Painting a drive

[xmastree]

I was thinking, I could use the hole saw normakky to cut a hle in some wood. Then clamp the plexi between that piece and another, remove the drill and cur the plexi using the wooden hole as a gide.

Sounds a lot of hassle for such a tiny difference though.

[The Modfather]

Yeah, it does sound like a lot of hassle, but I'm a detail freak, i think it'd be cool even if you never use it, it'd look nice and show that you put a lot of thought and effort into the project. But if the work outweighs the satisfaction, well, just put the details elsewhere.

[xmastree]

I have a feeling that only my wife and daughter will ever see it. Both of whom will probably swoon at the pretty lights, but that's about it.
Having said that, I'm not doing it for the appreciation, I'm doing it because I want to.

[The Modfather]

That's the reason to do it man! Even if NOBODY but you ever sees it. Of course you'll post pics and we'll all see it and that's cool. And if you think it's good enough over all, submit it for contests.

[CanaBalistic]

form fallows function... if it wont operate correctly afterwards then its a complete waste of time and effort. If your never going to use it, why bother.

im my opinion, a clear tray is an utterly stupid thing to even attempt. On the bottom of the tray is a gear track for opening and closeing the drive aswell as various other track guides and would be a nightmare to cut out with anything less than a 3 axis machine. And the payoff blows goats for rice. spending a considerable amount of time on somthing so trivial and to top it off you'll only see it for 5 seconds when you change a cd.

You best bet would be to find a drive that came with a clear tray (my dvd player has one) or go with somthing simmilar to this http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-th...rcle-case.html . I think this would be the best bet and would ACTUALLY SHOW OFF WHAT YOU'VE DONE!!

[DaveW]

I think he's talking about making a new volume dial. Some drives have a headphone jack and a volume dial, it's the dial i think he's wanting to replace?

-Dave

[xmastree]

Yeah, Dave's right. (right back at ya!) It's just the dial Iwas thinking about.
But I won't bother, Ill just paint it black like the rest.

[The Modfather]

Awww, don't let the naysayers get to you. If YOU Like the idea, do it. There's no other reason to do it that matters.

[CanaBalistic]

Oh, i must have missed somthing while reading the posts. A volume dial wouldnt matter as it only controls the volume of the headphone jack.

[xmastree]

Awww, don't let the naysayers get to you. If YOU Like the idea, do it. There's no other reason to do it that matters.

Yeah, but I would rather spend the time doing something more useful. Anyhow, I took the front off the drive for painting today, and looked at the dial. It's not screwed on like other ones, it's more like part of the actual pot, so I left it alone, apart from introducing it to a black marker pen