How hard is it to make Ben's CNC PS1P...

scaramanga_goldengun · Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:22 pm

...if you have no electronic or soldering knowledge at all? I'm interested in making myself a portable, since now I have both the time and the money, but I have no experience with electronics and the such. I don't want to spend time or money trying to do an older console, which some people say is easier, because I don't have any games older than PS1 games, which I have plenty of now.

TheOnlyOneHeFears · Post by **TheOnlyOneHeFears** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:27 am

Case-wise it's very easy, as all you're doing is gluing side walls to plates etc. You obviously have to have access to a router or laser engraver though.

Electronics-wise, I would say it's relatively tough. I havn't done it myself, but you have to extend the disk drive's ribbon cable, which looks very fiddly and precise. Apart from that, most of the other stuff is pretty straight forward.

If you've done no soldering or anything before, I wouldn't recommend the PS1p as a first portable. You could try a NOACp or a few little mods on existing consoles to practise your skills.

Website · Post by **Life of Brian** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 7:55 am

Assuming you have Ben's book then you should be good to go. I started out doing the handbuilt SNESp from Ben's book and now I can pretty much put one together without having to reference anything. Gotta start somewhere, so I say go for it

The PSOne is a fairly easy system to make into a portable, with the exception of figuring out what to do with the laser/CD assembly. But since you'd be following Ben's plans, then it shouldn't be a problem at all. Just practice soldering and desoldering on a couple of pieces of junk electronics and you should have all the experience needed to make a portable.

Rellizate · Post by **Rellizate** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:12 am

Extending the cd ribbon cable is almost impossible. I know an electrical engeneerer (sp?) and they found it tough.

scaramanga_goldengun · Sat Apr 07, 2007 11:30 am

Well, I guess I'll do it then. I just have two questions:

1. Is the ribbon cable replaceable if I accidentally break it? And where can I buy it?

2. Where can I buy a good soldering set? I don't have any of the supplies for soldering, so I might need a "Master Kit" or something like that, and I don't know which one is good and/or cheap. I don't want to spend too much on the soldering set, and if it is pretty expensive, I might just end up borrowing a set from a friend.

Website · Post by **Life of Brian** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:18 pm

1. I have no idea

2. I recommend starting out with a Radio Shack soldering iron, a 15 watt one with a slim tip. They only cost $8 if I remember correctly so it's a good way to get started. If you decide you need something nicer than that after you have some experience then that's cool. I'm still using the first one I bought a year and a half ago. The only "maintenance" you have to do with the cheap Radio Shack ones is just buying a new tip every once in a while, and that's not expensive at all. I also recommend getting their desoldering iron with that red rubber bulb to suck up the solder. It works great as well. Again, not expensive at all.

My birthday is coming up so maybe I should ask for a nice soldering station

TheOnlyOneHeFears · Post by **TheOnlyOneHeFears** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 1:04 am

1. The ribbon cable is easily the most annoying part of the project. You can't buy it as such, but you can replace it with another ribbon cable from another PSOne, but this means that you have to buy another PSOne

According to Ben, original model PSPaving Slabs from around 1995-1996 have a really long ribbon cable which you can use as a replacement or an extension. It's certainly easier than trying to extend the ribbon cable yourself.

2. What joe said