Burning a NeXT Magnesium Cube | Hacker News Reader

Burning a NeXT Magnesium Cube

simson.net

96 pointsaaronjg20 comments

Too bad they didn't take video. For more images, be sure not to miss the link at the top of the page to the album: http://picasaweb.google.com/nitrobaphotos/NeXTCubeFireAtLLL

I missed that link, but thanks for re-posting it here. The real life photos filled in the gaps of the pictures I visualized in my head while reading the story.

Very cool and I can relate as we all have an old computer case in closet somewhere.

The case in your closet probably is not made of pure magnesium. That was the point of the burn.

the NeXT case was also not made of pure magnesium

Okay, what else was in it? And let's leave things like decals and paint off the list.

  > magnesium alloy which is specially designed to be difficult to ignite

The story doesn't say what else was in it, but feel free to support the claim that the box was made of pure Mg and not an alloy, modulo things such as decals and paint.

Video captured on a second cube with a NeXTdimension board would have been fitting.

utterly clueless; the NeXTdimension didn't do video.

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The compression daughterboard didnt get finished, but that was the point of the device. I know, I own one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkvQ-BJD2rU

And sanding & polishing one:

pheatonforums.com is gone, but the 1st page of the project journal is on archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/20031011104839/http://www.pheaton...

The directory of photos is still available: http://planetcasemod.com/NeXT/ http://planetcasemod.com/NeXT/Polish/bathroom.JPG http://planetcasemod.com/NeXT/Polish/done1.JPG

And the UBB-code version of some of the posts to the board: http://www.planetcasemod.com/NeXT/Back/back.txt http://planetcasemod.com/Phones/buffinghowto.txt http://www.planetcasemod.com/NeXT/Front/Finished.txt

The magnesium "tarnishes" and requires monthly polishing. Sealing is "not the same as raw metal" http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1028300977&postcount...

I have mixed feelings about this. However, the work itself is great. Well done!

Why do this?

Fun? Curiosity?

I don't think it would be fun to burn down a Frank Lloyd Wright house or a 1963 Sting Ray coupé or smashing a Braun SK-4 turntable or a Beolit 39 radio.

There are objects that embody more than their function and the NeXT cube is one of them.

It's sad that someone derives pleasure from the destruction of such beautiful objects. I am glad there are people who preserve them for future generations, but only so many of them were ever built. When the last one is destroyed, what will we have? A small, but beautiful, part of our past will be gone forever.

For each their own man, don't expect other people to adhere to your idea of fun.

But lets put this into some perspective. He's not burning down a one off Frank Lloyd Wright, he light two mass produced computer cases on fire. There are plenty more people out there who cherish the things. It's not like lighting these things on fire is some sort of genocidal fad. Fuck, I know a guy with a pallet of the things.

This was not done when the Cube had established itself in design history. I believe Simson Garfunkel was doing this as part of an article for NeXTWorld Magazine or some such. It is a very old picture.

I think I owe him an apology. It's much easier to do something like it when the machines are still being built.

http://simson.net/hacks/cubefire.html

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