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Are Mac CRTs laminated?
- Thread starter ben68
- Start date
I think they're not laminated and unfortunately, the only way to get the CRT look with an LCD is to cut its face off with the diamond cutter you mentioned.
That's what I wanted to do for my Macintosh Classic IIIc™ mod... but I don't know if the glass itself is crystal clear or if it looks like bathroom privacy glass once you remove the old phosphor... There's only one way to find out.
That's what I wanted to do for my Macintosh Classic IIIc™ mod... but I don't know if the glass itself is crystal clear or if it looks like bathroom privacy glass once you remove the old phosphor... There's only one way to find out.
I just saw on think classic a similar thread started a couple of weeks ago by someone with an oddly similar name, I guess that's you ;D
I don't know where you found that link but it's super useful. So now we know it's possible to re-use that CRT. Well, I guess we better get grinding!
Oh and by the way, do you have a dead CRT? I hope you're not planning on using a good one! That would be sacrilege.
NB: If you are looking for a nice 9/10 inch color LCD that fits nicely inside the case, look no further
I don't know where you found that link but it's super useful. So now we know it's possible to re-use that CRT. Well, I guess we better get grinding!
Oh and by the way, do you have a dead CRT? I hope you're not planning on using a good one! That would be sacrilege.
NB: If you are looking for a nice 9/10 inch color LCD that fits nicely inside the case, look no further
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IIRC, the glass is not clear, it has a neutral density filter effect which isn't so bad for a Jukebox, but not great for general use.
I've had an inexpensive wet tile saw sitting here unused for several years that I'll be jigging up a couple of CRTs to run across at some point. One's for the Classic hack that'll use a projector (with additional neutral density filtering and pincushion lens distortion applied) to put an image onto its etch cream matted CRT rear projection screen. The dimming of the CRT's glass is a plus in that application.
Someone here did a wonderful job of creating a black plastic fillet to mate flat LCD and curved bezel, so that's one solution.
I've got a thread somewhere about my first pass at vacuum forming a clear plexi "CRT face" over the original. Expected failures ensued, but promising results for building a proper vacuum forming setup were achieved along with intentionally induced exaggeration of one epic fail I set up on the AppleDisplay in said Classic as the ChernobylMac©. [
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I'm all but certain that a properly vacuum formed face coupled with matching, properly formed fillet will be the best/near best approach to LCD installation hacks.
I've had an inexpensive wet tile saw sitting here unused for several years that I'll be jigging up a couple of CRTs to run across at some point. One's for the Classic hack that'll use a projector (with additional neutral density filtering and pincushion lens distortion applied) to put an image onto its etch cream matted CRT rear projection screen. The dimming of the CRT's glass is a plus in that application.
Someone here did a wonderful job of creating a black plastic fillet to mate flat LCD and curved bezel, so that's one solution.
I've got a thread somewhere about my first pass at vacuum forming a clear plexi "CRT face" over the original. Expected failures ensued, but promising results for building a proper vacuum forming setup were achieved along with intentionally induced exaggeration of one epic fail I set up on the AppleDisplay in said Classic as the ChernobylMac©. [
] ]'>I'm all but certain that a properly vacuum formed face coupled with matching, properly formed fillet will be the best/near best approach to LCD installation hacks.
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Yes - that would be good - even better would be someone with glass experience who can produce curved screen faces - I don't know how hard that would be, but it doesn't seem like it would be too hard to do.
Dang - that's pretty close! Hm - now you've got me thinking about forming Plexiglas.
Or... They make a rear projection screen spray that you can coat the back of the CRT with and use a pico LED projector. At that point, it would look genuine. And color 
Sweet, got linkage to that spray? I wonder if etched matting or the spray would be better? It's too bad my pico projector sounds like a small jet engine, but it will put a color image on a CRT from within the confines of the bucket.
I can get etching liquid or cream for less than 1/10th that . . . frosted glass will work just fine!
Picked up a little 9" or 10" Sears brand portable TV at a thrift today for $6 on the off chance the screen is laminated. Probably not because there's a plastic screen protector. Good thing too, it has a couple of gouges on the side that might have taken out the CRT. If it were in decent shape I probably wouldn't kill it. [}
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Picked up a little 9" or 10" Sears brand portable TV at a thrift today for $6 on the off chance the screen is laminated. Probably not because there's a plastic screen protector. Good thing too, it has a couple of gouges on the side that might have taken out the CRT. If it were in decent shape I probably wouldn't kill it. [}
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I havent seen a laminated CRT any newer than the 70s to be honest. they were much much more common in the 50s/60s.
Or you could sandblast it and do the same thing, plus plus plus.
It would look more realistic if the CRT face was still there and a projection unit could work with it. JMHO
to reduce the throw distance, double-mirror it.
It would look more realistic if the CRT face was still there and a projection unit could work with it. JMHO
to reduce the throw distance, double-mirror it.
Still don't know who will do it for me (Never had a saw of any kind in my hands...I better let a professional do it.) but I think I'm gonna go with the "cut the CRT in half with the diamond cutter" option. I already have a dead candidate in the basement with a broken base. So I ain't loosing anything... What is dead is dead.
The question now is where exactly do I need to cut?
I'd say about where the left arrow is, what do you guys think?
The idea would be to use the face of the CRT to hide the LCD + its mount (with the same method galgot used in his mod) as well as the funnel to hide all the LCD electronics inside. Get a red VGA header cable and route the video cable through the anode cap. If possible, sacrifice a yoke (it would have to be broken as well. Maybe I could salvage one from a dead TV or something) and route the power cable through there.
I think I'm going to try to get in touch with James Colby (the guy who modded the Mac Mini into his Mac Classic) first though. In the article, the reviewer says it could be used for a full blown mac, not just with a jukebox. But what does the original owner and modder has to say about that?
If the glass is still too opaque I'll go with plexi instead.
Yes, the projector would look a lot nicer from the outside, I totally agree with that, but from the inside... it wouldn't look good, at all. It all depends on what you want to do with your machine.
The question now is where exactly do I need to cut?
I'd say about where the left arrow is, what do you guys think?
The idea would be to use the face of the CRT to hide the LCD + its mount (with the same method galgot used in his mod) as well as the funnel to hide all the LCD electronics inside. Get a red VGA header cable and route the video cable through the anode cap. If possible, sacrifice a yoke (it would have to be broken as well. Maybe I could salvage one from a dead TV or something) and route the power cable through there.
I think I'm going to try to get in touch with James Colby (the guy who modded the Mac Mini into his Mac Classic) first though. In the article, the reviewer says it could be used for a full blown mac, not just with a jukebox. But what does the original owner and modder has to say about that?
If the glass is still too opaque I'll go with plexi instead.
Yes, the projector would look a lot nicer from the outside, I totally agree with that, but from the inside... it wouldn't look good, at all. It all depends on what you want to do with your machine.
Don't know anyone with a sandblasting rig, but that's the backup plan for a fix if etching doesn't work. Pretty sure I saw a cheap one at Harbor Freight if I can't find a glass shop to have it done.
Used a closeup lens for the test, worked great, got a bit stronger/wider diameter lens for the project off ebay. Pulled condenser lenses along with the front surface surface mirrors from a pair of thrifted overhead projectors. Need to set up an optical bench to work out pincushion distortion to square up barrel distortion that'll be induced by the curvature of the CRT surface.
Now that floofies has worked out the 630 (hopefully 6500) ATX conversion for me, it's about time to pick up where I left off umpteen years ago. [
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