Ipad Juke Box - MAKE IT GLOW CHALLENGE

Hi,

I built this juke box for my lovely wife a while back. She re-decorated our breakfast nook with 50's stuff, so a juke box seemed like a good addition.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/ provided a great deal of inspiration. Unfortunately, no pics were taken during my build, so I'm publishing the end results. Feel free to contact me, I'll be happy to answer any questions wrt to this project.

The juke box is powered by an IPAD ( if you guys vote for me, hopefully, it will be powered by a first prize - IPAD2). IPAD drives a simple stereo system (an amplifier, a couple of speakers and a subwoofer) via an RCA cable.

The entire jukebox was made out of material found in any home improvement store. The case was made out of MDF. The surface was covered with cabinet laminate. It seemed like a perfect material due to its flexibility and strength. I built a housing for IPAD - sort of a door with a cavity routed inside. Three old records was used for a decoration and to tie the the jukebox to the rest of the breakfast nuke. To create an illusion of chrome decorations, I cut pieces out of wood and spay painted them silver. Also, I cut out a few small pieces out of tin cans for decorations - they bent easily into desired shapes and almost looked chromed.

The thing that GLOWs is lights - nice Christmas LED lights. I used two strands to make sure the juke box was bright.

The most challenging part of that project was a manufacturing of the the curved light covers. I used white industrial light covers, they might also be called light diffusers. They come in ~ 2 x 4 sheets in any home improvement store. The sheets cracked too easily when I tried cutting them with a saw. So I used a box cutter to score the smooth side and then broke it. Superglue was used to glue the pieces together.

My plan is to build a bigger and better juke box in a distant future. The improvements will include a nicer sound system - possibly tube amps, and molded plastic for the light covers. I will also not pigeon hole myself into IPAD only - I'll make sure any iphone, droid or blackberry ( anything that can accept an RCA jack) can be used.

Please, vote for my project. Thanks!!