I got a cool iPad cover yesterday

epbrown · 10:38 AM

Someone over on Vwvortex came up with these and several of us asked the guy to make a few extra. I just got mine (yes, I take lousy pictures, I know; for some reason the camera wouldn't hold steady - weird

):

Here's the original post explaining how he made them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by punkassjim

I stumbled upon this cool old electrical handbook from the 1940s, and the design just seemed perfectly suited to the iPad.

So I got it in my head: I could carve my own embossing plate from a linoleum printmaking block, buy some leather from a local fabric store, and emboss my own custom leather Smart Cover.

I got a scan of the original book, brought it into Illustrator and re-drew the design as vector line art. Printed it on a laser printer, taped it on the block, and used acetone and a burnishing tool to transfer the design onto the linoleum:

Busted out the old carving tools, went to town:

Put the leather between the embossing plate and another solid block, and stuck it under my car for half a day

The hinge, sleep/wake functionality, and magnetic closure work perfectly (there are six rare-earth magnets embedded in the cover).

The inside lining is a synthetic microfiber, closest I could find to what Apple uses. The cover doesn't fold, nor double as a stand; I like my Apple Smart Cover, but it's annoying that the cover flops around when folded to the back. Plus, if this cover folded, it would ruin the embossing pretty quickly.