EDITOR: David Kroll

    I also used a large log and a cut small log as a beam going across the roof.  I needed a center beam to attach the roofing to.  All of the small blocks that you see sticking out of the cabin are actually small blocks cut in half.  I really have to stop here and thank my cousin Luke for all his help and insight.  He single handedly cut all one million small logs in half and hammered the bracket, there by saving the world…  Or at least saving me from carpal tunnel syndrome.  J  I wanted to cut them in half for two reasons: 1. I needed the inside walls smooth and 2.  I didn’t have enough of them.  My fiancé, Kristi, to whom I will be married to in less than two weeks, always seems to be there helping out huh?  She glued in all the little half pieces for me.  How many other guys can say their women help them with their hobbies? Only the lucky ones...  Now that I’m done with sucking up, I also glued the two chimney pieces together that came with the set.  I tried to boar a hole in the center, but ended up tearing it to pieces.  I cheated a little and built a new one out of some 2"x4".  I wired a red super-bright LED inside the chimney.  This chimney is hooked to my HD activity light, in the hopes that it will flicker like a fire. The exhaust from the PSU is ducted out the chimney via a modified funnel attached under said chimney.  I also attached some dark-green tulle to the chimney.   This tulle waves in the PSU exhaust and really catches the HD light flicker.  The roof is solidly attached to one layer of the wall logs.  The rest of the logs are all attached to each other, and in turn attached to a quarter inch plywood base.  I stained the base and chimney to match.  Access to the innards is easily accomplished by lifting the roof from the body of the cabin.

(11) The cut small pieces	(15) Chimney w/tulle	(16) Best wood sculptor anywhere!

    I also had some steel brackets I got from DJ WyattJAM, a buddy of mine.  The bracket was hammered and bent into a “C” shape.  The ends have small flanges with witch to attach it to the base.  It may not look pretty, but it sure does the job!  The slot-loading DVD drive sits on the bracket.  I chose slot loading on the suggestion of Mr. Perry, yet another friend of mine.  A slot loading drive works much like a car CD player; it sucks them in and spits them out.  The DVDs feed in between logs.  The button lined up perfectly with one of the small logs that go into cabin, so I used a shaved down small log as a button extension.  I used some felt like material I had left over from Aunt Hagar’s Mini to line the opening in front of the DVD drive…  We don’t want any scratches on those movies now do we?  Like in my last mini, I used a bungee cord to hold the drive snugly against the wall.  Then, the PSU sits on top of the drive. 

(12) Anger management tool	(13) Managed	(14) Let that anger go!

(17) Shot of the bracket in action	(19) How it all fits

The hard drive lies on its side towards the front of the cabin.  I glued an extra roof piece that I had left over next to the HD to hold it into place.  I then glued one of the half-small pieces in front of the drive to keep it from sliding.

(18) What a tight…err… cozy fit

    This next section is all about wiring up the various parts of the cabin.  I purchased a Chieftec wireless mouse and keyboard set. (Schweet bluuuuue color!)  The receiver is built into the front of the cabin.  I removed the factory antenna and used a larger piece of wire to replace it.  The new antenna is the blue wire running around the perimeter of the cabin.  I went to the shack (Radio Shack) to try and find some plugs that would fit onto the Motherboard pins for HD light, power light, etc., but they told me they just don’t sell anything like that.  The little hamster inside my head started running.  I ended up using the audio cable that runs from the CD-Rom drive to the analog-in on a sound card to wire into the Motherboard pins.  I hooked up the power button, HD, and power this way.  Also, the Epia M series Motherboard has one RCA type connecter on the Motherboard.  Using a jumper you can select whether this RCA will be analog video-out or digital audio out.  I wanted the ability to EASILY select between the two.  As I’m sure you can tell everything fits inside the cabin pretty tight, so there was no way I could get my hands in there.  What I did to remedy this was to take the shunt off of the jumpers and throw it away.  I took one of the aforementioned audio cables and cut it in half.  I wired it to a DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) switch.  I then stuck the audio cables on the jumpers.  Now I can select between audio and video without having to open the case!  The PSU power connecter had to be extended so that it could be mounted on top of the DVD drive.  I simply soldered some extensions to it.

(20) HD on right. Wireless receiver bottom	(21) Homemade jumper switch