# How can I make a thing fit in this thing **URL:** \ **Category:** useful info\ **Created:** [November 17, 2015, 6:18pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078 "2015-11-17T18:18:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![balance](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/balance/32/1888_2.png) [@balance](https://cog.discourse.group/u/balance)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/21 "2015-11-30T19:50:41Z")
> [@MikeP](#): > > (I haven’t had one of those for a good number of years - I suspect that when I buy my next PC I’ll be tossing up whether to include a DVD drive 😄) I jumped on the ‘no floppy’ bandwagon early, since I’m primarily a Mac user for home use anyway… But I do remember some hardware still coming with floppies for drivers and such even a few years ago. I’ll have to see how stuff fits, but widening the slot a few inches to accommodate a slot-loading drive seems like the best option, once I see how the other stuff fits. Once I get the case and clean it up I figure I will take measurements to confirm space. First thing I’ll order is the flat panel that will be the ‘secondary’ monitor. Then double-check my list for motherboard, processor, RAM, PSU, SSD, etc. I will _probably_ need to go with the ugly option of my ‘rear panel’ having a cable that loops around to feed the internal display, but I _think_ it’ll be able to draw power from the MB power supply. (Front panel USB would be the only other realistic option for the drive slot, I guess.) ---
**Author:** ![ClockWorkXon](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/clockworkxon/32/593_2.png) [@ClockWorkXon](https://cog.discourse.group/u/ClockWorkXon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 8:01pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/22 "2015-11-30T20:01:45Z")
Doesn’t the motherboard have some extra pins for USB? The last two motherboards I bought had two extra spots to cram in a USB cable. ---
**Author:** ![balance](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/balance/32/1888_2.png) [@balance](https://cog.discourse.group/u/balance)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/23 "2015-11-30T20:35:59Z")
> [@ClockWorkXon](#): > > Doesn’t the motherboard have some extra pins for USB? The last two motherboards I bought had two extra spots to cram in a USB cable. Probably. I’m just wanting to make this look nice. 🙂 I think I might have a USB extender-widget in a bin somewhere that goes from the motherboard headers to a spare slot or similar… or might be able to find one cheap that’s more modern. ---
**Author:** ![balance](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/balance/32/1888_2.png) [@balance](https://cog.discourse.group/u/balance)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/24 "2015-11-30T22:04:23Z")
So anyone ever use sheet acrylic to make bezels/frames around ports? I figure I can cut out the shapes needed, sand edges smooth, and paint the ‘inside’ with black spray paint as needed. maybe rough that side up with sandpaper first so it sticks better. Definitely thinking the flopyp slot will be front-panel USB & Audio. If nothing else, the image of having a game running and controllers plugged in to the floppy slot appeals to me. ---
**Author:** ![CaffeinatedNoms](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/caffeinatednoms/32/3779_2.png) [@CaffeinatedNoms](https://cog.discourse.group/u/CaffeinatedNoms)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/25 "2015-12-01T00:11:09Z")
Kinda, I replaced the front panel of a 70s mono portable TV - it’s one of those ones that was marketed as a Garden Television so it has a tinted acrylic panel over the front. It had aged and yellowed and cracked a bit so I prized it off and measured it up to replace it. When drilling holes (I had contrast and hold knobs to deal with) I found that using a HSS piece and running the drill at a very high speed made the neatest holes, then I polished them with a Dremmel. I’d not recommend painting the inside of the holes unless you’re also painting the face of the acrylic. I think you could use solid black acrylic, so from a glance it still looks like the floppy drive slot, since they never had flaps to close them off. ---
**Author:** ![RRabbit42](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/rrabbit42/32/79_2.png) [@RRabbit42](https://cog.discourse.group/u/RRabbit42)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 4:36am UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/26 "2015-12-01T04:36:01Z")
When I built my computer using plexiglass, everything was cut with a Dremel and then the edges were finished by using a butane blowtorch to carefully melt the edges so it turned clear again. I used glass shelving clips [like these](http://www.storesupply.com/c-1124-shelving-clips.aspx) to hold them together in a diamond shape. Big gaps between the plexiglass sheets so it wouldn’t work for a modern computer and let in a lot of dust which stuck to the interior, but this was back when video cards didn’t require their own cooling fan and I chose a processor that would be cooled with a Zalman CNPS6000-ALCU Flower Heatsink. Looked nice with the EL tube lighting I put around all the edges and the custom power supply grill I had a company make for me. I wound up having to glue metal strips on the underside of the two shelves because the weight of the hard drives and DVD drives bowed it downward. It’s been in storage for a while and I don’t have recent pictures, but here’s what it looks like: ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/cog/original/1X/55d15a423d6d005a113eb0fb2ea6d663bd3cdb1a.jpg) ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/cog/original/1X/be390810f0f98e14a98e63fa7f405fd41c4e10a8.jpg) ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/cog/original/1X/3f7b875fa134f0cc77aed98fe5419a287c43f989.jpg) ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/cog/original/1X/feaf2bb39adc7477e56069cbf0510573d3c6f7c7.jpg) And here it is when it’s lit up: ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/cog/original/1X/aca695bd88f7f0f815df71752dd28366e93b0218.jpg) ![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/uploads/cog/original/1X/88b70a39aba9688b4f6ee45e366ad30e2e91ccf5.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![balance](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/balance/32/1888_2.png) [@balance](https://cog.discourse.group/u/balance)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/27 "2015-12-01T14:35:39Z")
I have to admit, it looks a bit like goldfish should be swimming in it. (But cool.) ---
**Author:** ![CaffeinatedNoms](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/caffeinatednoms/32/3779_2.png) [@CaffeinatedNoms](https://cog.discourse.group/u/CaffeinatedNoms)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2015, 4:37pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/28 "2015-12-01T16:37:15Z")
That’s amazing! It’s how I imagined home computers would look like in the 2020s when I was 10 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RRabbit42](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/rrabbit42/32/79_2.png) [@RRabbit42](https://cog.discourse.group/u/RRabbit42)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 2:01am UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/29 "2015-12-02T02:01:14Z")
Balance, I never got around to it, but the next one I wanted to make would have been based on the fish symbol some faiths use, standing on its tail. ---
**Author:** ![balance](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/balance/32/1888_2.png) [@balance](https://cog.discourse.group/u/balance)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2015, 9:02pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/30 "2015-12-02T21:02:14Z")
Random note to myself: Save the drive cage when stripping the guts from the Classic. Or, if that isn’t feasible, look for a dead PC to strip parts from. Those are depressingly easy to find. Sadly not going to be able to do too much on this until after the 1st of the year. I do want to start ordering some parts, like maybe the SSDs soon-ish as they’re on sale, though. ---
**Author:** ![balance](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/balance/32/1888_2.png) [@balance](https://cog.discourse.group/u/balance)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/31 "2015-12-04T14:54:54Z")
Got the case in last night… Well, it’s a defunct Macintosh Classic, actually. Shipping was… interesting. The seller put it in a box that was barely bigger than the machine, and I really expected the worse. I opened it, and was surprised that they used furniture-stuffing foam for padding (along with a wrap in bubble-wrap) but it survived intact. If nothing else, those old plastic shells were pretty tough. I need to find some time and crack the case, then dispose of most of the [innards.It](http://innards.It)’ll probably get shelved until January-February at this rate, as its too cold to work outside right now anyway. That’s where I prefer to do my drilling. The above might sound like innuendo. It really isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![CaffeinatedNoms](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/caffeinatednoms/32/3779_2.png) [@CaffeinatedNoms](https://cog.discourse.group/u/CaffeinatedNoms)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/32 "2015-12-04T19:15:54Z")
Remember, and I know it seems silly to say it now, but _remember to discharge the tube_. And hey, where any individual chooses to drill is for no other person to snicker at. Heh heh heh 😉 ---
**Author:** ![balance](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/balance/32/1888_2.png) [@balance](https://cog.discourse.group/u/balance)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 3:27pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/33 "2015-12-14T15:27:56Z")
Predictably, my Mac Case Cracker kit has long since scattered to the four winds. Specifically, the really long Torx T15 driver required. So not even cracking the case until Amazon delivers one (that will hoepfully work.) The old one was basically a ridiculously long ‘Ikea-style’ allen key. I’m thinking about a foot long, but measuring things/guy/bias/etc., so don’t consider that gospel. The reason a long one is required is that there’s a couple screws on these that are concealed in the ‘handle’ on top, where they’re hard to get to. ---
**Author:** ![CaffeinatedNoms](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/caffeinatednoms/32/3779_2.png) [@CaffeinatedNoms](https://cog.discourse.group/u/CaffeinatedNoms)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 9:01pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/34 "2015-12-14T21:01:13Z")
They have a habit of putting screws in awkward places… my 6200 has a bunch of screws hidden under a fascia which you have to pry off with three large flat-head screwdrivers simultaneously… ---
**Author:** ![ClockWorkXon](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/clockworkxon/32/593_2.png) [@ClockWorkXon](https://cog.discourse.group/u/ClockWorkXon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/35 "2015-12-14T21:10:57Z")
Apple was determined to keep anyone other than their own techs out of their computers. To some extent, they still do. ---
**Author:** ![Woodman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex001/user_avatar/cog.discourse.group/woodman/32/24_2.png) [@Woodman](https://cog.discourse.group/u/Woodman)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078/36 "2015-12-14T22:34:52Z")
Sounds like a large flathead screwdriver and a hammer might do the trick too. [Previous page](https://cog.discourse.group/t/how-can-i-make-a-thing-fit-in-this-thing/1078.md?page=1)