The "Waffle Iron PC"

By Philip Nerges, New Jersey, USA Posted on Friday 5 August, 2005

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Introduction

Here is my Waffle Iron PC. I used an EPIA M10000 Mini-ITX board. It has 512MB RAM and a 160GB hard drive. I used an external USB CDROM to install the OS. It runs Linux - Fedora Core 2. It's also got a TV Out card, so I can use this for a MythTV box if I choose later.

This is my second attempt at modding. I made another machine out of a metal suitcase. It came out great! But I'd already seen others on the net. Ever since then I've had the itch to make something cooler that no one else had done. I kept scouting antique places for something retro but with a futuristic feel. I like the mix of old with new. I also love CHROME! My motorcycle has tons of it...

Construction

This is the waffle iron before modification. I found it at an antique store. The waffle iron didn't work. But that's OK - I didn't like the idea of destroying a working piece of history.

I removed the original power cord. I kept the piece of locking plastic there. I hollowed it out and put the power plug inside of it. When you plug the power cord into it it looks like you're using the original cord. I use an external power source. The power supply actually plugs right into the ATX socket on the mother board and you use an external 12v power supply with it.

This is the waffle iron, open and unlit. The black knob in the front is the power switch. It looks like the original. I wanted to keep as much of the original feel as possible. Directly underneath the power button is a reset button.

This is the waffle iron closed. I put clear rubber grommets on the Acrylic plate where the bottom griddle used to be. There is a recessed piece of Acrylic in the lid. When I close the lid it holds the lid up about a quarter of an inch all the way around. This allows air to flow in even when the lid is closed. Also since the upper Acrylic sheet is sunken in, there is plenty of airflow inside even when the lid is down. There is also a little vent space between the base piece as well.

I used a hot glue gun to glue down the wires to the base. Space is limited so I did anything I could to maximize air flow.

This is a shot from the top. Notice I placed the power L.E.D. in where the original power light was.

Here is some dremel work. I used a dremel and various files for all of the cutting.

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