Mod of the Month - July 2007

Author: Brett Thomas
Published: 30th July 2007
Comments (60) Stumble

Skyscraper Photo PC

by slipperyskip
Worklog

The roaring twenties and the concept of Art Deco inspire some beautiful designs. The architectural influence alone is amazing - anyone who has been fortunate enough to seek the New York skyline can attest to that.

It's the spirit of that architecture that brought life to the Hammond Gregory clock, which borrows much of its influence from skyscrapers built at the time. How fitting, then, that the clock itself would become an inspiration to bit-tech forumite slipperyskip. Slipperyskip, like myself, is a huge fan of the art deco movement, and styles his mods around them.

This time, he's designed himself an LCD photo frame. Of course, how boring it would be to only re-wrap one of those boring, low memory versions? No, this would have to have...more power. A computer, in fact.


Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip

The actual LCD screen comes from a gutted roof-mounting car DVD player. Slipperyskip chose this one because the controls themselves were connected via cable rather than built onto the PCB - that way, he could move them where he wanted. The only problem with it was the backplate's numerous extra pieces - so after removing the screen itself, he took a Dremel to it.


Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip

Slipperyskip began the frame with strips of basswood. It's cheap, pliable and easy to work with. It's not the best staining wood, but that won't be a problem for slipperyskip. Once the front frame is in place, the screen and its newly trimmed backplate are dropped in.


Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip

The rest of the box was also cut from basswood. As you can see, there were quite a few pieces that would eventually make up the design! Assembling them was a simple matter of wood glue and some clamps.


Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip

With the main body of the clock done, the mini ITX board was fitted in on a dummy backplate to check for clearance. Once everything was properly measured, the backplate was properly edged to keep with the theme.


Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip Mod of the Month - July 2007 Skyscraper Photo PC by slipperyskip

The entire outside of the PC got a layer of mahogany veneer, which was then left to age in the sun for a bit. Sun ageing brings out the deeper colours in mahogany grain. The motherboard was then given its final metal backplate, complete with fan hole and power switch.

Though the work is nearly done, it's not quite wrapped up yet. So it's definitely worth checking into what slipperyskip might do next in his worklog.

If you think this mod should win this month's competition, don't forget to vote for it in this thread! Voting closes on 9th August 2007.

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