widefault
03-12-2008, 07:46 PM
We now join this case mod already in progress....
This is something I had planned to build while I was finishing my Windows Home Server (http://www.widefault.com/whs/whs.htm) because I had been unable to properly fit the four hard drives I had initially planned.
A quick pic of that box.
http://www.widefault.com/whs/whs29.jpg
That one has two 500GB drives, but I had planned on using four total. My board only had two SATA ports, and it was just too cramped for all four drives, so I decided I'd build an external case using the last section of Breadbox left over from making the WHS's case.
I dug through my parts box and found an old power supply from a Sony-bus external dual CD-ROM drive.
http://www.widefault.com/other/lockbox6.jpg
I had actually planned to use this in an earlier mod, but had never gotten very far. One thing I had done was add a floppy power connector to the existing two standard molex. This was to hook to a laptop CD drive adapter, but will now come in very handy. Did some basic measurements, drilled a couple holes, and got the PSU attached to case so I could start to lay out my cuts.
So I had a pair of hard drives, a ~6" section of breadbox, and the power supply. Dug through the parts again and found a spare 80mm Panaflo fan and a fan grill. So far so good.
When I had set up my WHS Cube, I had installed a 4 port SATA card hoping to set up some kind of RAID. Since WHS doesn't really support that, I left it in and planned to use the two external ports to hook up to this external case. Well, the SATA card has external SATA ports, not eSATA, so I just picked up a slot bracket that had the same. Easy enough to just run a pair of SATA cables, I guess.
Just you hold still, we're getting close to the present time.
My next move was to start making the rest of the case. I had some scrap pieces the same as what I used to build the backpanel and base of the WHS. Took one, measured, marked, and cut it. Meh, the cuts were mediocre, but good enough. So I laid it out again for bending using my El Cheapo Harbor Freight metal brake (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39103). And this is where I screwed up and ended up with a crooked back panel. Crap, crap, crap. Part of the problem was my design, I really needed a piece that was cut straighter. Another part was the material, it was much thicker than I like to work with. One more part was the brake, it's cheap and inaccurate. The other part was all me, I just didn't pay close enough attention to my measurements.
This was the point where I set things aside and forgot about them for a while. I was trying to figure out if I could salvage the backpanel or not, and decided it wasn't worth worrying about.
Now we get to a few weeks ago. I had been looking for better material, but there's not really a place where I could go and browse through aluminum sheet. Now, I work at a company that makes things from aluminum, but our parts are extruded and don't lend themselves to case modding. Anyway, we happened to have an order that required a custom part we don't make in house. My uncle, and boss, had heard me complaining about finding aluminum sheet and offered to ask for some scraps when he went to pick up the other part. I was thinking I'd get a few small sample pieces, hopefully enough to see what they might have for me to buy. When he returned he had a 2 foot square and a 2 foot by about 5 foot piece of 16 gauge aluminum, pretty much what I had been searching for. It's nice having an uncle who knows everyone.
I had material, but I was still going to have to use the cheap Harbor Freight brake. It would work, but I have another mod planned that will need more than the 18" bending area it offers. So I checked ebay, maybe I could find a 24" in the same design. Found a few, but the prices seemed way too high for a few pieces of welded angle iron. Expanded my search to see if I could find something better and ended up finding, bidding on, and buying a 24" pan/box brake. A Pan brake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_and_pan_brake) has adjustable fingers that allow you to bend a piece of metal into a box or pan shape. With the Harbor Freight brake I had to make short bars when I needed to bend a flat sheet into a "pan", but the new brake I just need to move the fingers to the right width. If you're serious about scratch building, a pan brake is worth the money. Of course, I do wish I had found a shear and brake, but a good sabre saw and straight edge is much cheaper.
We're almost to the present. Started thinking about this again last Friday. Decided that the standard SATA cables and SATA connectors are a recipe for disaster. It'll be way too easy to accidentally unplug something. Remembered seeing a USB/eSATA port multiplier a while ago and was able to track it down to these guys (http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad2sahpmeu.asp). Can be hooked up by USB or eSATA, built-in RAID modes, and supports two drives. A bit expensive at $55 + shipping, but it has other merits.
Everybody likes blue LEDs, or at least I still like them. I also like activity indicators, which has become a lot harder to implement with SATA drives. The Addonics board has onboard connectors for power and seperate drive indicator LEDs. No need for me to add goofy wiring, yay!!!! It also has a floppy style power connector, which I had added to the power supply, so that bit of work actually has a point now.
Oh yeah, also ordered more LEDs than I need for a few years, but it was cheaper in bulk.
And that brings us to the present. My next move will be to layout the main chassis of the case, then cut and bend it to shape. Then comes mounting brackets, fan holes, and cutouts for the power supply hookups and controller board. I'm going to try to take more pictures and better document what I'm doing.
As for the design, it'll be a ~4" tall version of the WHS cube. The whole idea is that it should match the design. Maybe not exciting, but sometimes subtle is what a person wants.
This is something I had planned to build while I was finishing my Windows Home Server (http://www.widefault.com/whs/whs.htm) because I had been unable to properly fit the four hard drives I had initially planned.
A quick pic of that box.
http://www.widefault.com/whs/whs29.jpg
That one has two 500GB drives, but I had planned on using four total. My board only had two SATA ports, and it was just too cramped for all four drives, so I decided I'd build an external case using the last section of Breadbox left over from making the WHS's case.
I dug through my parts box and found an old power supply from a Sony-bus external dual CD-ROM drive.
http://www.widefault.com/other/lockbox6.jpg
I had actually planned to use this in an earlier mod, but had never gotten very far. One thing I had done was add a floppy power connector to the existing two standard molex. This was to hook to a laptop CD drive adapter, but will now come in very handy. Did some basic measurements, drilled a couple holes, and got the PSU attached to case so I could start to lay out my cuts.
So I had a pair of hard drives, a ~6" section of breadbox, and the power supply. Dug through the parts again and found a spare 80mm Panaflo fan and a fan grill. So far so good.
When I had set up my WHS Cube, I had installed a 4 port SATA card hoping to set up some kind of RAID. Since WHS doesn't really support that, I left it in and planned to use the two external ports to hook up to this external case. Well, the SATA card has external SATA ports, not eSATA, so I just picked up a slot bracket that had the same. Easy enough to just run a pair of SATA cables, I guess.
Just you hold still, we're getting close to the present time.
My next move was to start making the rest of the case. I had some scrap pieces the same as what I used to build the backpanel and base of the WHS. Took one, measured, marked, and cut it. Meh, the cuts were mediocre, but good enough. So I laid it out again for bending using my El Cheapo Harbor Freight metal brake (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=39103). And this is where I screwed up and ended up with a crooked back panel. Crap, crap, crap. Part of the problem was my design, I really needed a piece that was cut straighter. Another part was the material, it was much thicker than I like to work with. One more part was the brake, it's cheap and inaccurate. The other part was all me, I just didn't pay close enough attention to my measurements.
This was the point where I set things aside and forgot about them for a while. I was trying to figure out if I could salvage the backpanel or not, and decided it wasn't worth worrying about.
Now we get to a few weeks ago. I had been looking for better material, but there's not really a place where I could go and browse through aluminum sheet. Now, I work at a company that makes things from aluminum, but our parts are extruded and don't lend themselves to case modding. Anyway, we happened to have an order that required a custom part we don't make in house. My uncle, and boss, had heard me complaining about finding aluminum sheet and offered to ask for some scraps when he went to pick up the other part. I was thinking I'd get a few small sample pieces, hopefully enough to see what they might have for me to buy. When he returned he had a 2 foot square and a 2 foot by about 5 foot piece of 16 gauge aluminum, pretty much what I had been searching for. It's nice having an uncle who knows everyone.
I had material, but I was still going to have to use the cheap Harbor Freight brake. It would work, but I have another mod planned that will need more than the 18" bending area it offers. So I checked ebay, maybe I could find a 24" in the same design. Found a few, but the prices seemed way too high for a few pieces of welded angle iron. Expanded my search to see if I could find something better and ended up finding, bidding on, and buying a 24" pan/box brake. A Pan brake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_and_pan_brake) has adjustable fingers that allow you to bend a piece of metal into a box or pan shape. With the Harbor Freight brake I had to make short bars when I needed to bend a flat sheet into a "pan", but the new brake I just need to move the fingers to the right width. If you're serious about scratch building, a pan brake is worth the money. Of course, I do wish I had found a shear and brake, but a good sabre saw and straight edge is much cheaper.
We're almost to the present. Started thinking about this again last Friday. Decided that the standard SATA cables and SATA connectors are a recipe for disaster. It'll be way too easy to accidentally unplug something. Remembered seeing a USB/eSATA port multiplier a while ago and was able to track it down to these guys (http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad2sahpmeu.asp). Can be hooked up by USB or eSATA, built-in RAID modes, and supports two drives. A bit expensive at $55 + shipping, but it has other merits.
Everybody likes blue LEDs, or at least I still like them. I also like activity indicators, which has become a lot harder to implement with SATA drives. The Addonics board has onboard connectors for power and seperate drive indicator LEDs. No need for me to add goofy wiring, yay!!!! It also has a floppy style power connector, which I had added to the power supply, so that bit of work actually has a point now.
Oh yeah, also ordered more LEDs than I need for a few years, but it was cheaper in bulk.
And that brings us to the present. My next move will be to layout the main chassis of the case, then cut and bend it to shape. Then comes mounting brackets, fan holes, and cutouts for the power supply hookups and controller board. I'm going to try to take more pictures and better document what I'm doing.
As for the design, it'll be a ~4" tall version of the WHS cube. The whole idea is that it should match the design. Maybe not exciting, but sometimes subtle is what a person wants.