Embossing a Moleskin With Gears

As we all know, there are more than 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer . The possibilities are infinite. Yet, let's be frank for a moment, not all of these infinite things are going to be good. That is why I made a couple dozen extra projects while writing the book. Most of them were failures which will never see the light of day, but a few stood out as worthwhile projects.

One such project is embossing a notebook with gears. The execution of the project was not the greatest and I was never really happy with the fact that you never really technically ended up with anything new made out of old computers. Nonetheless, it did make into the book as a footnote to project 4, as something you can do with all of those extra gears.

Anyhow, here are some full instructions for embossing a notebook using gears, when starting with a dead optical disc drive.

You will need:

1) A broken CD or DVD drive
2) A moleskin notebook
3) A table vise
4) A C-Clamp (or two)
5) Two wooden boards slightly bigger than your notebook
6) A Phillips screwdriver
7) A computer tower or chair

Disassemble your CD drive until you have located the laser diode mechanism. Remove the ribbon cable connected to the laser’s circuit board to use later as a bookmark.

Remove the gears from the laser diode assembly.

Trim the hubs off the gears so that they are completely flat.

Arrange the gears on your moleskin notebook as you wish for them to appear. Make sure that the trimmed side is facing up. The clean side of the gears should be flush against the surface of the notebook.

Sandwich your notebook and gears between two pieces of wood. When you do this, be careful as to not move the gears.

Clamp your sandwiched notebook using your table vise. Also attach a C-clamp or two to such that they provide uniform pressure over the surface of the wood.

Wait 30 minutes to an hour.

Remove the clamps from your notebook. Insert the ribbon cable bookmark and admire your creation.