Alternate Boost Containers Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[teknojo]

Howdy!

I have read a of a few people having trouble finding the altoids gum container that fits the project so well. I did too. Looked in a bunch of shops all over Ventura and San Diego California as well as a bunch in the Philadelphia area with no luck.

I started looking around for alternatives but only found one possibly suitable and that was after I had finished making a container. The Wii gum container looks like it is the appropriate width though it has a significant amount of length that may need filling.

What I decided to go with was leather. I had a bunch laying about and decided to see what I could do. It turned out pretty good for a first rough run. I think I will make another with a good stain and better stitching but this has worked like a charm thus far. I posted some images of it on Flickr:





I have a pattern for it if folks are interested.

-J.R.

[teknojo]

Hmm... image links seem to have failed.

I will try an upload of the images instead.

Minty Boost Leather Container Front CU reduced.jpg (46.84 KiB) Viewed 7233 times

Minty Boost Leather Container Interior 1 Reduced.jpg (69.26 KiB) Viewed 7233 times

Tell me what you think.

[teknojo]

Pictures reduced to normally viewable size woot!

Full size images are available on my Flickr account. Search people for Teknojo and look under my Maker file if you are interested.

[len17]

I like the embossed power symbol. :)

[teknojo]

Thanks!

[teknojo]

Ha! Found some!

I found five Altoids gum tins on clearance at a Right Aid! So I get to experiment with the correct container and see how it compares to my made ones. Nifty!

[hecamon]

Here is what I did once I realized that obtaining the proper case would take a few days to a week.

I am kind of happy that I did not find the Altoid gum case, as now I will have the cord with me at all times. I also was able to keep the usb adapter from protruding. It was not the smoothest and best looking when finished, but it works. I think that it would be interesting to experiment with adding another set of batteries to increase the amount of power available(I say interesting because as of right now it is beyond my abilities). I would be interested in creating a switch so that either pair could charge, but they would not charge at the same time. Just a thought.

[teknojo]

How did you mount the jack so that it is not protruding?

[Snipeye]

They put the circuit board further back in the case - in a case other than altoids gun, there's space for that.

[revnull]

I have found another company that uses the same size case as Altoids gum. The catch is (depending on are your color preference) the tins only come in pink. Since I'm building my 1st MB3 for my wife, its not much of a problem. This case is identical to the Altoids tin, so I do not think its from a proprietary stamp. I'll be on the lookout for other brands that use the same case.

Link:
http://www.littlei.com/products/gum/fli ... ducts.html

[teknojo]

That link fails to load correctly. Can you give a company description so we can find it elsewhere.

[mjlyons]

I was a conference last week and they gave me a 4GB thumb drive. I didn't care much about the drive, but was excited about the perfectly sized plastic case. Wooooo! I hollowed it out, cut a hole for the USB connector, and it works great. There's even a little magnet that keeps the lid shut but is easy to open when changing batteries. Pictures below:

photo 2.JPG (60.75 KiB) Viewed 6592 times

photo 3.JPG (59.92 KiB) Viewed 6592 times

photo 1.JPG (54.8 KiB) Viewed 6592 times

[noslenpar]

I found these in Amazon. It's called Little i Gum and they use the same exact tin as the Altoids Gum. They're very girly, but a little sand paper can fix that. And they're good if you're making one for a girl. I made one for my wife. I kept mine pink too, if anyone makes fun of my pink boost I just punch them in the face :) And they come with a little mirror inside that you can use for other crafty stuff.
It's too bad the MintyBoost V3 doesn't work with the iPhone 3GS, though.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Intense-Mirror-Peppermint-1-Ounce/dp/B0018R6A4Y/ref=pd_ys_iyr_img

[mglenadel]

@ hecamon — The Altoids Mints tin is my choice as well, but there is not enough room for two 2x battery holders because of the curved corners (the second holder doesn't go far enough: there is still a good 1/4" from the holder to the edge of the tin). Putting the cable in there is a great idea though. Or maybe keeping a pair of spare AAs in the empty area—if you buy a 4-pack, 2 go in the holder, 2 go to spare storage and they fit, I checked—with some foam to keep them from rattling.

[adafruit]

I found these in Amazon. It's called Little i Gum and they use the same exact tin as the Altoids Gum. They're very girly, but a little sand paper can fix that. And they're good if you're making one for a girl. I made one for my wife. I kept mine pink too, if anyone makes fun of my pink boost I just punch them in the face :) And they come with a little mirror inside that you can use for other crafty stuff.
It's too bad the MintyBoost V3 doesn't work with the iPhone 3GS, though.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Intense-Mirror-Peppermint-1-Ounce/dp/B0018R6A4Y/ref=pd_ys_iyr_img

nice find! many many people with 3GS phones have it working with the mintyboost, its worth trying in case but whatever issue occured with that phone was fixed in the 4 so you can also upgrade :)