in time to find out that i was short! the acrylic had enough surface area to make the cube, but the dimensions were wrong! im going to cut out what i can, and buy some more acrylic soon, then i can finish it. after i was sure i had everything measured perfect, i went to the garage and cut out my peices ..... it was a little hard, because chips of the acrylic kept hitting me in the face (got to remember to wear glasses next time ) but i got everything cut out ok... next im going to fit them together, then cut them down again, and paint/frost the parts that are neccissary......but enough of that, i got to study for biology now, so ill work more tommorow
a cd... and a pict of the motherboard, incase your tryin to put a name with a face also, the scratches that appear to be on the acrylic are not really there, its scratches on the plastic covering on the acrylic (fyi for non-acrylic people, lol)
ahh, i ment to say 9700 oops, but im planning on buying it here (if i can scrape up the money, most likely not, lol)
ok, a small update, i bought the acrylic that i needed from homedepot, let them overcharge me cuz i was in a hurry also, today my new ram came in its 2 sticks of dual channel 256meg 500mhz goodness. i also got a few minor things, leds, buttons, soder, etc. at radioshack i plan on changing my mouse (microsoft wireless optical 2.0) from a red led to blue, as this will match my keyboard... and the soon-to be assembled case. im also soon going to be purchasing a lcd for the case as well, and ive been looking at the one here but im not really sure if i wana buy it yet, if you can find a large lcd thats fairly cheap, drop a post and ill thank u im not going to be able to cut the acrylic for a few days though, as both our water heater, and our dishwasher broke, and some friends of my parents are moving in tommorow, to stay for a month or 2 while their new house is being finished, this of course means that the mod is going to be paused for at least a week. However, this does not mean that i wont keep working, im planning a bunch of uber stuff for this case, and i dont need to built to purchase and wire other equipment yet to come...
BIG UPDATE!!! Ok, i got the lcd wired to my current computer, since all the informations going to be transfered to my new computer, i figure i better get all the hardware set up first, just so i dont have to worry about that aspect of the computer (although im sure somithing will go horribly wrong, if i know my luck, lol ) ok, i went to radioshack and got a standard gold-plated svideo cable, hooked it up to the lcd and watched it be...blank crud...well after a bit of reasearch i found some software to help me out, called "ultramon" its a multiple monitor control program, and it works pretty good. there is a down side though, it gives a little to MUCH functionality, if you know what i mean. the lcd is like 5' so it really sucks that im using it as a full monitor, cuz i cant read anything I just want a small program that can "re-route" winamp, and possibly motherboard monitor to the little lcd, so i can use it like a regular lcd. does anyone have any idea where i could get some software like that? Thanks for everyones help and support [edit- one of my dad's friends works for a fabrication company, and im getting him to cut the front plate (i dont have a lazer) so as soon as i get it back ill continue work on the actual computer]
sneak peak------------------------------- ok, since its going to be a few days i decided to sketch out a few (not exactly precise) drawings of what the computer will look like when its done... a left/front view of the computer the light blue parts are gonig to be frosted, the rest will be painted black, you can see the drive and button placement on the front, along with the fans, and lcd(in red) everything will be stealethed, and im trying to gather all my supplys together so as soon as the faceplate comes in ill start puttin it together hope that helps u picture it a little better!
Sweeeeeeeeeet.... Keep up the excelent work! Its time that I finally start doing a project too... All I need is my dremel...
whoa sweet idea with the frosting that kicks a$$ anywayz very nice idea, that lcd is pretty cool too haha spongebob nice !! are you going to paint the inside or outside of the acrylic? i think the inside would be better because it would scrach less, but im no acrylic person so bah... anywayz lookin good keep it up
not really an update, just dropping in to say i finished my trip to da uk...stops included ukraine, check republik, poland, and germany (the country of my birth) im now back home in the us and am going to start working tommorow!
Would it help to get a scale model made up in 3d for the case? Let me know mesurements etc. and I can do my best for you if you like
a scale model would be awsome! i never learned to use a vecotring software, so any help would be apreciated...here are the demensions for some things on the front of the case... its not exactly correct placement, but u can see the basic location of all the components also, as i type this im modding my mouse, so ill post the pictures in an hour or 2...
ok, i cut the finial peices of acrylic instead of modding my mouse, and the cutting went pretty smoothly, but when i dry-fit the peices... i realized that when i measured, half of the measurments were taken as if the acrylic was 1/2 in thick, and the other half of the measurments were taken as if the acrylic was 1/4 in thick. this of course means that only half of the peices fit together... i guess ill just have to sand them down and keep on going, as i have no more money to buy more acrylic, lol
I know it's too late now, but getting a higher tooth count blade on your table saw makes a big difference. I got a decent oldham 60 tooth carbide blade at Home Depot for around $20 and it makes cutting acrylic a dream. BTW, what kind of table saw is that, it looks like the kind I'm looking for.
the table saw's some no-name brand i got at a homedepot closing sale, lol (actually its my dads, so i diddnt buy it)
thats incredible! thanks so much tomrgardner! it looks so much better when its scaled right, lol what software did you use to render it?
