Eeeks! More interest here than I'd expected!

Okay, so here is what is happening thus far:

I have about 10-15 (not sure.. gotta recount to confirm) inner and outer back panels, which are/were very fussy to cut out originally. I will NOT be making any more of those, ever.

And I just came back up from the shop, where I've cut out enough side panel blanks (MDF) to match the inner/outer back panels. Lots more work is needed to finish those (nine more machining operations per blank).

That leaves tops/bottoms, of which I currently have exactly one set (MDF). So I need to make more of them to complete this series. And those can be made of pretty much any materials.

Fancy wood increases my/your costs (materials and labour), but not by a whole lot. I don't want to spray finish anything, though, as things are still pretty busy around here and that stuff really soaks up time.

I don't want to get into doing the wiring or even supplying the parts for that (docking connectors, fans, pins, RCA jacks, DC-power jack, serial port connector..), so this run will be all unwired SHELLS regardless.

Note: perhaps somebody in the USA could consider being "point man" for the parts, doing a single bulk order from DigiKey, and then redistributing them to the other purchasers when the time comes. Whoever takes on this role first will automatically get onto the list for a shell.

* * *

In summary, I have started up a new batch of around 10+ unwired dock shells, which will have MDF side panels like all previous docks (including the cherry ones).

I have not decided what to use for tops/bottoms, but anything other than MDF will increase the cost by perhaps $20-$30 over the sub-$100 price for plain MDF tops/bottoms. MDF is best for painting, whereas real wood is best finished with something clear (shellac, polyurethane, etc..).

Those of you who have expressed interest (and those who want to), please post again and say what your top/bottom preference would be: MDF ($85), or unfinished real wood ($115), or finished real-wood ($140). Those are approximate SHIPPED price estimates, which may vary in the end by $5-10 up or down.

In the meanwhile, I'll continue to putter along in the shop, and when I have some to sell, I'll go through this thread to figure out who gets first shot at them.

Cheers