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chewyboy
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« on: November 08, 2002, 12:44:26 AM » |
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chewyboy
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« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2002, 12:44:26 AM » |
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quick pic's of my mod finally
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tarou
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« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2002, 02:50:20 AM » |
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Wao, great!!! I tried to do same thing a couple weeks ago, but I just made scrup plexi...
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chewyboy
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« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2002, 03:47:16 AM » |
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It looks about 10 billion times better in person than in those pics. and no matter what people say on how easy lexan is to deal with, bending it sucks. There are a couple reasons, at least around here people are super secretive about machining and manipulating plastics, so i had to learn everything from scratch. secondly you really need a good heat gun to work it correctly. I'm not talking a hobby shop one, i'm talking a chicago electric type that catches crap on fire when you use it  anyway i've dealt with it enough enough in both machining it, buffing it clean, and bending it that if anyone has any questions please feel free to PM me. Hopefully in a week or two i will put up a web page with tips and tricks that i learned about dealing with lexan. quite possibly the best part about this project was at one point it was after i machined some 1/16" lexan and i had a question to ask one of the few people that would give me any information at all. when i showed them what i did, they started asking me questions about how i did it. This made me feel a little bit better since that company is over 30 years old, and this was the first time i've dealt with plastics in this way one more thing, honestly this is my first real mod ever, what ya think? |
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SoloMalee
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« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2002, 04:04:28 AM » |
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I remember back at school (along time ago) we used to bend perspex and lexan with a device that was a cross between a sheet metal bender and a red hot glowing cheeeswire.
The wire sat between the two faces that were used to support the material each side of the bend. You then lifted one of the faces to the required angle and held it until it set again.
The problem I remember was doing anything more complicated than straight bends was like trying to work with melted cheese. You could though heat the whole sheet and make a male and female mould. Lay the soft sheet over the female mould and press the male part carefully (and quickly) into the plastic. Hold it and da dah, you have a lump moulded into the plastic.
In making the moulds, you have to have the male and female pieces fitting well, but allow the thickness of the plastic between the two halves of the mould.
Sharp corners were almost impossible though.
Hope that's useful
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SoloMalee
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« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2002, 04:07:15 AM » |
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Oh of course, if you can get a trip around a factory that makes plastic baths (those are sometimes perspex/lexan over a metal/wood frame), checkout the vacuum moulding gear.
Again, heat the sheet, lay it over the mould and suck from below. Still no shar corners though.
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chewyboy
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« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2002, 04:09:21 AM » |
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actually for sharp corners there is a bonding/welding glue that basically melts them together. that works very nicely. the problem i had was that nobody around here would give me jack crap for info on how to deal with lexan or any of it's properties. all they would say is that it's just like dealing with plexiglass, which is copletely wrong. they are both clear and can be bent that's about it as for the device you were describing, for those of us who don't wanna spend craploads of money, making a template and using heat guns is the best way i've found. bah i got off topic, i'm curious about what you guys think. |
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SoloMalee
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« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2002, 04:24:51 AM » |
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Nice...I just need the shuttle |
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BusError
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« Reply #8 on: November 08, 2002, 04:53:11 AM » |
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Tremendous mod, especialy considering how your hand shakes !!! (ref the fuzzy picts ;-))
Could we have a couple pictures of the machine when it's put together again? I think that mod would look scrarily cool with the glowing faceplate, in a geeky sort of way, the light is going to refract in most interestingly.
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Staffyman
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« Reply #9 on: November 08, 2002, 08:41:32 AM » |
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You stole my idea  ONLY JOKING ! I did think of doing this a while ago but didn't have the time, resources, money, shuttle, balls etc.... to get it done. Well at least I get to see the end result without the work. Nice one, congrats. PS. light mod would look great. |
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Staffyman
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« Reply #10 on: November 08, 2002, 08:48:46 AM » |
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WOOPS, you do have a light in there  I only looked at the first picture before replying, and now I've looked at the rest. That'll teach me to 'look before you leap' |
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Tenex
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« Reply #11 on: November 08, 2002, 09:25:11 AM » |
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How did you manage to cut out the side vents so neatly? What did you use?
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MarkF
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« Reply #12 on: November 08, 2002, 09:35:32 AM » |
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Hi, ChewyBoy! Congratulations! This was definitely a ton of work, and after my experiences trying to deal with the single piece of acrylic I use on the front of the box, I can't imagine how frustrating this must have gotten at times! Just trying to drill acrylic can get awfully interesting - it loves to chip (I did finally learn about Hanson bits, which help a lot, but are essentially useless for countersinking those darn Shuttle screws). I'm dieing to see some cleaner pix once you've got a chance to put everything back together! I've been going through the same problem as you - trying to get clean pictures without the flash is a real pain in the rear; the only way I've found is to either use a tripod (which I don't have), or else to use a very firm mounting like a block of wood on the counter - that way, the camera will (mostly) hold still while the shutter integrates the dimmer image. Lots of bright light from other sources can help, like a 200W lamp or two nearby. Now I realize why photographers use those umbrella-like reflectors on their lights; they help prevent reflections of the photographer in the piece being photographed! Anyway, congratulations again! Your willingness to tackle a tough challenge like this one and pull it off is awesome! You did send your pix off to Odie, right?  Now, we'll both get a bit of a rest! Cheers! MarkF |
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Tommy2Tall
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« Reply #13 on: November 08, 2002, 11:53:25 AM » |
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Tenex has a good question there and I'm hoping for an answer too as I will probably go for a "Soldam Polo R"ish faceplate with as little clutter as possible (= a slot-in, possible with a relocated diode as the pushbutton for the relocated microswitch  ) I'm so friggin full of ideas I should take notes.. but that's stupid right? Writing down spur-of-the-moment ideas?? NAaaah! OK.. starting with a standard SN41G2 and I'll aim for a hidden slot-in CD-drive with very descrete ejecbutton+diode, a printed OH-motif behind the custom plexi(lexan is overkill for the front, or is it?)-front and software controlled EL-plates behind that... I recon the available EL-kit wont cut it for the G2's front bezel so I might have to get extra EL-plastic from the local electronics-store (they have sheets big enuff to ALMOST cover the sides and top of an SS51 in one piece .. and then there's the internal HDD-diode that'll light up the whole friggin case like a constructionlight... Hmmm. drifting of topic but atleast now I have written it down so I can find it once I get that SN41G2 |
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chewyboy
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« Reply #14 on: November 08, 2002, 12:56:14 PM » |
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actually cutting the stuff was the easiest part. having to figure out how to cut it correctly took a bit of trial and error, but not too much. here is the secret, i used a CNC mill. if you wanna cut this stuff, use a 2 flute tool running at about 2200 rpm's(that is if you dont have a plastics cutting tool, that i didn't know about till after i was done). This way all i had to do was program the pieces up in autocad after i figured out how to cut it. The nasty part was cleaning up the edges and squaring off the inner edges, they had a radius so i had to use jewelers files to square them off. I'll take some more pic's with a tripod, however i'm not sure that will help out much because from what i figured the camera was focusing on something onther than the transparent material, that's why i was getting fuzzyness, anyway i'll try again on those later.
suprisingly where i put the vent holes in the side, the strength there is amazing. I thought it would get super weak, but it didn't.
Buserror: if you look the machine is back together, it's just you cant see some of the pieces because they are transparent.
Tenex: the CNC, i'll post a pic of the autocad drawing's i did for the front and sides later too.
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Bluesunit
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« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2002, 01:47:31 PM » |
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Nice work chewy . . . I was working on the same thing but my heat gun sucks, and using a torch on 1/16 inch is overkill (it boils). I gave up after going through two sheets. I'm going to use the scraps to make a window mod. I'll post pictures when I'm done with my clock radio SS51.
Hats off for getting it to work.
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chewyboy
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« Reply #16 on: November 09, 2002, 04:05:35 AM » |
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MarkF
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« Reply #17 on: November 09, 2002, 08:20:23 AM » |
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Hi, Chewyboy!
Wow! The new pictures make a huge difference - that's really beautiful work! I especially like the nice pattern on the top cover vent holes - very cool! These pictures show a lot more of the detail work that you've done - outstanding job!!!
Congratulations!
MarkF
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ItsAlwaysMonday
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« Reply #18 on: December 21, 2002, 01:43:25 AM » |
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To chewyboy ---- I am interested in that outer case.. Will you make me one and i can pay you through paypal for it? I need a completely clear one like yours. It looks great nice work! Steve If you CAN indeed make me an outer case, please email me at sshaar@saltdesigns.com thanks. |
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