Project: Clockwork

[blueonblack]

http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/jdbnsn/worklogbanners/clockwork2.png

Time for another build. This will be another scratchbuild, mostly wood with some other materials as "accent" pieces. Try as I may, I seem to be unable to simply modify an existing case. Here are some pics of the materials to be used:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Lumber.jpg
Old 2x4 lumber that has been drying in my attic for about eight years now.


http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Plywood.jpg
Three pieces of some very nice birch plywood and a small coil of 1/4" copper tubing.


http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/MapleTray.jpg
A block of hard maple and the motherboard tray out of the generic case from my very first computer build.


http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Fan-1.jpg
250mm fan scavenged from my current Enermax Phoenix case. I actually ordered one from our friends at Xoxide, but the one that came on my Enermax is reversible so I swapped them for this build.


http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Switch.jpg
Cool on/off switch from Ebay. (More on this later...)


http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Gears.jpg
The gears from five clock movements scavenged from various sources.

Not pictured (as I do not have it yet) is the motor to turn the gears. Still deciding on the size, speed and orientation. Anyone interested in this kind of thing should check out solarbotics.com.


I am going to try not to go as manic with this build as I did with the last one, and this promises to be a more challenging project, so updates may not be as frequent (for those who care). The above-pictured motherboard tray is the only factory-made case part I will be using. This will be a transplant of my current system, so no hardware will be needed. Wish me luck!

[blueonblack]

As it turns out, I am going to have to mod one of the parts I bought to do the mod. :) The on/off switch I bought it very cool, perfect for this build, and is a momentary switch as needed. However, it is a normally CLOSED on/off switch. Not viable for a power button. So I had to make it a normally OPEN switch. Here it is again:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Switch.jpg



And disassembled:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/2.jpg



Trouble is, there is a small copper contact in the middle of that red board between the large contacts. That closes the circuit while it sits. When you press the button it forces the red board down and the small contact slides under the bends in the larger contacts, breaking the circuit.

I had to make it so that it was normally open, so I first removed the red board and threw it away. Next I put a small piece of heat shrink on one of the larger contacts:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/4.jpg


Now it's normally open, but I have to be able to make a momentary connection when I press the button. Notice I left the very top of the contact uncovered by the heat shrink. Here's the solution:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/3.jpg



I screwed 3 machine screws onto a long #6 screw then cut it off. (They are screwed together in the pic.) Then I used 5-minute epoxy to secure them inside the hollow metal cap that you press to activate the switch. Done. Now when you press the switch in about 1/2" the two copper contacts touch the machine nuts and make contact. When you let go the spring pushes the cap and the contact-making nuts away. Perfect. :D

[DonT-FeaR]

ok this should be interesting

should make the gears turn ever so slowly

not sure where they are going but hey

[The boy 4rm oz]

I have been waiting for your next mod mate. You last one was excellent. Can't wait for more on this.

[The_Crippler]

Oooooooooooooh...clock gears. I'm a fan of gears. I approve of this project.

[blueonblack]

I have been waiting for your next mod mate. You last one was excellent. Can't wait for more on this.

Thanks very much. :D Might I say that Lexa is coming along VERY nicely! :up:

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks mate. She is almost done now.

[DonT-FeaR]

yea i cant wait till we lan lexa and moditor the high rollers.... :P lol

love the idea for this mod..

[Cheron]

indeed the last one was great. cant wait for this one. love the gears.

[blueonblack]

Just a parts update, got the gear motor I ordered from Solarbotics.com:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Motor2.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Motor1.jpg

Rated at 78 rpm at 5 volts, still trying to decide the diameter of the main drive gear, and thus the overall speed of the geartrain. I'll probably wire in a rheostat to make the speed variable, probably run the shaft of the rheostat through the side of the case near the geartrain and solder a single gear onto it to hide it. That way I can control the gear speed externally by turning that "control gear". :)

Since the geartrain and the big fan will both be on the left side of the case, and the fan is 12 volts, I think I can wire the gear motor and the fan into a single Molex plug, making cable management much easier.

Also, I have all six sides cut out for the case. I learned from my last creation and decided to dry-fit them on my desk to get an idea of the shape and size. It's too big. Again. Some rethinking is in order to minimize this thing's footprint.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Cool idea. Can't wait to see those gears moving.

[blueonblack]

I finished the drive mounting system. Since the right side of the case will be permanently attached, I had to figure a way to get to the right-side mounting hardware for my optical and hard drives. I decided to build a self-contained drive mounting "tower" that can be easily removed as an assembly:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Back.jpg
Here it is mounted with an old DVD and hard drive. You can see the wooden spacers I built to mount the 3.5-inch hard drives. This pic shows the back of the assembly, as will be seen from inside the case.




Here is the front:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Front.jpg
The plywood edges are ugly but they will be mounted flush against the inside of the front panel and therefore invisible. The horizontal piece on bottom is to help keep it all square, and will also be anchored to the bottom of the case. I had to cut it short to leave room for the front 120mm intake fan.




http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Closeup.jpg

Here you can see the extra holes, I am planning to mount two DVD drives and two hard drives inside it. Once assembled and in place, it will mount with two screws to the bottom of the case and with four screws through the front panel, so if I have a hardware failure :( or get an upgrade :) I can just remove these six screws and pull the whole assembly out.

[DonT-FeaR]

cool nice work man

[Computer-Geek]

This looks cool

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice work on the drive tower. Looks very cool.

[blueonblack]

More pics of the drive tower, got it mounted to what is going to be the bottom of the case. Used these wonderful little jewels:
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Inserts.jpg

Threaded brass inserts, wonderful little inventions for fastening when you plan to remove and reinstall the fasteners repeatedly. Wood screws will only come out and go back in so many times. :) They make a T-shaped driver for them, but I'm way too cheap to buy one, so I use the machine-screw-and-two-nuts method:
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Inserttool.jpg

Tighten the nuts against the insert, screw it in, back the nuts off and pull the screw out. Works like a charm. When they're inserted correctly, they sit flush with the surface, or slightly below it:
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Insertinstalled.jpg

That one is in the bottom of the case, there will be two of them there to secure the drive tower to the base. Putting them in the edge of a piece of plywood is a little bit harder, as plywood likes to come apart when you do just about anything to the edge. But if you drill a slightly larger pilot hole and are very careful, they do work:
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Edgeinserts.jpg

Got four of them in the edges of the front of of the tower, then mounted the front plate with four screws. Obviously, when it's done these screws won't have anything to do with the front face, as it will be permanently in place, but for the sake of checking my work I went ahead and secured them all up.
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Face.jpg

And here is where I stand on the whole as of now. I cut the motherboard tray I had down by about five inches and cut a hole in the rear panel to fit it. Just sitting loose in this pic to see what it will look like. :)
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Alldone.jpg

That's it for now, next step will be to get the maple corner blocks and the edge corners all cut. Still puzzling over how to cut the top maple corner blocks, but it will come to me. :D

[DonT-FeaR]

nice work

im thinking of working with wood for my next majour project

[blueonblack]

I love working with it, love the smell of it, the feel of it, the look of it. Makes me curious, what kind of wood is used for furniture/woodworking in your area of the world?

[The boy 4rm oz]

That is looking really cool.

[Spidy88]

those gears will make a sweet mod. can't wait to see how you make them turn together!

[jdbnsn]

I got your header done, for now anyway...

[blueonblack]

Dude, that is excellent, thanks!!! :D

[Liquid_Scope_99]

i love cases based on wood great start

[Slatter]

i love insides of clocks... i could stare at that cogs and gears all day. can't wait to see this!

[DonT-FeaR]

great header

jdbnsn does it again

[Zephik]

oooh, this is going to be a very cool mod! I can't wait to see more. :)


great header

jdbnsn does it again

Yea no joke, fantastic work once again jd!

[blueonblack]

I mentioned in my first post that this would be a transplant of my current system, and no hardware would be needed. As most of you know, this doesn't always work out. I am currently using a Sigma Shark PSU:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/SigmaPSUPic.jpg



I could not in good conscience put this sleek aluminum hardware in this new build, as it would look really out of place. This one will work MUCH better:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/StockPSUPic.jpg

The Kingwin Mach 1 800-watt modular PSU, I just ordered it from Xoxide yesterday, look for a review in the near future. The shape, the round connectors, the sleeving, and the modular support will work much better in this build, AND give me more power to boot. :D

Also on the parts front, I have scored the perfect grill for the front 120mm intake fan:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/FanGrill2.jpg


I got very lucky with this find, the distance between the outer edges of the outermost holes is EXACTLY 120mm. +Rep to the first person who can tell me what this thing actually goes on.

Got my Metal Effects paint today, hope to experiment with it a little bit tonight, wish me luck. :)

[mittelmeier]

Looks like a drive gear for one of those pit bikes or min bikes. Could be wrong though.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That Sigma Shark is really cool, reminds me of the Antec Phantom. Nice new PSU.

As for the gear I was gonna say a bike also, it has the right mounting houles and teeth.

[DonT-FeaR]

i have a psu nearly identical to that just different brand its really really great

[blueonblack]

It is in fact a Yamaha motorcycle sprocket, +rep to both of you. :D

[The boy 4rm oz]

Lol thanks for the rep.

[mittelmeier]

Thanks for the rep. I can't wait to see what this mod looks like done. Anything with gears has to be good.

[jdbnsn]

haha! I used a cycle sprocket in your header too! :D

[Ichbin]

You have to tell me where you found those gears! Loving the idea, I really want to see how this turns out.

[blueonblack]

You have to tell me where you found those gears! Loving the idea, I really want to see how this turns out.

I bought one batch on Ebay. I bought one wind-up alarm clock at a flea market and two wind-up wall clocks at two other flea markets, and one last movement at a local clock shop (he gave it to me for free!). The sprocket was Ebay also.

[PartyLikeARockstar]

+ Rep for the idea, and subscribed.

[blueonblack]

Okay, I've been thinking about the interior on this thing (more than I want to, actually), and I would like to make my hard drives match the rest of the scheme. I'll be doing this with the optical drives by removing the outer cover and painting it, but I'm understandably hesitant to do that with a hard drive.

My thought was to make a custom cover for them that sits inside the tower and hides them from view. My concern is heat. It would most likely be made of wood, not the world's best conductor of heat. Anyone have any input on this? Should I leave a minimum clearance around them for air flow? Is this not advisable at all? I saw slamaa made one for his hard drive in his Welcome to Rapture mod but it was a metal cover.

Anyone?

[The boy 4rm oz]

I would use alu regardless, you can then paint it or get a adhesive vinyl so you can get your desired effect. As for airflow, if the alu fits snugly enough it will act as a heatsink.

[blueonblack]

I would use alu regardless, you can then paint it or get a adhesive vinyl so you can get your desired effect. As for airflow, if the alu fits snugly enough it will act as a heatsink.

Thanks for the input, I've started thinking about maybe a mesh cover of some kind. That would hide the shiny drive while still allowing heat to radiate. I would have to find just the right mesh, though. We'll see.

I've decided to stop worrying about the finish and the drive tower for now and start working on the geartrain. That will be the most difficult and most interesting part of the whole project anyway. :D

[DonT-FeaR]

ohh yay gear trains :( they can be your best friend or your worst good luck

[blueonblack]

ohh yay gear trains :( they can be your best friend or your worst good luck

Thanks. Out of that pile of gears I've found 22 that will work in sequence, if properly oriented. That should be enough, with leftovers for other places on the case. Got 2 more nights to work then I'll have a couple to work on it. :)

[The boy 4rm oz]

Awesome. I am looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

[DonT-FeaR]

oh ok i shall look forward to it also

[mittelmeier]

Can't wait to see the gear set up you are working on.

[blueonblack]

Well, I am sorry to say that, due to family, work, and life in general, this project is going to have to be shelved for a while. I will pick it back up where I left off when I have some things caught up and squared away.

Keep up the great work, people.

[DonT-FeaR]

ok pitty to see it put away but we understand...

get everything all good again and come back when your ready

[blueonblack]

Ok, so this project had been shelved for a while due to other intrusions. I think those are straightened out for the time being so back to work I go. :)

Like most computers, the left side panel on this one is designed to remove for access. As my computer sits on my desk on my right, I decided to put the motorized geartrain on this panel. I am glad to say it's done. :banana: All of the gears are in place and ready to turn. I still have to figure out a way to mount the motor so that it is adjustable for tension, but that's child's play compared to this.

I recall when I had this idea I said "Hmmmm, I know. I'll get a bunch of gears together, sort out some that will turn together and I'll put them in a train on a computer!" Well, that's what I did, but let me tell you, I had no idea. I set myself up for a very complicated puzzle in three dimensions. With pieces from five different puzzle boxes, so to speak. Forgive me if this post is long, but there were a lot of problems to overcome, and I want to share my methods, in case anyone else can use them. These were all pretty much poor man's solutions to problems that any machine shop could have solved in ten minutes.

First off, every gear shaft had to be perfectly perpendicular to the side panel. If it was crooked at all, the gear would wobble and the teeth wouldn't mesh. So far, so good, I have a drill press, problem solved.

That's about the only easy part. The gear shaft also had to turn freely to allow the torque from the motor to pass through the whole train. BUT it couldn't wobble. That was a joy to fix, kicked my brain for a while. Oh! And the shafts on clock gears are not fractional sizes. Or metric. They're wire gauge, or close enough that wire gauge drills do the job. I own a set of those now. :)

So I couldn't just drill holes in the side panel for the shafts, either the bearing didn't spin freely enough or it wobbled. I thought of nylon bushings, sleeve bearings, ball bearings, name it. I dare you to find ball bearings with the inside diameter measured in wire gauge. :think: In the end I did end up using ball bearings. Thirty-eight of them. I bought bearings that were 3/8" inside diameter and 5/8" outside diameter. Then I cut a 3/8" oak dowel rod down to 1/2" lengths (the panel is 1/2" thick).

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Dowel.jpg

These would go inside the bearings to act as a shaft. Then I had to figure out how to drill holes for the gear shafts *exactly* in the center of the dowels. Off even a hair and the gear would wobble, and the teeth would slip on one gear and bind on the gear on the other side.

Banged my head for a while on that. I ended up clamping a piece of 3/4" scrap MDF to the table and drilling a 3/8" hole in it with the drill press:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/PressHole.jpg

Now, as long as the board or the drill press table don't move, no matter what size drill bit I put in the drill press it is EXACTLY centered on that hole. Used the drill press to press the little shaft into the hole:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Press.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/InPlace.jpg

And bingo. Sort out which drill bit to use for each gearshaft (one size small so it's a press fit into it) and drill the hole. Dead center. When it's done I put a bolt on top of it and pressed it out the bottom of the table:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/PressOut.jpg

So now the hole is drilled, here's what they look like with two bearings on them, and a gear mounted:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/ShaftMounted.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/GearMounted.jpg

Cool, all the gears are turning freely and will stay perpendicular. The fit is tight enough that the pressure will also control the distance of each gear from the side panel, which *also* had to be perfect. Even a millimeter too close or too far away and they slip. Picky little things. :rolleyes:

Another puzzle was how to measure how far apart every hole would be from the next. Again, very tight tolerances. I cut two boards and drilled 5/8" holes in the ends of them:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/MeasuringBlocks.jpg

Then put the two gears in question in the holes and got a rough measurement from shaft to shaft with calipers:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Measure.jpg

Ok, that's rough, I could only get so precise eyeballing two shafts from the top. I needed a way to drill some holes and adjust that distance closer or further by trial and error until I got it right. This is called a dowel center:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/DowelCenter.jpg

It's a little brass cap that fits over a dowel and it has a spike inside it dead in the center. I slid it over a couple of left-over bare shafts and hit it with a hammer, leaving a small dent in the center of the shaft. Then I mounted two bearings on each of them:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/DowelDummy.jpg

I used these "dummy shafts" as markers for measuring. I drilled another 5/8" hole in another piece of scrap, put the first dummy shaft inside it, then transfered the measurement from the calipers, using the center divot on the dummy shaft to make a mark on the scrap. Drill a hole at that mark and set the two gears in the two holes. Too close or too far away, adjust the measurement and do it again. (Just be sure to cross out the hole you're not going to use!)

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/MeasureDummies.jpg

I wound up with two pieces of scrap with a LOT of holes in them:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/FinishedMeasurements.jpg

These are the finished measurements for all 19 gears, each marked one to the other. Now how in the world am I going to transfer these exactly to the panel I'm working with?

I made a pivot by stacking six bearings on a longer piece of dowel:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/BearingStack.jpg

Drilled the first hole for the primary drive gear (since it could be about anywhere). Put the measurement board on top of it so that the right numbered hole was over that hole and slid the pivot through both of them. This held the measurement board onto the panel but let it turn.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/TransferMeasurements.jpg

I put that assembly on the drill press and put the bit into the hole beside the one with the pivot in it and drill through the panel. Since the hole in the measurement stick was the same size as the drill bit the measurement transferred perfectly. :D

That pretty much got the gears where I needed them, with a few mistakes while learning along the way. I decided to make this build look kind of retro/antique/psuedo-steampunk, so I didn't want my gears to be nice and shiny. It's amazing what brass will do when subjected to a few seconds of a mapp gas torch. :)

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/NewGear.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/OldGear.jpg

Enough's enough, here's what it came out to:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/CompleteSide.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/CompleteGeartrain.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Closeup1.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Closeup2.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Closeup3.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Closeup4.jpg

I have to stain the panel (and the rest of the thing), plan on painting the fan ring you see there and making a custom grill that I think you'll like.

That's where we stand now, and I'll tell you the rest of this build should be a breeze compared to this! (I don't like gears quite as much as I did two months ago...)

[The boy 4rm oz]

wow you have been busy. The gear train looks fantastic. Excellent work.

[SXRguyinMA]

looks awesome! +rep

[mittelmeier]

Wow! Thats amazing. +rep

[Mach]

OMG! That's epic! Must...have...video!

+rep

[blueonblack]

Thanks for the rep and the encouragement, fellas!

@ Mach: it's not mobile yet, as I still have to mount the motor, and sadly I have no way of posting video. We're still doing video with tape here. :( Who knows, though? By the time I finish this, holographic video storage may be available at K-Mart.

[Thorn]

cool That amazing project
Rep +

[eslfish]

interesting project, can't wait to see the final results...

[DonT-FeaR]

thats great man... very nice

[blueonblack]

Edit: I just read this whole thread again and realized that I forgot to mention that I had to remake every one of the panels I made previously, which is why this post looks just like the earlier pre-assembly post. The only thing I was able to salvage was the bottom piece. :mad: I also wound up using a different motherboard tray, out of an Apevia X-Discovery case that I dissected.

Just a small update on assembly today. I've decided to assemble this whole project with the brass inserts I used on the drive tower, so that I can completely disassemble it in the future if needed. I got all the panels cut to size, edge banding in place and inserts installed. Check it out:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/1.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/2-1.jpg

Got the hole cut in the real panel for the motherboard tray, turned out perfectly. :) This particular tray is designed to be removable, and after I installed it the only thing holding it in place are three screws that go through the rear panel, which will have to be removed before this thing is done. The rear panel itself is not a problem but I had to figure out a way to secure the motherboard tray.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/3-1.jpg

I had to have a way to secure it that wouldn't leave anything sticking out higher than the surface of the tray (like screw heads), as with my luck I would put it in just the right place to short across two pins on the back of my board and fry every component I have. I decided to use the depressions in the middle. I put a brass insert in the center of the two circular ones.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/4-1.jpg

Then cut two circles of Luan slightly larger than the bottom of the depression, countersunk the screwhead and screwed them in.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/5-1.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/6.jpg

When it's done, of course, these will be hidden under the board, but they will still get the same paint treatment the tray is going to get.

That's it for now, I'm about to go back out the shop and start laying out the front panel, have to cut for both DVD drives, the front temp gauge, the on/off switch and the intake fan. I've got other holes to cut in it but they will have to wait until components arrive for layout reasons. That's one reason I love being able to take it apart and put it back together as often as I need to.

Wish me luck, it's cold out and my shop heater went out last night! :mad:

[mittelmeier]

Looking good man. Bad luck about your heater.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

really cool idea

[The boy 4rm oz]

Frame looks rock solid, can't wait for more progress shots.

[DonT-FeaR]

great idea man... case is looking sweet

[blueonblack]

I got the left panel stained and the fan grill completed. :D Although I love the way it turned out, I will probably experiment with the copper pipe and heat and see if I can get a better color. My original design for the fan grill was a lot more complex, but turned out to be cost prohibitive. Sorry, but I am not going to be the proud owner of a $150 fan grill. All in all, I'm glad, I like this simple design better anyway.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/FanGrill1.jpg


http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/FanGrill2.jpg


Tell me what you think of it.

[BerticusPryme]

That is freakin awesome!!!!!! +rep for the unique design.

[mittelmeier]

Sweet man. The copper pipe looks great on there. +rep

[THRASHER2]

Bioshock theme :up:

[Vision]

Love that side panel

good work!

[DonT-FeaR]

that is like the coolest side pannel ever... wow... nice work

[The boy 4rm oz]

LOVE the grill made from copper pipe, looks great. Nice choice of stain also.

[SXRguyinMA]

the grill looks nice :up: flows with the look of the geartrain :D

[Frenkie]

I really dig the gears train.Where can I get my hands on them ? :)

[overmark]

Great work, just read the worklog and subscribed.

[startreking]

The fresh copper kinda looks out of place, maybe torching the grill too?

The gears look great!

[jdbnsn]

Any more progress on this bad boy?

[blueonblack]

Apologies on the delay, but I've been rethinking the project and have been in a redesign phase. I've decided to hang the hard drives externally on the right side of the case and utiliize my motherboard's two eSATA ports. I'm planning to install them in aluminum hard drive silencer/cooler enclosures and mount them outside on the right side panel, probably wrap copper tubing around them.

This frees up a lot of room inside and I don't think I need the wooden drive tower any more. I'm planning to make a new one out of copper pipe since it will only be holding the two optical drives. Although this means remaking the front panel, since the drive spacing will be different, it frees up a lot of room inside for cool stuff. :D

I've also been frowning over the whole geartrain and have some ideas that could make it a lot better.

Sooooo... any more progress, yes. You just can't see it yet. The next pics should be of the new geartrain, working on parts on that, plus I have to learn how to paint like Slamaa. :)

[The boy 4rm oz]

I like the e-SATA idea, good thinking.

[blueonblack]

Since I decided to mount my hard drives externally, it opened up a lot of room inside the case, and I decided that I don't need the large wooden drive tower any more, just for the two optical drives. So, to free up even more room for cool stuff to look at (and to keep this thread alive), I built a new cage out of copper pipe.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2047202.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2047203.jpg

Once it's soldered together it will be held in place with a bolt through the front panel on each side and two through the bottom also. I plan to run all of the wires inside the case, data and power, through copper pipe also, so no wires should be visible at all when I'm done. The drives, fans, PSU and motherboard tray will be getting a corroded look, probably a bronze/black combination. I bought an airbrush today and will be experimenting with paint colors. Still waiting on the last parts for the new geartrain, hope to have pics of that next, but I'll want to have the paint process down before I post those.

Not sure what I'm gonna do about this copper, it's way too shiny for the overall look of the case. I'll experiment with heat and maybe some of that patina solution and see what I can do.

That's it for now. It's not dead, just slow. :D

[The boy 4rm oz]

Shame your not using the original wooden drive bays, they looked very good. With that said I must say I love the copper pipe drive rack, goes very well with the mod.

Is it me or did you make it a little too tall? It looks as if the drives have to slant down a little to fit in their slots.

[blueonblack]

No, you're right, the two long uprights are just a hair too long, I've got to trim them a bit before soldering. Good eye!

As the for wooden drive bay, thanks and I agree on the appearance, but when I'm done it will look *much* better. ;) I'm going to have to buy a couple more motors.

[Mach]

Great work! I really like this project.

For the shiny copper, you could try liver of sulphur. It will deepen the brown of the copper and give it more visual depth. http://metalloarts.com/hammered-copper-counters/

[blueonblack]

"Liver of sulphur", eh? Interesting already, I'll have to research that, thanks very much and +rep. :D

[DonT-FeaR]

those bay drives are prrrreddy :)

[blueonblack]

Why thank you, sir. :D

[blueonblack]

I was finally able to find some suitably industrial-looking (and sexy, admit it) hard drive enclosures.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2087205.jpg

Hope to have a sizeable update done in the next couple of days, as it has warmed up here and I'm off work. Stay tuned...

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice HDD enclosures, are they the Scythe Himuro? Where externally will you be mounting them again?

[blueonblack]

You know your kit well, they are indeed. :) They will be hanging on the outside of the right side panel, with the wires running through copper tubing back to the eSATA ports on my board and into the case to power.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sounds like a great idea.

[DonT-FeaR]

/\ yeah it does... now do it!!! lol

[chaksq]

Awesome project! The gears are awesome.

[blueonblack]

Well, I decided that the stacked dual optical drives were just plain boring, so I built a whole new front panel and turned them on their sides. :)

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2117208.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2117209.jpg

The clear square in the center is the lens for my analog temperature gauge, it looks a lot better there than it did underneath them before.

Of course, turning them on their side meant that I had to build a whole new support cage. This one is more complex, and I think it turned out very well. (The bolts you see coming through the front panel are what I'll be using in the end, but of course I'll have black nuts on them.)

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2117210.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2117211.jpg

Tomorrow, if all goes well I'll get the hole cut out for the front intake fan. I'm still waiting on parts for the new geartrain.

I'm not having any luck with the paint, however. I've tried Metal Effects in iron, copper and bronze, with four different patinas: blue, green, black, and rust. I just can't seem to get the old, corroded look I want. I may have to go another route...

[The boy 4rm oz]

Very nice work on the drive mounts, they look very good, very different.

[rithunder916]

Awesome work! I love the Wood Case with the copper and brass!

[DonT-FeaR]

those copper brackets are the shiz man nice work... front looks heaps good

[blueonblack]

Progress!! I got the hard drive enclosures mounted! I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, but I ended up using brass inserts and just bolting them to the side of the case, four bolts each. They're not going anywhere.

I drilled four holes just inside the interior, all the way through the back piece.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2127212.jpg

The fit inside is very tight by design, so I had to drill countersink holes for the heads of the screws I was using. Thankfully the housings were thick enough to let me do it.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2127214.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2127217.jpg

And presto, bolted on, countersunk, and in place! I was right, those things are sexy. :D

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2127219.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2127218.jpg

I also managed to get the hole cut for my front intake fan. I'm using a Thermaltake Silent Cat, and they have an odd profile so I was worried, but it came out perfectly. I stuck the front fan grill sprocket up with tape just to see how it was going to look.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2127221.jpg

Not too bad. I am also pleased (and relieved) to report that have finally been able to manage the finish I wanted! I'll be using it on a lot of internal parts, including the optical drives, the motherboard tray, the PSU, and all three fans. More news as that happens.

That's it for the week here, back to work tomorrow night. <gag>

[The boy 4rm oz]

The drive enclosures look right at home on the side of the case. Very cool fan grill ;).

[DonT-FeaR]

yea i love those racks.. looks killer

[msmrx57]

I'm loving this mod. Beautiful woodwork, copper piping, moving geartrain. :bowdown: + rep/sub Can't wait to see how this turns out!

[blueonblack]

I recently bought a pair of HD 4670 video cards, and while I love them the stock fans are LOUD. I've been looking for an affordable cooling solution that would go well with this mod and had no luck at all. Until tonight. Look at this....

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Angle1.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Angle2.jpg

Wow. This thing is huge, and ugly, and absolutely perfect for this build! And $20 shipped. I ordered one tonight, we'll see how it fits when it gets here. If it works as well as I hope I'll get another. :) I may have to figure a way to rig a belt or a chain around one end of the fan...

[OvRiDe]

Looking awesome Blue! I love the copper tubing!

The video cooler will definitely give it an interesting look, but I am not sure if squirrel cage fans are any quieter. Looking forward to seeing the result!

[DonT-FeaR]

wtf is that thing....

DO NOT WANT lol

nah its... interesting

[blueonblack]

@ OvRiDe - Thanks very much. More to come in the next couple of days, I'm finishing up my last worknight now. :)

@ DonT-FeaR - Yeah, I know. It would take a very special kind of case for that thing to look good in. But I just happen to have one. :D

[DonT-FeaR]

rofl... get the thing copper plated :) look so awesome then

[The boy 4rm oz]

That's a very interesting cooler attachment lol. Am I right by saying that it just clips on rather than acts as a total cooling solution?

One of my friends recently brought a 4850, unfortunately he got a passive cooled one. I put him onto the Thermalright HR-03 and he couldn't be happier, it is an amazing cooler, took temps from 85c load to 45c load without a fan. If the 4670 uses the same mounting holes as a 4850 then you will have no problem installing them. I know you are using the 4670 and these coolers are a bit expensive but they are worth every penny and would really look the part in this mod I think.

[blueonblack]

Actually, the heat sink portion bolts to the GPU like most others, the huge ugly bracket mounts in the adjacent PCI slot and the squirrel cage fan mounts on top of it, blowing air straight down through the fins on the mounted heat sink.


On the HR-03, I had considered that one, as well as the Thermalright V2 Copper Quad-Heatpipe cooler (I *really* like that one), but they are cost-prohibitive, and not nearly as eye-catching as these ugly monsters. :D In the end, there will be very little shiny inside this case. As little as I can manage, in fact.

If these don't work out, I'll be back on the Thermalright trail...

[DonT-FeaR]

lol at least this will be 100% unique :)

nice work jase... thinking it trough once again

[Waynio]

Like the look of this blue, i'm subscribing 8)
the copper pipe frame looks well nice, and the frame is sure to be incredibly sturdy and looks very well made:banana:

[blueonblack]

Well, my big ugly squirrel-cage VGA cooler came in today. I did some testing and found that it should work fine in the new case, even with the side fan. :) Here's the box that came in my favorite brown truck:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2207254.jpg

The box says "build your own cooling". That's exactly what I ended up doing. I found out that it does not fit my video card. :( I knew that none of the HD series were listed in the official "supported card" list, but I took my chances, hoping ATI hadn't changed their cooler mounting system. They have. You would think that with all the adapters and screws in the box it would be possible to make it fit.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2207255.jpg

It wasn't. But I didn't give up. Looking at the copper base on the heat sink, you can see there are two channels on each side, that are meant to house the various adapters for (older) ATI & Nvidia cards, and two threaded holes to mount each adapter.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2207256-1.jpg

The mounting holes are exactly the same width apart as the mounting holes on my card. But since all of the adapters are bent, the resulting mounting holes don't line up. Obviously I would have to improvise. I had an old steel square laying around that I had never used, and the rule on it was 1/16" thick and fairly good steel. In answer to the delimma I cut my own adapters out of this square. :)

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2207258.jpg

They had to be the same width as the channels in the copper block and as long as the distance between my mounting holes, and it worked perfectly.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2207259.jpg

Ugly, but you can't see it anyway. After drilling out the mounting holes on the card itself to accomodate a #6 machine screw, I ran the screws up through the bottom of the card and into machine nuts on the top of the new adapters. (THAT was a joy.) In the end, it all worked out.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2207264.jpg

I hooked it up with the squirrel cage fan and am using it even now. MUCH quieter than the stock cooling. I was even able to determine that I will be able to fit two of them in a stack in the new case, though the clearances are very tight. It will hide over a quarter of my motherboard. Now all I have to do is figure out how to route Crossfire cables between the two of them.

All's well that ends well, I guess.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Is it me or does the base look kinda slanted? You should really think about lapping the base of the cooler, will work much better. I expected the cooler to be much smaller, from the pics you posted up earlier it looked a lot smaller lol.

[blueonblack]

I couldn't see any slant to it whan I had it in hand, that's probably a trick of the light in the pic. As for the lapping, yes it could use it, but it is doing an excellent job so far with the fan on the lowest speed, and with the trouble I had getting the thing on there it can stay. Maybe someday when this thing is done and I'm bored I'll pull them apart and lap both of them, but I doubt it. :)

I think the pic I posted earlier showed it mounted on a large card. The 4670 is actually pretty small.

Can you believe the blades on the fan are metal? The whole thing is either metal or rubber (lots of isolation mounts for the fan and motor), no plastic. :D

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sooooooooo............basically............you have a blender attached to your GPU LOL :banana:.

[Waynio]

Nice job on getting it mounted blue :up:

[blueonblack]

Thanks. Where there's a will (and a Dremel) there's a way. I wasn't about to send it back. :)

[DonT-FeaR]

looks sweet... nice brackets.

[billygoat333]

Sooooooooo............basically............you have a blender attached to your GPU LOL :banana:.

hahaha. wait a minute... (gets idea) a gpu cooler that can make smoothies! YUSS!! lol

interesting cooler, nice mod to get it to fit! +rep

[blueonblack]

Here's an example of the rust finish I'm using. Opinions??

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/P2177224.jpg

[OvRiDe]

Me likes it! I think it will go great with the theme!

[Waynio]

Here's an example of the rust finish I'm using. Opinions??



:up::):up:

[SXRguyinMA]

:stupid:'s I like it, looks neat :up:

[msmrx57]

Here's an example of the rust finish I'm using. Opinions??

Looks wonderful. :up: Details of how you got that look??

[DonT-FeaR]

i give you the jeff tick of approval....

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj176/dont-fear/P1040248.jpg

(im jeff btw)

[blueonblack]

Thanks for the thumbs up! :) Here's the same fan mounted on the front panel, I got the big sprocket done also, looks like part of the front panel is done. :banana:

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh219/daddyforever2/Clockwork/Manipulated.jpg

As to details, I'm using a product made by Rustoleum, marketed under the brand name American Accents. It's called Natural Rust. It comes in two parts, first you spray it with the included textured spray paint. Let that dry and paint on the top coat and dab it with a wrinkled paper towel or newspaper. As mentioned before I tried just about everything Metal Effects had and wasn't happy with any of them. I found this stuff at my local Ace Hardware store for $13 and I love it. The texture on the basecoat even makes it feel like rusted iron.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Excellent work on the fan my friend. That rust effect looks the real deal, nice.

[msmrx57]

As to details, I'm using a product made by Rustoleum, marketed under the brand name American Accents. It's called Natural Rust. It comes in two parts, first you spray it with the included textured spray paint. Let that dry and paint on the top coat and dab it with a wrinkled paper towel or newspaper. As mentioned before I tried just about everything Metal Effects had and wasn't happy with any of them. I found this stuff at my local Ace Hardware store for $13 and I love it. The texture on the basecoat even makes it feel like rusted iron.
Thank for the info +rep :up:, I'll have to look for it next time I get to the store. I've used American accent products before but haven't seen that one, might have to look at a different hardeware store.

[blueonblack]

Ok, gang, it's time to put this worklog to rest. What a mass of confusion and irrelevance. :(

The *project* is still alive and well, but I'm going to close this pointless worklog out and start another. Those of you who would like to keep tabs on the progress of this build can do so here (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?p=253588#post253588).