Indestructible TI-89

Sometimes, expensive calculators hit the floor. It’s happened to almost anyone with a graphing calculator from TI or HP. Sadly, they don’t always bounce. After this happened to [Howard C.], an Industrial Engineering student from U. of Iowa, he decided to spend $50 on milling his own replacement case out of aluminum rather than trashing the device over a broken battery compartment. [Howard] chose to send us the story rather than write his own blog, so we’ve included all the great pictures he sent us after the break.

63 thoughts on “Indestructible TI-89

  1. For all you pansy MechEs talking smack. Most IEs that I know were cutting, welding, and poring metal in lab before you all finished Dynamics class.

    Oh yeah, and we also pw0n3d you in Thermo and Fluids.

  2. Not that I like apple but should be titled “If Apple made a calculator” Of course it would be 1.5 times the cost and 75% of the computational power of the equivalent Calc. But it’d be cool cause it has an apple logo…..

  3. I for one will never understand the popularity of TI calculators. They seem so limited and clumsy compared to HP’s offerings. Maybe they just marketed to schools/kids better, but it’s a shame since in the “real world” (that period of your life coming after school) HP dominates from all that I have seen.

  4. Rub crayon over the letters, then scrape/wipe off the access. Could use heat (not a microwave) to melt the crayon into the aluminum.

    Note: this isn’t permanent – If you hate it, scrape it off with your toothbrush…

  5. Sweet! I wish I could get a case like this myself! Granted, I normally do not use my Ti89, we tend to use a Citizen SR-270X as that’s what’s normally allowed at exams. Even so, I’d love such a case, and while I’m proficient with the tools we’ve gotten to use related to my study you can’t really use FIBs or epitaxial methods to make anything of this size.

    Regardless, any chance you’ll sell some of these cases? If the price is right I’ll get one :-) My Ti89 has fallen on the floor once, and is chipped.

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