Mounting the Wild Mac Mini

[DurocShark]

My church just bought 32 Mac Minis to use with the Promethean smartboards in the classrooms. Of course, Apple changed the dimensions of the Mini this summer, making all the available wall mounts obsolete. Nobody currently has one available for the new Mini. "A few months..." is what we hear.

So I decided to make my own. Less than $10 in materials per mount, and it matches all the oak in the building. A t-nut and a set screw hold the mini securely in place. Self-adhesive foam in the bottom and hardboard between the set screw and the mini protect it from harm. The cable ports are exposed on one end, the optical drive slot exposed on the other. Finished in BLO with shellac and lacquer. We'll probably have to use a darker stain to match the finish on the rest of the building, but it's pretty darn close. And I don't have anything else handy...

Ideally, these will be mounted to sliding mounts so they can be slid behind the whiteboards most of the time, while allowing them to be slid out for access to the USB ports. But if not, a pair of WallDog screws will hold it securely to the wall. (Those holes are not in this prototype.) If this gets approved, a co-worker and I will be making 32 of 'em.

 

[1dweeb]

Great job and a great little computer.

 

[bitshird]

Nice job, those look cool.

 

[alphageek]

VERY nice!!! Bet they will look GREAT installed!

 

[DurocShark]

Got the approval. Found some really cool cheap slides too ($4 a pair!!!). Too bad, less than half of the installations can take advantage... Too much crap too close to the smartboards.

It's already expanding though. Apple AirPort base stations wall mounts. And I've got a friend who wants one in padauk for an Apple TV box to put next to his big arse plasma.

Ima gonna be BUSY!

 

[Pens By Scott]

Back in university, my Micro-controllers prof always told us that electronics and wood should never be mixed. I think back to the days with the vacuum tube radios, they were wonderful, the wood working, the trim and then the components and sound, fabulous. During his class, I made it my mission to include wood in any of my projects for his classes and labs. :wink:

This takes me back to my university days, it looks fabulous and it's great to see wood and technology coming back together!

 

[Rfturner]

congrats by the way not sure if you thought about it but try adding a few air holes to help the computers stay cooler, I am sure that $14 in supplies is much cheaper than anything out there for other wall mounts

 

[DurocShark]

In this case, the airflow is through the optical drive slot and out the back. The mount doesn't impact the thermal environment at all. These things are gonna be on all day long, so I made sure.

Yeah, MUCH cheaper, though by the time we add my labor, it's almost a wash. A whole lot cooler looking though!