I recently aquired a Cooler Master ATC 210 aluminum case. it has various bits of acrilic bit all over it that look really cool, except I wanted it all in a different color. Thus began MY first plastics project.
The goal was to be able to reproduce the various bits of plastic on the case. This included 2 side "rails", and a front door. A quick trip to Tap Plastics pretty much got me started with everything I needed in terms of the plastic itself. I left the store with 18"x18" of colored 1/8" sheet of acrylic,, 18"x18"x1/16" sheet of clear acrylic, and acrylic cement as well as a little advice from one of the folks who work there about certain tools NOT to use.
I found the acrylic machines VERY easily, even with non-plastics tools. the bits were cut to size on an old radial-arm saw (didn't have access to a table saw) with an 80 tooth carbide tipped blade. This worked well enough to get a decent finish on the edges, as long as I was carefull with how the acrylic was pushed through the blade.
the only part of the project that I had my doubts about was the arc at the bottom part of the door which gives access to the USB ports of the front of the case. This actually turned out to be pretty easy with a cardboard template, the dremmel with a cutting bit and the router adaptor. the acrylic took well to the bit and didn't really chip at all.
After the bits were cut to size came the filing... lots of it. I aquired a plasics file and went to work smoothing out the edges. Once the saw marks were worked out, hit it with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth the edge out. The last trick was jewellers rouge and a dremmel too with a pollishing (not buffing!) wheel at low speed.
Once all the pieces were polished to a nice shine on the edges came the assembly. This was pretty easy with the help of a little celophane packing tape to hold the pieces together as the cement was applied.
finally, the little aluminum pieces which hold the hinges and magnets for the door were installed with the help of a 3/16" drill bit and the dremmel cutting tool.
the project was a great success and a great learning experience as well. I think the best advice I can give is to just go down to your local plastics shop, pick up some acrylic sheets and play with the machining and assambly. I found the stuff really easy to work with. I now have a one-of-a-kind flourecent-red ATC-210 and my friend has a clear-amber ATC-210.
With the latest software, (not what I got when I bought the thing a year ago) you can transfer data both directions. Of course, the software is windoze based, but I think you'll find that problem with most MP3 portables.
nice commercial.
I believe I read those exact words in the Java alpha White Paper.
There ARE C++ toolkits out there that offer many of the components of the Java SDK. I've personally gone away from Java because, in reality, it's not all that Sun claims it to be.
Linux runs awesome on my Tecra 8100. First thing I did when IT gave me the thing was to wipe the drive and load linux. takes about 5 hours of minimal redhat install and configure->make->make install for all the latest software. drivers aren't an issue, they are all in the kernel and XFree86 has the Savage/MX driver built in.
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is anybody else reminded of the scene in Office Space when they are looking up the definition of "laundering", (as in money)?
just an offtopic thought...
I recently aquired a Cooler Master ATC 210 aluminum case. it has various bits of acrilic bit all over it that look really cool, except I wanted it all in a different color. Thus began MY first plastics project.
The goal was to be able to reproduce the various bits of plastic on the case. This included 2 side "rails", and a front door. A quick trip to Tap Plastics pretty much got me started with everything I needed in terms of the plastic itself. I left the store with 18"x18" of colored 1/8" sheet of acrylic,, 18"x18"x1/16" sheet of clear acrylic, and acrylic cement as well as a little advice from one of the folks who work there about certain tools NOT to use.
I found the acrylic machines VERY easily, even with non-plastics tools. the bits were cut to size on an old radial-arm saw (didn't have access to a table saw) with an 80 tooth carbide tipped blade. This worked well enough to get a decent finish on the edges, as long as I was carefull with how the acrylic was pushed through the blade.
the only part of the project that I had my doubts about was the arc at the bottom part of the door which gives access to the USB ports of the front of the case. This actually turned out to be pretty easy with a cardboard template, the dremmel with a cutting bit and the router adaptor. the acrylic took well to the bit and didn't really chip at all.
After the bits were cut to size came the filing... lots of it. I aquired a plasics file and went to work smoothing out the edges. Once the saw marks were worked out, hit it with 320 grit sandpaper to smooth the edge out. The last trick was jewellers rouge and a dremmel too with a pollishing (not buffing!) wheel at low speed.
Once all the pieces were polished to a nice shine on the edges came the assembly. This was pretty easy with the help of a little celophane packing tape to hold the pieces together as the cement was applied.
finally, the little aluminum pieces which hold the hinges and magnets for the door were installed with the help of a 3/16" drill bit and the dremmel cutting tool.
the project was a great success and a great learning experience as well. I think the best advice I can give is to just go down to your local plastics shop, pick up some acrylic sheets and play with the machining and assambly. I found the stuff really easy to work with. I now have a one-of-a-kind flourecent-red ATC-210 and my friend has a clear-amber ATC-210.
...or perhaps he's recognizing that these other projects are maturing and can now be consided "worthy" of kernel level inclusion.
as a systems developer, all I can say is-
solaris is a piece of shit, not matter what hardware it runs on.
With the latest software, (not what I got when I bought the thing a year ago) you can transfer data both directions. Of course, the software is windoze based, but I think you'll find that problem with most MP3 portables.
nice commercial.
I believe I read those exact words in the Java alpha White Paper.
There ARE C++ toolkits out there that offer many of the components of the Java SDK. I've personally gone away from Java because, in reality, it's not all that Sun claims it to be.
Linux runs awesome on my Tecra 8100. First thing I did when IT gave me the thing was to wipe the drive and load linux. takes about 5 hours of minimal redhat install and configure->make->make install for all the latest software. drivers aren't an issue, they are all in the kernel and XFree86 has the Savage/MX driver built in.