Hi there, I got an old Eee 1005P netbook that runs Win8RP nicely (a little tweak makes the screen slightly resized to make it large enough to run metro apps also) I got a resistive touch-screen overlay for it that also works nicely, my idea is simple and I've already executed large parts of it, open the netbook, remove the keyboard, remove the screen and top part of the case and the hinges, put monitor where keyboard was, put something over the screen to act as the new top of the case, put in needed tablet buttons (windows, alt-tab etc).
Now comes the part I'm less sure about, I got a no-brand dremel that cuts through just about anything especially fitted with a carbide blade, but free-handing with it has yielded lets say inaccurate cuts (example: http://sdrv.ms/NORsqF that's my arduino remote btw) I didn't try too hard to make it straight that time since I knew I was going to use a thin piece of plastic to "frame" the edge and LCD anyway, but this time I don't really have that option.
I'm cutting into what was the back part of the screen part (which has a completely flat portion in the middle that fits the screen perfectly), which is plastic of some description that's a couple mm thick, is there some way to get a dremel cut that's completely straight and even? I'm thinking some kind of table-saw like setup with the dremel strapped in place and an adjustable guide you slide the part against, then sand it smooth and with a slight bewel, has someone made something like this and what would be required to do so? I don't have overly sophisticated tools, just basic power tools.
Also any ideas for retail grade buttons? I have various mechanical buttons and a Teensy2.0 which enables keyboard input as a HID device, I've tested it and it works nicely, problem is the actual button-tops, I'd like something that looks and fits nicely, but have no idea how to achieve it, any ideas to either scrounge buttons from somewhere that looks like the business and somehow get them to fit, here is another example from my arduino remote: http://sdrv.ms/NSwiVM I took buttons and d-pad from a NES controller, and decided on the buttons instead of trying to make a round hole the exact same size and adding a cylinder on the inside with a grove for the tabs to fit in might as well cut a square hole in the controller and in the remote, again looks like ass but I wasn't really trying too hard, this time I am.
Any tips for painting plastic a glossy black? wet-sand then a thin layer of paint? or multiple? what kind of paint? sand between applications? My brother has a number of times tried to paint mods black and it never turned out good, dust specs, droplets, soft finish etc.
Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.