damakun
12-30-2006, 02:55 PM
Hello ! I have been lurking for a while, gathering info about case modding like crazy for the last two weeks, but I have been interested for a while. It seems that I finally found sites that make it feasible and possible to try it out, so I will tool up over the next two months or so. What would I like to build ? A replica NextCube !
I have already started asking on the Next forums I found, to get more detailed measurements, but for those of you who don't know, this is what I am talking about :
Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTcube)
More info from Lowendmac.com (http://lowendmac.com/next/nextcube.html)
Yet more info... (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=277)
The case was 305mm x 305mm X 318mm - for perspective, the famous HyperCube (http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2004/12/20/hypercube_part_1/1.html) mod was 276mm x 276mm x 276mm. People who have modded the original Next cases say that there is enough room for a MicroATX mobo and a few drives. My intention was to also put in a SATA backplane, like what Mashie did to that Shuttle PC case (http://www.mashie.org/casemods/udat1.html)(as actually, my requirements are somewhat similar : I need a better sever case, and I hate the refrigerator sized behemoths that some people want to call a server case....), but I want to hide the drives.
So basically, the proposed NextCube mod would still look like the original until you got a closer look and opened it up.
The plan is to use aluminum... I am still researching, but I have not worked with metal before, except a semester of arc welding in high school.... I have soldered before, and I was into model railroading as a teen, so plastics and fine detail kit assembly with glues and painting are all familiar to me. I am also tooling up from scratch, and am sourcing a Dremel as we speak. Actually, my roomate who owns the house has a number of woodworking tools and other power tools I can borrow as needed.
My concerns at the moment - besides working with aluminium - have to do with the front grille of the Cube as well as the lack - I mean total lack - of status lights on the original Cube. Also, how to make a case badge/emblem from scratch....
Assuming that grille is made of plastic, how does one make that from scratch ? It seems like a whole hell of a lot of work..... slicing all of the plastic that thin and even, gluing it together just right.... .there has to be a better way, but I cannot think of it.... by the way, Cubes are so rare and expensive, that using an original part from the actual case is not possible.
My thoughts on the status lights would be to set it up like an auto dashboard instrument panel : rear-mounted LED going thru a mask of some sort, such that you cannot tell a light is there until the LED is lit, and even at that, it shows a symbol instead of a raw LED. In modders' terms, I want to stealth the LED until it is actually lit, and I want a symbol to appear - like the standard (|) power button symbol instead of a red LED for instance.
As far as the case badge goes.... are there case badge blanks you can buy ? Or does anyone know the dimensions of a standard sized case badge ? I want to paint the NeXT logo on the badge.
Ambitious ? Perhaps, but then, you look around sites like this one, and you are suddenly inspired to take on the world ! :banana:
Thoughts/questions/answers much appreciated. Thanks in advance !
I have already started asking on the Next forums I found, to get more detailed measurements, but for those of you who don't know, this is what I am talking about :
Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTcube)
More info from Lowendmac.com (http://lowendmac.com/next/nextcube.html)
Yet more info... (http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=277)
The case was 305mm x 305mm X 318mm - for perspective, the famous HyperCube (http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2004/12/20/hypercube_part_1/1.html) mod was 276mm x 276mm x 276mm. People who have modded the original Next cases say that there is enough room for a MicroATX mobo and a few drives. My intention was to also put in a SATA backplane, like what Mashie did to that Shuttle PC case (http://www.mashie.org/casemods/udat1.html)(as actually, my requirements are somewhat similar : I need a better sever case, and I hate the refrigerator sized behemoths that some people want to call a server case....), but I want to hide the drives.
So basically, the proposed NextCube mod would still look like the original until you got a closer look and opened it up.
The plan is to use aluminum... I am still researching, but I have not worked with metal before, except a semester of arc welding in high school.... I have soldered before, and I was into model railroading as a teen, so plastics and fine detail kit assembly with glues and painting are all familiar to me. I am also tooling up from scratch, and am sourcing a Dremel as we speak. Actually, my roomate who owns the house has a number of woodworking tools and other power tools I can borrow as needed.
My concerns at the moment - besides working with aluminium - have to do with the front grille of the Cube as well as the lack - I mean total lack - of status lights on the original Cube. Also, how to make a case badge/emblem from scratch....
Assuming that grille is made of plastic, how does one make that from scratch ? It seems like a whole hell of a lot of work..... slicing all of the plastic that thin and even, gluing it together just right.... .there has to be a better way, but I cannot think of it.... by the way, Cubes are so rare and expensive, that using an original part from the actual case is not possible.
My thoughts on the status lights would be to set it up like an auto dashboard instrument panel : rear-mounted LED going thru a mask of some sort, such that you cannot tell a light is there until the LED is lit, and even at that, it shows a symbol instead of a raw LED. In modders' terms, I want to stealth the LED until it is actually lit, and I want a symbol to appear - like the standard (|) power button symbol instead of a red LED for instance.
As far as the case badge goes.... are there case badge blanks you can buy ? Or does anyone know the dimensions of a standard sized case badge ? I want to paint the NeXT logo on the badge.
Ambitious ? Perhaps, but then, you look around sites like this one, and you are suddenly inspired to take on the world ! :banana:
Thoughts/questions/answers much appreciated. Thanks in advance !