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Portable/Lockable CD burner case
This has been in the planning for a while, never got around to doing anything until the other day.
Basically, I had a firewire bridge board that only supports optical devices, so I was looking for something to use as a drive case. I went junk shopping with my dad and found an old Kennedy brand toolbox. Results are below.
Drive and board are mounted using rubber spacers that were pulled off some ancient IBM SCSI drives. No reason for using except for them being free. Why is the drive mounted like that? Simply because it was easier, but also because with it mounted that way I had more space for the power brick and cables. I can also fit in a 50 blank spindle if I carry the power supply external.
Electronics were easy. Jack is wired directly to the proper molex connctors for the drive and board. No power switch, just unplug when it's not being used. Did take a bit to find a compatible power supply, and this one is barely correct. No LEDs or anything, easy enough to know when it's "on" and being accessed.
Best part, when it's all packed up, it can be locked. Not a problem right now, but I used to have guys at one job that "borrowed" blanks and the portable burner I had at my desk. Many times I would come in and find my blanks gone, or the burner missing. No one's doing that with this one.
Now it's not perfect, for some reason the burner I have in it right now refuses to burn. The drive has always been flakey, though. It does work fine as a reader. I plan on dropping in a DVD burner, anyway.
This has been in the planning for a while, never got around to doing anything until the other day.
Basically, I had a firewire bridge board that only supports optical devices, so I was looking for something to use as a drive case. I went junk shopping with my dad and found an old Kennedy brand toolbox. Results are below.
Drive and board are mounted using rubber spacers that were pulled off some ancient IBM SCSI drives. No reason for using except for them being free. Why is the drive mounted like that? Simply because it was easier, but also because with it mounted that way I had more space for the power brick and cables. I can also fit in a 50 blank spindle if I carry the power supply external.
Electronics were easy. Jack is wired directly to the proper molex connctors for the drive and board. No power switch, just unplug when it's not being used. Did take a bit to find a compatible power supply, and this one is barely correct. No LEDs or anything, easy enough to know when it's "on" and being accessed.
Best part, when it's all packed up, it can be locked. Not a problem right now, but I used to have guys at one job that "borrowed" blanks and the portable burner I had at my desk. Many times I would come in and find my blanks gone, or the burner missing. No one's doing that with this one.
Now it's not perfect, for some reason the burner I have in it right now refuses to burn. The drive has always been flakey, though. It does work fine as a reader. I plan on dropping in a DVD burner, anyway.
