Wooden-Cased Computers, Small and Extra-Large

DCPete writes "Some guy made a pretty nice mahogany computer table; apparently he does this as a hobby. I've seen lots of stuff like this before, but this one is actually nice and would be fun in a kitchen or studio apartment." On the smaller end of things, LoSmilzo writes "This guy made a real wooden laptop ... totally stunning! Not a wooden-covered laptop, but a real wooden one, made by hand, fully portable and usable, lighter than his original plastic shell."

Whos 'Some Guy'...

[maxdamage]

It looks to me like 'Christopher Horn' made it...

Re:already been done?

[dmf415]

Maybe he got the idea from this company, that already makes wood computer cases.

site here:
http://www.exoticwoodcrafts.com/

Re:already been done?

[Red Leader.]

As Christopher Horn, I can safely say that I did not get my idea from those people - in fact, I only have only recently become aware of those cases that you linked to; I recently started a Google AdWords campaign to sell my case and they appear to be my primary competitors.

Though I have to run home now and see what you all did to my poor server (aka desktop computer), my website will tell you that the case is for sale. If you want to purcahse it, message me at this account, or wait for my little cable modem connection to recover and send me an email through my online form. I'm asking US$1,800 and can deliver within a good distance from Washington, DC (including NYC), or can arrange to ship the case.

Re:already been done?

[Sloppy]

I have to run home now and see what you all did to my poor server

Well, fortunately, most computers aren't made of easily-inflammable materi-- OH NO!!

Re:already been done?

[mOoZik]

Those are not wood, but veneer. There is a difference.

Meh

[Neil Blender]

My computer has been generating wood since the 80s.

So YOU'RE the one Foamy was ranting about.

[Chas]

I wondered why this was so familiar. [fuitadnet.com]

Great...

[bryan986]

So now the outside starts on fire, not just the inside??

fire

[kevinx]

overclockers beware

Re:fire

[Malc]

My first record player had a wooden case. It was from before transistors became wide-spread. Have you seen how hot valves get? They give Intel a run for their money ;) It didn't catch fire, but the smell of it getting warm was all part of the experience.

Re:fire

[xanadu-xtroot.com]

It didn't catch fire, but the smell of it getting warm was all part of the experience.

Did that smell also include another burning organic material?

:-)

Re:fire

[slAckEr Of dOOm]

I mod his laptop -1, Flamebait

Uhh

[FireballX301]

Note to self: Never use Intel with wooden cases. Also keep away from fireplaces, errant sparks, or anything that may trigger flame.

Very good mod, though, and it would definitely fit in with the right theming.

Re:Uhh

[AndroidCat]

I used an Intel chip with a wooden case [primus.ca]. Of course, it was a 3 MHz 8085...

...MOD +1 FLAIMBAIT!

[Total_Wimp]

Also keep away from fireplaces, errant sparks, or anything that may trigger flame.

(is there a -1 Bad Joke? I hope not) :-)

False Advertising

[fembots]

Considering this guy's selling the laptop, the statement of "the ENTIRE LAPTOP is made by SOLID WOOD" isn't quite true.

I wouldn't pick on the LCD screen or the touch pad, but what about the keyboard? It should be quite easy (compared to what he has done) to make wooden keys to fit.

Re:False Advertising

[sjwaste]

Replaceable parts. It's a fairly standard laptop keyboard. If it breaks, you slap in a new one. Plus, a wooden keyboard is going to feel different. I really wouldn't want changes to the input devices.

Re:False Advertising

[Afrosheen]

"I really wouldn't want changes to the input devices."

Too late, he swapped both of the big mouse-clickers built into the keyboard with wooden panels. Look not-so-closely and you'll see them.

Personally I'd try wooden keys. They might actually feel better due to weight and texture but it'd suck to get splinters from typing.

Re:False Advertising

[LearnToSpell]

I remember Wired (?) doing a thing on a wooden computer a few years ago. Basically, everything that could be wood, was, including the keyboard. It looked amazing. 20 thousand bucks, IIRC.

Re:False Advertising

[timmy_otoole]

Yeah...he's just being lazy. Just by a copy of Scrabble and voila...instant keys.

Re:False Advertising

[EtherAlchemist]

It's OK, but not great. Honestly, IMO, the workmanship seems really rough on the wooden laptop.

If I were to make one, I think I would have:
- Recessed the screws (or at least made sure they were flush, sheesh)
- Used hidden joints
- NOT used verneer
- Put more effort into thje finish

Re:False Advertising

[SA Stevens]

I think that possibly it's just that the creator is a poor photographer. The shots of the laptop on the page are very unflattering because of lighting, etc.

It shouldn't be that surprising that someone who can do really nice work with wood hasn't got the same skills with a digital camera.

What's with all the 'props' lined up around the laptop in some of those shots. It looks a little pretentious in a few instances.

Re:False Advertising

[Afrosheen]

I think he knows who this will appeal to: the slashdot crowd and antique collectors. Hence a few screenshots running Linux and the Linux magazine. Take a look at some of the other shots: he's rocking a Fostex reel-to-reel, an actual record player, some DAT equipment, and one of those super old tyme fans that have the canvas-wrapped, burn-down-the-house cords on it.

Definitely a renaissance man of some sort. :)

Re:False Advertising

[cloudmaster]

Bringing back old shit that's not in any way better than what's current - except that it has more dust and fond memories - does not a renaissance man make. That descriptor is reserved for someone with a broad knowledge, largely because at the time, there was little knowledge and it was therefore possible to nearly know it all. This guy appearently just likes outdated electronics (mostly electronic sound stuff). Call him old-school, antique, a "collector", or a luddite, but not a renaissance man.

FYI. :)

Re:False Advertising

[cloudmaster]

Yeah, 44.1KHz is certainly not enough to accurately reproduce the ~18KHz audible range of a human. What? Nyquist says that 44.1KHz is enough to accurately sample 22.05KHz, which is more than a human can hear?

Yes, I know that some people can hear time delay differences down to around 5 milliseconds (most people are in the 15ms range), which is less than the sampling period in 44.1KHz (23ms) or 48KHz (21ms) samples. That "nearly" 2ms gain is less than amazing, and still inadequate using the stereo imaging

Re:False Advertising

[jred]

But man, he's got Zappa there, too. Can't be *all* bad :)

Re:False Advertising

[EtherAlchemist]

The camera, they say, doesn't lie. (At least not often). With a good camera, digital or film, it's really hard to hide flaws that are obvious. The shot of the card slots show a screwhead sticking up (look under the monitor edge). Edges are not straight, they're wavy. And the filler on the veneer is visible and gives the whole thing a 70's trailer home "complete with wood paneling" appearance.

Re:False Advertising

[TeknoHog]

the statement of "the ENTIRE LAPTOP is made by SOLID WOOD" isn't quite true.

I wonder if that comprises the Cellulose Processing Unit and the Grain Processing Unit...

hmm

[seymansey]

I had a laptop once, it wooden go...

Re:hmm

[NanoGator]

"I had a laptop once, it wooden go..."

I had a Compaq once, too.

From the looks of that laptop

[w.p.richardson]

Splinters could be a problem. It looked like shabbily stained pressed wood.

Why not use a good looking wood, if you are going to all of that trouble?

Re:From the looks of that laptop

[duckpoopy]

The workmanship is quite shite as well. This is no woodworker...

Better looking wood computers

[jerometremblay]

Holzkontor [holzkontor.us] makes incredibely nice keyboards/monitors/mices in wood and stone.

If only they weren't so fucking expensive.

Re:From the looks of that laptop

[drsquare]

That's why you seal yourself in a bag before you die. You need a non-violent method of death for this so as not to break the bag. I suggest cyanide. You climb into the air-tight bag, seal it, and then eat the cyanide capsule. All the CO2 will be contained in the bag, and can be disposed of safely.

Re:From the looks of that laptop

[mrchaotica]

Couldn't you just seal the bag and suffocate yourself, or does suffocating cause you to involuntarily thrash around?

coming soon?

[Sv-Manowar]

Apple PowerBook G5: Mahogany Edition

comes bundled with iLumberjack

Re:coming soon?

[amh131]

And presumably iOK as well .....

Hopefully not with Firewire

[FerretFrottage]

wooden case and firewire can't be a good thing

Re:coming soon?

[irokitt]

Oh, he's a Lumberjack and he's OK, he sleeps all night and he works all day!

Seriously though, how many people will complain that the new iWood uses wood from precious trees, when the original plastic case uses fossil fuels;) And not to mention just how horribly bad any computer is for the environment...

Time to start the office pool. Put me down for 100 complaint letters to Jobs. $20....

These would sell

[Paul Slocum]

I've had this idea for a long time, but will never have enough time to build it. I think wooden cases would sell well, since lots of people would like to have a PC that doesn't look like a hunk of plastic technology. Personally, I'd love to have one with old skool controls and readouts. Neon bulbs for power/HD and maybe some VU meters. Probably been done by some case modder, but where can you buy one?

Re:These would sell

[SA Stevens]

Neon bulbs for power/HD

Why screw around with medium-power-burning tech? What you're talking about would only reduce battery life by 3/4. Use carbon arc lamps and turn every bootup into a 'flash' followed by the low power alert.

maybe some VU meters.

To measure what? Are you talking about a riced-out laptop here??

Re:These would sell

[bill_mcgonigle]

lots of people would like to have a PC that doesn't look like a hunk of plastic technology

My grandparents had a record player that looked like a lowboy cabinet. You opened a hinged lid on the top to access the electronics. I think they even had the super-modern model with an 8-track in it.

Seems like the same crowd would go for the wood-case PC. Me, I'd hate to throw out anything that nice and it's going to be obsolete in a few years.

I think it's ugly.

[Anonymous Coward]

Obviously, some people have a low threshold for what they consider to be "stunning" woodwork.

Re:I think it's ugly.

[2short]

Seriously, the woodwork involved is not particularly difficult, yet he doesn't appear to have done a particularly good job of it. A wooden keyboard would be a lot of work, but not overwhelmingly difficult, so I'd at least expect that on The Amazing Solid Wood Laptop (for sale...).

Re:I think it's ugly.

[radish]

Indeed, that has to be one of the ugliest laptops I've ever seen. The quality of construction is terrible.

Re:I think it's ugly.

[nametaken]

The laptop is indeed ugly. The table case the other guy made is beautiful (IMHO). He clearly spent alot of time building it right.

Re:I think it's ugly.

[drew]

It looks to me like a lot of #1 and a little bit of #3. The pictures are definitely poor quality, you can tell from looking at the other (non-laptop) objects, people, etc. in the shots- bad focus and worse lighting. You can tell from the shots around the PCMCIA slots that the case is certainly not perfect, but overall, the pictures make it hard to tell just how good (or poor) the case really is.

I'll bet that case mod...

[donnyspi]

...voided the warranty :-)

Re:I'll bet that case mod...

[John_Booty]

...voided the warranty on his laptop, or on his tree?

Some engineering problems...

[corporatemutantninja]

I wonder if it's laminated or solid wood. If the latter, he could have some problems with expansion/contraction as the wood moves with humidity changes.

Re:Some engineering problems...

[Malc]

From the first paragraph of page 3 of the story:

"While the frame is mahogany, the panels are quarter-inch cherry veneered plywood. The paneled design allows for very tight tolerances around the face hardware, as plywood is dimensionally stable (meaning it doesn't expand and contract as moisture levels vary)."

This from the Google cache page [64.233.179.104] somebody else submitted here.

Re:Some engineering problems...

[gardyloo]

he could have some problems with expansion/contraction as the wood moves with humidity changes.

*cough* It's just toooooo easy....

Other problems with wood enclosures?

[WebCowboy]

Besides humidity distorting the fit of the wood parts I see other things that need attention as well:

1. What about RF interference? I haven't disassambled plastic-bodied computers for awhile (last ones were an elderly Win95 laptop and before that my old Atari ST), but from what I remember they always included metal RF shielding (Anyone out there remember what an Atari 800 looked like inside? It was built so heavy that you could probably run over it with a car and the RF shield wouldn't dent!). Did this

Obligatory Simpsons Quote:

[kevin_conaway]

Skinner: All right, pick your size: extra small or extra large. We've got both. No pushing, now! I've -- what? [Doris whispers in his ear] Oh. I've just been informed we've run out of extra large.

WOOD? :-S

[adolfojp]

Great, just great.

Computer bugs have made me loose sleep and hair for years... ...and now I also have to worry about termites.

Some people are just asking for trouble ;-).

Cheers,
Adolfo

Hrm.

[Tuxedo Jack]

From the look of the mouse buttons, the old case was for a Dell Inspiron - I'm going to hazard a guess in the 8xxx series.

Very nice work, I have to admit.

I hate to urinate in his breakfast grains, but...

[Anonymous Coward]

...that's one UGLY laptop. The idea of a wood case has potential, I admit but I'd rather have my soulless plastic than that thing.

A+ for innovation.
D- for implementation.

I want one!

[Arysh]

This is pretty neat -- if I had any wood-working skills, I'd make one myself, but I'd be too afraid of severing enough fingers in the process that I'd have to start all over on a Mac laptop that only had one button ;)

On another note, it's quite cute (and fitting) how one of the pics of the laptop shows him looking at Slashdot...

I wonder...?

[The Angry Mick]

On another note, it's quite cute (and fitting) how one of the pics of the laptop shows him looking at Slashdot...

Wouldn't reading Slashdot while being slashdotted be considered some sort of bizarre electronic paradox?

The only things left to add to this laptop are ...

[xwin]

1. Wodden CPU.
2. Wodden hard drive.
3. etc.

On a serious note it would be hard to belive that a wodden case would be lighter then plastic one.

Re:The only things left to add to this laptop are

[darth_MALL]

4. Wodden SpeelCheckr

Intel Inside...

[telstar]

Fugly Outside...

Jokes

[phalse phace]

And here come the jokes about his site being hosted by the wooden computer, the site being /.ed, and the wooden computer burning in flames...

Re:Jokes

[billimad]

ah, you mean the charcoal grey model.

Re:Jokes

[Tribbin]

The wooden computer burning in flames is derived from the 'printer on fire' message from linux 2.2?

http://www.eggheaven2000.com/detailed/212.html [eggheaven2000.com]

Re:Jokes

[EMH_Mark3]

The old 'printer on fire' message wasn't actually an easter egg. Read this [theaimsgroup.com] for the full story.

Re:Jokes

[pclminion]

Actually, the site seems to be holding up pretty well. Must be running Debian Woody.

Server on fire

[mushupork]

Site's been /.d ... or the server got sawdust in the heatsink again, causing the fresh coat of varnish to burst into flames.

That reminds me

[DaNasty]

This reminds me of a belief my mom held for the longest time. She believed that civilization had reached technological peaks in the past, but they built everything "au natural" so to speak. Instead of just a wooden case, one of their computers would be entirely made of natural & biodegradable components, hence why we never find traces of their technology. It makes sense from a recyclability point of view if you think about it.

Re:That reminds me

[cloudmaster]

No, it doesn't make sense from any point of view, if you think about it. It makes sense if you *don't* think about it, though... Now, maybe if these peaks had been reached a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, *that* would make sense. ;)

It may be a wooden laptop, but...

[jpetts]

..it's still a Dell.

Actually, come to think of it, it must be made from
deltree wood!!!

Mirror anyone?

[dustinbarbour]

It has already been /.ed. I hope the fire department is on their way!

/.ed mirror

[demon411]

Mirror: http://home.nycap.rr.com/snozberry/case01.html [rr.com] Google cache of some pages: http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:iGzZEFTuVvEJ: www.beefstew.net/snozberry/case01.html+&hl=en&star t=1 [64.233.179.104] http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:gk1K4aQmKdMJ: www.beefstew.net/snozberry/case03.html+&hl=en&star t=1 [64.233.179.104] URL:http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:OyUMTXJeN 5YJ:www.beefstew.net/snozberry/case05.html+&hl=en& start=1>

The Flammable Case

[AtariAmarok]

"Dude, you're getting a flaming hell"

"Commodore Vic-20: The Cinder Computer of the 1980s"

Microsoft: Embrace and incinerate.

Apple: Burn different.

Emachines: See what's new in blue flames.

Gateway 2000: Roast Beef

Cedar ROM Drive

[iNatrix]

I found the woodburning kit a bit cumbersome and time consuming when burning music Cedars.

Re:Cedar ROM Drive

[kin_korn_karn]

Pining away fir your old hardwood?

Eh?

[biglig2]

Sorry, let me get this straight, this is a new thing because previously people have't been replacing the case with a wooden case, but because they've been covering the case with wood?

Apple I had wooden case

[peter303]

I was at the Homebrew computer meeting in 1976 when the Two Steves introduced the Apple prototype. It was in a wooden box because they didnt have metal or plastic molding expertise. For production models, the FCC required a metal frame to block spurious radio signals.

Re:Apple I had wooden case

[danielsfca2]

He said the prototype had a case. And apparently he was there, so he should know.

Complete set

[zoeblade]

Wow, a wooden computer would look really nice with a wooden MIDI keyboard [analoguesystems.co.uk] plugged into it (at least, for us music geeks, anyway).

Download free music [bytenoise.co.uk].

and now...

[abes]

we can start to use the 'back in my days, our laptops were made of wood, AND we had to walk up hill both ways...'

Wood and brass computer

[PIPBoy3000]

I got the hunkering a few years ago to build my own wood computer [archive.org].

I dubbed it "The Fossil Computer", based on the fish fossil I have as a badge. The buttons and CD cover are hand-made out of brass. The wood was made on a milling machine. It turned out amazingly beautiful.

On the down side, a solid wood case is quite heavy. It's also an excellent insulator so I had to be careful with airflow.

Totally Stunning?

[JudgeFurious]

I'm sorry, I know the guy made a laptop out of wood but honestly, it looks like ass to me. This is 2005, there's no excuse to be getting all big in the head about making an ugly wooden laptop. That was 5-6 years ago. Now I'm impressed if someone makes an attractive laptop out of wood that's also thinner than a PowerBook.

Standards are higher, get with the program people.

Now all we need is

[Man in Spandex]

a way for those computers to self-powerup without the use of an outlet and soon every Amish family will have one!

form and function

[pileated]

I can't get to that link at the moment so am going to write this in the meantime.

Really I'm just thinking out loud about a subject that I've thought about for quite a few years: why have I never seen a wooden computer table/desk/hutch/whatever that appealed to me? I'm very fond of wood furniture and would take it over any other material most any day. Yet every time I see some sort of wooden furniture paired with a computer it just looks wrong. Same thing with entertainment centers/home theaters now that I think of it.

Maybe it's just me. The best explanation I can come up with is that wood, unless it's trying to hide its origins and look like something else, is quintessentially organic. Technology is not. Even if you created computers that made Gaudi look straightlaced I don't think they'd seem organic. Perhaps it's the screen, perhaps it's the keyboard. Like I said I'm just musing out loud, waiting for that perfect day when I find a wooden computer that looks right.

I made a computer desk...

[Happy Monkey]

It's no integrated case, but I like it [cellar.org]. Maybe someday I'll make a case - I like the idea.

Coffee Table

[mollyhackit]

Hey, I just epoxied my dell laptop dock to the underside of my coffee table with a pair of speakers. Does my network attached sound table count as a mod?

Observation

[mstyne]

That laptop looks really shitty.

Done LONG ago

[ch-chuck]

google "sol-20", a very collectibe 8080 era machine with attractive wooden ends.

Swedx

[Scarblac]

Swedx [swedx.com] also make wooden housings, for TFT monitors, keyboards and mice. I want a block of wood as a wireless mouse one day.

not very well done

[coaxial]

Whatever the (de)merits of replacing your metal case with a wooden one, this is not the way to do it.

It appears to be made with very cheap plywood that looks like it's one the verge of splitting. There's gaping wholes in the sides of the case. The metal frame of the lcd shows. There's exposed screws everywhere. The stain is uneven, either as a result of the poor quality of the plywood, or his lack of skill. All the edges of the plywood are exposed, making the case look even more amaturish.

It's really

And here is a wooden Desktop

[StimpyPimp]

http://www.directron.com/contest1win.html (scroll down) I can't believe it only got 3rd place. It had inspired me to make my own... eventually. I wouldn't butcher a laptop, but anyone with a combo of wood-working and computer skills should consider making a classy desktop. Grounding might be a bit of a pain, but style has a cost.

Hmmmm...

[Alpha_Traveller]

Brings new meaning to the phrase..."I got a woody."

Would that we all would have a woody.

Nice job for the look

[GMFTatsujin]

There are a lot of posts above that deride the fellow for poor workmanship or whatever. Personally, I love how it looks in the context of his studio [zaverio.net]. Alongside a turntable, a reel-to-reel, and various sundry radios of days gone past, the less than perfect laptop connotes the good old days of computing when a guy could order a box of kit parts and put his own computing rig together transistor by transistor. It looks like the laptop has gone around the same block as the rest of his gear. I applaud his mis

Computer in desk

[ylikone]

I've often considered assembling a computer inside of my desk drawer but always thought that it might be a fire hazard. I do know people have done this, but how safe is it really?

And yeah, I remember that guy that built a computer inside his dufflebag, but that's just stupid.

I do have an old wood-grain design Atari 2600 which I gutted in anticipation of someday building a computer inside it.

Re:Handy if you're forgetful like me

[interstellar_donkey]

Golly, what will they think of next, a case made out of LEGO bricks?

Shhh!!! You'll give them ideas!

First lego cases, then cases made from lego mindstorms, then a few pousers will produce cases made from "Better Blocks". Then in 5 years when Lincoln Logs go back in vouge with the slashdot geek community, cases made to look like log cabins. Eventually the more tech savvy slashdotters will figure out a way to produce a combination LOTR/Cowboy Bebop case, though I can't imagine what it would look like.

Re:Mmmmm... Zappa....

[ajlitt]

ISP Arriving Too Late To Save A Drowning Server?

Re:Processor Heat

[cloudmaster]

When's the last time *your* laptop got up to 450 degrees F and beyond (and that's just to burn paper - wood generally takes a bit more, with mahogany being up in the 800 degree range to self-ignite, IIRC)? Heck, your *hand* is nearly 100 degrees F, and your laptop's not much more than another 20-30 degrees hotter in general. Do you worry about whether or not the wooden chairs you sit on are treated, lest they ignite from the 97 degree ass sitting in them? :)

Re:Does the phrase "Too Much Time On Your Hands"

[Hognoxious]

It obviously took a considerable bit of effort, as would building a giant slingshot from hog bladders

What a strange yet brilliant simile - even though it made my eyes water.

Re:I have plenty of wooden cases

[Greyfox]

Maybe he opted to take Home-Ec instead of shop class. I recall being taught how to do all that stuff in shop class about 20 years ago and was under the impression that pretty much every boy in the US has been forced to sit through all that. I suppose the know-how you pick up there would come in handy if you're going to make a laptop out of wood...