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Introducing the LeatherBook!
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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I've done my first ever modification of a Mac. I clad my PowerBook 12" in leather! Not only is it the smallest notebook Apple has ever made it now has glamour!
I still have to smooth out and weld down the edges of the leather to get that perfect finish. I'm also going to give the Apple logo a nice chromo metal appearance! More pics as soon as I'm done.
My next mods after this, when prices come down and stuff is available, are a faster CPU, glossy screen, maxed out HDD and Blu-ray drive.
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Last edited by Aron Peterson; May 17, 2008 at 02:45 PM.
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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Uh...good luck upgrading the CPU on that.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by Gossamer
Uh...good luck upgrading the CPU on that.
There's a 1.67Ghz option but that just not good enough. I'm waiting to see if Freescale will manage to get a 2Ghz 7447A within the correct power specs. At the moment there's a 1.92Ghz upgrade for 15" and 17" PowerBooks but it requires the AC to be plugged in otherwise it downclocks to 1.75Ghz. Time will tell.
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hilbert space
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The lid looks great, nice work!
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
The lid looks great, nice work!
My stainless steel watch totally scratched up the palmrest so I had no choice but to do something. I thought about painting it but that would get scratched too. Then I remembered those leather clad Asus laptops that came out last year.
Asus is charging serious cash for those models. It makes no sense because leather is cheap. I spent a total of five bucks for 1 square metre of leather and used about 1/4 of that on my PowerBook (including test fittings).
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: The Annals of MacNN History
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A for effort.
Brown leather =ugh
brown leather with aluminum finish = double ugh ugh
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Addicted to MacNN
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Very Nice! I like the contrast.
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Why is there always money for war, but none for education?
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Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
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admire the skills, but would have gone black or grey.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by andi*pandi
admire the skills, but would have gone black or grey.
Black is a good choice but my desktop is monotone enough (UNO theme, black wallpaper, dark grey Dock with no borders). Grey leather looks bad when it gets dirty.
I chose brown because it reminds me of the upholstery in classic 60s cars like the Aston Martins, Jaguars and Austin Healeys. Tomorrow I'll finish the chrome Apple logo and if it is easy I'll put a chrome border around the trackpad
If anyone is going to attempt this mod use sheepskin, not cow. Also make sure the leather has fabric on one side. Do not use PVC or rubber no matter what. If you're not happy with the results it will be very hard to remove or change for another skin later. Leather is much easier to remove.
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Canada
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Well done
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Indy.
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I think it looks good. But I wonder about heat transfer/cooling.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by Railroader
I think it looks good. But I wonder about heat transfer/cooling.
All the vents are clear so no change at all. I don't have to worry about my watch scratching the top more. My palms feel more comfortable too.
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Addicted to MacNN
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I'd be interested in one of these, if we could use genuine George Hamilton leather®.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Feb 2007
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Ya looks like you did a pretty good job.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by Dakar²
I'd be interested in one of these, if we could use genuine George Hamilton leather®.
That leather is a good color. Burt Reynolds leather is pretty ugly if stretched too far.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Manchester, UK
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Originally Posted by Aron Peterson
I've done my first ever modification of a Mac. I clad my PowerBook 12" in leather! Not only is it the smallest notebook Apple has ever made it now has glamour!
Great job. Strictly though the Powerbook 2400 was the smallest notebook made by Apple.
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
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Originally Posted by philm
the Powerbook 2400 was the smallest notebook made by Apple.
yea, don't get it twisted!
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ice
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by philm
Great job. Strictly though the Powerbook 2400 was the smallest notebook made by Apple.
That comes under sub-notebook category!
BTW, speaking of CPU upgrades, whatever happened to the Freescale dualcore e600?
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Last edited by Aron Peterson; Apr 9, 2007 at 06:15 PM.
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Dayton, OH
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Vaja cases makes an ultra hot leather case/cladding for Macbooks etc.
Vaja � 2006
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Michael
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Banned
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Indy.
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Originally Posted by Aron Peterson
All the vents are clear so no change at all. I don't have to worry about my watch scratching the top more. My palms feel more comfortable too.
There's more to heat transfer than just the vents. The actual case transfers heat and cools the computer.
BTW: Who wears a watch these days?
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Canada
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Originally Posted by Railroader
There's more to heat transfer than just the vents. The actual case transfers heat and cools the computer.
BTW: Who wears a watch these days?
Me. And the palm areas of my Powerbook prove that the odd time I haven't taken off my watch can do a lot of cosmetic damage.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by brapper
Me. And the palm areas of my Powerbook prove that the odd time I haven't taken off my watch can do a lot of cosmetic damage.
That's true. Some of the damage on my palmrest was from chemical corrosion.
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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Addicted to MacNN
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Originally Posted by Aron Peterson
That's true. Some of the damage on my palmrest was from chemical corrosion.
"hey baby, let me give you some of my chemical corrosion..."
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Mankind's only chance is to harness the power of stupid.
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2003
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blabba5555555555555555555555555555555555555
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Northern VA - Just outside DC
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by Y3a
Doesn't it get HOT???
Nope. In fact, my palms feel better. The leather is only about 1 and a half millimeters thin.
More pics in a couple of days when I track down a good supplier for the chrome.
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2001
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Just two quick questions: how much did it cost? Does the lid still close properly?
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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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Senior User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: South Carolina
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Originally Posted by OreoCookie
Just two quick questions: how much did it cost? Does the lid still close properly?
A square meter of sheepskin should cost around $5 and you'll only need less than a quarter of that so imagine how cheap. You could pick up leather for free if you go down to some factories where leather products are made because they throw out material all the time.
Lid closes normally because it's thin leather and I cut out a slot for the magnetic latch.
The hardest part was cutting out the Apple logo. This has to be done after the back of the LCD is skinned. If you do it beforehand the logo won't be the same size because you have to stretch the leather over the shell and glue down one bit at a time. All you have to do beforehand is cut a small circle and keep that centered on the logo. After the glue has dried you can cut the rest of the logo out of the circle.
If you screw up at any time you can easily remove the leather by peeling it back and applying a damp cloth and soap to the glue. Then you can start again after smoothing the surface down.
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Web dev, Poe, faux-naïf, keyboard warrior, often found imitating online contrarians . My stuff : DELL XPS, iPhone 6
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