Copy and pasted from amiga.org - here's hoping the link and smiley syntax is the same here!



Ok, I was going to wait until this was finished to post anything but I'm excited I am building a custom case out of Lego for my EFIKA. So far I have used about 320 Lego bricks.

The case was originally going to be a cube but it doesn't need to be that tall, so it is now square and will probably be about half as tall as it is wide/deep. However, I had already settled on the name "EFIKube" so it's staying, even if it's not geometrically accurate

Here is the case so far, which shows the basic design:
Link

The three small holes in the front will be for the power, reset and eject buttons. These will be made of coloured lego bricks with the pegs removed from the top, and the bricks at the bottoms of the holes will also have the pegs removed from the tops. This will allow the buttons to sit in the holes and operate switches behind.

The slit on the right hand side is obviously for the CD tray. This will be hidden by this piece:

Link

The pegs will also be removed from the top of the bricks on this piece, and from the bricks at the top of the slot in to which it fits. The whole piece will then be attached to the front of the CD tray and will (hopefully) be completely flush so the tray will be invisible.

Here's what is inside so far:

Link

The gadget in the top left corner is an IDE->USB adapter to allow the CD drive to be connected to the EFIKA. The black towers around the CD drive will hold it in place (but will need padding) and will also support a shelf above the CD drive for the motherboard. The tower in the bottom left of that photo will support the power/reset/eject switches. The wire running along the right edge of the CD drive is soldered to the eject switch to allow the drive to be ejected with an external button.

I need to go to the Lego shop and get the bricks for the switches, then to Maplin and find some suitable switches. Then I need to get my dremel out and try removing the pins from the bricks :nervous:

I'm also looking for suggestions on how to mount the ports in the back of the case. These will be extended away from the board so I don't need to mount the whole backplate. Ideas please!

More updates (hopefully) soon!

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moto

This is really cool!

There is something appealing with Lego, there is something symbolic in small modules put together to create a new, bigger entity. Like the platform building around MorphOS!

Keep us posted!

Hi there!

I already have (for quite some time, but not finished untill two weeks ago) a Tente case. Tente is a Lego-like block construction set, but AFAIK, it was only available in Spain.

I will take some better pics tomorrow, but for now, we have this one:
IMGP0209.JPG

It is taken at Euskal Party, (from where I have just got home).

Oh, and please, give it a vote at:

http://www.dalealplay.com/grupos/ordenador-friki

If I win, I will... Pay pizza for anyone coming to Euskal Party next year xD.

[ Edited by amiades on 2008/7/28 1:41 ]

I have had a delivery of Lego!

Hidden CD panel in place:
Link

From the front:
Link

And removed to show how it was done:
Link


Thanks a lot to amiga_3k (on amiga.org) for the suggestion of running the thin contrasting lines around the case to help hide the CD drawer. Initially I was reluctant as I thought it would spoil the design, but did it anyway as I couldn't think of any other way to do it. But in the end I think the two white lines look really smart!

The hidden drawer is a bit of a tight fit in the front of the case so I'll have to be really careful when attaching it to the front of the CD-ROM. It will have to be perfectly in alignment otherwise it won't eject properly. This will be tricky!

--
moto

Another update!

Filed the studs off of the bottoms of the holes which the buttons will go in:
Link

Made some buttons from two 2x4 plates sandwiched together with a 2x2 tile on top:
Link

The buttons will eventually be red, yellow and green (power, reset and CD-ROM eject respectively) but I need to go to the Lego shop and try to blag three bricks for them.

--
moto

AWESOME!!!!!!

motorollin

fcsking cool man! Fun project keep us posted.

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

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

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

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)



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moto