Rootin' Tootin' Case Mod Roundup

So we get a number of case mods submitted in any one week, and while they are very cool and fun and we like to post them, they don't really warrant a whole story of their own, so I decided to do a recently submitted case-mod round up. Anyhow, if you are interested, in this first set we have a beautifully engineered mailbox among others. If you are interested in such things, read on.... First, ViceClown writes: "I thought I'de seen it all but here's another in what seems like a never ending barage of weird and out-there case mods. this guy took a regular old aluminum mailbox and turned it into a computer. Guess it gives new meaning to that old phraze, "You've got mail!""

BeoR writes "Modding is extremely popular nowadays... with the exception of some, a lot of mods end up in disappointment. Some mods just don't look right... This article is aimed at making "Case Modding" easy... as well as letting you try out any kinds of mods on your case without even scratching it... Check it out"

smallstepforman sent in a link to the aquatank, featuring very real, and probably unhappy, fish! That said, you'd think a computer case would be a happy place for a lizard or snake that would like a little bit on warmth.

We also ran a sectional story which I thought would be interesting for the round-up: PC Cases with Side or Top Mounted Drive Bays?

And, finally, JoeD writes "For my sins, I was emailed the following link: The Pink Hello Kitty Laptop. I struggled to find the adjectives to adequately describe this case mod, but decided that words are inadequate for some things." I think this might be the first custom modded laptop that we've featured on slashdot. Hope the next one won't be as disturbing.

Comments

As has been suggested before....

[Bonker]

... Some of us really like to read about nifty hardware presentation hacks like case mods, lego cases, acrylic and cast iron cases, liquid-helium cooled processors, teddybears with routers embedded, etc... and so forth. Why not create a new topic area for material like this *separate* from the regular hardware area so those of us who are interested can see the stories more often and those of us who aren't can filter that area.... like most of us do with Jon Katz...

Why do I get the feeling...

[gdyas]

...that these are the same people who can make a bong out of anything?

"OK, get me a broomstick, some PVC pipe and a cantaloupe."

Some helpful aluminum tips for modders

[Erris]

I saw, yuck, tin snips in that mailbox link! A $15 paper cutter from any office supply store makes much cleaner cuts.

Sheet metal does rock, but aluminum flashing won't rust and is easier to work. A big roll of the stuff that will last for years. It's easier to work than steel and much lighter. The drawback is that flashing is thin and not as strong as available heavy steel sheet. You can overcome this by bending a few edges and mounting stiffening pieces. I love my aluminum sheet roll almost as much as I love duct tape.

Mixing steel and aluminum is a bad idea. Their electronegativities are far appart so your steel will rust quickly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it can be done and there are places for it.

Shiny NeXT Cube-based System

[PotPieMan]

I'm pretty surprised chrisd didn't post this:
http://www.pheatonforums.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php? t=137&postdays=0&postorder=&start=0

And the final pictures here:
http://www.planetcasemod.com/NeXT/Final/angleshot1 . PG
http://www.planetcasemod.com/NeXT/Final/angleshot2 . PG
http://www.planetcasemod.com/NeXT/Final/angleshot3 . PG

This is quite possibly the most impressive case mod I have ever seen.

You can buy one of those displays at B.G. Micro, in case you're wondering.