EFIKube: Lego EFIKA case

[motorollin]

uncharted wrote:
Are you sure that comment was directed solely at Speel?  :crazy:

Well, his exact words were "he's mad". So he was either talking to me and referring to Speel, or talking to himself and referring either to me, to Speel, or to some unidentified referent ;-)

--
moto

[motorollin]

ZeBeeDee wrote:
I see by the pictures, there is an empty grey expanse surrounding the case ... a good area for some  flowers and perhaps a few lego bushes?  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

Haha, maybe! I was actually planning to cut the surplus base away, leaving the case looking like a pure black box. But if you insist, I'll make a little lego garden ;-)

--
moto

[motorollin]

@Darrin
I have heard about the digital designer and was thinking of using it to design my Lego case, but I don't think I could do it. I need the bricks in front of me to experiment with to get it right. I just wish Lego had an undo function for when I need to dismantle big parts ;-)

I hadn't though of reproducing the finished case in the digital designer for other people to build. I'll think about it!

--
moto

[motorollin]

ZeBeeDee wrote:
The future's bright ... the future's Lego  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

@ Moto

New avatar too maybe? (sorry, couldn't resist) :-D

Let's see how the case turns out first ;-)

--
moto

[motorollin]

Switches are installed (but not connected):
Link

The two white and one black bricks to the left of the switches are the bricks which go through the wall of the case and are exposed to the outside to act as buttons. The springs inside the switches are strong enough to push the buttons back out to be flush with the front of the case.

Lego plate glued to the top of the CD-ROM:
Link

This allows the EFIKA motherboard, with self-adhesive PCB standoffs attached to lego tiles, to attach to the top of the drive.
Link


Next job is the worst part: attaching the CD-ROM facia to the front of the drive and attaching the CD-ROM to the bottom of the case. If I don't get it perfectly lined up then the drive won't eject :nervous:

--
moto

[motorollin]

@ZeBeeDee
If there are heat issues then I would rather elevate the board and/or put in a fan anyway, since the heat could affect the CD-ROM. I considered using smaller pieces, but since the glue is permanent (No More Nails) I decided a plate would be better as it would allow me to mount different things if I decide to reconfigure the case. It would be simple to elevate the board if I needed to, simply by inserted bricks between the plate on the CD-ROM and the tiles under the spacers.

Don't tell the guys on bricklink.com that I'm using glue... For some reason it's considered Lego heresy :roll:

--
moto

[motorollin]

AmigaPete wrote:
Glad you found BrickLink. I have been a member there since way back.

It's a brilliant site actually. It's amazingly complex and yet simple to use.

AmigaPete wrote:
Some Lego enthusiasts consider cutting, filing or otherwise modifying Lego to be blasphemous!!!

Maybe they're worried we'll run out of Lego... despite approximately 19 billion Lego parts being manufactured each year ;-)

AmigaPete wrote:
You could have easily done the same sort of thing (without filing) by using two plates and a tile.

Yes I know. But for my design it was important for the front panel to look as clean as possible. That's why I went to great lengths to hide the CD-ROM drive. If I had used two plates and a tile under the switches, then it would have been obvious as you would have seen that they weren't bricks. The alternative would be to make the whole thing out of plates and tiles, but that would be far too expensive!

The mechanism of the switches works well as it is, so I'm happy with filing the studs off a few bricks.

--
moto

[motorollin]

Speelgoedmannetje wrote:
You just want to play with Legos like good old times, now don't you? :-P ;-)

Yep! I make no attempt to hide the fact that I am re-living my youth. Though my Lego play is more complex and organised this time ;-)

--
moto

[motorollin]

USB backplate clamped in place while the glue dries. Here's hoping it holds! Once it's dry tomorrow I'll build it in to the case.
Link

--
moto

[motorollin]

USB ports mounted in the side of the case:
Link

I need the replace the tiles at the bottom of the gap for the ports with black ones, but I haven't got any yet.

--
moto

[motorollin]

Hidden CD tray finally installed! I'm extremely happy with how well this works. I used No More Nails to attach the CD drive to the bottom of the case (with bricks in between in case I want to re-position it). While the glue was still wet I put double-sided sticky pads on the front of the tray and then pushed the hidden panel into place. This meant everything was pretty much square, and I could make minor adjustments to get the tray ejecting smoothly before the glue set. Here's a video showing it working:

Link (1.4MB QuickTime file)

:-D

--
moto

[motorollin]

AmigaHeretic wrote:
Whoa!  That is cool!  Very slick.  Can't even tell where the drive is until it comes out.  Then when it goes back in it matches up perfect.

That was the idea :-)

AmigaHeretic wrote:
Good work!

Thanks! :-D

--
moto

[motorollin]

Thanks for the compliments guys :pint: Now that the hard parts are over, I'm looking forward to getting this finished!

amiga_3k wrote:
Just imagine Lego turning this idea into a commercial product....

I'm actually surprised they haven't, or at least updated their range to make things like this easier, for example bricks with embedded LEDs or switches, and bricks without studs on the top.

amiga_3k wrote:
The white lines seem to work quite well.

Yes, they not only work functionally but are a great design too. Thanks for the tip :-D