I first stumbled across the PC modding phenomenon five years ago and was just blown away by the whole idea.  I’d been into PCs for a few years prior, and had always been customizing and improving on things I owned, so the natural conjunction just clicked with me.  I love it, I’m addicted to it, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

I’ve had the privilege of watching the hobby mature over the years.  When I first came across it there were of course already awesome mods like Dark Blade and Doom 3: Project Mars City, but the mainstream modders were still in their developing years, with windows lights and cable management being the most common form.  From then to now a whole industry has sprung up around it.  In fact some would say the hobby is killing itself.  Where we used to have to buy plain simple (read: ugly) cases and make them our own, now we can buy a case with just about anything we want already in it.  A market emerged and the “pre-mod” was born.

There are still the die-hards out there like me though, modding away at whatever is available.  There seems to have been a split somewhere along the way though.  Today if you look at an active modding site and look through the worklogs of these builders you seem to run into two categories: those who have access to professional-grade manufacturing tools and those who don’t.

There has been some debate on whether making something with a 5-axis CNC mill, a laser cutter and a 3D printer is in fact modding.  I’ll take this moment to answer that question: yes.  Now before all of the more traditional types get up in arms here let me also add that while this is still modding, it is *not* in the same category as the work done with a Dremel and hand files.  

The hobby has developed into two distinct branches, each with their own appeal.  Personally, I love the range of creation and precision that is possible with computer-controlled machinery, and I recognize that it takes a great deal of skill to make it happen, albeit skill of a different kind.  One cannot just hit a few buttons on a 5-axis lathe and turn out a perfect product.  While I think anything can be done with the right hand tools and patience, tools like these make it vastly easier to create the incredibly complex and precise, making it more likely that the rest of us will get the see it and appreciate it.  

Having said that, there is only so much appeal there for me.  The designs I see are fantastic and the creation aspect is involved as I mentioned, but personally I can only get so excited as I read how long the laser took to cut out the parts.  I am much more impressed when someone manages to make something intricate (or simple even, if the design is right) and beautiful and make it look right by hand.  I know of one PC build that I check on from time to time that has been going on now for over four years, with the builder doing all of the work in thick aluminum with nothing but a scroll saw and a set of files, and it looks better than anything I’ve seen come off of a mill.  It is without question a labor of love.  Too often I feel like the things made with the high-dollar equipment is commercial at best.  Yes, it’s awesome.  Yes, it’s beautiful.  Yes, you should all keep up the excellent work.  But no, it doesn’t feel like the builder put his heart and soul into it like the person working with a file, or a Dremel, or sandpaper and rattle cans.  It may not be logical from the tools-are-tools school of thought, but there it is.  

Is it modding?  Yes.  Is it the same thing?  Nope.  

Regardless, mod on, however it is you do it.  I love them all.

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