All the front panels (except for the chit-chat) are made out of recycled junk. Most are cut out of old computer side-panels, the 4th one on the bottom row used to be a hard-drive mount for a IBM server, the 7th one on the bottom row used to be a VESA mount for a TV (2mm thick steel, very nice).
The ribbon wire I use for building my power cables is salvaged from old IDE cables and all wire I’ve used in my modules is salvaged from old electronics and cables. (If you need lots of really good wire for free, look for broken ethernet cables in your office’s e-waste bin. Each cable has 8 conductors of copper wire inside, which each have different colored insulation and generally have the perfect thickness for soldering.)
The black patch cables on the right connecting my envelope generators to the VCF and VCA are made out of TRS to serial cables that I saved from the trash.
The 4th module on the bottom row is actually made out of an old kids’ toy. I did a video about the process that you can find here.
The “bench” power supply you see a bit of at the bottom left is built out of the power supply from my old computer and the oscilloscope on the bottom right is one I saved from the dumpster when my old school threw it away.
I admire and respect your commitment to recycling. Very… Scandinavian (?) of you. I’ve got some metal bottom plates from old laptops that I’m going to have a go at making panels out of.
This was sitting on my desk literally right next to me as a read your post.
I’ve tried using it once recently and found it was just a little fine for that purpose, but I’ve got a project just waiting for me to use it in tonight. Also looking into using old VGA and USB cables–they’re on literally EVERYTHING in a tech trash box. In fact, I think USB cables would be the PERFECT thing to attach plugs to and use for patch cables.
I like using recycled bits, but I hate throwing things away. And finding old electronics anywhere other than the tech tip at work here in DC is really hard due to the garbage collection regulations. One of my saddest realizations after moving here.
Ooh, old tower PC side panels! I need to make a shopping list for the tech trash…
VGA cables are great for acquiring hookup wire in many different colours. I haven’t tried PC side panels, but I have set aside a couple of top plates for desktop shaped projects. CD/DVD-R and hard drive cases with flat surfaces could make nice project cases too if one can figure out how to attach wooden panels on the sides.
Yeah, I dissected a VGA cable today. It had a bunch of wires, but the effort involved for the extremely tiny wires will probably have me sticking to old Ethernet cables.
Ethernet cabe is useful and older telephone cable is superb for bread boarding. Keep an eye out for older ribbon cables, you can get old printer and disk cables which are amazing for neat wiring and making power cables.
That noisebox is really cool! Does it have one piezo microphone, or more? Do you plug it in directly into your modular, or does it require a separate amp? Could you post more pictures from different sides? I am very interested in building one for my Kosmo case, so any additional pictures would be welcome!
