When it’s a camouflaged storage box.

It took me years of careful deliberation before I could gut one of my 410 Data Cassette Recorders. I finally came to the conclusion that I wasn't going to replace the belts just so I could play "Sammy the Sea Serpent". Why not put the case to good use and have it out on display?

My original thought was to turn it into a bank. Put a coin in front of the cassette door and have a hand reach out and grab the coin. Then I couldn't believe how nicely a tray from my jewelry box fit into the bottom but my wife wasn't sure if she wanted it on the dresser(or maybe she was). I just ended up putting some felt in the bottom and some dividers for general use. I'm going to organize a collection of thumb drives, flash drives, Sony memory sticks, SD cards and a reader.

What ever it was going to become, I wanted it to look like a functioning 410 Recorder when the top was closed.

These are some photos taken as the build progressed.

1. Opened up 410. Removed four screws on the bottom.

2. Remove guts.

3. Salvage parts. I used the supply spindle and take-up spindle and tape counter.

4. Remove inside plastic pegs and supports that are in the way. Dremel tool and sand paper.

5. Trim the spindle shafts and super glue the parts together. Then insert them into the cassette holder from the bottom and glued. (I trimmed the disks for no good reason and don't think I would do it again.) After a cassette was placed in the holder, the tooth picks are jammed into the latches to keep the cassette door from opening.

6. Simulate the counter. Place the counter on your scanner and make a decent copy of the wheels. (use some white paper as a mask to save some ink). Cut out the numbers and tape in place. The push button was made by gluing a piece of scrap plastic over the hole, trim off a length of the black button and glue it in place.

7. Double sided tape is holding the felt in place and some dividers make of Jumbo Popsicle Sticks were cut, glued and placed on the felt.

Now that I think about it, maybe I should take out the felt and sticks and mount a SIO2SD unit inside. Then rig the cassette keys as navigation buttons. I wonder how the display would look mounted in the cassette door.?