Will sanding palmrest edge blow the warranty?

[tubbymac]

Are they actually SHARP or just uncomfortable??
My white MacBook was SHARP! This aluminum one is nothing like that. I bet i could cut myself enuff to bleed on my white one.

It's definitely not sharp enough to cut your palm, just a nuisance. Looking at the edge very closely I can make out an approximately 1mm bevel so it's not like the palm rest and the sides meet at a 90 degree sharp edge. It's very hard to see but makes you appreciate the level of detail in this aluminum unibody.

It would be more comfortable if they rounded the edge by about 2-3 mm but I guess they decided the beveled edge looks better. This is a case where they chose form over function.

People with smaller hands, like kids and girls, etc, should not have this problem since their palms won't reach the edges anyway.

 

[shady825]

It's definitely not sharp enough to cut your palm, just a nuisance. Looking at the edge very closely I can make out an approximately 1mm bevel so it's not like the palm rest and the sides meet at a 90 degree sharp edge. It's very hard to see but makes you appreciate the level of detail in this aluminum unibody.

It would be more comfortable if they rounded the edge by about 2-3 mm but I guess they decided the beveled edge looks better. This is a case where they chose form over function.

People with smaller hands, like kids and girls, etc, should not have this problem since their palms won't reach the edges anyway.

I know what your saying. Mine is on the verge of being uncomfortable but your right, a little bevel would have been nice! Ive adapted to it now. I dont even notice it anymore until threads like this come along.

 

[cellocello]

I dont even notice it anymore until threads like this come along.

hah, I was just thinking the same thing.

Over-thinking will make you neurotic!

 

[robanga]

just envisioning you doing this is making me shudder. But it is your property - Mod away. The warranty question is interesting. If I was Apple I'd consider it a mistreatment or modification and void it, but who knows. It will be interesting to see what they say.

 

[shady825]

just envisioning you do this is making me shudder. But it is your property - Mod away. The warranty question is interesting. If I was Apple I'd consider it a mistreatment or modification and void it, but who knows. It will be interesting to see what they say.

Sanding the outer body of the macbook in NO WAY will effect the performance, therefor not voiding the warranty.

 

[shady825]

hah, I was just thinking the same thing.

Over-thinking will make you neurotic!

same with the "dead pixel" threads and the "uneven keys"

I never even looked for that stuff till i saw the threads!

 

[Victor Star]

From what I understand if you disturb the anodizing on aluminum it will start changing color right away and degrade a lot faster than if it was left alone. It's only cosmetic though. I think you'd be better off to put a strip of clear vinyl tape along the edge.

 

[Tosser]

ok, so ill just sand down this rough cut diamond i have, oh wait i can't because something thats weaker than something can't do anything to it. wow you are dumb.

First of all, aluminium is soft. Not hard. It is NOT a "rough diamond"

Secondly, even hardened steel can be ground with sand paper. Yes it will take a while, and you will have to use plenty of sand paper. But it's doable.
The only dumb person here is the one who thinks that aluminium is some kind of hard metal which cannot be formed, shaped, roughened, sand papered or anything else, since "it's a metal".

Hell, the sharp edges can even be cut off with a plane if you so choose. It won't be pretty and you wouldn't want to use a Lie-Nielsen plane, but nonetheless.

Next up: Danvan tries to argue that lead, being a metal, isn't malleable either.

Seriously, people who know nothing about metals but put them all in the same box really shouldn't bark about their properties.

 

[RedTomato]

I'd like to hear from some people who have been using their alu macbooks pretty intensively for a while now.

Have you found that the wristrest edge sort of round itself down over time from the wear and tear of daily use?

I've set up about 6 white macbooks in the past year, including my own personal one, and every single one has had razor sharp edges on the wristrest when I took it out of the box. I seriously considered sanding down my own personal macbook, but after a few weeks / a month or two, every one of these 6 macbooks has developed a nice rounded edge on the wristrest.

Maybe the same will happen to the alu books? Living in the UK, there's plenty of old buildings and old staircases here, and I've seen solid granite steps (the hardest stone in the world, harder than most metals) worn down over 3 inches by nothing more than soft shoe leather over the centuries.

(ps, I shouldn't have to say this, but water is generally held to be softer than most sandpapers, yet it carved out the Grand Canyon... )

 

[PeterQC]

(ps, I shouldn't have to say this, but water is generally held to be softer than most sandpapers, yet it carved out the Grand Canyon... )

Not water alone. Erosion is caused by the littles particles that are in the water, the basically do the same thing that the grain does on a sand paper.

 

[OrangeSVTguy]

I'm pretty sure they used high-pressure water to carve out the unibooks aluminum case....

 

[PeterQC]

I'm pretty sure they used high-pressure water to carve out the unibooks aluminum case....

Yeah, but there all the mechanical work is done by the pressure.

 

[California]

I change my vote to some sort of clear tape or clear adhesive to soften the edges.

 

[cellocello]

 

[Sun Baked]

Only Problem I can see with this is the sanding causing powdered aluminum to get inside the machine.

Should see those sparks as the aluminum shorts the motherboard.

Regular dust is a problem, blocking airflow and acting as an insulator. Hate to see what would happen with conductive dust.

 

[dukebound85]

are you kidding? its aluminum. Sandpaper might not even scratch it.

have you ever worked with metals?

ok, so ill just sand down this rough cut diamond i have, oh wait i can't because something thats weaker than something can't do anything to it. wow you are dumb.

ok just stay out of this thread and stop spreading lies. you have NO clue what you are even talking about....


hey guess what? lead's a metal and i can bend it in my hands!!!!

 

[Tosser]

have you ever worked with metals?

Pretty sure he has merely touched it, and thought "cool" (literally), and then went "oh, it must be harder than anything else. It's a 'metal', thus nothing can do anything to it".

Yup. At least that's what he seems to be thinking.

Seriously, he has never touched anything metal with anything other than the soft parts of his hands. Not even a nail.

 

[NC MacGuy]

Even though it is aluminum, I don't think I'd try it. There is a finish on it. That's why when it's scratched or nicked, it gets darker. You can read threads about how to get rid of scratches on MBA, MBP to get a picture. My Air has a few scratches on the bottom that are black/dark compared to rest of case.

I sanded my plastibook without any issues but really wouldn't advise it on the new MB's.

 

[alphaod]

I can hear the windows fan boys now! "oh you need tape to hold your mac together, blah blah blah"

I want to clear something up:

Windows is an operating system; it has nothing to do with hardware.

 

[danvan21]

First of all, aluminium is soft. Not hard. It is NOT a "rough diamond"

Secondly, even hardened steel can be ground with sand paper. Yes it will take a while, and you will have to use plenty of sand paper. But it's doable.
The only dumb person here is the one who thinks that aluminium is some kind of hard metal which cannot be formed, shaped, roughened, sand papered or anything else, since "it's a metal".

Hell, the sharp edges can even be cut off with a plane if you so choose. It won't be pretty and you wouldn't want to use a Lie-Nielsen plane, but nonetheless.

Next up: Danvan tries to argue that lead, being a metal, isn't malleable either.

Seriously, people who know nothing about metals but put them all in the same box really shouldn't bark about their properties.

wow, did i ever claim that because aluminum is a metal it cant be sanded? no, i said cause its hard. Aluminum is soft compared to other metals and MOST, like 99%, of sandpapers wont do much. Special sandpapers can, like the stuff i use at work. Way to throw down insults and make yourself look stupid.

 

[Knolly]

Yeah, but there all the mechanical work is done by the pressure.

No...

In the videos of the unibodies being made there's a ton of water pouring onto them but the water is not cutting out the aluminum, milling machines are.

The purpose of the water is to create a smoother finish. For instance, there's a technique known as "wet sanding." Basically, when you sand something with sand paper, if you put water on either the object or the sandpaper the finish will be smoother.

To answer the OP's question... I doubt it's void the warranty. After all, laser etching doesn't.

 

[dukebound85]

wow, did i ever claim that because aluminum is a metal it cant be sanded? no, i said cause its hard. Aluminum is soft compared to other metals and MOST, like 99%, of sandpapers wont do much. Special sandpapers can, like the stuff i use at work. Way to throw down insults and make yourself look stupid.

i think alot of people have experience in metals here and you were the one saying sandpaper couldnt scratch it because its "hard" lol

99% of sandpapers? where are you pulling these figures seriously

No...

In the videos of the unibodies being made there's a ton of water pouring onto them but the water is not cutting out the aluminum, milling machines are.

The purpose of the water is to create a smoother finish. For instance, there's a technique known as "wet sanding." Basically, when you sand something with sand paper, if you put water on either the object or the sandpaper the finish will be smoother.

To answer the OP's question... I doubt it's void the warranty. After all, laser etching doesn't.

i dont know about smoother finish as opposed to keeping the milling bit cool. but usually you dont use water to cool the tool bit so it may be for the finish. eh whatever lol

 

[danvan21]

like 99% meaning a lot. Just like glass cant scratch a diamond, most sandpapers can't affect metal.

 

[likemyorbs]

hey everyone, nice to be back from time out. personally, i havent had a problem with the edges on my new macbook. the plastic macbook on the other hand was a different story, i thought it was trying to kill me because it was always slitting my wrist. the aluminum seems softer...

 

[PeterQC]

The purpose of the water is to create a smoother finish. For instance, there's a technique known as "wet sanding." Basically, when you sand something with sand paper, if you put water on either the object or the sandpaper the finish will be smoother.

I was wrong then.

like 99% meaning a lot. Just like glass cant scratch a diamond, most sandpapers can't affect metal.

On the Moh Scale, depending on the alloy:
Aluminium, gold and silver have a rating of 2.5-3
Copper 3.
Plain iron is at 4-5.
Platinum 4-4.5.


The abrasive part of sand paper is made out of other metals/minerals. The cheap sand paper, depending of the grain, will scratch, and surely easily, aluminum. And there's Sand Paper that are able to sand some minerals from the rating 9, so we're a long way of saying metals can't be scratched.

http://geology.about.com/cs/mineralogy/a/abrasives.htm
http://www.wikipedia.com