Nintendo Lunchbox

I had a broken NES, a rotary tool, two small hinges, some glue and Alpha Flight's Sasquatch. What I ended up with was a lunchbox that gets all kinds of funny looks.

This is my first project, and kinda sloppy. I only had about two hours to do the whole thing. I'm sure I'll improve it over time (add a latch and file down the rough edges some more) but for now, it holds my lunch admirably.

Step 1 Remove the guts

Opening the NES case and pulling out it's guts is pretty easy. Take out all the screws you can find and lift the parts out gently one at a time. The wires can be unplugged from the motherboard pretty easily. I had to use pliers to get a decent grip on them though.

Comments

[amandaggogo]

Been needing a good project to do with my sad broken NES. I think this one will do nicely.

[vulcan24]

I am going to make a gameboy sandwich case XD

[AppalachiaAngel]

If the posts are not too thick, a good way to get rid of them would to cut them out with some small tin snips, just an idea... love this 'ible! !!!!

[Mintoperson23]

Here's an idea for a handle, you could add some sort of spring mechanism that fits behind what would normally be the where you put the cartridge, so you can open the little door thing, and pull out the handle, and when you set it down and let go it just gets pulled back under and you can then close the little door.

If that made sense.

[Appollo64]

Great Instructable!

[KNEXFRANTIC]

why the nes is awsome

[lilwitteck]

I just made a second one for my club to raffle off at my schools home coming and we made over $100!! i use mine everyday and everyone already wanted one anyway :D

[anthonyyy0]

oh this is sooo coool!!!! Im going to start the school year rockin' my new nes lunchbox :D

[Joe Martin]

If you actually use this MAJOR geek points to you. This is something I would use with no problems/cares whatsoever. I love it!

[RandomPhrase]

Hey, I took your wonderful idea and applied it to my Super Nintendo. I didn't really follow your plan, and it probably didn't turn out as nice as yours as I made it up as I went. I just wanted to thank you for the inspiration. :)

[maximonation]

how about a mini screen and a micro computer Nintendo emulator on the inside so you can play old games while you eat with and  a classic controler tucked along with to use. no idea on how to power without a wall socket. would be silly at the office :)

[lilwitteck]

i made this and have had multiple people tell me that i should do that!

[Madrias357]

Now that is funny! I knew a friend who did something similar (major computer geek). He took a dead printer, gutted it, and made it into his lunchbox. Access food through the ink door, snacks through the paper-tray (that stupid flip door that holds your paper for all the world to see, well, his had room there for snacks and sodas.) Was always funny to see a Canon printer in the fridge.

[CyberHULK]

 WOAH! Bad idea with the Printer. The ink cartridges, especially from the older types, were carcinogenic. He'd better have scrubbed that printer REAL good before letting any food near it. Love the NES lunch box. I'll have to find some dea NESs and do some serious modding. One guy made a PC out of his...

[Madrias357]

He cleaned that thing up good, actually.  5 days with the shell soaking in water with who-knows-what added to the water, followed by pulling it out and giving it a hot-water-and-scotch-brite rinse.  I'm surprised there weren't holes in the case from the scrubbing.

Also, the printer was only about 2 years old and died an early death from board failure.

[moocowdog]

thats fricken awesome

[scratchr]

What about lead poisoning? I would cover the inside with epoxy or something.

[itsthatsguy]

lead posining from plastic? i don;t think so, anyway its china thats bad with lead not japan.

[lukeea]

lolz

[redsoxdrummer]

grate idea!!!But you to apart a nes dude!! i gess if it was broken............

[Lance Mt.]

I don't think i could bring myself to take apart a nes, broken or not. I just cant do it! I really want one though.. ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[redsoxdrummer]

agreed!!!!

[Atomman]

Too much history, too many spare parts. You could make something great! I would be the person to store the parts away for when I get an idea.

[redsoxdrummer]

on the other hand im not much of a gamer......all i got is a gameboy that i hardly ever play..........i wud probly use it for sumthin mor usefull.....like makin it stronger and bilding one of those small skate bords you sit on, then find a steep paved hill........:)

[fireFEIND67]

who's the guy helping with the tutorial in the pictures?

[Atomman]

 Hm... Sandwich through cartridge slot... Maybe, but isn't a Cartridge for Nintendo ES about the same height as a Nintendo Gameboy Cartridge?

[samuraiclinton]

I'm not quite sure that the plastic on the NES is safe for food.

[Atomman]

What do you mean? Regular lunch boxes are plastic. Well, they are these days. They used to be metal. And before that they were bags...

[katznemma]

Love this idea...I will have to find a broken NES so I can make this for my hubby for valentine's day. 

[Yaimageek]

This is so badass. Now I wish my NES was broken

[danisreallycool]

i dig the flavor, some ideas i was thinking about: 1) having the hinges on the back of the system, with some sort of clasping mechanism with the power/reset buttons. 2) this hinge-in-back could also let you put a strap in the cartridge slot for a handle. 3) any chance the hinges could be inside? 4) the red power LED for when its got food in it! 5) bonus points for some sort of sandwich protecting cartridge case this is all just me being greedy, though. nice job either way.

[Wills42]

Actually, I believe that you would have to modify the slot so that it would fit even a PB&J sandwich. The slot is just too thin that it would probably only fit one slice of bread. Although, you could just carry the slices in two separate slots and make the sandwich at school or wherever. Nice idea though.

[ebayhax4u]

 I made this over the weekend  when I was sick and the slotworks really well with sandwiches. For me, the sandwich fits perfectlyand if you cut the edges a bit, you can fit your sandwich in one of thecartridge holders. hope that helped you.

[Lextone]

You can put an internal hinge in there. What you are looking for is called a Continuous, or Piano, hinge. You could also rig up a magnetic catch utilizing the power button. The LED idea is cool too. Good job Fluctifragus!

[fluctifragus]

I found the Piano hinges you were talking about at the hardware store. It looks like they'll work, but I'd have to glue them onto the inside rather than bolting, or I'll end up with nubs sticking out that will catch on stuff. Using the power button as a magnetic or spring latch is a bit beyond my meager skills though. I'd love to see somebody else do it though!

[imaluma]

How does it stay shut? Do you have to just hold it carefully?

[Mr. Brownie]

This would be a cool bento!

[LargePaperCup]

i second that

[alphasmith]

The only problem is you can't bring it to school without having to demonstrate it's lunchbox abilities.

[SkipperOf]

This is a great project to do in coordination with 1up's portable game system. Now that case can do something useful! Its great, don't listen to the haters.