What to do with all these old Macs that I had originally bought to convert into aquariums?
I started with this old Macintosh SE, circa 1986 or so. It was the bee’s knees in its day, shipping one whole megabyte (1/1000th of a gigabyte) of RAM. It cost almost $3,000!
Anyway, treating this piece of computing history with all the respect and dignity I can muster, I break it open and spill its guts for the world to see!
And I’m not kidding about computer history. The inside of the case has signatures of the guys and gals of the Macintosh team at Apple. They were rightly proud of their work.
Anyway, there’s work to be done, so I get out the Dremel and cut off the top.
There’s more cutting involved as everything inside the case that sticks up or out must be trimmed to flush. After the cutting, I tape off the parts I don’t want to paint, including the Apple logo on the front and the product info and serial tag on the back. Preserving the tiniest bit of the history, after all.
That done, the next step is to paint. Rattle the can, press the button, and presto!
I’ll need a clear piece to simulate the screen. I do this by snap-cutting a bit of 1/8” acrylic I bought at the hardware store.
While I’m at it, I might as well cut a diskette in half.
And then glue it to itself like this.
Next, using the acrylic solvent, I attach the clear plate to the bezel opening. I use whatever is heavy enough to bend it and hold it while the solvent dries.
The interior bits can be adapted as necessary. Basically you need a stand to hold the pot at the correct height. Bonus points if it drains nicely.
Here is the finished planter, ready for use.
What next? Make a bunch more! Stay tuned!
