Machining a TI-89 Out of Aluminum 148
TangoMargarine writes "Sometimes, expensive calculators hit the floor. It's happened to almost anyone with a graphing calculator from TI or HP. Sadly, they don't always bounce. After this happened to [Howard C.], an Industrial Engineering student from U. of Iowa, he decided to spend $50 on milling his own replacement case out of aluminum rather than trashing the device over a broken battery compartment."
Re:ok but (Score:4, Insightful)
2. Cushioned innards no?
I was just thinking the same thing. If you drop the plastic case, it deforms slightly on impact (or fails, as it did in this case), protecting the circuit boards and display from at least some of the shock.
The next time our engineer drops his calculator, the milled aluminum case will remain pretty and pristine, just as planned -- but without proper cushioning, the plastic circuit board screwed to it will fracture. (If the innards are free to move a bit, I also wonder if the buttons are all going to get sheared off when they bump up against the aluminum frame.)
Re:ok but (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, he is an engineering student. He'll learn a valuable lesson that he can apply throughout his career.
Uh... (Score:2, Insightful)
He DID have a template. He had to remove the innards from the stock body, leaving an easily scanned front case that will produce high contrast hole outlines.
As noted, the new casing is too thick for proper button operation. Also, the imprinted legends have poorer contrast than on the original body. Not a bad hack, but I'd prefer the original case. His reminds me of homebrew projects stuck in featureless Hammond boxes.
Re:ok but (Score:1, Insightful)
...Serious engineers ...Cushioned innards...
Yeah, most serious engineers I know have have fairly cushioned innards.
Re:Aluminum (Score:3, Insightful)
Since this project would have been for a machining class, not a case design class, I'd think a higher grade than that would be appropriate.
Re:Slashdot Delay (Score:3, Insightful)
Slashdot isn't a cutting-edge site for whatever particular niche you're interested in. It's a more general-interest site, with lots of different topics of interest (politics, free software, mathematics, games, etc.), so it's a little slower, but has a wider breadth.