Worklog Shank's "First" Wii Portable Worklog: PiiWii Pocket

[pengy]

Hey shank. Do you have any internal pics of this thing? I'd love to see it, especially the inside of that front panel. I want to see how people keep buttons from spinning when they use this case method on polycases.

 

[Shank]

Yea, I can do that for you! I finished it up but haven't gotten around to posting pictures. I will warn you, although it's pretty on the outside, the insides are pretty spaghetti.

@Gman is the one to talk to about mounting buttons. He showed me the ropes

 

[Gman]

Hey shank. Do you have any internal pics of this thing? I'd love to see it, especially the inside of that front panel. I want to see how people keep buttons from spinning when they use this case method on polycases.

The easiest way is to use squishy tacts and super glue the button onto the tact so that way it doesn't spin. I started on making a guide for it a while ago but I haven't gotten around to finishing it. Anyway here are some pictures to illustrate my method https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kro1PO_gr8p4woXDwAkyDOZ1idjpg1CoFKvXYZ6w0bw/edit?usp=sharing

 

[pengy]

Ah, thanks gman. I tried superglue once and it didn't work for me but I will definitely try it again if I do another polycase build. What kind of plastic is the black stuff, looks like there's a thin and a thick type there.

Where's those pics at shank! Lol

 

[Gman]

Ah, thanks gman. I tried superglue once and it didn't work for me but I will definitely try it again if I do another polycase build. What kind of plastic is the black stuff, looks like there's a thin and a thick type there.

Where's those pics at shank! Lol

It's styrene. I used the thin stuff for holding the buttons in and the thicker for the actual mounting pieces

 

[Luke]

I want to see how people keep buttons from spinning when they use this case method on polycases.

When I do this I cut the piece out of the controller that's shaped like a ring with grooves that keeps the buttons from spinning and sand the top down so it's literally just that ring, and glue that under the hole. It works pretty well.

 

[Matthew]

When I do this I cut the piece out of the controller that's shaped like a ring with grooves that keeps the buttons from spinning and sand the top down so it's literally just that ring, and glue that under the hole. It works pretty well.

I seriously just thought: why the heck didn't I think of this?

 

[pengy]

I've done that before, it can be tough to get it just right but it can work, though it is thicker by a chunk than gmans method.

 

[Luke]

I've done that before, it can be tough to get it just right but it can work, though it is thicker by a chunk than gmans method.

nah, it's not any thicker. the bottom of the button still rests on the top of the tact switch.

 

[pengy]

It is at least a little bit thicker because not only can you not sand the buttons down, you have to maintain a little bit of the thickness of the ring above the channels to keep the ring together. But the difference overall might be in the realm of 2-3 so I guess not that significant. However depending what your controller is your buttons might stick out quite a bit, some controllers have obnoxiously deep buttons.

 

[Luke]

Unless I'm mistaken, sanding the buttons down/cutting them in half with a dremel only decreases the amount the buttons protrude outside the case, not inward, and you're right about having to maintiain some amount of thickness to keep the ring together, but we're talking like a fraction of a mm.

So yeah, not nothing I suppose, but basically negligible?

 

[pengy]

Yeah, pretty close to nothing. I would say 1mm

I just can't stand when buttons stick out all funny!

 

[Luke]

Haha. I didn't even realize that that method makes buttons protrude farther than normal. It hasn't been noticeable for me, at least. Maybe the rings I extracted were already thin to begin with.

 

[Shank]

Finished this a while back, but never got around to updating it due to occupation IRL. The internals didn't come out quite as clean as I hoped, but the case is excellent. I crammed 4 cells into this thing, and regret not doing 2, because of how difficult and messy it was to wire. On the surface, it looks calm and ready, but on the inside its moms spaghetti. Its currently the smallest wii portable in the world (sorry @Gman), but I hope to be beat. It isn't perfect, or everything I wanted it to be, but I think its decent for a first portable. Ill post internals if I can find the time to open it up, but its not pretty.

It features:
Laser Cut SL57 for a pocket sized portable
3.5" screen
4 3400mah Panasonic cells @14.8v (for fast charging)
OMGWTF cut with portablizemii
Dual USB ports
Full range 3DS slider circuitry
Custom audio amp made by @Aurelio
Internal sensor bar with switch
2 different plug types for charging and power for wiitard proof charge and play
Bluetooth for wii games
Real gamecube buttons
Dual tact PS2 shoulder buttons
internal rumble motor with 3 mode selection (off-3v-5v)

 

[pengy]

Let's see the deets on the heat sink yo also that portable is too big imo

 

[coalersberg]

Looks good! That thing is so small!

 

[Kojo]

Smaller than the GC controller! I thought it'd have to be bigger with an internal sensor bar. Awesome work!

 

[Noah]

Nice job!

 

[Gman]

I hold a stock SL57 in my hand and then look at this and I am like how in the fuck...

 

[Shank]

FILES RELEASED!

A surprisingly large number of people have requested vectors and to purchase cases from me. Unfortunately, I have sold all of my spare cases, and have no plans to make more. I thought I had lost the vectors, but I actually found them a few days ago on an old flash drive! I spent this evening going through the files and cleaning them up for release! In this folder are the vectors in native and exported formats, along with other goodies like instructions, original concept art, and more. If you have a laser, and want to make your own, this folder should contain everything you need. Enjoy!