Project: Pwnface Suitcase Revision 2

[Deadeye]

Back story

Two years ago, 3 of my friends and I decided that we needed to do a mod project over the summer. We thought we would do something like a computer in a briefcase design, however we wanted it to have three characteristics:

1) The parts must originally be off the shelf, ATX standard pieces (they can be modified)

2) The design needs to be made so that the whole unit is completely upgradeable

3) Design must incorporate a standard 19" Monitor

And the "Pwnface Suitcase" was born (The name is terrible, that was my friends idea not mine)

Given the large dimensions of the monitor and all the hardware, we chose to build our own suitcase/briefcase rather than modify an existing one. We built a frame out of 3/4" White wood along the perimeter and 1/4" Birch plywood for the backing. We took the I/O panel from an old case and built it into one of the sides to support the graphics card. We then wrapped everything in a brown "pleather", added handles, latches and feet.

Two years later the project is beginning to show signs of age and there are a few grievances the owner has come to loathe.

So this summer we decided to revisit the project this time addressing size and weight issues as well as a couple other things. I'll post pictures of the original build and then as the new design takes shape I will add those as well.

The project is still required to have the aforementioned features as well as a few new ones, including:

1) Must be smaller.

2) Must have external access to power, reset buttons and hdd light.

3) Must incorporate a tilt feature

4) Must have adequate cooling

[Deadeye]

Handle & latches
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1073/1242788542_7ae2333f57.jpg?v=0

Monitor Framing
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1030/651384438_6df5dc165e.jpg?v=0

Right Side: DVD & PSU
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1261/1241924015_66a7145b37.jpg?v=0

Inside: Here you can see the hardware after everything was assembled
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1323/1241911067_134c45bd09.jpg?v=0

More of the photos can be found at http://www.flickr.com/photos/redheadrebelpm

[Zephik]

Thats awesome! I've always wanted to do something like that. You did an excellent job on it, it looks very clean.

I was going to say, how do you cool it? It doesn't look like it has very adequate cooling. But apparently you intend to fix that? or have you already?

If I understand what you said correctly, which obviously I'm not sure of since I'm asking, but did you build the suitcase from scratch or mod an existing one? or a little bit of both?

lol 19inch monitor, I've never even owned anything larger than 17inch. Man, I really need to get with the program! ...although, I could use the 42inch plasma screen. haha, now that would be a gigantic suitcase! :p

[Deadeye]

Thanks Zephik, its actually made completely from scratch. The cooling on it consists of a 50cm fan taped to the side and the psu output - absolutely terrible cooling. So I will be addressing that during my new build. I'll have pictures up tonight.

[Deadeye]

After hammering out a design for the new build, I built a model, and since my CAD skills are limited, I constructed it out of cardboard in order to get an idea of how it might turn out. The entire model is made of 1/16" mat board.

This is a picture of the inner frame, it consist of 3/4" x 1/16" aluminum (cardboard for now) right angle stock cut to 45 degrees, making two squares. I then used a small piece of the same stock to support the corners - giving the squares width in between them.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1131/1242945935_3464ac535c.jpg?v=1188185065

I decided I was going to use 1/16" aluminum sheet metal for the sheathing of the frame. In the case of the cardboard model, I made the sheathing one entire piece instead of assembling it to the frame piece by piece (like I would do during actual construction) in order to be able to removed the frame for presentation purposes. Here you can see the frame and sheathing side by side.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1292/1242944227_88f6295fb3.jpg?v=0

Here, the frame is placed inside of the sheathing. I will create two of these one of which will house the hardware the other will house the monitor. Measurements are 16&3/8" x 16&3/8" for the frame. 16.5" square including the sheathing.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/1243804778_7e4dd3b2ab.jpg?v=0

[Deadeye]

I started construction a couple days ago and finally have time to upload photos.

I bought the angle aluminum from home depot and lowes home improvement stores. I thought about going to 1/2" x 1/2" angle aluminum to save a little on weight however it didn't seem as sturdy as the 3/4". I thought about "L" shaped 1/2" x 3/4" but they were out of stock on that and since I was on a time crunch we decided to take what we could find.

I started to cut the aluminum with a 10" compound miter chop saw but my grandfathers tools (now owned by my father) are now beginning to bite the dust. Following in the footsteps of many before it, the saw cut its last piece. So I switched over to a 10" Radial Arm Saw with a 1/8" metal cutting blade. After cutting the 45' pieces to roughly the length needed my friend and I filed the pieces down with a hand file as you can see here:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/1242951851_1e971fe436.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1190/1243811026_cb31973b36.jpg?v=0

I then used Jb-Weld to hold the corners together. It was clamped together and I let them dry overnight.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1394/1243808718_5b71ef12f4.jpg?v=0

After assembling most of the pieces it looks like this:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1059/1242948615_e3c1b3445e.jpg?v=0

I've finished Jb-Welding one side and begun to rivet the corners, I'll post pictures tomorrow!

[Deadeye]

Finished riveting the first side, now I'll have to make another one exactly the same which may prove to be a little difficult since it turned out about 1/16" over my targeted size. I think its because it was hand filed instead of using a disc sander, but I used what I had available. That's all anyone can do right?

The whole frame:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1324/1252873093_eb9ca1005e.jpg?v=0

Close up of the construction (the scratches are from C-Clamps which aided in drilling the holes for the rivets - so as to not put too much pressure and break the Jb-Weld, the scratches will not be visible since the sheathing will cover the outside completely.)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1251/1252873899_efa3ecb7c0.jpg?v=1188262512

An idea of what it will look like with the monitor installed:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1431/1252874555_c9e1e3d6b0.jpg?v=0

My friend (whom I'm doing the project for) ordered the sheet metal Sunday, so by the time I'm done with the 2nd half it should be here. I am going to ask the machinist in the Physics dept. at my university to give me a hand in cutting it. Otherwise, I will have to resort to a fence and a jigsaw.

[TheGreatSatan]

That aluminum will keep it lightweight

[Deadeye]

Howdy guys, been a couple days - busy with school. Today I went and bought some supplies and worked on the power supply. As most of you know a standard ATX psu is larger than 2.5" tall. So I took everything out of it and my plan is to cut the case down to size because the components inside (excluding the fan) are under 2.25" in height - perfect. The PSU is an HEC Windmill 385.

Heres a picture of everything taken apart, note - before taking the power supply apart I made sure it was fully discharged by disconnecting it from the wall and pressing the power button on my computer. There may still be some charge left in certain components (i.e. capacitors) so I made sure to be very careful and avoid these components. In order to take out the pcb you have to de-solder the switch and the AC power connector.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1027/1306756673_8dabbf606d.jpg?v=0

Since this is a custom build I decided to take off a set of wires I won't be using. There are two sets that look just like the picture below and I plan on removing one and then modifying the other to be just on single molex connector for the 6800 gfx card.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1319/1307641036_e338572073.jpg?v=0

Here you can see the base of the PSU where all the wires come together. I simply used wire cutters to remove the cable I was not going to use. I made the cuts near the red circles.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1014/1306754677_87933916af.jpg?v=0

For the gfx power cable I used a molex post removal tool on the first connector, and clipped the crimped wires close to the post and then reinserted the post into the molex connector. First picture is the process, the second is the result.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1047/1307639514_e3e2979936.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1060/1307638876_cb0697f98d.jpg?v=0

Tomorrow, I'll finish the other frame and then cut the psu casing down to size.

[Deadeye]

UPDATES! Yay!

Well, I decided I didn't like the 24 - 20 pin adapter so I removed it. First I paired off all the wires with tape and a sharpie, then I started soldering them together:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1124/1339310621_806aaa9233.jpg?v=0

After about a good 30-45min of soldering, I zip tied and shrunk the heatshrink I "preinstalled."
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1174/1339311021_5966d6ba40.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1154/1340199156_a5bc279641.jpg?v=0

Then I used a jigsaw and a file to cut the PSU casing down to size, which was a pain in the @$$ since I had no way to clamp it. Just had a friend hold it firmly. Watch your fingers, hehe.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1310/1340199406_834aab9ea9.jpg?v=0
PSU Casing Close-up
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1331/1339311825_fb048d6a7a.jpg?v=0
PSU Fitted into frame
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1043/1340200264_ff6dbfe8d1.jpg?v=0

After that, I cut out part of the frame to snap in the I/O plate for the motherboard. You can see in the picture that the i/o shield is cut towards the end, that's a remnant from our first project 2 years ago.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1133/1339312137_b345950ee0.jpg?v=0

I have more but I'm super tired. I'll post more tomorrow.

[Deadeye]

Thanks to a wonderfully generous local machinist, who wishes to remain anonymous I believe, I was able to get the sheathing cut from 2' squares down to the sizes I need. Here is a picture of the cutting process I took with my phone. From what I can tell he is using a hydraulic shear.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1228/1342385519_767444b89d.jpg?v=0

I'll be working on it for a while tonight, should have most of the hardware side done. I still have to add the motherboard and hardware mounts finish cutting holes for components in the frame, and work more on the PSU Casing.

More updates....tomorrow... *so tired* 5 hours of case work... :dead:

[danthegeek]

This looks great, you are doing a good job. Keep it up.

+rep
-danthegeek

[NocturnaL]

This does look nice man. I've always been kinda weary of suitcase / briefcase mods because most people just shove the parts in and say done. But your actually taking your time with it and actually MODDING it, good job +rep

[Deadeye]

Thanks for the compliments guys, I'm glad you guys like it. Hopefully it finishes even better.

Worked on it today for a couple hours, installed the Optical Drive mounts (no pictures yet) got the Plexiglass cut (it's going to protect the screen), planned and bought extra angle stock for the hard drive mounts, finished installing the t-nuts for the tilting feature, I also drilled out the frame that blocked the hole of the t-nuts and cut the bolts down to size.

The frame with the basic vertical supports (for motherboard mounts, PSU and installing other mounting hardware.)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1357/1348421282_85991748d1.jpg?v=0

Here's the T-Nuts installed in both corners of the monitor and hardware sides:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1105/1347527489_5d60c82e03.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1087/1347527885_5f5f05baeb.jpg?v=0

The holes in the frame for the t-nuts:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1130/1348420920_a469123356.jpg?v=0

The bolts were cut using the hack saw seen here:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1167/1347529113_18d942cb1e.jpg?v=0

That's all for now, more Sunday hopefully

[Deadeye]

No updates Sunday, I forgot my camera's memory card in the computer at home. But I have updates for you today!

I finally got around to cutting the other bolts to length for the tilt feature and I temporarily clamped the two sides together to get a feel for how my tilt design works, here it is in all its glory:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1036/1358034582_b2e5f1237f.jpg?v=0

You may notice in the bottom left corner a lot more metal that everywhere else... that's because I finished the hard drive cage!!! yay... and here it is:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1047/1358035388_368d42f742.jpg?v=0

The drive cage was design so that the drive could be removed without having to remove a bunch of other hardware. The "circular" area was cut out for an 80mm fan. The rough cuts will be covered by the fan and unnoticeable in the finished & assembled piece, they are rough because I had a hard time with the jigsaw jumping and torquing the frame pieces, so I did it quick.

I also installed the motherboard mounts and cut out the area for the graphics card. Here you can see the motherboard, dvd drive, and hdd installed:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1050/1357147311_090fd5c726.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1279/1358076464_f495800cb1.jpg?v=0

The dvd drive looks a little off, but the problem is known and will be fixed.

I took a break ran some errands and went back to work... forgetting the camera AGAIN! So I will take pictures tomorrow, I put on the first piece of sheathing (1/10), haven't cut the holes yet but I will soon, NOT looking forward to it.

[Deadeye]

Hey guys, sorry for the slow updates, school is starting to pick up and I don't wanna get overwhelmed. So, I worked on it for a little while the last couple days.

I've put on the sheathing for all four side pieces on the hardware side. I did this by drilling holes to match up with the rivets already on the frame, kinda of like a ghetto counter-sinking method. Then I riveted the piece itself to the frame and covered the frame rivets with Jb-Weld, and then sanded smooth. Here's a general pic:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/1376198876_981ea5906d.jpg?v=0

A closer shot of the sanded "jb-weld as bondo" job:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1216/1376197958_0a9da503fb.jpg?v=0

In the picture above you can see bottom where the "feet" will be I had to cut out quite an area for the 3 rivets hold the T-Nut on so there's quite the jb-bondo job, here you can see a close up of the jb drying. In order to keep the screw area clear I put in the pieces of bolt that was cut off and covered it in clear caulk so it will be easier to take out after the JB has dried.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1209/1375294285_066695dd5c.jpg?v=0

Doesn't seem like much but its very tedious work. I have been running into some roadblocks related to the monitor. But I think I've hammered out all issues and come up with a plan.

In one of my previous posts, you can see the spot for the 80mm fan (the round cuts) I have changed those to straight cuts and it looks a lot better. I should be able to get the back on the hardware side frame tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to getting to the paint job, everyday just a wee bit closer. I told my friend that I would be done with the case at the end of September, which gives me about 2 and 1/2 weeks. Thanks for all the support guys it really helps!

[Deadeye]

Went and worked on the case today. I have all the sheathing done on the hardware side. Here you can see that I sanded the back piece with 400grit to prepare it for painting (which still seems like a long way off):
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1140/1394599828_8e70bb3c93.jpg?v=0

I also cut holes for the power plug male adapter that will be on the right side of the case as well as the switch (for turning power on and off to the power supply). I also cut one 80cm fan hole, one 60cm in the side and began to cut another 80cm fan hole when I decided it was time to come home, I'll finish it tomorrow. You can see that before I left I filled up the rivet holes with JB-weld, once dry, I'll sand them down along with finishing all the necessary holes.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1232/1393706051_d281f41c15.jpg?v=0

By the way, covering the excess thread of the bolts with latex caulk and using them to keep the hole from filling up worked great, I'll snap some pics of that next time I'm working on it.

To Do:
Cut out area for atx i/o plate, finish fan2 hole, cut out graphics card area, cut cd drive area, and clean grind all holes, add bracket to psu to support cabling, double check all aspects of case and prepare for paint.

Then I get to start on the monitor side. So much... so little time... must shower.

[Deadeye]

Yo, worked on the case couple days ago but I went back and snapped some pics. Here is the monitor side with the first piece side piece installed:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1262/1404647609_b3c3aa5b43.jpg?v=0

Here's the picture with the holes finished, the sides on. Still need the GFX, I/O and CD Drives areas cut out.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1077/1405532804_bf3e166202.jpg?v=0

Worked on the monitors bottom side piece which needs to have a larger area cut out for the feet. I'll post as I finish.

[Deadeye]

Got a lot tonight...

Worked on the case for about 5 hours today and did quite a bit of work.

Got all the holes cut, filed, and sanded on the hardware side, here they are all labeled:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1035/1410726132_c62e22f577.jpg?v=0

Then I drilled the screw holes for the two 80mm Fans, the 60's wont need any since they are a very snug fit, only a little silicon to keep them in place ;)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1046/1409844353_9e91d84d5f.jpg?v=0

Then I JB'ed up the last rivet holes and let it alone to dry overnight, moving on to something a bit more fun... SPRAYPAINTING!!!

Here you can see my setup, a white sheet for a drop cloth/ back drop tacked to the wall with the object being painted suspended from the ceiling using fishing line.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1375/1410725094_5a3ba40e54.jpg?v=0

In this case it is the PSU casing that was blasted with a quick coat of black paint, the same black that will be used for the rest of the case:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1086/1409842821_f59a2b9b70.jpg?v=0

But before I painted it I did a little bit of work to it --
1) Added 3/4" bar for support, riveted on which you can see in the corners
2) Cut crevasse with jigsaw which will be for controlling the wires, there's a little black plastic piece on a basic power supply which protects the wires from the sharp edges of the steel, I will be JB'ing said plastic piece into the cut area and then zip tying the wires to it so that they wont move around.
3) Not really work done to the case but since you may be wondering, I'll explain. There is residue from double sided foam tape used to mount the PSU into our original case (ghetto, yes, I know). Since the bottom wont be seen, and the residue is a b!+ch to get off, I decided to ignore it and paint over it.

All of which can be seen here:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1311/1410726292_2257ee8fab.jpg?v=0

Well that's all I have for today, more tomorrow hopefully. Now I'm going to go take a test for my online class. L8er.

[Deadeye]

Guys, its getting close...

I've pretty much finished the hardware side, I gave that side its first primer layer, about 3 coats. Here you can see the inside after the entire thing has been wet-sanded, you may also note that I added screens for the fan holes.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1192/1425391125_53dd502d0b.jpg?v=0

Another angle:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1329/1426273700_8fa238b8bd.jpg?v=0

I cut the hole for the monitor sheathing with a jigsaw, to keep the blade from jumping and to make a better cut I used a 24 (Tooth per inch) and clamped the metal to a piece of 1/4" lauan, here it is cut:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1167/1425392345_6b4e6fc6a8.jpg?v=0

And I attached the sheathing to each of the four sides of the monitor frame:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1103/1426275260_454b540974.jpg?v=0

Sigh, almost done, clean up the monitor side, another layer of primer, onto color... repeat for the monitor side, add the hinge, some power buttons and its good to go *does the taco bell thing*

[Deadeye]

Countdown 7 days left...

Today:

Filed the hole and attached the front panel to the monitor frame, 4 rivets short of completing it as I broke another 1/8" drill bit, that's 3 now. I have one more... hopefully it doesn't die on me. The frame now:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1337/1430031763_b587c39799.jpg?v=0

Second layer of primer, 4 coats this time and I'm out of primer, gonna have to pick up a new can from Wally world tomorrow. Inside of hardware piece:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1334/1430907054_69a2091ab0.jpg?v=0

Angled shot:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1120/1430907552_6c45ae65b9.jpg?v=0

Back side:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1034/1430908082_cf9ab53f64.jpg?v=0

Finished the power supply, nice and black:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1176/1430908852_4f4fa9a7f1.jpg?v=0

Here's a close up of the cable holder I spoke of in my last post:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1313/1430034963_b54e6ebcaf.jpg?v=0

Thats all for now. I have to finish JB-ing the rivet holes, sand them, cut the hole for the power cable, and start to prime the monitor side in the next two days. I will also start the color coating on the hardware side.

What do you guys think?

[Eclecticos]

I think I want you to make me one. :)
. .Sleek custom box, Looks Hella Professional! +Rep

[Deadeye]

Lots over the past few days...

Worked on the monitor piece, I cut the plexiglass window to size using a straightedge clamped in place and running a box knife/retractable razor over the line about 10 times both top and bottom. Then used a crescent wrench to break the excess off, sometimes little edges are still left so i took those off with a hammer and a slotted screw driver:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1333/1446326238_1ca7de0f82.jpg?v=0

Next I put the first color coat on the hardware side, here's the results:

Outside:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1357/1446328298_75b851dbca.jpg?v=0

Inside:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1172/1445466145_3318287d8b.jpg?v=0

I/O plate:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1416/1446329026_35025fbdbc.jpg?v=0

Then I worked on creating the monitor mounting hardware. Here is the hardware and the latches being primed:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1214/1446332056_660e98fed1.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/1445469049_c7b6a0af80.jpg?v=0

And the monitor being primed, the hole in the center is for the power button:

Outside:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1341/1445468185_4c64761781.jpg?v=0

Inside:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1378/1446331282_2940701c13.jpg?v=0

I sanded the primer layer of the monitor side with 800 grit and began to put on the color thinking I had 2 cans of paint. I ran out having already used one can and not remembering, so I need to get 2 more cans of black. And I will update soon as I can guys.

-Deadeye