Macro Black

Light Footed

The original feet that came fitted to the case were functional but a bit too bland for my liking, so they had to go! They soon got levered off with a pocket knife.


These are what I used for the replacement feet. Powder compacts from Avon Cosmetics - having daughters does have some advantages!. Actually I had collected these some time before I got the ClearPC knowing they would eventually come in handy as case feet I just needed a suitable case to put them on.



Here's a view of the base after the contents had been removed. Notice the groove running around the rim. I reckon a bit of neon string/glow wire should fit in there quite nicely. Another view showing the groove more clearly.



I was right, the string does fit. The string was super/crazy glued into the groove. I drilled two 3mm holes to accommodate the ends of the string inside the compact. Wires were connected following my guide.



The base of the compact had double sided sticky tape fitted - the type used to stick down carpet edges - and after measuring, the new feet were stuck in position on the base of the PC case. A 6mm hole was drilled right the way through the foot and into the case and a 10mm bolt fitted. The threaded part of the bolt is approx 5mm dia, the 10mm refers to the size of the nut. The bolt holds the foot firmly in place and the sticky tape stops the foot from turning should the PC be dragged across a surface rather than lifted.

Another 3mm hole was drilled to allow the wires to pass through to the inside of the case for connecting to the strings inverter power unit. This procedure was repeated for all four feet obviously.

Once the feet were affixed to the bottom of the case, the lid was hinged shut and a circle of felt was stuck to the bottom. This gives the feet a non scratch, non slip finish. The felt circles were cut out using the circle compass I used previously on the pin stripes. The felt comes supplied on a roll like the sticky backed plastic I used for masking earlier. In fact it is made by the same company.



The wires from all four feet were routed and clipped down around the case base using sticky pad cable ties. These pads and ties can be bought from almost any hardware store: B&Q, Maplin, RS, Farnell etc. In this picture you can see one of the feet mounting bolts.

The wires from the string were connected together so they could share the same inverter. Each foot used about 11" of string so a single inverter was ample to power all four feet. The inverter was mounted inside the case using Velcro pads.



All four feet standing on their heads waiting for some action. Time to switch on and admire their circley blue goodness.