# Oberon hinge conversion finished (image-heavy)



## auntmarge (Dec 4, 2008)

Xina said:


> no need to secure -- the inner half of the amazon cover fits PERFECTLY into the oberon. no securing necessary.


Well, I did it. Got up yesterday and decided I needed to either start cutting up the Amazon cover or forget the whole thing and stop obsessing. Xina's instructions worked beautifully! I'm posting photos here for anyone who doesn't want to wait for Xina to get back in mid-August.

The first thing I did was cut the Amazon cover in half, so that the hinge was still attached to the back half. The I cut around the edge of the Amazon cover back to see how much had to come off before it would slide into the Oberon pocket. I cut into the front half of the Amazon cover to see how it was constructed and played with it for a while, pulling apart various layers. Then I discarded those pieces.

The Amazon cover has five layers from inside out: felt, a thin layer of sturdy foam rubber in which the hinge mechanism is embedded, a stiff clear plastic backing glued to it to hold the hinge mechanism in place, another stiff plastic layer lightly glued to that, and the leather outer cover, heavily glued on top.

1 - front half of Amazon cover showing the leather pulled away, which leaves a fuzzy residue on the plastic layer below it
2 - front half of Amazon cover pulled apart showing both plastic layers facing up (normally they face each other)

1.







2.









3 - back half of Amazon cover pulled apart to show the underside of the entire hinge mechanism (on the very left you can see the underside of the piece of leather through which you normally see the parts of the hinge which connect to the Kindle itself).

3.









4 - The back half of the Amazon cover, trimmed to fit inside the Oberon and cut around the leather piece through which the hinge shows. I discarded the leather layer and the outside plastic layer, so that what is in the Oberon is a felt/foam/plastic layer which embeds the hinge and gives a very solid insert to hold it firmly. Photo 3, above, shows how the back of the finished insert looks, and this is the front:

4.









5 - As Xina mentioned, the leather lining of the Oberon needs to be trimmed slightly to accommodate the hinge (the dotted areas are where I removed the stitching holding the Velcro to the Oberon):

5.









6 - The inside of the back of the Oberon cover, showing the insert and hinge in place:

6.









7 - finished cover open with Kindle inside
8 - finished cover on edge with Kindle inside
9 - finished cover with Kindle inside

7.







8.








9.









So THANK YOU Xina! I never would have tried this without your encouragement and experimentation.


----------



## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2009)

Wowee, an impressive job, auntmarge! And the pictures really turned out great. Since I have 2 thumbs, looks like it's not something I will try for the time being.

Thanks for the very thorough post!

Best Wishes.


----------



## Kathy (Nov 5, 2008)

Very nice. When then Kindle is in it, you can't tell at all.


----------



## MineKinder (Jan 5, 2009)

WOW--->>>>Very very impressive


----------



## MonaSW (Nov 16, 2008)

Impressive, very nicely done!


----------



## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I'm very impressed. You did a great job!


----------



## Lilly (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks for the tutorial!  You did a great job it looks really good!


----------



## auntmarge (Dec 4, 2008)

Thanks, folks.  FYI, I just edited the directions, because I realized that photo 3 is also the back of the insert in its final form.  

For those who are intimidated by the photos, it's really pretty self-explanatory as you go on.  The biggest problem for me was the first cut, which too me about a week to make.  After that, the whole operation was maybe a 1/2-hr, and that included photos.  If the hinge is what you want, and you make a mess of it, the worst that happens is you wreck your Amazon cover - until the last minute you don't have to make the cut-out in the Oberon cover, or remove the velcro, so you can make the final decision at the very end.

I'm still adjusting to the heaviness and thickness of the Oberon compared to the Amazon cover, which I liked, except for its drabness.  It is beautiful, though!


----------



## Xina (Mar 21, 2009)

hey beautiful job! so glad you were able to do it without waiting around for my photos. congrats on the the oberon mod & IMHO it is truly the lightest weight & easiest way to merge amazon hinge with oberon cover  enjoy!


----------



## KimmyA (Dec 11, 2008)

That looks really good. Awesome job!!


----------



## F1Wild (Jun 15, 2009)

What an awesome job!!!  I am saving up for an Oberon (and gift-begging) and I can understand your reluctance to make a cut, but knowing the Oberon cut doesn't have to be made until the Amazon cover is completely revised does help.  Will I be as bold?  Maybe!


----------



## PatMcNJ (Aug 8, 2009)

The pictures donot show up on my computer, just little red Xs.  What were you doing, putting the hinge from a Amazon cover into an Oberon cover?  Was it for a Kindle 2 or Kindle DX?

I have one of the dreaded cracked Kindle DXs.  The cracks come from that hinge mechanism in the Amazon cover.  

They are shipping me a replacement Kindle DX, hooray.  But, I would never use a hinged cover again.  I am too worried about more cracking.


----------



## auntmarge (Dec 4, 2008)

PatMcNJ said:


> The pictures donot show up on my computer, just little red Xs. What were you doing, putting the hinge from a Amazon cover into an Oberon cover? Was it for a Kindle 2 or Kindle DX?
> 
> I have one of the dreaded cracked Kindle DXs. The cracks come from that hinge mechanism in the Amazon cover.
> 
> They are shipping me a replacement Kindle DX, hooray. But, I would never use a hinged cover again. I am too worried about more cracking.


Hi Pat,

I don't know why the photos aren't showing up. They still show on my screen. 
Yes, I used the K2 Amazon cover and transferred the hinge mechanism to the Oberon.


----------



## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

auntmarge said:


> I don't know why the photos aren't showing up. They still show on my screen.


Looks like the server you are on is down:

_Firefox can't find the server at auntiem6.ranchoweb.com._


----------

