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The one and only Real Wood iPod modification..
The Real Wood iPod
By: Joshua Driggs -aka- ZapWizard
This is one and only wood iPod conversion. I bought a
4th Generation 20GB iPod only days after they came out. I instantly
loaded it up with my music collection, which still doesn't fill the
iPod yet.
There was only one problem; I am a Modder, or a electronics modifier.
Computer and electronic modification is a whole new art form that is
growing worldwide. Computer modification involves taking a plain one in
a million product converting it into a one-of-a-kind piece of
functional art. That is exactly how I felt about my iPod. It was a
great product, but for a company who's motto is "think different" all
their products pretty much look the same. Modding is truly thinking
different, different then anyone else on the planet, and that is what
makes it cool.
Now onto the project:
I had owned my iPod for about a year and used it regularly. Since I was
not a fan of the appearance of the iPod I didn't take much care in
keeping the pristine finish. My iPod quickly drew scratches and nicks.
I even had disassembled my iPod only days after purchasing it, just to
see the guts inside. I came up with the idea of making a wood iPod as
part of a complete wood computer project.
Note that the click wheel is white, not gray. This was a previous
mod where I experimented with making the click wheel out of painted
plexi.
First the iPod was taken apart. I did this following a guide on a battery replacement website.
Once the faceplate was removed I had to remove the click-wheel circuit
and the actual plastic click-wheel. I did this VERY carefully using an
exacto knife and by pushing the click wheel out the back of the
faceplate. The adhesive holding everything together was removed with a
product called "undo".
Using the chrome shell as a template I cut out a piece of wood to the
appropriate size. The wood I used is African Padauk. Is it strong,
naturally red and easy to work. I purchased it from a local retailer who
buys from renewable forests.
I then curved the edges of the wood using the router attachment on my dremel and router bit.
Using the faceplate as a guide I marked and cut out a hole in the wood
for the click-wheel. I used the plastic wheel as a guide to ensure that
the hole was of the proper size.
To cut out the LCD screen hole I measured the old window and marked the
wood. I drilled holes inside the lines to start out my cut. I then used
a rotating cutting bit to cut between the holes. Finally I used a large
high-speed carbide bit to smooth and finish the hole.
Now for the hardest part: carving out the back of the faceplate. I used
the large high-speed carbide tip for the majority of the carving. The
final result was only 2mm thin. This process took several days at a
rate of a few hours a day. It was done slowly and carefully. The
wood split three times while carving and was glued with gorilla glue
and left overnight. You can even see one part drying in the photo (tab
at the top). The hardest part was the holding tabs. In the end all but
five of them broke off, but there was enough left to hold the iPod
together to this day.
Here you can see just how great the faceplate turned out. There are the
normal imperfections of a hand-cut piece, but that is just fine with
me. The faceplate was then sanded smooth and cleaned.
There is only one problem. The LCD screen cover on the iPod faceplate
is built-in. In order to duplicated this I would need to make a clear
window of my own. What I had to do was to cut out a piece of Lucite to
fit the hole exactly, imperfections and all. It took three attempts to
get a snug fit.
In order to duplicate the glossy thick finish of the iPod I used
a product called Envirotex Lite. It is a two part epoxy resin that is
easy to use. I cleaned the surface, mixed and poured on a coat of
envirotex lite. It took a total of three coats. The first coat filled
in the pores of the wood and any gaps between the Lexan screen cover
and the wood. The second coat was ruined when my dust cover fell and
touched the surface. One awesome thing about envirotex lite is that if
the surface is messed up you just sand, clean, and pour on another
coat. Also photographed is the clickwheel and button. These were made
out of African Padauk veneer, and are backed with super-thin doubled
sided tape. I experimented with etching and burning the button icons into the click-wheel but I couldn't strike a good balanced look and
opted not to include the icons. (If you can't remember four buttons
then you need to check your memory)
Some people have questioned the durability of the coating -vs- the
original iPod surface. It may in fact be more durable. Envirotex lite
is flame, chemical and scratch resistant. So far the surface has
remained in perfect condition, even though I still carry my iPod in my
pocket.
The completed, assembled, and fully functional wood iPod. The
touch-sensitive click-wheel is still completely functional. The touch
sensor on a iPod is a capacative sensor. This means it works through
any dielectric material, such as glass, plastic or wood. You can read
up about these types of sensors at www.qprox.com. qProx doesn't make
the actual sensor in the iPod, but they make and sell easy to use chips
that any electronics modifier can use to add touch-sensitivity to their
stuff. I am using their chips on my full PC modification to add my own touch-wheel to the front of my PC. The iPod is held together simply with hot-glue. It has held up to my pocket and a few times in the Texas summer heat of my car.
The complete "Redwood Project"
The LCD screen, keyboard, speakers, Media card reader, Mouse charger,
Coaster, and Keypad all have Afican Padauk Veneer and envirotex lite
applied to them. The PC is made completely out of solid wood. The PC is
small, but inside is a screaming top of the line gaming machine.
The Wood iPod at home on my desk. I still plan on building a wooden iPod dock.
Now for some beauty shots:
Wood iPod Angled shot
Wood iPod on it's back. (Chrome was brushed to a matt finish)
Close-up of the edge of the Wood iPod.
Close-up of the click-wheel. The different colors are a result of different sources of the wood.
The final beauty shot.
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