Vote for April Mod Contest Winner!

[digitalAngel]

it's now time to vote for this month's Cheap and Easy Mod Contest winner!!!

take a look at the contest entries and vote for which one you think is the best.. voting will end on 4/7.




yes, it is that time again.. back after popular demand, The Cheap and Easy Mod Contest has started once again.

please, post your mod contest entries in this thread! please, post only contest entries.

posting entries will end on april 1.. voting for the winner will start at the beginning of next month.

you know how it works.. if not you can read the rules here (http://yoshi.us/forums/showthread.php?t=19662).

the winner will receive an award metal under their avatar and in their user profile.. you can check out our past winners nate007 and jimbo-b to see what it looks like. it's definitely w00t worthy!!!

good luck to all who enter!!!


PM digitalAngel, TMG, or brian_holiday if you have any questions about the contest.

[the4bagger]

This project was simply to create the smallest case possible with an old mini-ATX motherboard. However, not only did I want to make a small case, but also a transparent one. So after some measuring and trial layout of parts, I went to a local ACE hardware store and purchased a few feet of aluminum L bar, 6 pre-cut panels of plexiglass, and a few self-tapping screws.

Rounded Costs:
Aluminum: $13.00
Plexiglass: $11.00
Screws: $4.00
Old PC: FREE
Total: $28.00

With all my supplies, I was off to work, cutting and cutting and cutting and cutting...oh sorry, you get the idea...

The frame itself took about 5 hours straight, while mounting the plexiglass and the computer parts only took about an hour.

Final dimensions:
Height: 11"
Length: 11"
Width: 9"

Here are some pics:
Frame complete with plexiglass in progress:
http://yoshi.us/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=811&stc=1&d=1141956015

End Result:
http://yoshi.us/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=812&stc=1&d=1141956215


And a small addition (that didn't cost anything) that I made with the laser at school to prevent overheating problems I was having ;) (it's a fan grill)
http://yoshi.us/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=813&stc=1&d=1141956336

------------
That's my cheap and easy mod...

[flashdude]

Here's my wood PC for the contest. I did spend alot of time on this but Not on the finished product, If I was to build it again I could finish it in a weekend easily. The final build only took about 15hrs

The only thing's I bought for this was the molding and stain, For probably about $20. HERE (http://www.yoshi.us/forums/showthread.php?t=19178) Is the worklog.

Parts

Molding and stain @$20
Old k6/2 mini AT pc Free, My linux box
Plywood scrap's left over from shelves
Still having all my fingers, arms and legs - Priceless

[thetick]

The Side panel for my most recent mod.

Case / Side Panel : Free

Paint : $5.99 (x2)

Time took me about 3 hours give or take. (Not Including dry time.)

Full side panel shot:

http://x10.putfile.com/3/6819344365-thumb.jpg

Full: http://x10.putfile.com/3/6819344365.jpg

Detail shot:

http://x10.putfile.com/3/6819354673-thumb.jpg

Full: http://x10.putfile.com/3/6819354673.jpg

[BigD145]

I've got about 3 fans in the main tower that have not been connected for some time now. They all came from dumpster diving PSU's and such, so they have bare wire ends. Considering that one is in the back (exhaust) and 2 are in the front (HDD cooling), I needed a way to get them powered without having to molex them all. And I wanted to be able to swap these garbage fans that I knew wouldn't have much of a lifespan.

The plan was to build a strip that would supply power to either end of the case on the inside. Speaker spring clips were the obvious answer and there's a fair amount of room around the lip of the case. I've seen this same sort of thing built into a project box, but my fans are too nonlocalized and their wires are short (reaching the case bottom only).

Materials and cost:
$4.79 - 3/4" X 3/4" X 1/16" X 48" aluminum angle bar
$3.99 - Wallplate: speaker: double spring clip
$2.99 - 32TPI hacksaw blade 2 pack
$7.49 - Stanley hacksaw
$0.00 - black and red wire scrounged moons ago from old PSU's
$0.00 - electrical tape I got from my grandfathers' toolbox (he's dead so I inherited a few things that are still usefull)
>$1.00 - rough value of solder and heatshrink I bought for my electronics kit a couple years ago

Everything was bought from my local ACE, which just happens to be my work so I get %25 off. I bought the hacksaw because I didn't have one. And even though I have certain materials just laying around, I consider them part of the build cost since I bought them for myself.

Tools used that I already had: 18V Makita cordless drill, set of Stanley bits, 40W soldering iron, wire strippers, needlenose pliers.


I cut my angle piece down to about 16" and sawed off the long sides of the spring clips (after unscrewing them from the wallplate) since they were about 1" wide and the aluminum is 3/4". I marked off what holes I needed to drill on either end with a spring clip as a guide, then estimated the middle of the bar for the last hole that my power wires would feed through. Keeping this clean was important since the side panel has some hooks on it that can catch wire. From there it was just solder and strip and heat shrink til I had my ends ready to pigtail. I did not have a proper molex for my end so I just tinned the wire so it could be shoved into the 5V/ground lines on a floppy connector ( http://pinouts.ru/data/SmallPower_pinout.shtml ). [I'll molex the end later on down the road for a couple bucks.] I tested continuity at every solder so I wouldn't have to pull it all apart if something went wrong in my 'garbage' wire. Any bare wire got wrapped up in electrical tape to stay on the safe side.

Total time was 2-3 hours this afternoon, which happens to be my weekend. The last step is to get it in the case and doublestick tape the thing down.

forgotten image showing how it sits in the case: http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/6167/03150617571nh.jpg

Last edit: It works and fits snugly in my case. And I found that one of my fans is dead. I have a short 15 second movie showing with a multimeter that everything is wired correctly, but nowhere to host it. Oh well, the contest is closing.

[Jimbo-b]

i suppose the4badger won :) good job