Bacteria's project - PSone portable: IntoPlay finished: PICS

[Ben Cebhrem]

From the looks of it, the screws join the two case halves together down near the middle of the case, well below the external part of the case, and are actually joining together the two perspex sheets attached to the case halves.

[jjhammerstein]

From the looks of it, the screws join the two case halves together down near the middle of the case, well below the external part of the case, and are actually joining together the two perspex sheets attached to the case halves.

There has to be SOME kind of exterior fastening hardware.
How can you tighten a screw you can't get to?


Or wait, are you just saying, "Yes, VERY countersunk."
I can't tell.

[Ben Cebhrem]

Basically, yes, just a dry way to say it is VERY countersunk.

He attached two clear and cut sheets of perspex to each half of the case. THey mate right up to each other, and the screws hold them tightly against each other.

[bacteria]

Correct.

The two perspex pieces which stop the casings from flexing are secured together by four screws, which, although sunk into the system by about 30mm or so, are easy to get to by putting a screwdriver down the shafts made by straws (similar countersinking method used by regular systems, only cruder).

My system is screwed together, firm and secure. Discovered that the putty holds the perspex to the casings fine but surprisingly, not as well as hot glue; so I reinforced some areas with hot glue. I have though so far only used an inch of hot glue, so very little indeed.

I had to adjust the screw holes a fraction as they didn't make the case meet accurately in a couple of places, just make the hole cuts 1mm wider and screwed into that area, now done and secure and true.

In process now of sanding the edges down with small files and sandpaper to make the edges look smooth. I will then smooth the overall case surface as there are some extremely minor dips and bumps over the case; be nice to get it as smooth as possible.

Really very happy with it. The perspex circle pops into the coleslaw stop quite easily; once on, stays on, although pops off easily when needed. It means however that when you are holding the cases together as a finished article that the perspex is there to stop your fingers touching the CD (see bottom pic - also as you see, I am holding case properly, hence you see whiter areas on finger tips to prove it).

[bacteria]

Extra update, last one for today.

Cut out one of the other shoulder buttons (L2). It is positioned slightly off center towards the sides a bit, entirely on purpose, as the arc of my forefinger moving from L1 to L2 puts the L2 in its present position. When the R2 button is in place, offset the same amount, it will be symmetrical.

Took an insane amount of time to get this L2 hole cut accurately; just over 2 hours!





When the R2 button is done, I will smarten the sanding around the shoulder buttons.

[jjhammerstein]

Will you have a hinge on the disk cover, or are you just going to have it "pop" out?

[Life of Brian]

I love your solution for screwing the two halves together! Very clever.

[bacteria]

Will you have a hinge on the disk cover, or are you just going to have it "pop" out?

Pop out, if using hinges then you need a catch, etc - makes more bulkiness.

Life of Brian - Thanks. It works well.

[jjhammerstein]

Will you have a hinge on the disk cover, or are you just going to have it "pop" out?

Pop out, if using hinges then you need a catch, etc - makes more bulkiness.

I think you'll end up dropping it, scratching it, etc.
I think a better solution would be a rotating hinge, like this:

[ShockSlayer]

I think that would be cool too!

SS

[bacteria]

Rotating hinge is a nice idea and I will bear it in mind as an alternative, but problem is that the perspex circle would move about as your fingers move along it, which might be distracting. An alternative, if I need it, is to use three catches, each secured by one screw, to rotate enough to press against the perspex circle. I think however I should get away without needing this method as it seems to stay in place on the coleslaw lid well, as the coleslaw lid has a lip around it which grabs the perspex and keeps it in position. This does however rely on the fact that the perspex circle has been cut precisely the right size, as done

[jjhammerstein]

I was thinking about a springy hinge, the kind that forces itself shut.

You could do a little finagling with a piece of metal to have it hold its position either open or closed.

Also, when it's in its closed position it's set back into its hole, so that keeps it in place too.

This might be getting too complicated to make.

[HBN]

I'd just like to say that it is so easy to forget how small this is until you look at shots of you holding it. Its amazing.

[bacteria]

HBN - Thanks!

Small update, having trouble sleeping tonight for some reason.

Anyway, cutting out the L2 or R2 button was tricky as the button is sloped, so to make it easier to do the other one, and to make sure the hole is symmetrical to the other one, here is a good technique I thought up.

Cut a thick piece of clear sticky tape and stuck it, sticky side up, to the case with smaller strips (sticky side down). I then used a CD marker pen to draw an outline of the L1 button, the line of the case join and the L2 button.

Then, turn sticky tape over so it covers the R1 button on the other side (already done before) and the line of the case join. This has the effect of producing a mirror image for the R2 button (symmetrical with the other side) and outline for the hole position and size. Then, press a fingernail across the line outline and peel off the sticky tape - tape comes off and leaves an image of the button hole!

(left side image, reversed and put onto right side)


(right side, tape removed)

[jjhammerstein]

EUREKA!

Clever little bugger, you are.