Daniel's murderbox - with a sLight twist

[charles_h]

Thank you for the generous comments guys! I sincerely appreciate your kind words.

You'll have to forgive me - I'm very tired and dopier than usual tonight. I wanted to give you an update nonetheless.

Wow! After first meeting Daniel and hearing about this idea - i was sceptical if it could become an aesthetically pleasing result, just because I thought it is unnecessary'bling'. But now - I totally love it. It is just so good that the display mounting is not seen from the outside at all.

Daniel: I think he has to send the case to me first for serious inspection

Charles: I am deeply impressed. It has a fit and finish as the modern Macs do. Very good for 'homemade' work I wish you more than best and no stuffed up nozzle for the sidepanel-cuts.

Thank you Nils. You and I make a great team my friend.

Second on the Fit and finish of modern macs.. it's absolutely gorgeous as is all of your work charles!

Can't wait to get my murdermod case Not to mention see this big surprise!

Cheers Scott.

Your murderMod TJ07 is almost ready!

The idea and execution on the PLED cover plates is top-notch. I wonder what thickness of plexiglass will be used for the window.

Thank you Tile. The plexiglas will be 3mm.

Perfect work Charles, and design is trully art

I have only one part I dislike, the opening between top and metal plate, better look with all closed.

[IMG]snip[/IMG]

It's a small detail and with all the work you done it was already perfect

Cheers ultimeus.

I think when it's all powder coated black, it will look better.

@ Charles: It's a pleasure to work with you too. I'll actually be a little sad when this is over, but that will be offset by the opportunity to see and touch this masterpiece in person.

@ Nils: See, I told you it will look good!
Talking about inspecting the thing, I already dread the nosy german customs...

Every update is a treat and the highlight of my every morning!

Daniel.

Cheers Daniel. Still a little ways to go.

As for the Customs - I've come up with what I believe will be a solution for that. I will mark the outside of the box "sweaty gym socks". Surely they won't open it.

a bit of a silly question Charles...but how would you mount any drive bay device with that LCD-face plate already attached?

Just as Nils says - the 4 screws on the facade give way to the PLED mount which can then be removed from the outside. Then you're down to the existing TJ07 vertical drive structure.

I think the MM TJ-07 only has ONE opening for the slim dvd drive, which is probably installed prior before that?

Actually, a normal optical drive works with our faceplate.



Project Update:






Since its imperative that the side panel works the first time, we're really going to take our time to get it right. Making a mistake with the cuts would basically represent $400 since TJ07 side panels aren’t available individually - meaning we'd have to buy a new case. What we’re attempting is going to require perfect measurements to get each of the three window holes centered and lined up properly. It would be easier to make one larger hole for the three displays but after much deliberation, we decided it simply wouldn’t look as appealing.

The first step is to see how much space there is between the inside of the side panel and the facade – I know there’s at least enough for the 3mm Plexiglas window but beyond that I’m not sure.










7.4mm – that’s more than I thought it would be. Now the potential issue is that with tight individual window cuts, the displays may not be completely visible when viewed at an angle. The distance between the inside of the panel and the actual PLED will affect how visible the display will be when viewed from say, a 45 degree angle. We’ll have to cut the holes slightly larger than the size of the facade holes, but how much is hard to say. The only way to be sure is to make a mockup side panel and find out.

I’ll use black picture frame matte which is pretty thick and sturdy.







Once the piece is made, I’ll test fit it before cutting the display windows.











Next, I’ll measure and cut the windows. I’ll make them 2mm larger than the facade windows. This should be enough to allow reasonable display visibility from about 45 degrees off center. I won't bother with rounded corners for this exercise.















The next step will be to fit a scrap piece of Plexiglas in place. This will help simulate the final look.







Now we can get an idea of how the windows will look when 2mm oversized and viewed from off center...















Looks like it should be alright. We may decide to go to a 3mm oversize just to be safe. Since Daniel will likely not be viewing the PLEDs from straight on, we have to make sure he can see them from at least a 45 degree angle.

Now that I’m feeling more comfortable with the concept, the next step will be to essentially put a $400 side panel in serious peril. If all goes as planned, the result should be good. If you never hear from me again – well, you’ll know how it went…

Stay tuned!