Cobra-matic : Retro Bakelite Phonograph

[Mach]

Ahh new work log! Retro-freakiness continues.

This one's going in the books as: Project Cobra-matic. Its a mod based on 1951 Zenith H664 Cobra-matic phonograph. Behold the Bakelite goodness.

This is probably the largest piece of Bakelite electronics that I've found next to a Bakelite TV. It measures10"x16"x20" and is made from very heavy quarter inch Bakelite. I'm pretty excited about this one.

So much so, I forgot pics during the tear down. This is what it looked like before I started(From:www.radiophile.com)

I'm mostly interested in the case not the record player. Interestingly enough, I was able to flip the record player mechanism on eBay for more than I paid for the whole phonograph. EBay's a funny place.

The plan? This is a gaming, performance PC, not too cutting edge as I want to keep it as quite as possible. I considered water cooling but am going to stick with air. Although I do have a wicked brass and copper fire extinguisher or a copper toilet tank float that would work as cool reservoir. So yeah, like Retromod, brass and copper will play a part as will more "tube-punk"accents.

Hardware specs:
Motherboard: Gigabyte 965PDQ6
Processor: Intel Core Duo E6600
Video Card:XFX GeForce 7950GT
Memory: Corsair XMS2 2GB
Power Supply: Seasonic S12 550
HD: WD SE16 250GB
Cooling:
Thermalright XP-90C CPU Cooler
Antec Bigboy 200mm fan
Nexus 92mm fan

Hardware pics:

The pic shows the Thermalright 120. It had to be swapped out for the 90c after I saw all the copper on the motherboard.

Yowza it's big. This will provide the primary air intake after some modding...of course.

That's about it for now. I'll be time sharing with Retromod but thought I'd share a little of the excitement. :p

[Mach]

I'm going to try to keep the exterior as original as possible. I like stealthy "found-object" mods too. I look that maximizes appearance and minimized guilt for the modding but after the experience of not cutting the bakelite on Retromod, I'm a little more relaxed about it now. It'll never be a phonograph again likewise for Retromod on the radio but I love the design of these things so exterior-wise not much if anything noticeable will change.

Inside there will be changes, mostly out of necessity. The case is huge but the space is configured wrong for the motherboard. The record player is supported on 4 3 inch "legs" that eat up half the vertical height in the case. They'll be encouraged to leave with the help of my dremel.

The CD/DVD is a bit of a problem. I've got a full size drive and a slot loader that I can mod. I'd love to try this:

Imagine, push the cd eject, the lid raises with an exposed cd. Put in a CD and the lid closes.

My plan is to install the Bigboy behind the grill. Major fan hacking underway.

But....ever have a moment where an idea is so obvious that you get pissed you didn't see it first?
Datamancer (www.datamancer.net) is a steampunk madman. Checkout his other mods.

So this is what I should have thought of but it'll be the bigboy back there and the lift kit on the lid for the cd.

[Mach]

A little sketch-up mock-up to explain where this is going. The motherboard and case aren't exactly right but for sizing it'll work. I may need to flip the motherboard around and move the PSU back further in the case to fit the DVD drive in the front.

The case from the outside. It had about 6 inches of clearance on the inside before modding with the top of the video card just grazing the lid.
(These pictures were taken after the carnage)

The original phonograph turn table was mounted about 2-3 inches above the floor of the case on bakelite standoffs. I'm guessing for airflow(?) reasons.

With a dremel cutoff wheel, I removed the standoffs to open the case up.

With the standoffs in place the PSU and video card were sticking out of the case.

After the dremeling, much more room. The metal is cool perforated steel that I found awhile back. It will eventually be brass plated (along with the front bezel) when I've figured out the final place for everything. Needs some primer tho...I can see surface rust in the pic.

The front bezel - the gold/brass plating is wearing thin in a few places. It's pot metal underneath.

[Mach]

Remember this fan? It's an Antec 200mm

Turns out the fan was about 1/2-3/4" too wide to fit behind the bezel. The cover wouldn't fit back on. After I dremel'd the outside housing ring off, it fits with some tweaking. I put a thin styrene skin around the outside edge to even it out. (Note to self: White putty melts styrene if you put too much on.)

Ready for painting..,

The Bigboy has a 3 way switch for 980~1720 RPM, 34-60CFM, 20-32 dba depending on the switch position.

Here it is after paint. The fan blades were painted with Fusion brown, and dusted with black, and panzer grey. The housing was painted with fusion Brown and then coated with textured Rustoleum. The color is autumn brown.

I put a piece of copper contact paper where the Antec label was.

To mount it to the bezel took some trial and error.

To hold the screen on the bezel, it has posts for friction nuts that I just threaded. Then I tapped nylon spacers to hold the screen in place.

And to have a place to mount the fan. Sometimes the simplest answers are the best.

The fan mounted

From the front, it's shifted down about 3/8 inch from dead center due to space.

Which pics are better for worklogs? The bigger ones or the smaller ones in the previous posts?

[Mach]

PSU mounting bracket made from 1/2 aluminum angle and aluminum modder's mesh. (How do you like my simulated fan grill? It helps me remember which side is which.)

I'll either paint it black or a red primer color like the front bezel screen. The angle is one piece notched and held together by JB Weld type epoxy.

[Mach]

The CPU cooler in place after a good lapping. The hardware survived burn in so no hardware RMA's yet. It's alot faster than any computer I have now. Sorry I didn't think to get a screen shot of the test scores.

Don't let anyone tell you that the Thermalright XP90c fits on the Gigabyte 965PDQ6. Adapter plate my hiney. I made it work with standoffs and the temps are fine but I'll lose 1/2" in vertical clearance due to the extra long standoffs if I don't cut a hole in the perforated metal to allow the adapter plate to clear.

[Mach]

One of the first hurdles was the location of the DVD drive. I wanted it to be upfront like a record player, kinda like this:

The DVD is a slimline drive mounted on a piece of copper with an art nouveau design acid etched into the surface. The bezel is from an old mantle clock and covers the cd while spinning. Since the DVD has a locking hub, it'll work with a cutout in the top.

[Mach]

Borrowing an idea from Retromod, here's the HD suspension system. It's suspended to eliminate vibrations. Suspension system add to the HD heat so I'm interested in seeing how it fares.

Sketchup

Actual (brass channel and springs sourced from the local hardware store)

The fan grills are supposed to be back from the laser cutter today or tomorrow.

The grill will replace the mesh in the front

with something like this (it'll be either copper or brass plated) for better airflow from the Antec bigboy.

[Mach]

DVD Test - Spin up, Spin Down, and LEDs on

[Mach]

Got the fan grills today. Wow, do they look good.

Need to add Vintage Manufacturing to the Laser Cutting supplier list. They got the files on Saturday and they mailed on Monday.

Behold the laser cutting goodness:

Polished a little and in the bezel:

The grill is laser cut from 0.0625 (1/16") carbon steel.

I got 3 grills as I want to try copper plating and painting to see which I like better. Just got back from the platers. They won't be able to give me a quote until next week. It'll be about twice what I expected but not enough that I'd try doing myself. Need to check a couple of other places to see if its going to be cheaper.

Next up: EL & LED Lighting and how not to mod a power supply