In 1989 right after getting my Atari STE, I started working on a desktop style case conversion. At first it was in ABS plastic, but I did not have the tools or capability to create what I envisioned in my mind, so I kept it to myself and friends. Right after this, I started working on a design in CAD, but back then CAD programs here horrible and 3D printing was only available in universities in very small scale, so my plan was put on the back burner for several decades.
A long while back I revisited my vision and created a 3D design for my case but did not do anything until someone else asked me to help them with a TT project. My case I call the 'Mega Tall' (If you have a better name I am all ears
) as it is a Mega ST inspired case to fit on top of any Atari STF, STFM, STE or Falcon Computer with no hacking or soldering at all. The first version was the same height as a Mega ST, but it only provided limited room inside, even though it was big enough for 2 floppy drives and a slim optical drive; however, many questioned the functionality with the keyboard blocking the path of the floppy drives. The second versions height was increased by an inch, but still keeps the Mega ST's front ratio as the all in one computers are much wider than the standard Mega computer. This newer version now has 2 x 3.5 Front Floppy drive bays, (still retains the original at the side), 1 x 5.25 drive bay. 2 smaller front ports for things like CF, SD cards, Switches, LEDS..... And also has 4 port openings on the rear.
Many people want this design to be produced with injected moulding which would be great, but I am keeping the option open for it to be 3D printed as injected moulding costs a fortune, and I also need to 3D print it myself to test it. As I only have 400 x 400 printers, I had to get a little creative with the 475 mm long design, especially as I want the weight to be under 1 1KG roll of material. As this needs to be strong enough to hold a monitor, yet be printed on its long end which means I need to use supports, I had to get very creative. I designed my own supports which I call 'Clingons,' but I did get the total weight down to...ready...drum roll... 999.87 grams. (Note that if you ever 3D print parts for electronics, especially valuable ones and you cannot use ABS, use eSun PLA+. This is much less brittle than standard PLA, is stronger and can handle more heat. On a FB page I was asked if my case can hold the weight of a monitor, well as you will see from the image herein, it can hold more than 91.2 lbs.
If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or can help with this project, especially with the Keyboard adapter / reset function, please let me know.
Please ignore the poor print quality. I moved my printer to another room which turned out to be much colder than I thought, lol.
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