Making a Steampunk Portable Harddrive Case
So you already have a steampunked monitor and keyboard and hate that your portable harddrive doesn't match, well here is a way to make that important piece of equipment match and protect it to boot.
Materials Needed:
-Portable Harddrive - I used a WD My Passport
-3/32 x 4 x 36 in Balsa wood piece - bought mine at Michaels Craft Store
-1/4 x 4 x 36 in Balsa wood piece - Michaels Craft Store
-Sheet of medium thin Brass - Hobbytown USA
-Bag of Brass Rivets - Michaels Craft Store but Tandy Leather Brand
-Piece of Tooling Leather - Tandy Leather - Tooling Shoulder
-Black Heavy Thread - Tandy Leather
-Gilded Plastic Gears/ Brass gears - I used plastic ones I gilded from Hobbytown USA
-Leather Dye - I used Tandy Eco-Flo Briar Brown
-Small Digital Clock with fake gold setting - Rockler Hardware
-2" Quartz Brass Fancy Clock - Rockler Hardware
Tools
-Drill preferably drill press
-Dremel Rotary tool
-Rivet Setter - Mine came with the rivets
-Sponge
-Rotary Leather Punch
-Sandpaper
-Superglue
-Sharp Ultility Knife
-Forester Bit set
-Black Sharpie
-Pencil
-2 ziplock bags
So you already have a steampunked monitor and keyboard and hate that your portable harddrive doesn't match, well here is a way to make that important piece of equipment match and protect it to boot.
Materials Needed:
-Portable Harddrive - I used a WD My Passport
-3/32 x 4 x 36 in Balsa wood piece - bought mine at Michaels Craft Store
-1/4 x 4 x 36 in Balsa wood piece - Michaels Craft Store
-Sheet of medium thin Brass - Hobbytown USA
-Bag of Brass Rivets - Michaels Craft Store but Tandy Leather Brand
-Piece of Tooling Leather - Tandy Leather - Tooling Shoulder
-Black Heavy Thread - Tandy Leather
-Gilded Plastic Gears/ Brass gears - I used plastic ones I gilded from Hobbytown USA
-Leather Dye - I used Tandy Eco-Flo Briar Brown
-Small Digital Clock with fake gold setting - Rockler Hardware
-2" Quartz Brass Fancy Clock - Rockler Hardware
Tools
-Drill preferably drill press
-Dremel Rotary tool
-Rivet Setter - Mine came with the rivets
-Sponge
-Rotary Leather Punch
-Sandpaper
-Superglue
-Sharp Ultility Knife
-Forester Bit set
-Black Sharpie
-Pencil
-2 ziplock bags
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Signing UpStep 1: Cutting things to size
We are going to form a wood and leather case that will protect the harddrive.
Place your drive on top of the thicker balsa wood and trace around it staying as close to possible to the actual size of the drive.
Repeat with the thinner wood.
Now use utility knife to cut out the wood. Should go easy.
Place the thinner piece of wood on the bottom of the drive and the thicker one on top. You should have a wood/drive/wood sandwich. Use this thickness to determine the wrap around size your leather will have to be. Make the height of the leather piece several inches longer then the drive size as you will be making a flap to cover the top.
With the leather now temopary wrapped around the drive as well use that size to cut another piece of the thick balsa wood to become the wooden bottom "plug" of the case. Round the corners with the knife to fit the curve of the leather wrapped "sandwich"
Place your drive on top of the thicker balsa wood and trace around it staying as close to possible to the actual size of the drive.
Repeat with the thinner wood.
Now use utility knife to cut out the wood. Should go easy.
Place the thinner piece of wood on the bottom of the drive and the thicker one on top. You should have a wood/drive/wood sandwich. Use this thickness to determine the wrap around size your leather will have to be. Make the height of the leather piece several inches longer then the drive size as you will be making a flap to cover the top.
With the leather now temopary wrapped around the drive as well use that size to cut another piece of the thick balsa wood to become the wooden bottom "plug" of the case. Round the corners with the knife to fit the curve of the leather wrapped "sandwich"
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2)Keep pressing on with where ever this project is taking you.
3)How ever I would be first in line to purchase your product, if this were a purse or clutch, my late father was a Horologist, and I love clocks. You have done a very classy spin on your steam punk portable hard drive case.
The drawback to a parallel circuit is that it will burn more power and generate more heat.
However, a opto-isolator would probably work better. It's a chip with an LED on the input and a light-controlled transistor on the output . Since there was an LED for the drive status to begin with, it should work well with minimum support parts.
Very nice 'ible. Something relatively easy that I could make at home. I've got a Seagate 320 Gb just asking for it....
i have one idéa for lvl up your instructables, can you add a smal motors tomove the "gears" under the ring of glass.
for the power you can use the 5v dc of the usb and includethe motor in your box no ?
I've seen cloth coverings done but I haven't sewn anything in almost 20 years and thats one of the few crafting skills I just have very little interest in.