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Aron Peterson · 02:45 PM

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.

Gossamer · Apr 9, 2007, 01:26 PM

Uh...good luck upgrading the CPU on that.

Aron Peterson · Apr 9, 2007, 01:30 PM

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.

OreoCookie · Apr 9, 2007, 01:32 PM

The lid looks great, nice work!

Aron Peterson · Apr 9, 2007, 01:39 PM

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).

Dakar² · Apr 9, 2007, 01:40 PM

A for effort.

Brown leather =ugh

brown leather with aluminum finish = double ugh ugh

OldManMac · Apr 9, 2007, 01:43 PM

Very Nice! I like the contrast.

andi*pandi · Apr 9, 2007, 01:50 PM

admire the skills, but would have gone black or grey.

Aron Peterson · Apr 9, 2007, 03:28 PM

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.

brapper · Apr 9, 2007, 03:45 PM

Well done

Railroader · Apr 9, 2007, 03:46 PM

I think it looks good. But I wonder about heat transfer/cooling.

Aron Peterson · Apr 9, 2007, 04:19 PM

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.

Dakar² · Apr 9, 2007, 04:23 PM

I'd be interested in one of these, if we could use genuine George Hamilton leather®.

analogue SPRINKLES · Apr 9, 2007, 04:38 PM

Ya looks like you did a pretty good job.

Aron Peterson · Apr 9, 2007, 04:44 PM

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.

philm · Apr 9, 2007, 05:32 PM

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.

IceEnclosure · Apr 9, 2007, 05:54 PM

Originally Posted by philm

the Powerbook 2400 was the smallest notebook made by Apple.

yea, don't get it twisted!

Aron Peterson · 06:15 PM

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?

CMYKid · Apr 9, 2007, 06:38 PM

Vaja cases makes an ultra hot leather case/cladding for Macbooks etc.

Vaja � 2006

mac128k-1984 · Apr 9, 2007, 07:14 PM

Looks sharp - good work

Railroader · Apr 9, 2007, 07:21 PM

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?

brapper · Apr 10, 2007, 02:40 AM

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.

Aron Peterson · Apr 10, 2007, 05:59 AM

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.

ShortcutToMoncton · Apr 10, 2007, 10:47 AM

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..."

shabbasuraj · Apr 10, 2007, 11:05 AM

more pics please

Y3a · Apr 10, 2007, 11:08 AM

Doesn't it get HOT???

Aron Peterson · Apr 10, 2007, 11:13 AM

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.

OreoCookie · Apr 10, 2007, 01:55 PM

Just two quick questions: how much did it cost? Does the lid still close properly?

Aron Peterson · Apr 10, 2007, 03:16 PM

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.