How I Made My Own iPhone from a Block of Aluminum

[@StrangeParts]

To learn more about the Carvera CNC mill or buy one of your own, go to strangeparts.com/carvera. Use coupon code STRANGEPARTS to get $50 off your order! To get access to my CAD and CAM design files for this project or to get a Strange Parts hoodie or t-shirt, sign up to Patreon: patreon.com/strangeparts

[@mobiousenigma]

greaat to watch you again.... thanks for the vids.

[@phooopy7941]

Could you attempt making a shell that allows for a battery swap without removing the entire back of the iphone? Apples first modular iPhone 🤨

[@Karim-uknwmg702]

apple is crying in the darkness 😂

[@mobiousenigma]

do you see a day where cellphones are modular and sold like cars used to be with options and features you want?

[@cyberpaw]

The Dubai people will want a solid gold one

[@Leonvolt28]

He doesn't upload often, but when he does it's always awesome content.

[@GeorgeVenturi]

that's what she said

[@acousticdoug]

@@GeorgeVenturi Is it?

[@Shawn1174q]

Every time I see an upload, it's an automatic click.

[@RandomUser2401]

I wonder why he has to move out? and how the heck is he going to move all this stuff in such a short time?

[@MyNameIsPetch]

well, except the kamala shilling video

[@PhoneRepairGuru]

Working on this for a whole year is absolutely insane! Love the result

[@The_B_ishop]

Love your channel bro❤️

[@michaelgplayzz]

Hi

[@Abednego-v2r]

Bro literally took a whole year to machine a back case and calls it a phone... Did he make any other parts? Screen, MOBO, PCB, sheet metal parts, anything? nope

[@vibeman2k2]

@@Abednego-v2r womp womp, stop hating

[@Abednego-v2r]

@@vibeman2k2 bro made a ghost phone...surprised it's not partially 3D printed.

[@ayoubrahmani4045]

I dare you to create a slightly chunkier iPhone with triple the battery life! 😏

[@dolan-duk]

Without the camera hump!

[@DoodleDan]

Make that quadruple the battery due to the new battery tech in recent phones

[@StrangeParts]

Bet.

[@fusspawn]

@@StrangeParts man no joke. KZbins lacking this kind of content of late. The lack of crazy tech projects recently has made it kind of dull. Genuinely miss this style of video. Today's was great

[@ayoubrahmani4045]

​@@StrangePartsyou got 3 months 🧑‍🔬⏲️

[@ZacKoch]

DUDE. I honestly thought we lost you... Meanwhile there you are behind the scenes for over a year freaking reversing an iPhone shell and milling it!!! MUCH respect.

[@thusmarshal8815]

Back looks so good polished . Reminds me of the old ipod stainless steel back

[@StrangeParts]

And it has all the same issues with scratches 😂

[@Entertainment-]

@@StrangePartsRegular use of Cape Cod makes it look like new.

[@TheDarknorby]

This gave me flashbacks 🤣​@@StrangeParts

[@googleevil]

This is the type of YT videos, which makes KZbin - the real KZbin. We wait it for a long time. Thank you!

[@ALiveGeek]

Your jig making skills are underrated. Very cool project!

[@StrangeParts]

Honestly, jigs were at least half of this project:)

[@Lagittaja]

@@StrangeParts I've dabbled more with industrial robots (example Hyundai HH7) and defining tool offsets etc. But regarding probing the fixtures, wouldn't it be possible to do offsets or origins in CAD/CAM? You have a known working area, the XY plane, so replicate that bed area in CAD. Place the probe thing in real life to certain location and replicate that in CAD/CAM. Let's say top right corner and then place the jig in CAD relative to where it will be in real life. The origin where the XY corner is is where the probe thingy is and your fixture is located where ever. Avoids the awkward hold the probe thing still while the machine does the probing. Or at least that's how I would try to approach this problem.

[@jmb7183]

Scotty, I can't tell you how much it made me smile to see this video! I started watching back at the very beginning and know you've gone through it. Super glad to see you pop up in my feed!

[@RAD10WALA]

It's so good to see you.

[@RestoreTechnique]

You forgot to program the new shell so you don't get "unknown part" notification. Seriously, amazing work! You've got such a great base now for making other iphone mods. I can't wait to see what you make as a result of this. Very tempted to get a Carvera Air.

[@StrangeParts]

Ha! Thankfully the shells are paired. Yet. Yeah, behind the scenes I’ve been referring to this as a “infrastructure” project. As you clearly figured out, this is just the beginning… And yeah, you should pull the trigger on getting a Carvera Air, or a Carvera if you can afford it. Everyone I’ve talked to who’s bought a Carvera on my suggestion loves it.

[@FAB1150]

This is amazing! A small tip: When you take pictures for CAD (around 5:30), use high zoom and get as far as possible, so you minimize perspective!

[@StrangeParts]

Yeah, makes sense. The flatbed scanner essentially eliminated any perspective.

[@FAB1150]

@StrangeParts oh yeah that was a great move lol you basically 3D scanned the phone! Taking a pic is great for quick sketches :D

[@YOEL_44]

Stuff Made Here just released a video on which he builds a perspectiveless camera, I don't know how it would do with such tiny details tho'.

[@MickNavarro]

@@StrangeParts you could as well have filled the inside with clear epoxy, sanded and polished you would have all scanned clear

[@j.f.christ8421]

@@StrangeParts Fusion question: why did you use the surfacing tools rather than solids?

[@AlecSteele]

This is so awesome. I’ve dreamt of a project like this. What a feat!!! 🎉

[@StrangeParts]

Thanks Alec! If you’re interested in teaming up to do something together around this, hit me up. I have some ideas:)

[@dumpheap]

This is so awesome. I never thought that it was possible to do something like this without drawings or without a large-scale industrial CNC mill.

[@Chris-ez4yt]

I don't think I've seen a better, or more thorough demonstration of a product for a sponsorship than this. You're so badass, Scotty.

[@andrewstone3032]

funny, yesterday i had to check to make sure i was still subbed to StangeParts because it’s been so long, you’ve been missed!

[@shiba7651]

A nice future addition could be a raised lip around the screen to protect it from falls so you can more safely use it without a case Also a wireless charging induction coil on the outside could be cool to see And finally a physical telescopic antenna like old cellphones would be super cool and a nice workaround for the signal problems, you could even ditch the existing holes

[@YOEL_44]

It would be the funiest gadget ever, a modern smartphone with a freaking telescopic antenna.

[@pvic6959]

> case he MADE a case with 0 width eheh

[@jm56585]

AND a headphone jack

[@KeithShelton]

These kinds of videos are exactly why I subscribed to your channel all those years ago. Keep making wonderfully entertaining, educational, and inspirational videos.

[@DM00SE]

super Thanks dude for a great video, i cant help much but you definitely deserve it, you are awesome at everything you do.

[@StrangeParts]

Thank you! Really glad you enjoyed it.

[@legalboxers]

Good to see your content again sir!

[@RageXBlade]

As a cnc machinist I was both impressed with your skills, and was gradually increasingly appreciative of the Carvera. Well done, can't wait to see people 3d printing these cases soon!

[@Billskins4dayz]

verry missed and glad your back you have a great approach to whatever challenge comes your way truly inspirational

[@turkhayev]

Man, i love your commitment. As an engineer, I appreciate what you always do. Don't make us miss you.

[@Yash-qn7ct]

26:10 It is the beginning indeed. Really excited for someone to put iPhone 16 in iPhone 13 mini body.

[@nacho3570]

I don't know if that would be possible. Doesn't the software expect an specific resolution for the display?

[@coleforsmark7847]

I'm used to slicers being used in the other direction for 3d printing. Seeing slicing reversed for measuring such complicated geometry was eye opening. Inspiring even

[@arghjayem]

24:50 I used to have this metal case for my old iPhone 4. It was two halves that you bolted together with small machine screws with Allen heads, one side having been tapped. They were machined to fit the whole iPhone between them and were made of solid brass. They had cut outs on the top bottom and sides for the buttons and speakers but that’s it. Never had an issue getting a WiFi signal or with connecting to the network! 🤷

[@nakamotolikesyou]

I once 3d modeled and 3d printed a phone case and a tablet case for myself and that was enough headaches. I can only imagine how much effort this took.

[@homesbymatt8053]

Scottie, your ability to stick to a project and see it through no matter how long it takes blows me away. Thank you for another great project!!

[@잼스기타]

This is very inspiring!

[@TaylorMadeMoment]

This video helped me understand the crazy costs of machining custom things. Watching someone as smart as you still have trouble with it made me realize how complex and expensive these types of projects can get. Awesome video. Would love more videos of you designing stuff in SketchUp, very satisfying to watch.

[@manbetterunderstand]

Good to see you back

[@Slartifartblast]

Your commitment to this project is unbelievable, fair play. I applaud you.... 👏🏼

[@adritoghosh8839]

I believe with your level of knowledge we can start a completely new phone company. Where we can completely focus on comsumer demand and people are gonna love it no doubt. Hats off to your skillset.

[@logs]

I hate how you don't upload often, but respect it because I can see the time you spend on video's in the quality of them.

[@Lynx86]

funny thing with the corners on apples released drawings. Making a nice rounded corner to flat sides is surprisingly difficult. Because of "tan-lines" you can't just ad a circular fillet and call it done. you usually need to go to a g3 "torsion" transition and fiddle a lot with the lead in. They spends a LOT, like a lot a lot, of time perfecting those corners and they don't want to just "give" them away. I think that's the reason why they are given in a quite unusual and convoluted coordinate fashion.

[@unknownwriter2114]

This was a random find during my morning coffee, I was hooked from the start and I was feeling the anxiety build at parts and the sigh of relief when it worked...the dedication and love for the project is what made me subscribe and I am happy that I did.

[@rickscreations3159]

Hey we met in the airport in HK , i hope you come back to shenzhen soon .

[@FaresDjebbar]

This is Insaaaaane! The amount of work and engineering that went to this. Respect brother, you're a legend!

[@666tonsofsquirrels]

You should be exceptionally proud of this video. I can't imagine the amount of behind the scene takes, setting up camera angles, modelling, ... This is awesome. Both the modern version of "awesome" but also as in that I'm in absolute awe of your effort, and it's very inspiring. 💪💪

[@Tealyc]

As a turning and milling machine operator that indeed IS a treat to watch! Thank you sir!

[@Jcccccccc-]

It's really a special day when he came back, especially when his making an iPhone, again❤

[@JohnHollowell]

This is the best combination of one-man, semi-sketchy maker-ing (in the best "That looks like something maybe I could do too" way) and amazing video/editing/production making it look soooooo good!

[@FreezingFroggie]

It would be nice to make the frame a smaller estructure with gaps like a metallic skeleton, which can be filled with silicone or something, so it has a "case" which doesn't add thickness to the phone, stays protected but it's as comfortable and slim as not wearing a case if that makes sense. Next step would be to make it replaceable lol.

[@YOEL_44]

I don't think that would work, it would probably just bend in your pocket.

[@n0t0ryus]

The reverse engeneering is to be admired. Always an ingenius idea on how to replicate/measure something.

[@ripplerxeon]

Good to see you back, i enjoyed the video. Actually doing something unique, can't wait for the next video

[@NickCronin-l2f]

Makera couldn't have dreamt of a better advert for the Carvera. Scotty really deserves to be over 5M subs with content this engrossing and time-consuming to shoot.

[@tarunarya1780]

What a labour of love. I was checking to see if I missed any of your videos but there were not many this year. I hope you are well and your workshop move went well. Do you think it would be doing quicker less challenging projects such as showing us Chinese factories which are always great ( if still there) or a tesla factory or boring project? Just trying to give you a few ideas for types of things you used to cover well.

[@YOEL_44]

I think he moved to the USA.

[@coltonwilliams1559]

Love seeing the progression of Colorado’s seasons! Really shows how much time and effort this project took!

[@momomunsta8887]

Been wanting a aluminum case for my Sony PSP 3001. Seems like I might have to make it myself

[@burntalive]

Ah I love the quality of these videos. They always have my full attention.

[@superNova5837]

Anodized in space grey with a black glass back could look cool I wouldn’t even add the camera bump or make that a separate element that fits over the camera rings then it aligns itself to the lenses (at least for the 11 and newer Could be cool to revisit the silver and black iPhone 4 Design

Thanks for doing this! I keep thinking that once you have the aluminium model it would be much esier to just make casting molds out of it for production.

[@dermozart80]

That self-made MRI (milled real image) is really genius!

[@DanielKreimendahl]

About 18 minutes CC reads, "LAUGHING MANIACALLY" lol. I'm sure many of us outwardly give a cheer when hard work turns out right. Great to see you back. I often think of you when working on my own projects. I appreciate that you don't sugarcoat the paths to your successes. By sharing the defeats and the emotions that accompany them, you exemplify the true meaning of innovation and perseverance. Thanks for keeping it real!

[@rayh7094]

Hold on! Who's that under the blanket? 8:32

[@cikwa324]

You're an incredible dude. Hats off to you, man!! RW - Czech republic...

[@RyanMercer]

Now do it again in silver.

[@kasiorap]

Then do it again with gold

[@TheOfficialOriginalChad]

That would have been a good place to start. I wanna see Ti

[@RyanMercer]

@@kasiorap He's not LTT haha

[@USFsFinest0212]

@@kasiorapThen do it in Platinum

[@StrangeParts]

Deal. You supply the silver 😁

[@Thesh00tinggallery777]

OMG watching you mill the case over and over then finaly getting it! the emotional roller coaster that your project put you through is the most relatable work flow. Really makes me appreciate the R&Dthat went into making the MBP I'm currently typing this comment from.

[@chd245]

Whoever is your Video Editor, big ups to him. The editing is amazing! Loved the video ❤

[@racnaroksakugen]

You have outdone yourself with this one.

[@njebs.]

Welcome back 🎉

[@JohnHollowell]

Scotty, your production/editing skills have gotten so good!

[@stuarnott]

That was riveting, I was engrossed all the way through. Wonderful content Scotty.

[@Aurora12488]

Such a cool project! It's neat to see a hobbyist-friendly aluminum CNC machine in action.

[@jesperhagstrom]

I do this kind of machine work for a living and you did incredibly well!

[@voiceoverguyharris]

WOW, you've got some patience. This was an incredible project to watch. Congratulations!

[@official_NelsonR]

Great video much appreciated; not giving up it's what kept me watching 'till the end

[@arabidsquid]

Friggin wow, this is the kind of maker content I think is genuinely important for people to see: showing how most real engineering comes down to doing things "the tedious way" just to get it done rather than probably spending more time avoiding any sort of labor. Like milling and flatbed scanning a part to get solid dimensions, you could've derailed the whole project trying to get some perfect 3D scan instead of working with the tools you had. I feel like anyone could do this stuff but it's so common for youtubers to make it look so effortless that it makes people just starting out feel like they must be stupid or something once it starts to take a serious amount of effort. So yeah, I think you absolutely nailed the tone of "yeah doing shit like this is hard but also you could totally pull this off if you wanted, dear viewer"

[@zues121510]

Wish i could like this video twice, it only feels right after the amount of effort he put in 🤯

[@realdjroberto1]

The patience and the determination you have is unbelievable. Tim Cook needs to hire you.

[@GuruBrew]

Been there and done that! What I have found after lots of pain is some cutting that requires special treatment such as undercuts is to just do it manually with a minimum of jigs when possible. If this project were to grow and need a large production run then spend the time and tooling to automate these processes. Besides, by the time you get it perfect, Apple will have a new model phone anyways. This is a great learning process though. Cheers, Steve

[@notsonominal]

Dude! I'm only 1/3rd way in and this is insane! Loving it!!

[@davidecalitescu3727]

Just when you think this man is done with KZbin he uploads a multiple months of work project. Fascinating dude

[@Basjuh1984]

I hope people can also appreciate the fact that for ‘normal’ products this is the Rapid-Prototype Design phase (although 3D printing is used a lot of course). Now the hard work comes to fully engineer, measure and validate the results. And after this, the whole industrialization phase starts - how do you make thousands of these a day? And not only for this part - all the parts! Anyway, great video!

[@jaspervandertuuk2109]

I love that you have uploaded a video again! I learned so much from your video's with creating and Designing products! I am now 29 and have 1 son who is 1,5 years old and one on the way who will be born in Februari 2025! I am currently almost 3 Year Clean And Sober! I came from very very deep... I always struggled with my ADHD But at the moment i just got my first 153m² office/workshop for my own 3D Printing Business i just started this year! (Light Town Creations) based in Eindhoven AKA The Light Town in the Netherlands! I want to to thank you and also many many more other Creators who i learned so much from in terms of Customizing, Creating, Building, and Designing! So Thankyou! ❤ Greetings Jasper from The Netherlands! 🤙

[@JIOmland]

Incredibly cool production solution :) I had made 1 small change to your scanning of the part. Spray the entire part in a strong color before machining. then you can see more easily "which" part is on each level. I did this many years ago.. scanned, milled off 1 mm and scanned again. until I was at the bottom.. then I put this into inventor (each image at 0 points, and with 1 mm distance between each. )

[@PetterBruland]

Thanks!

[@StrangeParts]

Thank you Petter!

[@justoneofthesheep]

Its so nice to see you! Cant wait to see what you have in store for us. hopefully will be as frequent as it was when you was living in Shenzhen! Was only a few days ago my girlfriend and I was speaking about the old videos you used to make and that we miss watching them and then you upload this absolute banger ! Hope your feeling much better now! (I've been subbed since your first youtube video and seen EVERY video!)

[@gregduncan3242]

I love the look of satisfaction when a difficult project is completed successfully

[@SpeedyGwen]

a fully aluminium phone is something I like for cooling as it transfer heat much better than glass, and it looks cool !

[@mp6756]

As a machinist, I can say I'm impressed, but I'm not at all surprised by your success. Thanks for the video. It was great to see you.

[@Aldo.flores]

One year of work condensed in to 30 min, every time you gave a sneak peak of the thing you was working I knew it would be a great project, like the past video were your talked about the process of milling the back plate to have exact measurements, but this is beyond any past project. The easiest thing would be ask for someone who had an accurate model and 3d printing it, but you always take the long way but also the fun one to make those awesome strange parts

[@bestestimesreborn]

Always good to see Scotty Back again. :) hope your health is better.

[@iello911]

You do not need us to tell you, but you truly are a freaking genius! I have been following your many projects over the years, you never fail to impress! I will never use an iphone, but, if i did, i would be begging you to sell those aluminium shells!!!

[@rugglez]

Excellent project Scotty! And it is so nice to see you back.

[@moritz584]

This is so cool, dude I thought the diy iPhone stuff was in the past

[@GavinTranter]

Love this! even after watching the video, i don't think people will comprehend how difficult this is what you have done. props to you man!

[@chetanvmalhotra]

Scotty been following you for years. You documenting all this gives perspective on different ways to handle all the problems you face. I know it is easy to burnout but you persevering through all this is just lovely to see. Never stop being that!

[@KirsiKitten]

I have loved this channel since the day I found it years ago, and you are still one of my favorites on youtube to this very day.

[@aazjo]

Damn what a long time in the making. Scotty, you are nothing if not persistent. Thank you for continuing to post. Your videos are always amazing.

[@Unhomiee]

You should look into getting 3D scanners (for 3D printing). That might make it easier to get fine details since the output of the scans is a 3D model (instead of an image).

[@awildyoutuberappeared9325]

Glad to see you're back!

[@MachiningandMicrowaves]

I wonder if the Carvera can manage threadmilling? I make M1.6 threaded holes quite often with my Syil X5 using a carbide threadmill in copper and aluminium. I'm getting surprisingly good results with some extremely low cost three-tooth threadmills. My father did watchmaking, so he'd think phones were gigantic, with enormous hardware. The machining forces are tiny, and so long as the spindle can manage 18k rpm and you can get chip evacuation right, it might be feasible. I'm tempted to get one of these just for making fixtures. Getting acetal, PEEK, PTFE and UHMWPE shaving mixed up with metal chips make cleaning my (relatively) big mill a real pain. I've used the destructive cross-sectioning technique with some highly-complex aluminium microwave antenna system parts that were made up from parts using molten salt bath brazing, so I could reverse-engineer them, although I used a glass sheet with a laser-engraved grid, shot from below with a fancy camera lens rather than a scanner. Nice tricky! Machines like this are democratising the making process. Admittedly for $5k I can buy a hugely capable 20 year old CNC mill and waste months of my life getting it to work, then spend twice that on tooling! I could run one of those on my lab bench with the lasers and Bambu X1C and make parts at 3 AM. Super video as always.

[@andrewodri5409]

This is the most epic project squished into 30 mins... Amazing stuff!! I can't wait to see the more customized projects come to life; even a housing with a super cap, power, and 3/8" camera mounts would be amazing... Who doesn't have an old iPhone >=7 lying around that has a more capable camera than pretty much anything else you can get your hands on? Can't wait to see where this goes! 🙏

[@xerox445]

I can't thank you enough for making this video. I've been really stuck on some of my projects and seeing this process really inspired me to get back out in the garage and refine some of my cam setups and push through some of the difficulties I've been encountering. I've been a really big fan of yours for a few years now and I always really enjoy your content thank you.

[@Daniel-cd7sw]

Glad to see you posting again!

[@rdv1105]

Great to see you posting videos back! Every time you upload I know its instantly really high quality and like the videos anyway. Welcome back!

[@thoughtsnscribbles]

great video!

[@StrangeParts]

Thank you! Glad you like it!

[@vaiosmastroyiannis]

I can't express enough how amazing and inspiring your videos are. Thank you so much ❤❤

[@damienisalive]

When you look at the comments, you have been missed by so many people, including me. Your videos are well edited, the content is inspiring and interesting, plus you just have a very nice personality. I enjoy your videos every single time. I got to know you when you stayed in China. I saw you operate in different workshops. Which leaves me wondering why you are constantly moving from workshop to workshop. Nevertheless: keep up the good work. Hope to see you more often. ❤