Mini in the shop

Its a sad day in the robot workshop (the bolts are only being threaded halfway). The mini mac is in the shop for a couple days and to add lemon to the wound Memorial Day is around the corner. The blasted computer 'ate' a cdrom and won't release it. I've tried numerous ways to make Kit regurgitate the disk but all attempts have failed. Since I cannot work on software, I'll try to add details about the hardware this weekend. The biggest pressing issue is during a redesign of the layout to accommodate the mini along with a larger battery, should I scrap the wood I am using for a prototype and machine its aluminum counterpart or do I stick with the easy to work with wood?