you've inspired another noob

[thingswithmovingparts]

i don't know whether you guys hear it enough for your own tastes or not, so i'll just say it...

you guys freekin' rock. that's some truely kickass custom work floating around here. first class.

that being said, i am about to build my first compy, and i'd like something a little different. it doesn't have to be totally outlandish, but the less it looks like a store-bought tower the better.

i'm starting with a K8NHA Pro mobo (AMD 754 pin) and a gig of memory. i decided this was the best possble combonation for two main reasons; 1. it's way better than what i have; 2. it was free. i have some drives and what not in my current rig that i'll be canabalizing until i can afford nicer ones. other than that i haven't bought anything.

here's what i'm thinking: the key word is low-budget. i think i can pick-up a couple towers at the local recycling center for little to nothing and i'd like to hack a couple of those up for frames and brackets, etc. and build a from-scratch fiberglass enclosure around that. i like knobs, dials, and switches better than push buttons, so i'd like something with a more analoggy feal. analog meters would be nice. i'd also prefer that it be on it's side, desk-top style instead of a tower. and i'm toying with the idea of actually having my drives in a seperate encolsure from the mobo. i've done a meager amount of fiberglass work so i know basically what to expect there. i've done some metal work to, but my access to tools is pretty limited.

i guess what i'm looking for is some suggestions for low-cost mods that will look nice on my desk. i want to look fairly simple in the end, but i'm perfectly willing to encorporate some hidden complexity to enhance that look. so long as it's cheap i don't mind the extra work.

[Olen]

For simplicity you could make the computer inside a tower reinforced to lie on its side then put your fiberglass over that. It would be a good bit less work but the result would be more boxy.

Otherwise read around. See what others have done. Borrow what you like ditch what you don't. With fiberglass it could be any shape within reason so long as you can mount everything inside.

You could put the drives in a seperate enclosure easily enough - not sure what the advantage is but it would be different :)

As for knobs dials and switches... you could use a switch to turn it on and off and to reset - just choose the sort that flip off as soon as you release them. You could try to wire two analogue voltmeteres in place of the status LEDs... And as front monitoring for temperature if your mobo supports that. If not you could measure the air temperature inside and have an analouge display - it wouldn't be much use but again it would look cool and be different.

Hope that sets the idea wheels going but most importantly look at what other people do to get better ideas...

[jdbnsn]

Awesome, welcome to TBCS! We do have some great work from many modders here, and I'm sure they like to hear you enjoy their work. You should have no shortage of inspiration here. If you need any help with your project do hesitate to ask, and have fun.
Jon

[thingswithmovingparts]

ok, so, just tossing stuff around, if you wanted to see the cd/dvd drives spinning up, how might you go about that? i've seen lots of cd players where the cd was a primary design feature, including the ones where the cd is verticley mounted top side facing out. but i've never seen a drive like that on a computer, any ideas? how hard would it be to cut a window into a slot-loading drive?

and while i'm on the subject of slot loaders, where can a i find a slot dvd-r for less than ridiculous prices?

[jdbnsn]

This dude cut a window in his CDROM drive, it's not a slot loader but I doubt it would be much different.

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7538&highlight=drive

[nategr8ns]

I have a cd player that had a tiny plastic window on it. I popped that out so i could DJ my CDs with my finger through the slot ;)

didn't really dj, but was still fun to mess up my player :P

[thingswithmovingparts]

ok, so the recycle center thing didn't pan out, so now i'm not really sure where to begin looking for a case (or cases) to start tinkering with. any recomendations there?

[Visionary]

Newegg.com has some cheap atx cases starting around $20. Or you might try some thrift/junk stores.

[Olen]

Buy whole computers second hand. Old P2s and the like go for less than $20 and you get parts to play with (you needn't give a damn about them so have fun).

Try ebay or adtrader (or local equivalent).

They won't look nice but thats your job. :P

You could ask around you friends too... I get a good bit of stuff from people throwing things out.

[jdbnsn]

www.craigslist.com is another resource for locating next-to-free outdated computers for scrapping. Depending on where you live, you may also try the city. The city I used to live in had alot of government buildings since it was a capital city and every few years they buy all new systems while just chucking the old ones in a warehouse. There was a pecking order, city personel got first dibbs and such, but there was still tons of good cases unclaimed. Might be work a couple of phone calls.

[Tech-Daddy]

I used to work for a mid sized company, and we used to have a buttload of old tech that was in storage... not going to be redeployed. If you can reach the manager of that dept, and tell them that you are willing to dispose of some of that equipment for free, and you would not be calling the mfor technical support... that might be enough to push the boss man over the edge and let you come in and pick up some older cases and stuff (I have several cases this way, that is how I know it will work).

Also, contact the city waste dept. Larger sities/municipalities will have days designated for electronics displosal. Figure out who is running this electronic "reclaim" day (it is usually a business that recycles old computer tech) and then approach that company to see if you can pick up any old tech stuff for a song.

Good luck to you!

[thingswithmovingparts]

thanks guys, really helpful. i was bummed when i went to the recycle center and they told me they're "not alowed" to give them out. i wonder if i had told him i didn't need the HDDs, the only reason i can think of for that would be to prevent id theft.