I'm bad with hand tools. That's why I need CNC to help me do anything. That's also why I'm sad cutting the holes for the ports on my laptop is the last step- it's easy for me to screw it up. Which I did. So... time to build a new base. Here it is all cut, and next to the previous two screw-ups:

And here it is all hacked out of the stock. Well, close-ups thereof:

I'm not sure these really comes through in the images, but it looks a LOT nicer (one glaring screwup notwithstanding- that blurry indistinct blob at lower-right of the last image is a gouge going almost through the bottom). Turns out you can improve your CAM process, given the chance. I basically did a finishing pass on all of the surfaces to get rid of the high-speed machining tooling marks.

Of course, that didn't stop me from breaking two end mills down a couple holes. Don't try to machine holes deeper than your end mills are long... Anyway, I'm hoping to get those out. They're 1mm end mills in 2mm holes, so it should be doable. Otherwise I can maybe just cut the threads really short in those holes and call it good. I'd really rather not go for round 4 of building this piece.

I think rebuilding the lid is on the agenda, however. With all the metal and the screen, it's pretty heavy- I'm not sure the hinges will be happy about that. So I've skeletonized it and will re-cut it sometime soonish. Then I can also hopefully not screw it up, unlike last time (when the bottom got cut off too far).