Hey guys, i'm interested in finding out if there's any interest in custom plastic replacement(s) for the console coin holder. Specifically designed for switches or other things. I'm currently in the process of placing a USB recepticle and status LED's into a replacement coin holder for v.2 of my carputer project. When done I was planning to make a mold and cast urethane plastic copies for others. I've already recieved my molding and casting materials and made a duplicate of the original coin holder for testing purposes. I should have enough mold material left to make another mold or two for other designs, such as a switch mount for example. Rather than doing a hack job (no offense to anyone thats modded theirs) on the existing coin holder, this would offer you a clean, form-fitted design.
Pricing should be fairly cheap depending on if I'm supplying the switches or whatever else you'd like incorporated. The coin holder replacement without any additional hardware I could probaly keep between $8-10, since I'm not planning to get rich off this. Possibly lower if there's enough interest to justify me buying the gallon unit of casting urethane. Also depends on how many pieces the mold will yield before it wears out.
So if there's any interest in such a thing, let me hear what you'd like to see, if theres a specific switch that you'd like to see fitted, let me know. Designs are limited to what I can base off of the original coin holder. If I can't do it by severly modding the coin holder, I'll probably be unable to do it. To avoid some questions that will come up, here's a list of things I've thought of that I'm unable to do with these:
Here's a pic of the USB port one I'm working on. Keep in mind this is still a ways from being finished, but it's representative. It's made from a hacked up coin holder. Once it's finished, I'll make a mold of it and cast a duplicate. That cast duplicate is what will go in my car. In the pic I've just finished sanding some bondo, which you can see in some of the nooks and crannies. It still needs to be primed and painted before Its ready for molding. You can pretty much see the piece of ABS I added inside the original coin holder to make to fill and make a flat top.
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or requests, let me know and I'll see what can be done.
-Kevin
Pricing should be fairly cheap depending on if I'm supplying the switches or whatever else you'd like incorporated. The coin holder replacement without any additional hardware I could probaly keep between $8-10, since I'm not planning to get rich off this. Possibly lower if there's enough interest to justify me buying the gallon unit of casting urethane. Also depends on how many pieces the mold will yield before it wears out.
So if there's any interest in such a thing, let me hear what you'd like to see, if theres a specific switch that you'd like to see fitted, let me know. Designs are limited to what I can base off of the original coin holder. If I can't do it by severly modding the coin holder, I'll probably be unable to do it. To avoid some questions that will come up, here's a list of things I've thought of that I'm unable to do with these:
- Make them out of metal
- Write text in/on the plastic
- Make a copy of the convertable switch.
- Add texture to the plastic. (I can create a slight texture by painting the piece before making a mold of it, but it won't be like the original texture. My duplicated coin holder has the texture the original has, but I can't add the texture to new surfaces I create. Thus If I'm adding material to the coin holder for the design, the added section won't have texture.)
- Color match (on the 03-04's their black regardless of interior color as far as I'm aware and I will cast them in black, but the exact shade may vary. My test casting is a deeper black than the original, I actually like it, some may not.)
- Add HP
Here's a pic of the USB port one I'm working on. Keep in mind this is still a ways from being finished, but it's representative. It's made from a hacked up coin holder. Once it's finished, I'll make a mold of it and cast a duplicate. That cast duplicate is what will go in my car. In the pic I've just finished sanding some bondo, which you can see in some of the nooks and crannies. It still needs to be primed and painted before Its ready for molding. You can pretty much see the piece of ABS I added inside the original coin holder to make to fill and make a flat top.
If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or requests, let me know and I'll see what can be done.
-Kevin
