Embossing a Moleskin with Gears

As we all know, there are more than 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer . The possibilities are infinite. Yet, let's be frank for a moment, not all of these infinite things are going to be good. That is why I made a couple dozen extra projects while writing the book. Most of them were failures which will never see the light of day, but a few stood out as worthwhile projects.

One such project is embossing a notebook with gears. The execution of the project was not the greatest and I was never really happy with the fact that you never really technically ended up with anything new made out of old computers. Nonetheless, it did make into the book as a footnote to project 4, as something you can do with all of those extra gears.

Anyhow, here are some full instructions for embossing a notebook using gears, when starting with a dead optical disc drive.

You will need:

1) A broken CD or DVD drive
2) A moleskin notebook
3) A table vise
4) A C-Clamp (or two)
5) Two wooden boards slightly bigger than your notebook
6) A Phillips screwdriver
7) A computer tower or chair

Step 1 Open

Disassemble your CD drive until you have located the laser diode mechanism. Remove the ribbon cable connected to the laser’s circuit board to use later as a bookmark.

Comments

[ilpug]

I will do this. I must.

[garrett10]

Awesome! Do you think this would work with an extremely small Moleskin?

[NachoMahma]

. Fantastic! Can you get enough pressure to make it permanent?

[randofo]

'Permanent' for a few months... I think if I left it for longer I would have perhaps gotten better results.

[Culturespy]

Gentle application of heat will set your embossing. Not so much as to burn or blister but enough to soften the cover. You could use a heat gun or possibly a hair drier on high heat, might be safer for the book.

Commercial embossing machines use heat on both leather and "plastics" for everything from wallets to journals and luggage. Foil stamping gets pretty hot but I'm not sure how hot, enough to burn skin for sure but its the dies that get hot rather than the material. No reason you couldn't reverse it.

Be careful though, too much pressure with the heat and you'l tear through the cover material to the card stock core.

[TensorFlux]

You may want to be careful about heating moleskine covers. Make sure not to burn them! The covers have PVC in them (Polyvinyl Chloride, aka vinyl) which gives off chlorine gas when burned. When that gas mixes with hydrogen in the air, it forms vaporized Hydrochloric Acid. Bad stuff. That's why you shouldn't laser etch them either!

Just a thought!

Info gathered here:
http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2008/07/11/moleskine-covers-contain-pvc/

[randofo]

Heat! That's one of those 'why didn't I think of that' ideas. I support that idea!

[Crabby]

I think if you get the surface a bit damp first, by wiping it with a damp sponge, it would last longer. At least it does with leather, but I actually have no clue what the material moleskin uses for their covers, so maybe it would work maybe not. Leaving it in the vice longer will definitely make it last longer. I love the Idea and would do it myself, I just don't have any gears on hand or a broken drive to tear apart for some.

[randofo]

It's some sort of vinyl-based plastic.

[DavidRobertson]

Actually it's oilcloth.

[conceptualstratagem]

Perfect!

[rtty21]

this is really awesome!