Today we are going to discuss Painting a DVD-RW drive. First we must get the formalities out of the way. I nor OCmodshop are responsible for anything you break, burn or otherwise destroy when attempting to duplicate what is described here. You take sole credit for your actions, mistakes, destroyed property and dead kittens. That said; let’s talk for a second about safety. Most of the serious injuries I have incurred over the years have come from one tool, the deadly X-acto knife. Take you time when using this tool. Always cut away from yourself. Every time you do something stupid with you X-acto knife God kills a kitten. The victim: A new Sony DVD-RW drive.
Tool list
To get a professional quality finish on you spanking new DVD-RW drive you will need the following pieces of equipment: A Philips head screwdriver, masking tape (3M brand preferably), an X-acto knife or razor blade and some fence wire or “bailing” wire. Fence wire can be purchased as most hardware stores 30 feet for about a 1$. Any good painter should have a roll of stiff wire around for their painting projects, and the paint of your choice of course. I like to use Rust-oleum’s “Painter Choice” brand. You will also need a scotch bright pad to scuff the plastic parts.
Disassembly
These First two steps can be considered optional if you are not painting the drives shell or you may not need to open the drive to get the tray and face plate off. Start by checking out the bottom of your DVD-RW drive. There should be 4 small Phillips head screws. Most name brand drive makers will use this type of assembly. Remove those screws and put them in a safe place.
Now remove the bottom plate and set it aside. Some drives have the their guts attached to the top, some the bottom, adjust yourself accordingly and keep up.
Next we must open the drive door and remove the door’s cover so we can take off the face plate. There should be a small hole in the front of your drive. Insert a piece of your wire or an unfolded paper clip into that hole and push till the drive door pops open. The door’s cover can be removed by pulling out on it a little from the bottom and pushing up a bit. This door is in 2 pieces one will remain stock. So I separated the pieces and put the silver cover aside.
Now we must take off the face plate. Every drive I have ever taken apart has had 2 or 3 little tabs like those pictured below. One on the left and right and sometimes one on the top or bottom of the drive. Use a piece of your bailing wire or a toothpick to push those tabs in slightly to free the face plate from the drive
The last part that has to come off can be a bit tricky. Many different drive makers use a different version of what I am about to describe. The drive tray is ridding on a rack of gear teeth, like rack and pinion steering on a car. As the tray slides out it is stopped by a clip or pin on the back of the tray. Pictured below is the tab from this drive, yours may vary slightly. To release this tray all you have to do slide the tray out as far as it will go, push down slightly on the front of the tray and push slightly up on the back of it. If you are having trouble you may need to remove the entire guts from the metal shell and get a closer look.
The end result of any kind of paint job is the sum of it’s prep work. The amount of time you take doing these steps right is direct in proportion to the quality of your paint job. Plastic parts need to be washed thoroughly. I use Ajax dish soap because it will cut grease very well. I like to get the washing and scuffing done in one step. Take a red scotch bright pad and give your plastic parts a good washing in warm soapy water. The scotch bright will scratch the surface enough to allow the paint to stick better. Sanding won’t be needed and really wont do much good on parts like the tray, but you will need to sand the front bezel with 600 grit if your bezel is textured and you want a gloss mirror finish in the end. If you have hard water in your area don’t let the parts air dry, dry them by hand.
Now we must do a little masking. The bottom of the tray has some areas that touch moving parts. It is important to keep paint away from these areas. In the photo below you can see The gear teeth and some “tracks” that must be masked off. Your drive tray may vary a bit, but you should be able to pick out these areas quite easily.
The front open/close button must also have a little masking done. The design of this drive calls for it, some may not. Sticky open/close buttons are a common error when painting cd/ dvd drives. You can avoid such a fluke by filing the hole for the button a bit prior to painting. This will remove enough plastic so there is room for the paint and the button to live happily ever after. You may also want to file the inside area for the door. This to can become sticky because the paint layer makes it too tight. If, after all your careful work you still end up with a tray that sticks here is an old cabinet makers trick for sticky drawers.(..and get your mind out of the gutter). Get some bar soap that is not wet or damp and gently rub it on the area that is a bit sticky. The soap acts as a no drip and safe for paint lubricant.
The last bit of prep is simple enough. For multisided and complex shapes like our DVD drive tray you are going to want to hang it while painting. This allows you almost 360 degrees of movement so as not to miss any spots. This is where your 99 cent bailing wire comes in. Find a spot that is not going to be visible when the tray is installed and loop your wire through it. Leave yourself about a foot of wire after the loop so you can hang the part easily when you are done spraying it. If you are short on places to hang parts you can make a high-tech drying stand like the one pictured below.
At the last minute I decided to paint the 2 door tabs pictured below with the same blue anodizing spray I used on all the hardware of the Fractal Shuttle mod. Small parts can be a major pain. I like to stick them to a piece of tape and then stick the tape to my painting area so the parts done get blown away when spraying.
Now it is time for the money shot. The last thing you should always do before painting is wipe the parts down with a soft dry cloth. Look for finger prints you may have left and wipe those off too. Use some canned air (or a compressor like I have) to blow any lint or dust off right before you spray. Painting is the easy part. Keep the can 8-10 inches away and lay down very light coats about 5 minutes apart. You should be able to see through the first coat in some places. 3 very light coats will give you just the right coverage. Because the tray is hanging down on a wire, start by painting it from bottom to top, twisting and moving it or walking around it to get all the tight areas. Paint the area around the wire last. When painting the bezel, start by spraying the sides first the front of it. The reason for this is you don’t want to lay down a great coat of paint on the top then spray the sides and get overspray in the coat on the front. Allow the paint 24 hours to dry. Some paint companies will say you can handle it in 1 hour, don’t be tempted by this. You will have to handle these parts a bit rough to get it all back together and if the paint is just a bit soft you will leave fingerprints in it forever.
Putting it all back together
So you waited a day before touching any of the parts right? Now it is time to see the work pay off. If you took it apart you should be able to put it back together with out to much trouble. If not go back and read the guide again… If you have any parts that seem a bit sticky in operation try the soap trick I mentioned earlier. The final results are always worth all the attention to detail.
Conclusion
To sum up, careful preparation and attention to detail are the real secrets to quality results when modding. Painting seems glamorous until it hits you that all the work is in the prep. The actual painting takes only minutes. Most of the mods around are rushed and poorly planned. You can avoid adding yourself to that list of mundane mods by remembering to take your time and follow a plan. With a little patience and planning you too can wow with your modding skill.