I like the idea of the sign holder. Not sure if it would provide one of the things I want, which is to lift the ibook up off the desk quite a lot. although I suppose this could be fixed by adding feet.

yeah. it's a good idea depending on how comfortable you are working with fiberglass/plexiglass/acrylic. i figured that the pre-molded acrylic stand may be one of the easiest. though some clear acrylic pegs and some chrome accent metal (thats been brushed with a sponge for an hour) would look really nice. as for the variable fan speed, i'd go for one that just has a loose cable on it that you have to adjust with a screwdriver. it's adjustable and you can add any switch you want with ease.

these ideas are way cheaper than an iCurve

I like the idea of the clear picture frame- but i was also thinking of possibly using a document tray. I just figured I'd put in my 2 cents.

i guess it really depends on the picture frame width. they are not really tested for strength, but i would suppose atleast a 4mm thickness would support it.

now i'm more for the painting of the inside white now. that would give it the iCurve look and you could even use black decals to put your name in it, such as "iWhitlock" if it was going to be mine. for the cable that leads for the fan, get some shrink tube wrap around it, white preff, so the cable is not so obvious. you could also paint the wires. have it follow on one side of the base and attatch it with an epoxy. from there, you drop it into a converter with some resistors on it so the 5 volt fan connection won't blow. if you have an old a/c adapter, this would work very well.

Just another thought. If you have a home depot around, they usually carry plastic like acrylic and plexi. One product they carry that I swear by is lexan. You cand ben lexan on up to a 90 degree angle without it snapping, and it wont bend back, its gotta be pretty tough stuff, considering its nasa's choice for shuttle windows. No to mention its cheap about $3 for a 12x12 sheet. you can get in 2' by 3' sheets too. also, you can cut it without it melting, it s melting/burning temp is 800 degrees f.

another thought would be molding one. if you could make one out of cardboard, the cast it in plaster, when it dries you would have your mold. nex just get some liquid acrylic plastic, and let it dry in the mold, add a fan, and there you go.

my third and final idea involves getting some cheap aluminium flat rods, and bending two of them in a slightly angled box shape and have 2 cross beams., then you would get a sheet of lexan or plexi and put that on top with some metal boaring screws , drill your fan hole and voila.

Post edited by: ubergeek89, at: 2004/07/23 02:19

I would kill for someone to show me how to do plastic mold. I've seen the ford explorer ipod mod and ever since then I've been keen on understanding the process of creating a custom plastic piece by using a mold. If anyone could post up a technique guide that would be amazing

Meybe its easier and cheaper to buy a pre-made one after all!!!

http://store.4linkcomm.com/byalnoco.html

[img]http://store4.yimg.com/I/linkcomm_1796_11389773[/img]

yea, I would really like to see someone do a guide for making a mold and pouring plastic or fiberglass or whatever. That would be truly great. I got an idea on how to do it, but never have so I don't think that I could provide the right advise on certain things. Anyone who knows how to do this care to write a guide? Could definitely put it on the homepage!

ubergeek89 wrote:


Wow! 3 bucks?
My Home Depot carries a bunch of different grades of plastic, and the only polycarbonated one is GE Lexan XL10 ( http://stonewallcs.com/~jon/bellslabs/ddrpad/P1010040.jpg http://stonewallcs.com/~jon/xl10.pdf ). It was 6 dollars for a 12" square! And according to http://www.geplastics.com/resins/materials/lexan.html, LEXAN-PC (What you will find at a store) is good till 125°C (257°F). 800°F is crazy. LEXAN-PC is used by NASA for space helmets ( http://www.gelexan.com/gelexan/timeline.html ) but not for the windows on the space shuttle.

Edit:
Forgot to mention.
The entire point is that it *will* bend back to its original form.

Also, I think it was more like $8-10

Post edited by: tutangeek, at: 2004/07/25 04:31

I made a prototype out of legos for one. I'm using a delta silentek fan running 6 volts instead of 12 to keep noise down. I just used a spare ac-dc adaper I had laying around. It brought my laptop down about 8-10 degrees (f) Also, I know this site isnt complete, I'm working on it.

http://homepage.mac.com/jtsconsulting/PhotoAlbum3.html