Starhawk's *Second* Eco Mod: R3

S

starhawk

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Oct 4, 2004
Messages
8,908
[H]ello again, all. Last time I was doing something here, I was turning a thin client into what turned out to be an insanely slow desktop.

Now I'm modding a trash can.

I won't say I'm being entirely original... I saw someone do the same thing in red Plexiglas (Perspex, I believe, is what it's called across the pond in the UK) and silver metal.

That said, I'm not in a high enough income bracket to be able to afford loads of Plexiglas (clear or otherwise) and I'm more at home working with scraps of wood and plastic than metal. In fact, to be entirely honest, the material I'm most at home with is cardboard fastened with Scotch tape. (Thank you, 3M, your company makes all sorts of wonderfully sticky things for me.)

Colors for this mod will be white, green, and blue, with a touch of silver. The trash can is the mesh type, silver, purchased at Staples sometime around five years ago. As I was the quiet sort of nerd in college, and had a relatively boring time (classes notwithstanding) -- by which I mean, no sex, no drugs, no beer, and not even any loud partying -- the can is actually in decent condition.

The detail-oriented among you will have noticed the name of this mod in the title of the thread: R3. R3 is 3R backwards. (Duh!) R3 is also "Re" in 1337sp33k. 3R, in this case, stands for "reuse, reduce, recycle". So the mod is an eco-conscious mod, like the last one, but in a different way: it reuses and recycles old components and scraps of things, and it will be as inexpensive to build as possible.

The parts are all recycled, I'm adamant that I'm spending as little as is humanly possible on this build. If anyone wants to donate parts, that would be amazing. Just don't ask me to pay for more than shipping costs, and don't send me anything that's brand new. That would defeat the purposes of the mod.

I'll sketch out what I'm planning on doing a bit later... I don't want to type it out because too many words will bore y'all to tears and that wouldn't be too kind of me. So I'll give you some specs, and then I'll give you some pics.

Specs are as follows. I know they suck, you don't need to tell me.

Gateway #4000655 Micro-ATX Mainboard, Socket 370
Celeron (P3 based) CPU, 566MHz + "$4 Special" HSF
512MB of PC100 SDRAM (will need to be donated or purchased used)
Wired PCI NIC (random, from my stockpile of antique computerological junk)
10GB Seagate HDD (IDE -- this mod is [duh!] not SATA compatible)
DVD Drive (I *think* it's a burner, arriving from my father's house sometime tomorrow evening)
300W Allied [brand] ATX PSU (20+4pin, came with a case)

Jojo69 has told me that he's sending me some RAM, I hope some of it will be useful for this mod. (jojo69: no need to check or rush around unless you want to -- feel no pressure!)

Now pix. Again, I know they suck, please don't remind me. I can't hold a camera steady to save my life.

Mainboard, with CPU + HSF.


Power Supply. Ooh, shiny! (Mainly because I had to use 120grit to remove some year-old Sharpie markings...)


Hard Drive. Pull from a beige Dell.


The trash can, along with various bits of flotsam and what-have-you.


I'll post a sketch of what I'm imagining sometime later tonight. I've got a scrap of wood on the porch turning blue from rattle-can exposure; when that's dry on /both/ sides (read: tomorrow) I'll post a picture of it as well.

We now return to your regularly scheduled boredom.
 
@WiLLiSTER: Responded in the affirmative. Thank you VERY much!

More good news... went out on the porch a few minutes ago and the paint was dry on one side of the board. So when the other side's done, I'll have pix. That will be later tonight.

BTW, I've promised the landlord (better known in this house as Ma) that this mod will be $OLD when it's done. Normally I would respond with a whole lotta sass, but (a) we need the money and (b) I know better ;) Besides, Ma needs a new computer (her ~6-year-old VAIO VGN-S360 is on its way out for the second time now...) and the proceeds from the sale of this mod, however paltry, will go towards that.

Shameless plug: if anyone's looking to get rid of a laptop, without waiting to buy this thing, our current budget is $150-$175; it has to be at least as fast as the current heap (not hard) and take at least 2GB of RAM. Everything else is negotiable.
 
Awesome mod idea, love it! Best of luck.

Also, I reckon that's the same hard drive that came out of my original XBox...
 
Hehe, thanks :D

BTW, I just realized that I'm in need of switchgear. I need two switches and two LEDs -- the usual front panel stuff. I can get 'em at Radio Crack if nobody here has any to spare... all connections are 2pin.

Would prefer one green and one (somewhat dim) blue LED, but I'll take any color other than red for the second one ;) Don't care much about the switches cuz I can paint 'em or disguise 'em real easy like.
 
Here's the sketch --


The can is white, except for the mesh, which will be masked while painting to retain silver color for the sake of easiness. Probably going to paint the drive bays green.

:D
 
Now i have some thing to read at work.. ;) keep up the great work!

ps. Love the sketch :D
 
LOL, thanks :D

Did a test fit of the board last night and it's going to need some shortening. (Think Granny Clampett and an iron skillet :p ) And when it's done getting shorter, I may or may not re-paint it. The cut spots will not show, but I may want to do them anyways (or cover up an oopsie spot or three).

Time will tell.
 
Board's done. I just finished putting the standoffs on for the mainboard. Here, have some pix [objects in images may be bluer than they appear ;)] --




For those of you who are fastener trivia junkies, the metal standoffs I have (courtesy of FrozenCPU) fit a 5mm socket exactly :cool: The ginormous angle bracket is a PSU brace. The PSU will be attached with black cable ties.
 
240 views in 24 hours... DAMN :eek: I feel awesome!

Got a better idea for mounting the power supply -- I was originally going to mount it with cable ties, but I have to slide the PSU in in order for it to fit in the case. Cable ties do not allow for this.

So I came up with the idea of doing rails, although I've yet to figure out exactly how it's going to stay put once it's in there... the brackets for that are turning green on the front porch right now ;)

Also, the trash can is turning white. Did some cutouts earlier today, and put what I'm calling (for now) "poor man's U-Channel" [meaning green vinyl tape] on the edges so that nobody else would get poked with sharp wire mesh ends. This after suffering two grievously tiny puncture wounds from the stuff myself. Seriously, one of 'em wasn't even worth the cost of a band-aid. As if I'm complaining.

Went to Radio Shark earlier today and picked up a 4-pack of 11/16" standoffs. Cost me $2.15, which is the first expense for this project. Wow, I'm now about $2 over budget :rolleyes: harrumph.

I think I've got a green LED upstairs in a scrap case, so that just leaves a blue (or yellow or green) LED and two switches for the front panel... donations requested!

Oh, right, and the DVD drive came today. It's only a combo drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) *sigh* but it'll do. Anybody want to tell me what color to paint the bezel? Currently it's Eighties Beige. Choices are black, white, green, and blue.
 
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Decided to paint the can white all over, instead of leaving the mesh silver. Painting mesh isn't nearly as hard as I'd thought! The green "U-Channel" will be replaced with white vinyl tape. The pot lid will be white once I've drilled it for the standoffs that I got yesterday.

I'm still deciding about the optical drive bezel color... input is requested and welcomed.

The brackets are done; the HDD bay is turning green at the moment. I'll post pics of both when the bay is done.

I've also found a power switch, and a green LED. I'll probably paint the button and switch mount green. I'm debating about ordering new LEDs (blue & green) from FrozenCPU for $8.99... but I haven't decided yet. If I don't, there will only be an IDE LED -- no power LED!

That's all for now.
 
About to purchase LEDs from FrozenCPU and a Slim CD adapter from Logic Supply. I'll be getting a slim combo drive from a friend and mounting it vertically in the can.

EDIT: Purchases made.
 
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Taking a break today to work on a somewhat older system (my first, it's an AT box that I'm trying to restore)... by which I mean that it was built in 1992. If anyone knows that old stuff and thinks that they can help me out, please please please with sugar on it go over here and see what you can tell me.

EDIT: should have said this about an hour ago, but the problem is solved. Tomorrow I'll resume working on this mod.
 
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Weather here has been crap, crap, crap all dismal day long. Had a heck of a thunderstorm a couple hours ago, but it's been raining on and off all day.

LEDs and slim drive adapter arrived today, but I don't feel like taking pix just yet.
 
Waiting on a part and a tool. Part is a slim optical drive (combo drive IIRC) from an old laptop that I gave to a friend to sell on eBay 'cuz it died.

Tool is a Dremel, to make the hole for the optical drive.

When the weather clears up I'll do more painting and take more pix. Right now it's overcast and all gloomy like. Gaah.
 
WiLLiSTER tells me that the ram is on its way.

Still waiting on the other stuff.
 
RAM's here -- 192meg all told. One 64m stick and one 128m stick.

BTW, the board I'm using has a broken latch on one mem slot. Anybody got an idea how to rig that?

EDIT: 1040 views?! :eek: I'm not the IRS!! Nor did I think that I was nearly this awesome...
 
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Hey... got a slim optical drive from the local computer shop.

Anyone wanna tell me how to use a Dremel to make the hole for it? The surface has already been painted (rattle-can spray paint) but if I absolutely have to, I can spend another $5 and re-paint it. (The can I had used is empty now.)

[ADVICE THOROUGHLY REQUESTED]
 
Lol, I'm psyched to see how this works out. Good stuff man. Keep it up.
 
Look, gaiz, if I'm gonna finish this, I'm gonna need help. Despite having been on [H] a while, I've got half of zero modding skills. I've NEVER used a dremel before, but I know it's the right tool. All I'm asking for is a few pointers. If it's not worth your time to post a few tips on dremel use, then it's not worth my time to create a mod that ya'll can look at.
 
Hey all. Haven't forgotten, just sorta lost interest in this thing for a while. Depending on the next time I can get out to grab some more white spray paint, I'll pick things back up again and finish this.

Hopefully that'll be this weekend.
 
looking forward to seeing this, keep it up and thats a damn good sketch man.
 
Get the reinforced circular cutoff wheels, go slowly, let the tool do the work, and WEAR EYE PROTECTION! The cutoff wheels can and do break, and will wear out rather quickly. Sparks and bits of hot metal will be flying around as well. I can't stress eye protection enough - I just about shot hot metal into my eye years ago when first starting with a dremel.
 
Thanks! I assume that "let the tool do the work" means "don't put yer back into it", i.e. light pressure over strong pressure.

No worries with the eye protection. I have safety goggles (the cheap plastic kind, but functional) and I think I'm smart enough to use 'em.
 
yea its no fun when a piece chips off and hit you, i've had a few that even cut me pretty good.
but with just light pressure it does the work for you
 
It's very helpful to know that.

Soon as I get the paint off the wastebasket, and a can o' generic Krylon to put it back on after cutting, I'll see if I can do this.
 
Got the paint on Monday, but various things haven't been cooperating. Maybe (hopefully!) tomorrow.
 
Well, this is normally where a bunch of excuses go. Not this time.

I'm sorry that I haven't been doing anything on R3 for a bit. I lost interest.

...and found it again. The system will have some different specs. Mobo is now a Mini-ITX board with a Pentium M 1.7GHz (Socket 479) CPU. Yay for eBay. (Anyone who's heard the relevant Wierd Al song knows what I mean.) Unfortunately, the lot of four boards came with several bad caps :rolleyes: so hopefully I can talk my father into soldering new ones on. Shouldn't be too bad -- he's got miles and miles of experience.

I'd love to get a gig of DDR1 for it, if anyone has that in a single stick (2x512 = no good) and is willing to send it to me... I will pay $15 for it at most. Wish I could go higher, but not on my budget! SuperUber RAM is not the right kind. Cheapo Value type stuff from a brand I've heard of would be about ideal, but honestly, as long as it works, whatever.

I'm going to get a new piece o' wood for the Mobo/PSU backplate, because I've already perforated the current one far more than I'd like. I think I can rig the PSU with cable ties and a single ugly bracket instead of three brackets and a big ugly mess. Not sure about that yet. I know my father has half a lumber yard in his garage, but I don't know if he has the right size... well, I'll find out soon enough.

In the meantime... peace. I will update again approximately whenever something relevant happens.
 
RAM has been acquired, sorta. Made a deal with a fellow [H]er earlier today. A second deal (for another mod that I'm dreaming up) may be in the works, although I haven't heard back from that fella yet. No worries.
 
Pace is slow... I did some work on re-doing the electrical tape on the wastebasket (it was greatly needed) but other than that, not much has happened. I'm waiting on two things to happen: one, I'm waiting on my father to find me the wood I've asked for from him; two, I've got a few caps to replace on the new mainboard. Bought 'em broken, knowing it, knowing I'd be able to fix it with a little help...

...but that help is my father, and I'm not going to have an opportunity to go to his house for another two weeks plus.

Unless someone here wants to volunteer time and solder... I mean, I have the caps, I just also have no skill with a soldering iron.

In the meantime, it's 3AM. I'm sleepy. I need bed.
 
WOW! I finally got off my fat duff and did something again!

I figured out how to get the drive mounted, using the already existing holes in the wastebasket as a guideline. Then I wore the battery down on the Dremel :D For those who like extra detail -- it's a Dremel 800, on loan from my father. I'd used it for some metal scrapping a week or so ago, so it was already only at about half capacity.

Battery's charging right now. I really don't think it'll be done before bed, but we'll see...

I didn't take pix of the wastebasket, having done only a partial job at the moment, and also because that thing makes a mess. My hands are not very steady and the tool likes to wander off and do things that I'm not wanting it to. You'll get pix when it's all done and looks nice ;)

In the meantime, I also figured out another challenge... the actual bracket for mounting the drive. In every "slimline" drive I've ever seen, there's four holes for mounting the drive on the bottom of the drive. Not this one. No holes, except on sides and rear. Musta come from an Acer. So what do I do? Same thing as always: rig it :p

Little bit o' white shiny cardboard, some white and green electrical tape (two different tapes, not one that's stripey or checkerboard or some weird crap), and a leftover green bracket, and I'm all set. Threw some E-6000 glue at it just to make sure it was secure.

For those who don't know... E-6000 is a "crafting" glue. That said, it will glue any two materials together as long as it doesn't touch styro. (It melts styro, from what I understand.) Lemme tell ya, that stuff smells like Hell alright, but it works like Heaven :cool: good stuff.

But enough o' my yammering. This is "show&tell" stuff, so here's some pix: the new mainboard (an Axiomtech SBC86807 v2), and my drive handiwork...
 
More good news... and not just that I've gotten over 3k views :eek: dang, folks!

My father says he's found my chunk o' wood for me... he's going to cut it to size and bring it (I hope) on Friday. But wait! There's more...

I just now finished mounting the optical drive. It's held in place with three case screws (6-32 thread for you hardware lovers out there). The screws stick up out of the top, but hopefully I can find some 6-32 nuts to fit.

Lots of dremeling and drilling happened in order to make that possible. I stalled the dremel a couple times (two or three) and I shut it off as quick as I could. I hope I didn't damage it.

The result? Looks great! ...and since dremel dust comes up with a damp paper towel (!) I didn't even need to repaint. Just a little bit of white tape to make it look pretty.

Here, have some photos:


It's worth noting that, although the perspective in the second image makes it look like the drive is very crooked vertically, it's not. It's just the perspective.

Do tell me what ya'll think so far, folks!
 
@mashie: I did use cardboard... can't afford plexi on my budget ;) Thanks also for the compliment -- I do come up with some "out there" stuff, but I like it that way. The "buncha lights in a rectangular box" thing just doesn't cut it for me. Everybody does those. They're boring.

@all: UPDATE -- gonna have a sound card in this beastie. Needs it, since I don't have a CD In connector on that mainboard.
 
Sound card found and on its way. Yay!

Further, the wooden board I needed is on the porch turning green in my "paint booth" (it's the much-mangled chassis remains of a 486 someone gave me). Awesome!

Does anyone have some really long cable ties that fit through a 3/16" hole? Longer is better!

I *might* do a test-fit tonight, and if I do, I'll post pix :D

In the meantime, all's well.
 
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