The Geekster Moleskine
April 23rd, 2007
A couple of months ago I ran out of disk space on my MacBook and decided to upgrade it’s hard disk to a larger one. Which was nice and easy, but left me with a spare 80GB drive with no purpose in life.
A few weeks later I accidentally placed my WD Passport external drive on top of my Moleskine notebook and, what do you know, they were pretty much the same size. That got me thinking.
After some extensive research (well, I just googled for ‘2.5” sata enclosure’:http://www.google.com/search?q=2.5%22+sata+enclosure) I found all I needed: an external enclosure for laptop SATA drives that would not need a power supply and with the smallest possible circuitry. There are many brands and models, but this one from Cool Drives was just perfect, and at under $25 it was cheap enough I didn’t have to ask my wife for budgetary allowances.
First, I opened the enclosure and removed the logic board. It is small, as you can see in the photos. Then I attached it to the drive and made sure the complete assembly still fit inside a Moleskine. It did. It was time to start gutting the notebook.
I selected the Moleskine Sketchbook ($12 at a nearby art supplies store) because it had the thickest pages (better structural support) and the least number of pages (less work glueing.)
After tracing the outline of the drive assembly, it was time to start cutting out the pages using a very sharp swiss knife. Any cutting instrument will do just fine, as long as it is very, very sharp. (Try to avoid cutting your fingers; blood stains might ruin the finish of the project. On the other hand, it might look good, so I’ll leave it up to you.)
I would press the knife hard and go through four or five pages, but then I had to cut the corners and take out the inside of the pages one by one. It took me about 30 minutes to cut them all out, except for a couple of pages on both ends. To make sure I wouldn’t cut too far, I used the aluminum cover from the discarded enclosure as a cutting board.
The “core” of the pages can actually be recycled to build yourself your own Hipster PDA, so nothing goes to waste. Well, nothing except the aluminum and plastic from the external enclosure, but that doesn’t hurt the environment, does it?
Somehow I got lucky and the drive assembly fit just right without needing any touchups. Now it was time to glue the pages using your plain old regular glue stick. Again, one by one.
I glued the back half until it reached the height of the USB port, and then I glued the front half. Afterwards I realized there was no particular reason to stop at that level and that any other combination would have worked, but that’s what I did.
A couple of markings and small cuts later, I had created the openings for the USB port and the activity light.
The photo shows them as two separate holes, but I ended up combining them because the glue was not holding up the pieces of paper in the middle. I guess using stronger glue, or rather, waiting for it to actually dry, would have helped, but I was almost done and couldn’t wait.
With the drive inside and the pages glued it was time to close it and see it in its final form. The result was almost perfect. There is a very small gap where the two halves meet, and while I could have cut a couple of extra pages on both ends to make it fit, I’d had it with the cutting and glueing. And besides, it’s good for allowing some airflow around the drive.
Of course, it needed the right icon as its desktop avatar. This one from Pixel Press Icons was just perfect.
So there you have it: The Geekster Moleskine.
FAQs
Why? Because regular enclosures are boring. Because Moleskine notebooks are great looking. And of course, the usual answer: why not?
Won’t it get too hot? Probably. I did no research at all, but I’m pretty certain paper is not as good thermal conductor as aluminum. But I really don’t care. I don’t plan to run Mac OS out of the drive, or to use it continuously for long periods of time. And you can always open the notebook and expose the drive.
What will you use the extra blank pages for? Why, writting down my passwords, of course!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Ensamblado al mejor estilo McGyver :-)
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM manualidades Geek
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Demasiado Sebas.... Voy a postear alguito en el blog para darte un pelo de google love.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM jajajaja... qué dirían los grandes escritores y artistas de eso?
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Excellent. I love the idea of hiding one of the newest forms of storage in one of the oldest. I can imagine being at a meeting and flipping open my notebook... "Woops, wrong one..."
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Nice idea :) But seriously, with talent and time you have you could invest it into something more producive :) Hope no offence is taken.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM That is AWESOME! Just remember to put it in your computer bag when going through airport security. I could see myself putting the wrong moleskine in my back pocket and having TSA pull that out with the harddrive and going berserk! Great idea and wonderful pictures and narrative.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM This is simply brilliant.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Just be careful how quickly you flip it open at that meeting ... the drive might flip out, too ... and spill all its pages on the floor.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM I love it!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Yo seria doblemente cuidadoso respecto a la temperatura. Los drives SATA tienden a calentarse bastante rapido, y el punto de ignicion del papel es bastante bajo.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM On that note, did you get a specifically low-heat harddrive (if that is even possible)? Let us know about the heat issue.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM As a suggestion, when using your cut-outs for your password archieve, use a bit of the glue stick to attach under the desk.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Using that moleskine icon for the drive was a stroke of genius
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM The most english you write, the better for the blog, the worst for us the spanish readers. Awesome DIY
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Quite interesting, but I think the design causes serious emc problems. :D But in the end - the look is great ;) Let me guess, there will also be an IPod version ?!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM amazing work!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Won't heat be a problem?
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM haha genius! though I think it might be a bit of a fire risk! I just got a moleskine the otherday for £1!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM This is fantasitic.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Free Bottle of Penis Pills! http://www.milf2007.com Your girlfriend hates your small penis!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM What kind of internal drive did you upgrade your macbook with?
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Beautifully done, I love it!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Me gustó mucho la idea, ya sé que hacer con mis libros viejos.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM nice idea
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM wow, being a trendy sure looks time consuming.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Amazing and Beautiful. I want to make one right now!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Peace people We love you
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM The Pixel Press website is suspended for various reasons, do you think youjcould send me an e-mail (in comment header, I asssume) with a file attached that has the moleskine as its icon? That would be much appreciated.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Sweet idea and great realisation :D You should sell some.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Sweet idea and great realisation :D You should sell some.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Menuda mierda!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM jajaja bastante buenooo, no se te calienta??
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM jajaja I LIKE! ta depinga en serio la vaina men, es el external con mas style que he visto
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM He, he, great stuff! Have you tried contacting Moleskin to see if they would be interested in a joint venture? A whole new product area for them :-)
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Pip, pip! That is amazing, my good man. I simply must have one for myself! I will make many and sell them on Ebay to uncreative people who want to be cool. I LOVE IT. I will make millions of pounds. Cheerio!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM ...this was really a nice solution to a naging problem...cool...
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM this is fantastic. I am soo going to do it.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM I got completely inspired by this idea and off course, I built my own Geekster Moleskine. Thanks for share this idea!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Love the idea ... and look forward to re-build it. But how is the temperature-issue working with the Moleskine-drive?
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Great Job!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM cool.. i want to try laaa....
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM These are awesome. I made one for myself and one for my girlfriend. My girlfriend thought it was "stupid" so I have one for sale if anyone is interested. Just click on my name and email me!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Whoops, forgot my email: milomindrbindr at gmail dot com
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM I can't believe I was just thinking about this last night while I was watching "The Good Shepard". The part at the end where eveyone dies...no kidding, where looks inside the book. I got to thinking about putting an old ibook into a book. It would have to be the size of a dictionary or a large art book. Would look cool on a coffee table... a coffee table iBook :-0. Then I started considering external drives cases too. So cool that you did this. Now I have more motivation to try it too.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM mas geek no se puede!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM perfect
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM I got to thinking about putting an old ibook into a book. It would have to be the size of a dictionary or a large art book. Would look cool on a coffee table... a coffee table iBook
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Enjoy your hard drive failure from all the trapped heat...
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM really fantastic and mindblowing, and good effort
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Really nice! I just hope I can pull this off too! Just purchased the enclosure and the moleskine via internet. Can't wait for it too arrive! Now: I gotta get some work done! Greetings from Holland.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM By the way, a USB-cable from LaCie? Great detail!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Muy divertido, ni MacGyver lo hubiera hecho mejor. ¡Con navaja suiza incluida! XD
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Excelente, simple y fresco ese diseño
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Any fire incidents yet?
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM WOW, my fatcher boght a new computer for me today!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Cool!notebook
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM That's great!
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Love it. Simply genius. Great idea. Going to do it immediately. Thanks
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM It’s very good article. Great site with very good look and perfect information.
January 31st, 2008 09:07 AM Haha, that's awesome
March 27th, 2008 06:45 PM Great gadget. Simple, useful, nice... :-)
March 29th, 2008 07:38 PM this is supposed to be a helpful criticism... In first sentence you write "it's". It's is short for IT IS. I think you meant to type "its"
April 10th, 2008 09:07 AM ABSOLUTE GENIUS - I AM ACTUALLY GOING TO DO IT!
April 22nd, 2008 02:25 AM Thats one sure way to make sure hardrive space doesn't go to waste.
April 26th, 2008 11:25 PM Do you not realize how metrosexual this is? Why am I not surprised you use a mac? The only thing that surprises me is that you would cut up a moleskine. Usually metrosexuals are very reverent about such fetish objects.
May 15th, 2008 06:27 PM Love this idea, better than having some gaudy metal enclosure like some I have seen. -Ezra Hilyer - http://www.straypoetry.com
May 27th, 2008 09:29 AM The drive is gonna get way too hot and die. Nice try though.
June 17th, 2008 04:20 PM First : I'm a french reader, so sorry for my bad english.... Most important : Wonderful idea. Another way to combine my love for books and technology... Thanks, really!!!
October 30th, 2008 01:51 PM wow never see like this it's so cool nbook perfect
November 6th, 2008 09:19 AM Great article and connections. Thanks.
November 11th, 2008 03:20 PM Great i take one:) it nice to inslall in bible
February 9th, 2009 05:38 AM I have to say, I haven't seen anything that cool for a while. It really combines all the great things! And I love that you cut the pages with a (real) Swiss Army knive.
February 24th, 2009 06:19 PM very very good
March 25th, 2009 12:57 PM It's Amazing!
April 19th, 2009 12:06 AM Awesome setup... coming from a computer tech heat can be an issue, however this can be reduced by cutting channels in the pages that remain on top of the drive (especially where the disk's breather hole is located). This way when the notebook is closed, there are a few vents that run from the drive to the long edge of the notebook. Meanwhile there's still enough paper on top there to keep the drive in place. Obviously not as good as aluminum but an improvement anyway.. at least you're giving the enclosure a way for heat to dissipate ;)
April 27th, 2009 08:26 PM good idea... good thinking
May 19th, 2009 09:20 AM You need some balls to do this with the moleskine! Great!
May 29th, 2009 08:40 PM Be very careful about heat issues - not only is paper a much better insulator than aluminium, but it also burns a lot better... Be careful.
June 17th, 2009 03:11 PM This is a great trick, creating an external drive by using an internal drive. Very nice.
August 20th, 2009 11:52 PM I did this a few months ago, and its still working just fine. I feel as though the notebook protects the drive much better than the standard enclosure. They only difference in mine is that I removed a WD Passport from its case and put it into the notebook, as opposed to needing additional parts.
November 10th, 2009 03:02 PM Really nice! I just hope I can pull this off too! Just purchased the enclosure and the moleskine via internet. Can't wait for it too arrive! Now: I gotta get some work done! Greetings from Germany.
November 20th, 2009 01:00 AM I simply love it. Its very stylish and looks good.
December 24th, 2009 06:12 PM i think this is bloody fantastic!!it was a great idea!
February 1st, 2010 10:34 PM You need some balls to do this with the moleskine! Great
February 15th, 2010 09:58 AM AWESOME! I just did it.... It was kinda hard to do it cause my knife wasn't that sharp anymore and I'm definitely getting a blister! but it looks sooo cool. it's just awesome. I still have one open question. I used the logic board of one of my external hard drives. It's still kinda too high so there's a tiny gap (u can see that the book is open a little bit). How did you find out that your logic board is smaller? Usually you can't open the box in the stores so it's probably more trial and error? I guess so. Still looks good! Awesome idea.
March 29th, 2010 12:03 AM That's awesome. I will be doing that with my spare drive, as well. ^_^
June 10th, 2010 11:11 AM Just Great.
June 11th, 2010 04:49 PM What an awesome idea... I will definitely try it out.
July 7th, 2010 04:02 PM my name's blog : [..] dans mon Moleskine (my Moleskine) http://petitscarabee.tumblr.com
July 7th, 2010 04:02 PM my name's blog : [..] dans mon Moleskine (my Moleskine) http://petitscarabee.tumblr.com
July 8th, 2010 03:12 AM qué dirían los grandes escritores y artistas de eso?
July 26th, 2010 08:13 PM Brilliant. I want one for sure.