Once again, that was going to be it – Until Unloaded suggested I plexi the drives as well. Hmmm – Good idea, but how the hell was I going to do that? After some thinking, I came up with this.
Both drives have an aluminium plate cut from scrap aluminium from the window. I suppose you could use bay covers for this, but as I only had the one left, I manufactured my own.
The CD Burner was easiest to do – once the blank was cut and filed to the correct size, it was covered in masking tape and the layout was drawn on (button cut-out and drawer). These were then Dremelled out and filed to the correct size.
The scrap from the drawer cut-out couldn’t be used for the drawer itself, as this would be to small due to cutting outside the layout lines. A new piece of scrap was cut and sized for this.
Corresponding pieces of plexi were cut for both the ‘main’ plate and the drawer. The main plates were clamped together along with the plastic drive bezel. 4mm holes were drilled though all three pieces set in the same distance from the side of the plate as those on the VFD. The plexi and aluminium blank were then temporarily bolted together, and then filed to match completely.
A decal was designed in the same way as the button bezel and VFD, and sandwiched between the plexi and the aluminium. The bolt holes were cut using the 4mm drill bit, and the sandwich was bolted together to stop the OHP from moving around. A scalpel was then used to cut out the drawer segment of the decal by running the blade around the inside edge of the drawer cut-out. This was also done around the button. I ended up with this:
These were bolted onto the plastic bezel, after the original eject button was filed flat (it had a domed surface).
The back face of the plastic bezel had to have some webbing removed for the nuts to lay flat, and the bolts themselves had to be cut (M4 x 6’s were too short to go through all the layers and still have a nut, so a pair of 20’s were used and trimmed to the correct length with the Dremel. Boy did the sparks fly!)
The burner also had to have the volume dial removed for the bezel to sit correctly (the dial used to sit proud of the original – it was just popped off with a pair of pliers), and small segments of the internal plastic structure removed to accommodate the bolts. This may not be the case for all drives – you’ll have to experiment.
Once complete, the whole assembly was then clipped back onto the drive using the original lugs on the plastic bezel.
The eject switch was made of a small piece of plexi & aluminium, filed to the correct size for the hole left for them in the new fascia. The button is held together with double sided tape – Aluminium – Tape – OHP Transparency – Tape – Plexi.
A further piece of double sided tape is on the back of the aluminium, and attaches it to the original button.
The drawer was done in a similar fashion, but in this case I couldn’t clamp the drive tray, aluminium and plexi together. So I used double-sided tape to hold them together – plexi to aluminium, aluminium to drive tray. 4mm holes were then drilled through for the bolts.
The corresponding holes in the ‘bed’ of the burner tray are there to allow the nut to sit straight – without them the bolt is pushed downwards as it is tightened, which makes the drawer front skew out of true.
Once the holes were drilled, the drawer decal was added, and excess cut away by scalpel by running it around the drawer front. The front was then attached using some of the M4 x 20 Torx bolts. Two 1mm thick washers are used on each bolt to stand the drawer front of the correct distance when the drive is closed.
The tray was clipped back in place, and the eject button affixed, and the burner was done.
Both drives have an aluminium plate cut from scrap aluminium from the window. I suppose you could use bay covers for this, but as I only had the one left, I manufactured my own.
The CD Burner was easiest to do – once the blank was cut and filed to the correct size, it was covered in masking tape and the layout was drawn on (button cut-out and drawer). These were then Dremelled out and filed to the correct size.
The scrap from the drawer cut-out couldn’t be used for the drawer itself, as this would be to small due to cutting outside the layout lines. A new piece of scrap was cut and sized for this.
Corresponding pieces of plexi were cut for both the ‘main’ plate and the drawer. The main plates were clamped together along with the plastic drive bezel. 4mm holes were drilled though all three pieces set in the same distance from the side of the plate as those on the VFD. The plexi and aluminium blank were then temporarily bolted together, and then filed to match completely.
A decal was designed in the same way as the button bezel and VFD, and sandwiched between the plexi and the aluminium. The bolt holes were cut using the 4mm drill bit, and the sandwich was bolted together to stop the OHP from moving around. A scalpel was then used to cut out the drawer segment of the decal by running the blade around the inside edge of the drawer cut-out. This was also done around the button. I ended up with this:
These were bolted onto the plastic bezel, after the original eject button was filed flat (it had a domed surface).
The back face of the plastic bezel had to have some webbing removed for the nuts to lay flat, and the bolts themselves had to be cut (M4 x 6’s were too short to go through all the layers and still have a nut, so a pair of 20’s were used and trimmed to the correct length with the Dremel. Boy did the sparks fly!)
The burner also had to have the volume dial removed for the bezel to sit correctly (the dial used to sit proud of the original – it was just popped off with a pair of pliers), and small segments of the internal plastic structure removed to accommodate the bolts. This may not be the case for all drives – you’ll have to experiment.
Once complete, the whole assembly was then clipped back onto the drive using the original lugs on the plastic bezel.
The eject switch was made of a small piece of plexi & aluminium, filed to the correct size for the hole left for them in the new fascia. The button is held together with double sided tape – Aluminium – Tape – OHP Transparency – Tape – Plexi.
A further piece of double sided tape is on the back of the aluminium, and attaches it to the original button.
The drawer was done in a similar fashion, but in this case I couldn’t clamp the drive tray, aluminium and plexi together. So I used double-sided tape to hold them together – plexi to aluminium, aluminium to drive tray. 4mm holes were then drilled through for the bolts.
The corresponding holes in the ‘bed’ of the burner tray are there to allow the nut to sit straight – without them the bolt is pushed downwards as it is tightened, which makes the drawer front skew out of true.
Once the holes were drilled, the drawer decal was added, and excess cut away by scalpel by running it around the drawer front. The front was then attached using some of the M4 x 20 Torx bolts. Two 1mm thick washers are used on each bolt to stand the drawer front of the correct distance when the drive is closed.
The tray was clipped back in place, and the eject button affixed, and the burner was done.
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October 14 2021 | 15:04
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