brightshininglights
12-07-2007, 07:50 PM
This is my entry for the shuttle case mod contest. I only started a few weeks ago, and I documented most everything, so it should be pretty coherent. I know that there was a big question about whether or not they sent you a whole case, and the answer in short is no, they do not. They send you a case cover, as such:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1564-1.jpg
I figured that anyone who was serious would get a case, so I shopped around and picked up an old socket 462 shuttle for $20 on craigslist.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1568.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1569.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1565-1.jpg
The reason the original silver case is taped and marked up is because I thought that I would be using it. However, it had the shuttle logo embossed in the side, and since at the time I was planning on using a circle cutter, and circle cutters don't play nice with uneveness, I untaped it and retaped the new cover.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1566-1.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1567.jpg
My first step was to make a model in sketchup. Here is my model.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/SilentDeath_sn41g2.jpg
I got the model online, but I added the curved edges and updated the dimensions. Then I calculated the position of the holes down to the 1/32". Let me tell you something, all that measuring and calculating was a lot of math!
First to arrive were the faucet connectors.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1616.jpg
Here they are after about a half hour of lable stripping.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1618.jpg
Remember how I said I was going to use a circle cutter in the beginning? I tried the circle cutter that I found in our garage, and merely using it bent it all out of shape and actually stopped the drill press. So I bought some knockout punches.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1619.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1620.jpg
It was actually cheaper to buy four of them on ebay than to buy just the one I needed at an actual store. Funny, huh?
The last thing I ordered was the conduit nipples. I have one of those forehead-slapping stories about this one. Ok, so I called this store downtown for a price check, and they said that they'd call me right back. I waited a couple hours with no response, so I went ahead and ordered them online for 29 cents each from some electrical supply on the East coast. The next day the local guy calls me back and says that they have them for 24 cents each and that I could pick them up that day! Forehead-slap!
So, after a good two weeks of materials-acquisition and planning, I was ready to begin. I taped off the new panel and marked a grid, then spring-punched it on the intersections. Here my next problem arose: How to get the thing on the drill press! Because of the bend, I couldn't just lay it on there like normal, so a spacer was necessary. I cut a 2x4 to length. However, even with the stand on the lowest setting, There still wasn't room for the bit.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1622.jpg
So I moved the stand out of the way, and then the bit couldn't reach!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1623.jpg
2x6's to the rescue! The perfect height.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1624.jpg
So here are the holes before being chassis-punched.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1625.jpg
Chassis-punching in progress.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1626.jpg
And done.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1627.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1628.jpg
These are the knockouts from one side.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1630.jpg
Dassa lotta knockouts!
Now for the top.
Taped.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1634.jpg
Punched.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1636.jpg
And drilled, with a couple holes knocked out.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1637.jpg
Here's the whole thing done.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1638.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1639.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1640.jpg
I let it sit like this for a couple days, waiting for my nipples to come.
Waiting....
Waitiiingg......
And here they are!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1632.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1633.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1641.jpg
I couldn't resist getting them all ordered and laid out. Lol.
Here's my next problem:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1643.jpg
There's about an eighth inch too much space between the end of the faucet connector and the bushing of the nipple. So I asked my father to pick up 90 1/2" locknuts from Lowes on his way home from work.
Here's the whole apparatus with the locknut added.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1644.jpg
I later discovered that the cause of the extra space was the rubber washer inside the faucet connector that seals it when it's actually being used to hold water. I removed the washer on certain faucet connector ends to allow for more room for interior components. When you see a nipple without a locknut, it's because I took out the rubber washer. And yes, my desk is now littered with the little buggers.
Here are some cable installation shots.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1645.jpg
Kind of looks like a backbone.That's when I was putting the locknuts on the outside. I realized that it looked bad that way, so I installed them on the inside of the metal.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1646.jpg
Here is the completed cover. These look like big fuses on some big spaceship or something to me.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1647.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1648.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1649.jpg
I later took off the locknuts on the outer rows on the top panel because they interfered with the internal structure. I still have to modify the frame a bit to get the panels on enough to be fastened.
So here are the (semi) completed shots.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1653.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1654.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1656.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1657.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1658.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1659.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1660.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1661.jpg
My father is a hobby photographer (he has enough equipment to make a darkroom), and here are some shots that he took of it using my camera. Personally, I can't tell a difference :P.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1664.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1663.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1662.jpg
Actually, I can. I'll put photography on my list of things to get good at.
Next I installed and stealthed a DVD drive.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1698.jpg
Bourt Preshtun, Howr can dis be?
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1699.jpg
Like such: with velcro!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1704.jpg
Bourt Preshtun, Howr doesh it shtay togedder??
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1700.jpg
Like such: with dremels and hot glue!
I had to use hot glue because the drive cover is made of 4 pieces: an anodized metal plate, a plastic cover, and 2 hex shoulder bolts. The first thing I needed to do was glue the plate and the cover together. I sanded the sides to be glued with 600 grit, then laid glue and smooshed them together. It took a couple tries, as sometimes you don't do it fast enough and it dries before you can put the pieces together :x . I dremeled off the threaded part of the shoulder bolt, leaving just a metal stud with a bushing. I set the studs where they would go and then glued them from the back. I tried putting glue on the studs then sticking them in the hole, but that gave me the same drying problem in addition to overflow (oversmoosh :P ), and a burning sensation on the tips of my fingers 8O.
P.S. My name is Preston, not Preshtun :o
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1564-1.jpg
I figured that anyone who was serious would get a case, so I shopped around and picked up an old socket 462 shuttle for $20 on craigslist.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1568.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1569.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1565-1.jpg
The reason the original silver case is taped and marked up is because I thought that I would be using it. However, it had the shuttle logo embossed in the side, and since at the time I was planning on using a circle cutter, and circle cutters don't play nice with uneveness, I untaped it and retaped the new cover.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1566-1.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1567.jpg
My first step was to make a model in sketchup. Here is my model.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/SilentDeath_sn41g2.jpg
I got the model online, but I added the curved edges and updated the dimensions. Then I calculated the position of the holes down to the 1/32". Let me tell you something, all that measuring and calculating was a lot of math!
First to arrive were the faucet connectors.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1616.jpg
Here they are after about a half hour of lable stripping.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1618.jpg
Remember how I said I was going to use a circle cutter in the beginning? I tried the circle cutter that I found in our garage, and merely using it bent it all out of shape and actually stopped the drill press. So I bought some knockout punches.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1619.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1620.jpg
It was actually cheaper to buy four of them on ebay than to buy just the one I needed at an actual store. Funny, huh?
The last thing I ordered was the conduit nipples. I have one of those forehead-slapping stories about this one. Ok, so I called this store downtown for a price check, and they said that they'd call me right back. I waited a couple hours with no response, so I went ahead and ordered them online for 29 cents each from some electrical supply on the East coast. The next day the local guy calls me back and says that they have them for 24 cents each and that I could pick them up that day! Forehead-slap!
So, after a good two weeks of materials-acquisition and planning, I was ready to begin. I taped off the new panel and marked a grid, then spring-punched it on the intersections. Here my next problem arose: How to get the thing on the drill press! Because of the bend, I couldn't just lay it on there like normal, so a spacer was necessary. I cut a 2x4 to length. However, even with the stand on the lowest setting, There still wasn't room for the bit.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1622.jpg
So I moved the stand out of the way, and then the bit couldn't reach!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1623.jpg
2x6's to the rescue! The perfect height.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1624.jpg
So here are the holes before being chassis-punched.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1625.jpg
Chassis-punching in progress.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1626.jpg
And done.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1627.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1628.jpg
These are the knockouts from one side.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1630.jpg
Dassa lotta knockouts!
Now for the top.
Taped.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1634.jpg
Punched.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1636.jpg
And drilled, with a couple holes knocked out.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1637.jpg
Here's the whole thing done.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1638.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1639.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1640.jpg
I let it sit like this for a couple days, waiting for my nipples to come.
Waiting....
Waitiiingg......
And here they are!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1632.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1633.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1641.jpg
I couldn't resist getting them all ordered and laid out. Lol.
Here's my next problem:
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1643.jpg
There's about an eighth inch too much space between the end of the faucet connector and the bushing of the nipple. So I asked my father to pick up 90 1/2" locknuts from Lowes on his way home from work.
Here's the whole apparatus with the locknut added.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1644.jpg
I later discovered that the cause of the extra space was the rubber washer inside the faucet connector that seals it when it's actually being used to hold water. I removed the washer on certain faucet connector ends to allow for more room for interior components. When you see a nipple without a locknut, it's because I took out the rubber washer. And yes, my desk is now littered with the little buggers.
Here are some cable installation shots.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1645.jpg
Kind of looks like a backbone.That's when I was putting the locknuts on the outside. I realized that it looked bad that way, so I installed them on the inside of the metal.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1646.jpg
Here is the completed cover. These look like big fuses on some big spaceship or something to me.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1647.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1648.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1649.jpg
I later took off the locknuts on the outer rows on the top panel because they interfered with the internal structure. I still have to modify the frame a bit to get the panels on enough to be fastened.
So here are the (semi) completed shots.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1653.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1654.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1656.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1657.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1658.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1659.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1660.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1661.jpg
My father is a hobby photographer (he has enough equipment to make a darkroom), and here are some shots that he took of it using my camera. Personally, I can't tell a difference :P.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1664.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1663.jpg
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1662.jpg
Actually, I can. I'll put photography on my list of things to get good at.
Next I installed and stealthed a DVD drive.
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1698.jpg
Bourt Preshtun, Howr can dis be?
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1699.jpg
Like such: with velcro!
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1704.jpg
Bourt Preshtun, Howr doesh it shtay togedder??
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb221/Brightshininglights/DSCF1700.jpg
Like such: with dremels and hot glue!
I had to use hot glue because the drive cover is made of 4 pieces: an anodized metal plate, a plastic cover, and 2 hex shoulder bolts. The first thing I needed to do was glue the plate and the cover together. I sanded the sides to be glued with 600 grit, then laid glue and smooshed them together. It took a couple tries, as sometimes you don't do it fast enough and it dries before you can put the pieces together :x . I dremeled off the threaded part of the shoulder bolt, leaving just a metal stud with a bushing. I set the studs where they would go and then glued them from the back. I tried putting glue on the studs then sticking them in the hole, but that gave me the same drying problem in addition to overflow (oversmoosh :P ), and a burning sensation on the tips of my fingers 8O.
P.S. My name is Preston, not Preshtun :o