Project - Air Cube v2

[Waynio]

Hi all, time for my imaginatively titled Air Cube v2 to get done :D sorry could not think of a good title so it is a spare of the moment title.

I got the flat bars and angle bars today of the aluminium, and I should have the sheets tomorrow. at last woohoo :D lol i'm a tad excited for my next modding fix.:banana:
The flat bars are 20mm wide by 3mm thick / angle bars are 12.7mm x 12.7mm x 1.58mm
the sheets are 1mm thick for components like any add on parts and cages and 1.5mm thick for top, mid, bottom, front, sides and back panels.

insert completed project pic here ;)

Here is the new small 2-5mm hss countersink bit I just bought and these are the little m3 countersunk allen head bolts and half nuts, I'm hoping I will not need rivets at all for this so it can all be dismantled easily for painting and further mods.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fastenersbit.jpg

Here is the main structure I will be making 1st of all which I hope will be strong, probably got over 30 120mm fans in bags lol, so 3 for the front instead of the 200mm fan this time so it will need to be about 30mm wider than planned but that can be a good thing for hdd wire space, 2 for the true, 1 at back and 1 in front of the hdd's.
I'll be swapping all the fans when I can afford to with the akasa apache 120mm fans as they are 57cfm at only 16db and are rated to last 50,000 hours so should make for a nice very quiet well air cooled case.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/skeleton1a.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/skeleton1b.jpg

I'm going to have my 1st go on a drill press with this project and plan to use it quite a bit, hope it is as good as I imagine it would be, I'll be sure to very carefully do the measuring and marking and it should be fine I hope :D, lucky my dad is into motorbikes and has done a bit of restoration work on them so he has a few very useful tools to compliment the ones I have bought. He has a powerful air compressor that is outstanding for making a dust clogged pc look like brand new :), still yet to get into using quality paint with a paint gun and air brush, annodising seems quite hazardous unless you really know what you are doing but I think it would be my prefered choice or I could just pollish it to a mirror finnish.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/dp.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gb.jpg

I'm very tired from over exercising every day for the past month I'm shattered lol so will start on the project in a couple of days when i'm a bit more sparky :D as long as the aluminium sheets come tomorrow.

So hopefully I will not bore you all any further and just post pics with as short as possible descriptions whenever I progress a bit further :D.

Compliments & pointers are very welcome ;) if you think I'm doing a good job once I have some actual work in progress shots.

[Mark_Hardware]

lucky. I wish I had some of those tools

[blueonblack]

Drill presses are awesome. I had no idea how much I needed one until I got one. Wow. Best suggestion for those is a fence. You don't have to build a table or anything, you can clamp a board to the factory table. Even a fence like that will make the tool twice as useful.

Good luck on the project, will be looking for updates.

[Waynio]

Best suggestion for those is a fence
:? How do you mean a fence :? I'm baffled lol :D

Or is that what you meant
you can clamp a board to the factory table

[blueonblack]

Something like this:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=96395

Obviously by just clamping a board to the table you just get the vertical part of the setup above, but it's perfect for drilling multiple holes exactly the same distance from an edge, for example.

[Waynio]

Ahh :facepalm: I see how that would make it even better for what I want to do, thanks for the suggestion:up:.

Did not get the aluminium sheets the next day and I'm expecting them today, it is now 2 weeks ago today when I made my aluminium order, they said the sheets got damaged in transit but still, 2 weeks, wish I paid a little extra for next day delivery :neutral: I'll know for my next order :).

[Waynio]

WooHooo Got the rest of the aluminium today and its all in perfect condition :D
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/aluminium.jpg
Not quite prepared to start on it yet, but by friday I will.

[Waynio]

Thursday evening
Made a start & I measured & marked the 2m bars ready for cutting.

---

Friday mid day
Only got all the bars cut to size with a hacksaw with 1 slightly wrong, good thing I bought a little extra for if I mess up made another 1 and here is how it will be going together.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottom1a.jpg

Was really getting stuck into it but was getting aggravated quite easily so I called it a day as I figured I'd end up making a pile of mistakes with not being nice and calm :).

Received 1 akasa apache fan in the post, tried it out & it is nice and quiet with very good air flow for an almost silent fan so I'll be ordering another 6 close to the case being complete, then I'll have to do something about my enermax galaxy to use a quieter fan setup.

---

Saturday morning
Very late start at 15:00 lazy day :)
overlapped the bottom angle bar pieces and marked the bits that needed to be removed so the angles slot together for a flush connection, hacksaw and file used.
Here is one of the angle ends which I cut and filed.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/anglefit.jpg

here is the lowest base loosely fitted together
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/bottom1b.jpg

here is the 1.5mm thick sheet snugly fit inside the frame with little angle bars which will support the corner angle bars, I'm happy with how its going so far but kind of dreading the drilling I'll be doing tomorrow lol, as you can see I'm going to have to get through 3 layers precisely or it will mess up, but I'm hoping to at least get this bottom base complete and bolted together tomorrow.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/bottom1c.jpg

1 more thing, the camera I'm using olympus fe-170 6mp, I have noticed it is giving a fish bowl look about it as some parts look slightly curved, but the actual bars are definately straight, pretty strange :think:.

[Waynio]

Did not wake up til 15:00 because of watching ufc 100 in the early hours :).

Did want to start early today so Made no progress on the case, but made a fence from a shelf that my dad had lying around and now I can see how useful it will be, the drilling will be 100% more easier now, thank you blue for recomending a fence :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/drillpressfence.jpg

[Waynio]

This is the progress made today.
The bottom panel was easy to drill with the fence I made, it was the little corner bits that was hard to pull off while keeping it all square but got there in the end phew :), I am considering countersunk rivets instead of the little nuts & bolts in some areas like the corners for extra sturdyness :), but they will do for now as I can dismantle and rebuild whenever needed, but I'm definatley using the nuts & bolts for the front & top panel.
The countersink bit was well worth getting for the nice flush fittings, I'll probably turn all the bolts the other way round on the bottom panel so its all flush inside and add some nice big custom case feet underneath.

Building from the ground up so could be made shorter when I get to that point.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/boltedbasewithcorners1a.jpg

The corner bits were tricky to pull off, they would be better riveted for extra strength.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/boltedbasewithcorners1b.jpg

Underneath, the base is really sturdy :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/boltedbasewithcorners1c.jpg

[Waynio]

Bummer :mad:, got to put it on hold for at least a week until I can buy an extra square and some clamps, I was attaching the mid panel angle bar but needed a 3rd square and clamps to hold it all in place while I mark it up for drilling, could have carried on but it may have turned out a little wonky, so I'll just put it aside for a week, oh well :neutral:.

Let me know how you all think it is coming along for the time being:).

[Waynio]

Ahh was able to make an order yesterday for some clamps, squares and a couple of smaller steel rulers, I only had a 1 metre ruler and was arkward to use in some areas so should hopefully be able to carry on with it today once I receive them :).

[Waynio]

Nice, got the bits I needed to make it good form, yay :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/newbits.jpg

Didn't get much time on it today but it progressed a little.
Took all the corner bars off and layed them flat so I could make the mid angle bar spot on with 4 squares and a flat piece to line it up on so I could mark them accurately.
Got both front and back mid angle bars done and 1 flat bar half done, the reason for the 20mm gap is for if I choose to put in a window it will have no obstruction and should come in useful for hiding wires also, the front and rear angle bars have 2mm gaps either side to hold the slide panel in place nice and firm, it is also still very light but I'm only half way through making the frame.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/middecka.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/middeckb.jpg
I'm hoping to have the frame finished tomorrow.

[blueonblack]

Looking good, the frame should be rock solid when it's done, and give you plenty of room to work. +rep

[Waynio]

Thanks blue it will be very solid when I replace the bolts with rivets, it is already but rivets are easier to remove than a socketless screw.

Frame done and is nice and square, just needs cleaning up and replace all the screws & nuts with countersunk rivets which I do not have yet, the screws I used 3 of them lost the socket and went round, was a nightmare getting them out, this is why I am going to use rivets for the entire frame would be easier drilling rivets out than the struggle I had getting the srews out, anyway now I can work on the panels I'm going to take my time for a good design still not designed the shell, definately happy with the frame thou.

On with the pics
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frame1a.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frame1b.jpg

[Waynio]

Made a little more progress today
Got the side panels to fit so they can slide to the bottom they just need to be cut to size at the top and bent over.

Cut a sheet for the motherboard tray and aligned an old motherboard tray over it, aligned it how I wanted it and taped it together and pressed my perm marker through the holes and pci slits and it was ready for drilling, tapping and cutting.

From the front
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Fromthefront.jpg

A bit closer front shot
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Abitcloserfront.jpg

From the back
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Fromtheback.jpg

Closer back shot
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Closerback.jpg

Sliding slot for side panels
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Slidingslot.jpg

Done the mounting holes and started on the pci slits
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mountingholes.jpg

Almost done, just needs filing and tapping.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Almostdone.jpg

Needs filing with precision files
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Needsfiling.jpg


Slight error in design to form, I made the little corner angle pieces smaller in my sketchup and left the angle pieces same dimensions as the main corner bars so the little bars stick out a bit, so I cut the bottom corners out of the panels, this shot is in close up and does not look bad unless you get very close to it.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Slighterror.jpg

I just got the idea whilst writing this to file the little angle pieces to be flush with the main angle pieces, But would have to order 2 new sheets of aluminium to fix this, Doh!, so I will have to put up with this for now and may as well do a no thrills design for it and when I get the 2 pieces and have filed down the angle pieces, then do a nice design on it.

What would you guys do, would you settle for this result or would you get 2 more sheets?

[DonT-FeaR]

very very cool :P i like it

[Waynio]

:D TY DonT-FeaR

Tried using my cheap tapping kit, there was no size right for the standoffs, then tried drilling a hole slightly smaller than the standoffs and put the standoff in driver and let it make the thread, it worked for some and did not work for most others, then tried a bolt that had similar thread same problem, then tried some rivet nuts, the rivet nuts would have been ok but the thread did not start soon enough for the short thread on the standoffs so was in a pickle for a while until my dad mentioned about some square nuts he had, they worked a treat :banana:.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/scrap.jpg

WooHoo :) got them to mount with some square nuts on the other side.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/standoffs1a.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/standoffs1b.jpg

Also got the front and back panels cut and filed to size and put a guide for where I can drill holes for mounting
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontpanel.jpg

[blueonblack]

Your workmanship continues to impress. :) As for what would I do on the other problem, it would depend. If I had the time and money I would order the extra sheets now, if not I would just be sure to keep in mind that I would be correcting it later and plan (and build) accordingly.

If you mentioned it earlier in the thread I missed it, so forgive me, but where did you get the motherboard tray?

[DonT-FeaR]

haha sweet :P

[Waynio]

:) thanks for comments

I've got the time, just not really the spare money, if I could just go to the stockist in person I would happily get 2 fresh sheets as it would only be £16 the £10 postage is good when ordering a lot, but just 2 sheets, I over ordered with the bars just wish I did with the sheets:facepalm:, but this is my v2 and want it to look good and be my final cube case before doing something different so I think yes I will order them tomorrow, at least the sheets that will be coming out of this project will come in handy for other something else some time, its always good to have some scrap.

The tray I used for aligning the holes was from a cheap atx case, the back expansion I/O piece is from the last case I bought, a Lian-Li PC-A70A, I mounted an old motherboard on the tray I made last night and the standoffs I bought off ebay are taller than regular ones so the back panel is too low and does not line up correctly so I need to order some normal standoffs.

Wow and duh I just got an idea, the side panels have not been cut down to size yet so I can just cut the bottom bit down, again blue you stirred a good idea for me by making me think about it TY :D.

[Waynio]

This update is tiny but took a fair bit of effort to get right so here goes.

Luckily I had not cut the top ends of the side panels to size, so I went and took all the little angle bars off and filed them down so I could re do the side panels, I messed up twice so could only afford to make 1 more mistake, it took me hours to get it right because on my last chance I filed a little then fit the panel on over and over a whole load of times before it was just perfect, I'm just glad I progressed a tiny bit today so it was not a waste of time and effort :).

Had 3 chances to get it right from here and was getting worried I'd have to order more alu by my last chance.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/side1a-1.jpg

This is how it looks from the inside.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/littleangles.jpg

External, Just perfect imo.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/side1c-1.jpg

[DonT-FeaR]

nicely done

[Waynio]

Got my new vandel switches blue ring and blue dot, ordered proper motherboard standoffs & screws, ordered countersunk rivets, ordered the other 6 akasa apaches, only other thing I will need to order is paint but I have some deciding to do and cutting on the panels before I get there, had a good day modding today :).

Rather than take the frame apart over and over I built up a platform from a crate, a load of beer, some planks of wood and a chopping board lol so I could use the drill press directly on the case, it worked flawless, saved a lot of messing about :D.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/tempdrillpress.jpg

With side panels
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/sides.jpg

Top shot with all panels on, still yet to make the top panel :D
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/allpanels.jpg

Shot from front :D
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/allpanelsangle2.jpg

[DonT-FeaR]

looks good mate.. keep it going!

[Waynio]

Thanks will do :).

Today I found out the hard way that my sheet metal folder can not bend 1.5mm sheet aluminium precisely, it bended on one end better than the other, I stupidly took it for granted that it would be fine.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/messedtopa.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/messedtopb.jpg
So it kind of messes up the plan for the side panels also, I do have 4 x 750mm x 500mm x 1mm sheet aluminium and a couple of metres of angle bar and a couple of metres of flat bar.

So I cut the bent part off and filed it flat and will have to be screwed into the top of the frame or slotted on.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/posstop.jpg
Or

I could make what I had planned (angle flap on each side and side panels with an angle to hold down the top) but with 1mm thick sheet as I know I can bend 1mm no problem.
The side panels I have an idea to attach an angle bar to the top and file it down so it has something to grip to pull the panels off and still keep the slight gap covered, thats for tomorrow.

The motherboard tray has turned out ok with the normal sized standoffs.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/standoffdiff.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/tray.jpg
More tomorrow hopefully.

[Will]

Very nice. I like the countersunk bolts.

[Waynio]

Thanks Will.

I went to do some on the case and only got the inside angle bars drilled for going up against the side panels to hold them in place well at the bottom, but was feeling a bit tired to drill the case & mount them inside the case as it all needs stripping down to the bottom panel so I'm having the day off and possibly tomorrow from the project, only got 3 to 4 hours sleep last night because of having to be up early for deliveries, got all the fans now and the ocz freeze thermal paste.
Still waiting for the countersunk rivets and some nutserts for the top panel, will hopefully have them by tomorrow.
I'm thinking of getting some nice draw handles and cutting them down a little to place near the bottom of the side panels so they can be pulled into place easier, that is only if I have any trouble getting them to slot in thou.

[Waynio]

:D Couple more steps forward today and the countersunk rivets arrived, saving doing the rivets for the final build after it has been painted, I have everything now except the paint so no more waiting for deliveries yay :).

Got the bottom angle bars installed for holding the side panels up against the frame.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/angleslotbar.jpg

Took all the mid panel bars off and filed them down a little because some of them were a smidge over the edge but took a little too much off but they work the same as before.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/withsidesslotted.jpg

Marked and drilled the motherboard back piece mounting holes, and cut with the dremel and filed the hole for the back piece and attached the tray.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mbinstalledb.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mbinstalleda.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mbinstalledc.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mbinstalledc.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mbinstalledd.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mbinstallede.jpg

Thats all for today, more tomorrow :).

[Mark_Hardware]

Looks cool man. Gotta love a total scratch build. :up:

[Waynio]

Thanks Mark :)

I thought about making my own mesh now I'm using a drill press, this is a rough example on some scrap I did with a few different size drill bits, if I do try this I will mark the piece for a good guide and can get pretty close to where the pci slots are.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/possmesh.jpg
This is how close I can get to the pci slot area.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gouptodp.jpg

I had to come up with an idea for using the reinforced cutting discs as the hole was too big for my mandrel so the discs were cutting ok but shortly after went flying off, here is my beta :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/dremelmoda.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/dremelmodb.jpg

The dremel fix works great and was able to do the whole psu hole and there is still plenty left on the cutting disc :), only bad thing about the dremel in the summer is it heats up fast, when I did my last case in winter it could go all day and not get a bit warm, so I will have to come up with something to cool it down faster.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/backpwithpsu.jpg

My dad said he wanted to use the garage so I packed and cleaned up for the day, so More tomorrow.

[Waynio]

:D Well my dad did not use the garage so I thought why not get back at it :):banana:.

Here is roughly how the psu is going to be mounted.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/psumountbeta.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/psumountbetaa.jpg

Well I went for it with trying my own mesh lol, the drill press was getting hot so had to have regular breaks from it so I would not damage it, these pics are spread out over quite a few hours, I used a 6.5mm dewalt drill bit, I think it turned out pretty good :).

1st marked the hole which the drill press could reach to and then made marks every 6mm down and across.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gridmethoda.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gridmethodb.jpg
On with the drilling :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/nearly.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/done.jpg
I'll replace the final pic with a better one tomorrow when I have good day light, was getting dark when I finnished.

[billygoat333]

like your improvised "mesh" :P good work. looks very clean! :) +rep

[blueonblack]

I agree, the mesh is very well done, looks very even. :)

[DonT-FeaR]

mesh is gunna look wicked once you take the lines off..

[Waynio]

Thanks for the feedback m8s :) it was a gamble doing the mesh I know, but I have to say it looks damn good, so relieved :).

Tried using a hole saw I bought a while ago, I was had as it is for wood not metal, price for a good near 120mm metal cutting hole saw is close to £30 I paid £10 so my fault really.

So had to go back to my dremel for doing the fan hole, got about a 3rd of the way round and it was too hot to hold, so thought ok I will make a cooler for it right away with a couple of noisy high cfm fans and a bit of scrap aluminium, it works very nice :D, it takes a minute or less to get it nice and cool again, where if I just let it cool off by itself it takes up to an hour.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/dremelcooler.jpg


And here are a couple of shots with the plastic pulled back a bit :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/bpa.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/bpb.jpg

Only the edges need sanding so it is nice and smooth then the back panel is done and ready for painting or pollishing, Woohoo :).

[DonT-FeaR]

looks great man! good work

[Acey]

That looks like a real big case, what's the final measurement? (Sorry but in a hurry since its near end of office hour :D )

[Mark_Hardware]

Hech yeah that "mesh" came out great. I tried that once and failed miserably. +rep fo sho

[Waynio]

Thanks for comments everyone :).
On the google sketchup the frame alone was 360mm wide, 360mm deep, 423mm high but I decided I will be mounting 3 120mm fans on the front so had to make a simple change of width to 390mm which will give better space for hdd's also.
I just measured the form of it now and it is 387mm wide, 365mm deep, 442mm high. That is with panels on.
But I will be putting an extension on the front also like my last case only better I hope :).
After I made the frame, it is mostly all freestyle pretty much althou I am also thinking what will be best before I actually go for it.


Here is my method for marking a mountable piece, I used this method for the front of my last case. Mark around the piece and cut Cotton buds to size and push them into the holes on the piece I want to mount and put a blob of paint on the ends, then carefully press it against the panel and we should have perfect marks for working on :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mark4mountmethod.jpg

Here is my psu stand wip, since this pic I have siliconed the bars together and I'm leaving them clamped until tomorrow and then sand them down and mount.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/psustandwip.jpg

And here is a few shots of the 3 fans mounted (not these fans, akasa apache's are going in the final build), I'm yet to cut the holes for the fans, I found out about the Dremel 545 Diamond Wheel and is supposed to be awesome, long lasting and is nice and thin for detailed work so have ordered 1 and just after I ordered it I seen 1 on ebay for £6 so ordered that too :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fansmounteda.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fansmountedd.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fansmountede.jpg

Just about perfect fit for 3 120mm fans, ultra close.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fansmountedb.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fansmountedc.jpg

And finally I have decided not to paint it and try to polish the whole case to a mirror finnish, should be quite a mission :).

[DonT-FeaR]

very cool way of marking ur fans mate!

rep for being a smart bottom. :P

[The boy 4rm oz]

I love cube cases. Very nice design, it is looking great. I can't wait for more.

[Waynio]

Late update today, been busy with other things.

Thanks DF & b4o :).

Got my new diamond dremel cutting disc, not tried it yet also got very little done today.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/newdisc.jpg

Been in a bit of a pickle about what to do with the top ends of the side panels and how to mount the top panel, the flush rivet nuts I have do not mount well at all infact they are terrible I tested on scrap, and the flanged rivet nuts would raise the top panel by 1mm so not good.

So I searched the net and eventually found rivet nut bushes, or clinching nuts lol in size M3 18 & 20 swg, these I have seen on some retail cases including lian-li cases, I have always wondered where the hell would I get those from so I have ordered some, here is a pic of one of them.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/shop4fasteners_round_rivet_bush_ste.jpg

I have cut to size & placed angle bars on the inside at the top of the side panels, I'm going to put 1 bolt into the side panel and have the top panel countersunk & bolted up from underneath so I can just remove the side bolt, remove the top frame bolts & the top would slide off, any of the exposed bolts will be covered with dome nuts when I get some except for the side panel ones which have to be removable.
Now I have thought up a plan I should be able to push on forward without scratching my head so much lol.

And here is 1 of the psu stands stuck together with silicone, it is 6 90mm long x 20mm wide x 3mm thick flat bars, filed & sanded, I will be sticking them down rather than bolting them to the bottom panel, want to leave space for the case feet.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/anglespsustand.jpg

And this pic is from a guide I came across which got me interested in polishing the case.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/final5.jpg
Credit due to Jani 'Japala' Pönkkö for the pic.
Original article (http://metku.net/index.html?path=mods/shinyshuttle/index_eng3)

[DonT-FeaR]

wow... polish it! will look insane!

[The boy 4rm oz]

Yep, go with the polish.

[blueonblack]

The polished look will be excellent, just be aware that if it looks anything like that example above every fingerprint, smudge, hair and dustmite will scream at you. Be prepared for some upkeep. (This from the guy that made an all-plexiglass case (black, no less) and put a plasma ball in it. Nothing attracts dust like shiny plexiglass except shiny plexiglass in a large static field.)

[DonT-FeaR]

rofl..
/\

[Waynio]

Yeah, that will be the main con about it being polished, needing a bit of a clean more regular but it should be worth it :).
I doubt I'll have an update today, I sprained my neck the other day and has got worse today so unless it gets better over the day, I'm just gonna relax and hope it is a bit better by tomorrow, I can barely move my head without pain but I'm gonna draw my cut outs for the front fan grills so they are ready for trying out my new dremel diamond disc :).

[Mark_Hardware]

Looking really good. getting closer and closer, can't wait to see it finished!

[Waynio]

Been relaxing today as I sprained my neck the other day and was really bad today, could barely move my head but got a design made for the front fans thou :).

Used a fan grill to make a circle on paper and tried a few ideas and thought Yep that looks good for a 120mm fan hole, I'll go for that and alternate the cut out bits, this should take a while to do & be hard to polish later :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fanholedesign.jpg
Snow flake flower type thingy :).
More tomorrow my neck is a fair bit better right now :).

[msmrx57]

this should take a while to do & be hard to polish later :).

Why couldn't you polish it first, mask it with tape and then cut it out? Just a thought, because I can just picture the polishing wheel catching one of those fine areas :eek:.

[DonT-FeaR]

looking good mate!

and yea agrree with msmrx

[Waynio]

Good suggestion msmrx but I don't have the polishing supplies yet, so I'll do around the grills by hand when it comes to polishing it, be a lot more effort and time but I don't really mind.

Had to take a break while the drill charges back up.

The diamond coated dremel disc is no where near as good as I was expecting it to be:(, It must be meant for other materials, it would take me a week to do the grills with that bit, just does not cut 1.5mm aluminium good and the disc overheats so I doubt I will use it again, I switched over to a reinforced disc and they just sink into the alu real easy.

I'll be using a combination of the smallest drill bit I have as there is no disc small enough for cirtain areas, the reinforced discs for initial cut where I can and the easy break discs to catch the fine detail.

[Waynio]

I used the reinforced chunky discs entirely for doing this, Just needs filing & sanding smooth now, took hours to do.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/grillsdremeled.jpg

[blueonblack]

Oh wow. I don't doubt that at all. +rep for the perseverence!

[Mark_Hardware]

That's interesting about the wheels... I wonder if it's because they are a cheap brand or something. I like how thin theyy are though, I may have a use for them anyway

[Waynio]

Mark the diamond disc were dremel branded and cost me £15 with delivery, I could have ordered another big bag of reinforced discs from america for the price of it, I'm sure the diamond discs are good for something, just not 1.5mm alu or thicker, they do cut but takes much longer and they get very hot.
1.5mm has been like re learning using my dremel almost compared to 1mm but is definately stronger.
I'm definately going to buy a good face mask respirator for any future projects as I got alu dust all over me while doing the fan holes, I'm seeing a good respirator just as important as goggles now cheap ones are no good as they steam up the goggles.

[DonT-FeaR]

that looks great man!

[Waynio]

LOL, it took 2 hours to get 1 of them to this point and still needs a little more work, my creative zen mp3 ran out of juice so micro update while it charges back up, can't do this without my music :D, forgot to charge it up last night.
I seem to have taken a smidge too much off the top piece to the left, I was trimming a bit here and there with the dremel so I could get the needle files in and seems I have messed up a little.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/filing.jpg
This pic is from the back side.

[Waynio]

My clinch nuts came so now I can have permanent nuts in place so it won't be so fiddly.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/clinchnuts.jpg

I just gave up after hours of filing with the needle files, was driving me mad, still more to do on them, I don't mind filing but needle files on detailed parts like this is incredibly tedious, it takes forever to do.
To be honest the only way I think these grills will look good is if I fill any imperfections and paint it, I did want to polish but they would look pretty poor as they are, if only I dremeled from the other side, the other side is much better, this piece of the case is turning into frankencase II.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fronta.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontb.jpg
And here is a shot from the other side.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/backside.jpg

Orbital sander would be too big so I looked around the house for a tool I could modify and found a panel sucker for pulling out dents in panels it is of perfect size for the holes after I trimmed the edge off, I'm thinking of attaching a round piece of sand paper to it and rotate it clockwise and anti clockwise until it gets down by about 0.8mm so it would get rid of surface imperfections, because if I am to polish the whole case they would need to be as close to perfect as can be or they will stand out pretty clearly.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/toolforsandingtheholes.jpg

It will still need more filing before I can do this to get it spot on, kinda wishing I did plain old lines instead would have been cleaner, 120mm grills are much harder to do than the big ones I have previously done, so I will have a go at doing this and maybe it will look even better unintentionally with the grills being sat into the panel :), but if it turns out poor, I can just have plain holes and I think that is how this is going to go.

Just before I posted this I had an idea to put the diamond disc to use, maybe I could trim the imperfect bits off, kind of slimming it down some, seems like these grills are going to take a while before they look nice.

[blueonblack]

Maybe I'm missing something in the construction but that panel looks perfectly bisymmetrical, any reason you couldn't flip it over?

[Waynio]

Only some of the holes line up correctly if I flip it over unfortunately and they are countersunk pretty deep into the panel so the holes would have become bigger, so I will have a go at slimming the pattern holes a bit which will let more air pass through also, maybe it is salvagable.
I still have 4 x 750mmx500mm x 1mm sheets, so should have quite a bit spare after making the front optical extension & hdd cages, I guess 2 or even 3 sheets left over, so if worse comes to much worse I could re do the front panel but with 1mm thick.

[blueonblack]

Before you go to all that work, have you actually put fans up to the grill and turned them on? You'd be surprised how much noise air flow can make through certain shapes and sizes of holes. Hate to see you go to all that work and get it looking great only to have it too loud to use. I made that mistake with my last build. Good GOD was it loud, but when I took the fan grills off, poof. Instant quiet. Just a thought.

[Waynio]

Thanks for the info on the extra noise blue, :) thats picked me up a little after todays modding, you'll see why.

They were slight overcuts in some areas, the edge joints were weak in the left and right grills, the middle grill was very good.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fronta-1.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontb-1.jpg

here is the back side, the mounting holes for the front panel did not align 100% and would have required drilling the case making it in to a mess.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/back.jpg

Simply too scuffed up for looking good after polishing.

When I started trimming the rough areas down, I thought I'm gonna pull this off and was looking good, But when I nearly completed filing 1 of them, 1 of the spokes broke off so I cut every other spoke off and shortly after figured they would not be strong enough to be polished so as gutted as I was I cut all of the grills out, filed and sanded the holes down to a smooth finish and that is that, just wish I chose the simple grill of lines.
I have enough spare mesh to cover all 3 holes so it is back to being basic now.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/nogrills.jpg

I don't drink but I think I'll have a few tonight to refresh :).

So next up will be to make the front optical extension.

[DonT-FeaR]

oh man that sucks it broke!

[blueonblack]

Damn damn damn!! Sorry to see it, especially after you put all that work into it. Don't despair, there are endless varieties of fan grills out there, and they're not hard to make on your own, either. Now you'll be able to change them out as your mood changes. :D

Those were too damned Christmasy anyway. (j/k, they looked very good)

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sucks it broke mate but I think I like your new template better anyway.

[Waynio]

Yes it does suck a bit, but oh well on to the next part, the front optical extension.


Those were too damned Christmasy anyway. (j/k, they looked very good)
lol :santa::D.

I'm over it already, the booze helped get my mood better, baileys in coffee :) doesn't get me drunk but mellows me out :), the lined template is the one I should have chose over the complex one, just put it in the pic as example of what I could have done.

[Waynio]

After the nightmare with the grills I'm keeping everything else simple as possible except for the front extension, seems everything I have been doing since then has been a bit shabby, maybe I need a bit of a break from it, dunno.

The front extension
1st I made a paper version of what I wanted & cellotaped it together and lay it flat and taped it down and marked around it on some sheet alu so I could do it in 2 pieces rather than 4 for a nice clean look, but because I really should have designed it 1st in google sketchup so I could get accurate dimensions, it turned out wrong.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/sloppywork.jpg

So for this case I will be doing the front extension in 4 pieces like my last case, I designed it on google sketchup this time to get accurate dimensions.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontsketch.jpg
I have all the parts cut to size and bent properly, I'm currently working on the angle bar connetors for holding the 4 pieces together, its not going to be easy getting this part spot on, I have countersunk rivets so they won't stick out like my last case.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/fronta-2.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontb-2.jpg

Pictured is the 2 piece version I badly made with the 4 piece version I'm working on, doing all the parts are pretty easy except for the mounting brackets, rather hard to mark correctly, the normal angle pieces are pretty easy it is the different angle pieces which are hard to get right.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontuda.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontudb.jpg

The metal bender I have came with 1 full length steel slab for putting on top of the piece to be bent and only allows for simple bends, I tried using 1 of the flat bars cut to a perfect size to allow me to do tighter bends right next to each other but the only flat bar I have is 20mm deep so it leaves a print of a 20mm bar but bends my piece really well so when I get a 70mm deep bar and cut to size I will be able to do this spot on.

I would even be able to make my own pci/io back panel so I won't have to recycle or source another motherboard tray and back pci/io part again except for 1 to flatten out so I can use it as a template.

The countersunk rivets are very hit and miss if they connect good, the countersunk bit on the rivets are not as deep as the screws I have been using so some of them are not staying firm, this is my 3rd attempt and looks like I will have to re do the upper part and the sides on the extension again, either I got lucky when I did this first time round on my prototype or I'm just having a bad few days, the bottom piece is perfect so I can use that at least.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontudc.jpg

[Waynio]

New progress, seems a long time since I've been able to say this :).

My dad told me about this stuff he had after my 3rd failed attempt on the front extension, so I gave it a try and left it over night, when I went back to it today I tried pulling it off by hand, it stayed completely secure so then I tried ripping it off with pliers and it is rock solid so I went and bought a fresh 1 today.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/bestglueever.jpg

These are the angle bar pieces bent to correct angle in vice and filed flat.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/anglepieces.jpg

Here are all 4 pieces dry fitted after I positioned and sticking the angle bar joints together with drives in.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/dryfita.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/dryfitb.jpg

Here it is after I stuck the pieces together, I just used whatever I could find to keep a bit of pressure on it while it sets, I'm leaving it until tomorrow and hopefully it will be strong and ready for mounting, if this fails for a 4th time I will try 1 more time before designing a different front extension.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gluedclampeda.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gluedclampedb.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gluedclampedc.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/gluedclampedd.jpg
Also, I have ordered the polish :).

[The boy 4rm oz]

Mate, nice work, it is coming together very well, looking great.

[DonT-FeaR]

this is gunna look good once polished! :)

[Waynio]

Thanks boy 4rm oz and dont-fear :)

Ordered the polish just before 3pm yesterday and recieved it the next morning and it came with a bonus microfibre cloth which I was not expecting :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/polish.jpg

I used an old soft rag to test this stuff out, this shot is what a minute of using the metal prep with a tiny blob did.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/metalprep.jpg

These shots is with using a tiny blob of the mirror finish, again with an old rag which is why there are fine scratches, of course I will be using quality soft new rags to apply this to the case.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mirrorfina.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/mirrorfinb.jpg

1st impressions of this stuff are "ohhhh yeaaaah" :) especially since I used a poor quality well used rag and hardly spent any time on it, just a quick test.

When I ordered the switches a bit ago I bought black ones 1 with blue dot and 1 with blue ring, but with me now going for a mirror finish I decided to get silver switches 1 white dot and 1 white ring by lamptron and also got a lamptron white cathode set 1st impressions of it are it seems the best pc cathode I have seen, it has a knob on the inverter which is for sound activated sensitivity but can turn the sound sensitivity off and keep the light on, the wires are a bit short but I'll easily extend them if needed, also got 2 quad fan connectors for keeping all the fan cables together 1 for front and side fans and 1 for cpu and rear fans, the cables underneath the switches are pre made cables for the switches by lamptron so no messing about for me, I'm so glad they started doing these as I can't stand doing soldering and braiding :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/newbits-1.jpg

And these are the parts I went window shopping for lol, wish I had the money for them to put in this case, one can dream :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Dreaming.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

That polish is great, very nice product. Do you mind posting up a pic of the white CCFLs illuminated? I have seen the Bitspower ones and were considering using them for a future mod, they would be much more convenient than soldering a bunch of LEDs together lol.

[Waynio]

Here you go boy 4rm oz :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-2.jpg
Much brighter than any other cathode I have ever seen.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-4.jpg
been a while since I cleaned my rig with being busy.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-4.jpg
Show you pictures of light I will, now you know the power of the force lol :D.

On with todays update :).

Wow at last I got the front extension 99% perfect and mounted, the dvd drives fit so perfect the bezels are stopping the drives from going any further, I used the cotton bud trick for aligning, just need to put the holes for the power/reset switches in place and the front is done except for polishing, phew :D 4th attempt was worth it I'm happy to say and is detatchable whenever I want it to be without having to drill rivets out.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9.jpg
The extra cut outs on the back side I could use for stashing unwanted wires out of the way .

Been at it virtually everyday for close to a month now so if its sunny tomorrow I'm chilling in the sun :), been cloudy all july and so far for august, reminds me of last year.

[Mark_Hardware]

NIce work, lookin good. May the Schwartz be with you

[st8smn]

kickass dude ,verry nice

[blueonblack]

Glad to see the front extension finally worked out, I know how it is to do the same part over and over and over until it's right. Looks great!

[DonT-FeaR]

looks wicked.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Thanks for the pics mate, they are exactly what I am looking for.

[Waynio]

Thanks for comments m8s :).

Ahh I seem to be picking up momentum again, another day another update and I caught a little sun woohoo :)

Now the front extension is out the way, I started working on the sides and top panel, as I said a load of updates ago I was unable to bend accurately with the cheap metal folder I have at 1.5mm so had to come up with an alternative, well here it is :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-1.jpg

Sides joined up to the top panel so sides and top slide off together as 1 piece, it was flimsy and tricky to get it on at 1st, but I put another angle bar underneath on both sides to keep it square so it all goes on a lot easier now :).

Also the mesh I made I put a little countersink in all the holes so it will be a little easier to polish because I'm put off sanding it and there was some rough bits that needed sorting from when the drill went a bit crazy.

I tend to start off really slow and start getting really productive the later it gets, I wrapped it up at 10:30pm

So all that is left to be done what I can think of right now is filing and sanding the top pointy corners, power/reset switch holes on the front, vents on the left side so the hdd fan can get fresh air, and a window or 3 and last but not least a lengthy polishing task.

I tried wet sanding a piece of scrap from 80 grit then 240 then 800 then 1200 then 2000 grit, it got ultra smooth but when I used the metal prep stuff it got quite messy leaving dark grey dust ground into the metal and took some really hard work to get it clear, probably spent an hour getting it semi clear so I'm not so sure I want to polish the exterior now unless I settle for a dulled mirror effect by not doing any sanding so would get a mirror effect like the 1st sample test I showed, but I know for cirtain I will be polishing the interior and the corner angle bars, that alone would look cool with windows so all the parts get reflected eh :), so possibly going to be painting the exterior panels not 100% sure yet.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Man this looks really really sweet, very nice design, nice size and I can't wait to see the polish ;).

I think the polish on the inside is a nice idea, should give you a cool effect. If you don't want to polish the exterior (would be a dust and fingerprint magnet anyway) you could always spray it with a black or white enamel or get it powdercoated, I am liking the white idea.

[Waynio]

:), Thanks boy 4rm oz, here is another update.

OK today I started using a tripod, wish I used it from the start, every picture is coming out nice and clear now.

Here it is just before I started.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-4.jpg

I got the the top bits that stick up filed and sanded smooth, got the switch holes made and caught more sun :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-3.jpg

And found that I will need to make a mount for the dvd drives 7.2mm high
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-1.jpg

[Mark_Hardware]

Looking good man! Getting close eh?

[DonT-FeaR]

i keep thinking its plexi :P
i know its alumi tho.. lol i like it alot!

[blueonblack]

Getting there, no doubt. Will you be painting or otherwise decorating the front panels on the DVD drives?

[The boy 4rm oz]

Getting there, no doubt. Will you be painting or otherwise decorating the front panels on the DVD drives?

Yea, you should make some alu covers for the drives or pick up some Lian Li ones.

[Waynio]

Getting there, no doubt. Will you be painting or otherwise decorating the front panels on the DVD drives?

To be honest I have not give that any thought until you said about it :), I will have a go at making my own bezels but if it turns out poor then I will paint the bezels.

Thanks for feedback all :D.

Today I marked, cut, filed and sanded the left side panel, a basic window hole and a grill for the hdd fan.
I was thinking of having a window on both sides and the top but I remembered that I want a reflection thing going on through the main window so no need.

I started using my dremel and got 1 of the slots done and the dremel was toasty, so I put the dremel mandrel in my dads new rotary air tool and got the whole lot done and then done the curved bits with the dremel.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-4.jpg

[Mark_Hardware]

Air powered rotary tool? mmm Me jealous drool

[DonT-FeaR]

well that worked splendidly

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice, I want to get myself one of those air powered rotary tools. The grills turned out very well, nice job.

[Waynio]

Thanks for comments m8s :), the rotary air tool was about £20 cheaper than my dremel brand new, the tool stays cool but the compressor sure gets hot but is safe.

And the polishing of the frame begins :).
1st time using the power buffer so had to practice a little and seem to have the hang of it now, it gets hot so I'm going to have to take regular breaks every 3 or 4 bars I do.
4 stage process, involving the green machine shown on 1st post, 1st sand any rough bits smooth, then use mop 1 and polish 1, then 2, then 3 and then I have a nice smooth decent polished frame, going to take a while to get done and will post an update once the whole frame is polished and not before.

Here is a few pics of the 1st bits done.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-8.jpg

There is only 2 more structoral bits to make, a dual dvd drive holder for inside the case and case feet, I need to order a bit more aluminium thou for what I have in mind, but I can order a good sized flat bar while I'm at it for making custom sized bending pieces, the hdd cages are not going to be fixed to the case so I don't need to worry about them yet, they are going to sit on thick acoustic foam so no hdd vibes at all :).

Also because the countersunk rivets are pretty garbage and the current bolts have a tendancy to lose the socket easily I decided to order some good quality High tensile countersunk bolts and going to add washer springs and have the dome nuts ordered for the top bolts that stick out.

[DonT-FeaR]

:o

[Waynio]

:D
Got the base done.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-7.jpg
I just love how it can all be taken apart with ease and can just take the bars off 1 by 1, so glad I chose to use nuts & bolts this time.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-9.jpg
I did not polish every single piece, only the pieces that would be seen.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-4.jpg

On this pic with the back panel on, I had wet sanded the panel to be ultra smooth using 600 grit, 1200 grit, 2000 grit then I used the metal prep and mirror finish polishes and well it is a very poor look I think.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-3.jpg

So decided to do it properly with the power buffer, I will be lucky to get 1 panel done per day as it overheats regular this pic only got to stage 2 of 3 of buffing but already shows a glimpse of what to expect, shame I can't make a cooling mod for it, it has no vent holes so could only cool the case which I doubt would make a difference.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-2.jpg

[Mark_Hardware]

(whistles) Lookin sweet!

[The boy 4rm oz]

Dude, love the polish, looks great.

[DonT-FeaR]

yeah agree with the two above

[Waynio]

:D Thanks for comments.

The dremel cooler I made, I modified again by bending and riveting the scrap from the window cut out so it could be used on the grinder and just plonked a weight on it and was nice and firmly in place, kept it nice and cool all day, was able to get all the inside panels done today, I borrowed a full face respirator for doing the polishing and still got covered in dust, had a fred flintstone beard of dust so I dread to know what it would do to you without a good respirator, it doesn't wash off skin easy neither, I doubt I will do polishing again unless I get a very good respirator and overalls etc, it is just plain nasty what it covers you in.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/grindercooler.jpg

The filter was white before this shot so it must have kept most of it out.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/respirator.jpg

The lower area I did not do completely as it would not be seen, the back panel was easily the hardest to do and still did not get it quite to the finish I wanted but it will do.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-5.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looks to me like it was definitely worth it ;).

[DonT-FeaR]

/\ hellz yeah

[Waynio]

Thanks for comments m8s :)
Changed the pics to naked metal :).

Just a few more mid day pics, these will be the last pics and update before I paint the exterior panels, I was going to do them white but I would not mind doing a camo paint job, difficult to decide desert, forrest, snow or urban, forrest camo would go well with the fans, desert I'm not to sure about, but overall I think urban or snow camo would look awesome with the polish.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-11.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-1.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Really looks very cool mate, can't wait to see the sides with the plastic off. Did you decide if you were going to polish the sides or paint them?

[Waynio]

Doh!, why did I not think of taking the plastic off for this latest shoot :redface: :facepalm:, I should delete the last pics and get the plastic off and re do the pics :up:.

Snow camo or urban camo paint job, I don't know yet :?.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That is gonna be sweet, personally I am partial to urban camo but the snow camo with the blues and dark grays will look very cool (pardon the pun :D) with the polished alu. Really depends what look you are after, if you want something that is darker, more earthy go the urban, if you want something with a bit more colour, a but warmer, go the snow camo.

[Waynio]

Decided = Urban :banana: and changed pics to naked alu :D.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Much better with the plastic off ;).

[DonT-FeaR]

does that look like a duck to anyelse? lol looks wicked tho!

[Eclecticos]

Excellent framework, and overall design. +Rep
The fan guard, and PSU vents are perfect.

[Waynio]

does that look like a duck to anyelse? lol looks wicked tho!

LOL others have said this too and a 3 eyed monster head lol :D.

Thanks for good comments m8s and oooh an extra bar I see :D thanks.

I have changed my mind on the paint job quite a few times over the past few days so I'm just going to clean the case up where needed and wait until I have enough money for an ok air brush and some good paint, I really shouldn't rush the finish after the effort I've put in so far, besides maybe if I get rid of the blemishes and scratches by sanding it could look pretty good without paint, I'll have to put something on the polished side so it doesn't get messed up while I sand it, not risking wet sanding as it wil surely mess the polish up.

I still have to make a dvd drive piece so they can be secured to the case at the proper height, I'll make that today and get the psu stand set. And I'll have a try at making my own dvd bezels to give the front extension a nice uniform finish.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sounds good mate. The outside will look good regardless of how you do it.

[Waynio]

I sanded the panels ready for painting the other day and been deciding since which colour to paint it and got the feet made from a square tube cut to size and put them on the front and back so it goes along the width of the case, Nice and sturdy and it has a good gap between the surface and the case so I can easily pick it up now :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-12.jpg

Damn yellow lights lol, makes pictures look awful, must get white lights.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-12.jpg

I got 30mm allen head countersunk bolts for the fans and they fit with the mesh panel perfect :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-7.jpg

There is a hairline beam of light coming through the top, the reason for the other hairline of light to the left is because I forgot to bolt up the top left one for the pics, I will be fixing an angle bar along the top to keep the top middle panel rigid for when I remove it and to block the hairline gap, I think I'll add a couple more bolts for the side panels too for extra rigidity for when I add and remove it, this is just with using 1 of the 2 cathodes they are sooo bright :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled10-1.jpg


This final shot is with the light from my monitor

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11-1.jpg

And these are the colours I have picked out for deciding which one, I think it will be either olympic gold metalic or matisse blue, I might flip a coin for which one to go for :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/colours.jpg

Next update will be the paint finish :).

[The boy 4rm oz]

I actually like the Glacier Blue but if I were to choose out of those other two it would be Matisse Blue.

[DonT-FeaR]

looking wicked,, no idea with the color thing

[Waynio]

I think any of the colours would have looked great, but wanted something somewhat less in your face and to be honest the very mild gold I think will look very well matched with the polish rather than a striking contrast.

Olympic gold is what I have gone for and will be painting it tomorrow after I make a hole for the cathode switch in the front panel.
The gent in the shop said he could do it with 1 can because of his 50 years experience, I believe him so I got 2 cans each of grey primer, olympic gold, clear coat and cost £26, he also told me of a good technique to really reduce wasted paint and some good tips, most helpful knowledgeable clerk I have ever dealt with, if he was not helpful & more of a corp shop I would have bought way too much and got no tips :).

[Waynio]

1 of the gold paint tins was damaged, so I'm thinking of setting it up as is and get around to painting it at a later date when I have a spray gun and air brush gear, spray cans irritate me having to shake forever etc.

[Waynio]

I'll have a picture update or 2 tomorrow :) I primed the panels today with 2 400ml cans for 5 panels and 3 angle bars, the technique the man told me about is good, but I did it a little different because I did not hang them up, I did them up against a board, the method he said to try was make a box out of the panels in an arch type way and do slowish long sweeping strokes, but I just did 2 at a time it was easier to set up, but I can see how it is a good method if it was set up correctly.

Also got a hole for mounting the cathode switch underneath the extension so the ugly switch will not be visible but very accessible.

Tomorrow I'm going back to the paint shop and possibly getting 3 x Glacier blue just to be safe for the main colour and something like the matisse blue for a faint haze over the glacier, or a completely unplanned colour that catches my eye :D and of course a couple of layers of clear which I already have for protection.

Also the man said screwed up paper kitchen towel is best instead of wet sanding, because even with 2000 grit it can easily be scratched, so I'll give it a try and hopefully it will work ok, I'm not going to ignore a man with a lifes experience (50 years doing and dealing paint) on something like this.

lol must be fait that the gold cans was damaged hehe :D.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sounds good mate, I can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Waynio]

Primed.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-11.jpg

Colours I chose, Haze Blue was closest I could get to glacier blue, the matisse blue is going to be used for a quick haze spray.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-13.jpg

All the paint on the panels are good except for the most prominent one being the front panel, I was stupid and did not take the front extension off when I painted it and do it seperately, oh well something had to go wrong but I'll put up with it, I'm glad I'm not too much of a perfectionist else it would take far too long to do
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-13.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-9.jpg

I'll hit it with a couple of coats of clear tomorrow :) and will clean up my current parts and add this little beauty for my main hdd on sunday :) and take some finished pics, then enjoy my new case :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-8.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Colour looks great mate, and lucky you for getting an SSD.

[DonT-FeaR]

nice mate!

[Mark_Hardware]

yeah man, looking good!

[Waynio]

Thanks mates it looks ok from the angle I shot the pics at, other angles don't look so good, well they do but nowhere near perfect anyway :).

The paint in some areas is a little bitty and rough and for the clear I have used just over a can and half, I hope it looks ok when it has dried and cured a bit, really I should have put more work in to getting it smooth, kind of rushed it a bit like usual, but I'll accept the finish anyway, think I should get someone else to do the paint job in my future mods, I lack the patience and experience and quality paint and air brush and spray gun for painting, I'm just not all that good at finishing.

[Waynio]

I got up at 7am, the plan was to do the clear coat and then go back to bed, not been getting much sleep the past few days so very tired.

But it was a pretty nice day so I used virtually 2 cans of clear, let it dry for an hour then put the panels in the sun and enjoyed the nice weather :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-12.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-14.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-14.jpg

I decided to build it back up at about 5pm and managed to get some shots of it in the sun, the polished bits will be cleaned up a bit for the final pics and I bought a touch up pen/brush thing which has primer, colour and clear of the same colour so I can colour the ends which are bare :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled14.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled10-2.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11-2.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled12.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled13.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-9.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-7.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-6.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-3.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-5.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-10.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-4.jpg

I think it looks quite nice and I'm happy with how it turned out, other than the 2 or 3 oversprays I did and the lack of all round smoothness with the paint job.

[DonT-FeaR]

:up: looking good

[The boy 4rm oz]

Dude it seriously looks good man, very nice colour choice. +rep

[Waynio]

Thank you DonT-FeaR & boy 4rm oz appreciated :).

Much more space than I thought, which means I could get a sata card and add at least 4 more hdd (if I needed lol), I'm going to get a sata card so I can ditch the ide dvd's I hate the bulky ide cable, it is annoying how this gigabyte p45-dq6 motherboard has 4 extra sata ports but can't be used for normal single drives.

The cable stash area is great, it is holding all the fan wires and the cathode inverter.

The ac ryan quad fan connectors are good but the leds on them always burn out straight away and give off a puff of smoke so I cut all the leds off :).

The silver lamptron switches there was a problem, the ring light one was fine but the dot one sounded awful when pressed and seemed faulty, so luckily I was originally going to put black switches with blue ring and blue dot so I put them in to replace them and to be honest they look much better :).

When I assembled the pc my sound card disapeared and would not pick up in device manager so I uninstalled the drivers and put it in the next pci slot and put the latest drivers on it and is fine now :).

I have ordered a skythe dual ssd 2.5 to 3.5 mounter and will give me the time to prepare my pc for it.

Also I thought I would see if there are any vibrations without thick accoustic foam, and there is no need for it, no vibes :).

On with the up and running pics.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-13.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-15.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-15.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-11.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-10.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-8.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-7.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-5.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-6.jpg

Also I think I'm going to need to upgrade photobucket to pro for a short while the bandwidth is being chomped up fast, yesterday I had 3gb left out of 10gb, today 2gb :eek: lol.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Yep, your right, you have a ton of room in there. Looks fantastic mate.

[DonT-FeaR]

yeah there is!

[Oneslowz28]

http://thebestcasescenario.com/oneslowz28/front_page/worklog_notification.jpgCheck out your front page blurb here (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/frontpage/)

[Waynio]

Haha, cool front page, Thanks Oneslowz28 :up::D:up::banana:.

[Oneslowz28]

Actually you can send all thanks to Datech. He is the journo that is behind this. You are quite welcome though. This is an awesome mod. Keep up the good work.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Congrats mate :D.

[Datech]

Congrats Waynio! The mod is coming along very nicely!

[Waynio]

Thanks Datech and everyone who commented and kept me motivated, appreciated :).

I went and bought another OCZ 60gb summit to put in raid0, here is the bench I run earlier, Awesome performance, I'm amazed how much my pc was being held back, Used to get 50MB/S up to 100MB/S with normal hdd's, everything seems instant now.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/ssdspeedsraid0.png

And because I have had to let 2 500GB hdd's go to make room for the ssd's which take up the space of 1 hdd and with the extra height because of not needing the acoustic foam I could re design the front panel to be quite different, the extension was purely done so it could hold 2 hdd cages and full size optical drives but could now cope with 1 hdd cage so maybe soon I will re do the front panel.

[Datech]

Incredible increase, nice!

[Mark_Hardware]

Congrats man, way to go!

[Waynio]

Quick update, here is the temps, room temp at the time was 26c.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/temps-1.jpg

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice :up:.

[blueonblack]

Wow, I go away for a while and BAM! This thing is turning out beautifully. I love the part where you get the last screw (or bolt, or rivet, or piece of tape or bubble gum) in place, step back and it's a case. Excellent work, +rep.

[DonT-FeaR]

woop woop!

[Waynio]

Wow, I go away for a while and BAM! This thing is turning out beautifully. I love the part where you get the last screw (or bolt, or rivet, or piece of tape or bubble gum) in place, step back and it's a case. Excellent work, +rep.

hehe :D, thanks blue and everyone else for comments, let me know what you think of this possible v3.

------------------

I really like the air cube v2, but the size is a lot larger than it needs to be really.

Last night I was fairly low in spirit and was stressed out & I did not feel like gaming or watching anything but was wide awake so I decided to mess about with sketchup by making a more compact and complex air cube v3, and 6 or 7 hours later I have a rough model that is buildable, the main part that will need revising is the middle expansion card mem/cpu air tunnel seperator, the challenge with this one is much higher than my previous ones, also the new great Thermaltake VL30001N1Z Level 10 case inspired me a bit on this one, particulary the heightened area for the cpu cooler, I hope to buy an enermax revolution psu for this and finally get core i7 or even a good amd rig since it will be a complete system needed whichever I choose (mobo, cpu, mem).

Lower deck --- The HDD cage will hold 2 ssd's and 4 hdd's with a fan blowing over them all, a fan in the middle of the back exhausting, I'm going to mount the psu so the fan can take fresh air from the other side, the front will hold 2 optical drives stealthed, 2 illuminated vandel switches, polished trim here and there.

Main deck --- lian-li mobo tray, just above the expansion slots a 120mm fan exhausting the warmth up to a duct that will guide outside the back of the case, standard 120mm fan in the normal spot for the cpu, and 2 120mm fans at the front but with a panel dividing the expansion slot area and the mem/cpu area for good concentrated air flow, polished trim here and there.

Top panel --- Should be self explanatory from the pics I think, with polished trim here and there.

So I'm going to keep the best traits from my v1 and v2 and step up my design a few notches higher this time, the face is just for a laugh on this sneaky peak :D... or is it, maybe, maybe not lol.

I don't yet have all the materials (aluminium I need) but might get around to it in a month or 2, and when I do start I'll put updates on every couple of weeks to make sure they are quality updates rather than messy daily ones.

350mm x 350mm base
305mm at lowest area
391mm at highest area
combination of flat bars, angle bars, square bars, 1mm sheet for parts that need bends and 1.5mm or 2mm where there are no bends needed, I know I can do this, will just have to take my time on it to get it right.

Enjoy the funny pics :D Kryten with big eyes and a huge grin from red dwarf comes to mind, note the other little smillie face and think of the mouth as arms raising too lol

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-12.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-11.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-4.jpg

Heres a few pics before I added the silly face and extra angles.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-15.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-12.jpg

[Waynio]

Now I look at it and I'm well rested, looks like a sign of me losing the plot somewhat lol, but a lot of it should be good so here is a revised sensible version with heightened pci top for gpu power wires and a wrapped duct for the pci fan so there will not be any heat spots.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-10.jpg

I know I said the v2 was going to be my last cube before trying a new form but I'm not 100% happy with the v2 mostly because of the top and sides with me not being able to bend them how I wanted and it became a 3 piece slide on cover, I still might re do the top and sides but with 1mm thick sheet instead so I can get nice sharp bends how I originally planned, dunno, if I can sort it out nicely I think I'll forget about a v3 for now and do something new.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That is an interesting design lol.

[DonT-FeaR]

/\ yeah i was thinking the same thing.

[Waynio]

:D Interesting good, bad or the ugly, or even insane, I already know the pics with the face are bad and ugly and maybe a little disturbing lol and should probably not have posted it, but I did and its staying there lol.

Sorry guys & gals for displaying my madness lol, not been 100% mentally sound for the last few months, please try to ignore the mental face, I don't know why I did that lol and then posted it as well shocking, definately a moment of madness for me, but I ended up changing it a bit to a good form I think, would like your opinions on the last batch of pics.

Now, why I have not been so good lately.

I have been really stressed with my brother, so quite mentally beat down, I don't know if any of you have heard of legal highs, there are many different types available and can be bought easily on the internet so it is a huge problem, some of theses legal highs are deadly, he has been messing with them for nearly 2 years in secret, I found out for definate about 6 months ago because of his highly irrational and very paranoid behaviour, but I knew something was not right with him for much longer, He had an appointment with a drug abuse team and they said they have never even heard of these legal highs, so thats shocking in itself since they have been around for more than 2 years, and said if its only every other day and not every day then it isn't really a problem lol what BS, I can't believe how a drug abuse team being paid is not clued up about what is out there.

Well he had some recently and fell down the stairs and had a fit, it was late at night and he was lucky my mum heard a bang else I don't know what would have happened to him, he has never had a fit in his life before at 34 and he fractured his spine, I did not even visit him I was so annoyed with him, 2 weeks later he is out of hospital with a brace and was told it could take up to 2 years before he recovers, he is very lucky he is not paralyzed.

1 day after being out of hospital he had some more which he had hidden, so he is surely addicted, all I can do is hope he does not have anything else, his stupidity has been driving me crazy even throughout when I was creating the air cube v2, would love to kick his ass but would not solve anything and I'd only feel bad with him already being in a bad way so its quite frustrating, I completely banned him from using my internet connection months ago, but he must have been carrying his pc to where my mums is and connecting the cable in the middle of the night, practically everything he says is lies, my mum & dad aren't doing so good and my brother is being an absolute idiot.

Sorry for the above, had to get it off my chest.

So yeah, I want to do a complex case that would be quite a challenge to keep me busy and sane and raise my modding xp for 2 to 4 months :).

[Mark_Hardware]

Dang man, bad times.... I had a friend that messed with that crap all the time.
Sorry to hear all that man, I sure do hope it gets better for you, and for your brother

[Waynio]

Thanks Mark, my bro will get better as long as he stays off the crap from now on, I gave him the super cooled 360 and a wd high def media player loaded with goodies to keep him entertained while he recovers :), I just hope it keeps his mind off the crap.

Scrap the above sketchups, silly idea while I was not in such a good frame of mind, I'll create something completely different for my next case.
Good and interesting looks, cooling and function is what I want to aim for :D.

[Liquid_Scope_99]

Man i hope he gets better soon maybe he can get into modding or something i had some problems at one time .
Gaming and computers and stuff helped me a lot.
Awesome mod btw

[Acey]

Hope he kick the habit, mate. If all else fail, I don't think its your responsibility to do any more favors if he doesn't appreciate it. Cheer up.

[Waynio]

As for cheering up, hells yeah :D:banana:, I'm usually 100% sorted but the stress of this episode got me a bit, but just the thought of him not learning his lesson and trying them out again worries me, I mean having the same substance a day after he left hospital luckily avoiding being disabled is a very bad sign eh, but if he can manage 3 months he should be able to carry on without the bad stuff.

Thanks Liquid_Scope_99 and Acey, I highly doubt he would take a shine to modding althou he likes the last 2 cases I made :), computers and gaming kept me out of bother my whole life too, not my bro thou.
I got him a great learn spannish pack, so I hope he learns it and uses it when he goes on a holiday when he's better :), he's said for ages he wants to learn a new language so nows his chance :), he's got at least a year, maybe 2 before he can do what he could before messing up, but mostly need to get through the 1st few months so he can get past his habit.

He's got all the support needed so its up to him if he takes it.

[chaksq]

Wow this is a great mod, and great concepts. Can't believe I haven't checked it out before. Good luck with your family and future mods.

[Waynio]

:) Thanks chaksq :santa::up:

It's been snowing quite a bit here in manchester, enough to make a massive snow man, it's been tempting lol, had a mad idea of making a giant snow man and rolling it into someones garden for a laugh but thought naa, but could imagine it lol :D, haven't seen that much snow in a while, especially coming up to christmas, there is a car parked in front of the house with a snow mans head sticking out of the roof with a hand waving, looked great last night lol, taken a pic of it today.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/wavingsnowman-1.jpg

Wasn't as impressed with the temps as my original cube case, and been thinking what did I do wrong, what could be done to improve it without adding higher cfm fans?

Was thinking of cutting some holes in the mobo tray and adding fans to blow the bottom side of the mobo, but srapped that idea or at least put that idea on reserve.

As you all seen in the pics how much height the bottom deck had to spare, I have gotten around to re-doing some things.

I made a new hdd cage from scratch, 1st one I have made that is 100% spot on, it holds 5 hdd's or 2 ssd's and 4 hdd's, every single mounting hole lines up perfect and on both sides wow :D, so have quite a bit more space on the lower deck so now I'm working on a new front panel without the extension, keeping 3 fans for the top and having 1 optical drive and possibly a fan in the bottom front and rear, this of course means a new paint job, but i'll leave that until I get into air brushing.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/newhddcage.jpg

I successfully used my holesaw for the front 3 fans but I really need a good variable speed drill with 13mm chuck, tried using cordless ones that have 10mm chucks and had to use an adaptor which makes it too big and clunky and was making the drills burn out, not permanently thou :), the drill press can take it but can't reach in far enough to do the holes where I want them, so switched over to a power drill which has 100% go and wobbles & no variable speed, managed to finnish the job but was rough as hell so until I get a good drill I'm better off sticking with my trusty dremel for fan holes, but I'll make do with this until I get an ok drill, the holes will be smoothed out today.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/newfronta.jpg

Going to put a panel with holes for the wires where the gaps are on the mid panel to keep the tripple fan air where I want it to go,

I would use a good fan controller but have had them fail on me in the past nearly killing my rig overnight, I woke up to scary high temps, so lucky nothing was damaged so don't have faith in them any more.

I'll post the pics of it finnished later if I get it done today.

[Waynio]

Marked it all out & got all of it cut up.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/ready4install.jpg

Bolted it back on the frame, the mesh I had in front of the tripple fans did not fit, there was gaps either side because of using a hole saw which made the holes that little bit too big, the holesaw made a mess to be honest because I haven't got a decent drill to put it in, I have another spare sheet of aluminium so can go back and do it again, wouldn't take more than 3 hours with me having this new one as a template.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/21-12-09.jpg

Here it is switched on.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/21-12-09a.jpg

And now, the reason I had a re-work, the temps, :)
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/status22c.png

This is at an ambient temp of 22c and is the same as my original air cube only with less noise and sturdier build, so I guess the bottom deck was suffering from a lack of breeze :).

The new paint job won't be until spring or even summer, still need to get an air brush kit, a range of colours and loads of practice so I can do something decent.

Merry christmas everyone. :santa::up:

[Waynio]

And now with the lian-li dvd bezel attached to the drive and mounted inside properly :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-20.jpg

The little black box is a quick swappable external hdd.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-15.jpg

That is all until I mod it further & re-paint it.

[Waynio]

First of all sorry for keep bringing this project back from the dead, but there is unfinished business and I'm re-doing the front panel, after that there is just the paint job, promise :).

Got my reinforced cutting discs and extra mandrels from america woo hoo :banana:, got about 250 discs now, whenever I have a bit of cutting to do I'll pre-load 10 mandrels for quick change overs, so rather than fiddling around with changing discs I'll be able to really get stuck in whenever doing dremel work now :).

I've been itching to mod something for a bit now after checking out all the amazing mods going on :), wish I could afford to start a new project but I could brew up some designs in sketchup, can't seem to look through a load of worklogs without being inspired to do something myself :D.

I decided to have another shot at making a front panel, 3rd one now :D, the original one with the front extension was to allow for 2 hdd cages, I got around to getting bigger hdd's so I wouldn't need 2 cages, I wanted it to have the grills built into the panel but I fluffed it up and the last one was a rushed effort done badly with a holesaw but the added fan for the bottom improved system temps by at least 6c so it was worth re-doing the front, but because I did the fan hole so close to the dvd drive it had a very weak area that was very prone to bending between the 2, I wanted to fix this by raising the fan by 10mm and by doing built in grills instead of just a hole as I originally wanted, also the dvd hole was not as good as I wanted it to be so it all just made perfect sense to get this panel re-done with my moral being high again and having a spare sheet of aluminium :).

Wow, enough blah blah :D.

Got a standard fan grill and drew around the inside of the last wire and used a cd and a saucer as a guide to make a pretty basic pattern and used an exacto blade to cut out the holes.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-21.jpg

I decided to do the cutting from the rear side as on my original front, the grills I did turned out better on the rear side.

Cut a new sheet of aluminium to size and added all the mounting holes, put masking tape on the areas I'll be cutting and taped the stencil in place & used a sharpy marker to print it on, for the switch holes I just drilled a hole and used a round file until they fit perfect.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-21.jpg

60% of 1 of the grills.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-16.jpg

Dremel work done on 1 of the grills, used 3/4 of 1 disc, 1 disc broke, 1/4 of another disc, so 90% done on 1 of the grills, started too late on this and with 3 more to go, thought I'd leave it until tomorrow and give the neighbors peace @ 6pm :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-15.jpg

I'll hopefully get the rest done tomorrow and have it installed on the cube with pictures :):up:.

[Waynio]

Spent a lot longer than I anticipated on the dvd hole, but it is such a perfect fit for the lian-li bezel now, must be within a hairline of precision so was not wasted time.

The spirally type grill took a while to do too, had some hiccups with the printed guide coming loose tried my best to keep it clean dremel work for minimal filing to be done, being sleeping til lateish lately which is why this took a long time, didn't want to be making a racket driving the neighbors mad in the evenings, so now I just got the cleaning of the cuts to do with files and sanding.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-22.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-22.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-12.jpg

1 thing I must fix is the roof, I think 1 of the joints somewhere in the frame must have been put in slightly wrong as the sides & top front left of the case piece don't sit perfect at the top as they did before I polished and painted it which is pretty much why I added a painted angle bar there to cover it lol I really should fix this hiccup.

Who knows, if I'm happy enough once I finish this panel and fix part of the frame I might add a window on the other side & jump into airbrush land and repaint the exterior, this case needs a nice finish and then I could see it as my 1st decent scratch build.

I know I added this project to the completed worklogs thread but with me being low on money to do a completely new project at the moment I figured I'd make the air cube a bit better.

I get the feeling there is 0 interest in this now? or are you all waiting to comment when it is finished with a new paint job, nonetheless, the updates will keep coming until it is final :).

[cellsite60]

Thats a nice build you got here, looks great !!!

[Waynio]

:), Ah response Thank you cellsite60 :banana:.

OK, last update before I give it a new paint job but not sure when that might be (need to get an airbrush and some paint), hopefully soon :), actually there will be 1 more update with the panel installed, then nothing until it gets a lick of paint.

I did a little extra trimming with the dremal and then used a range of tiny files to get rid of any roughness and then went over the whole panel with 60 grit sand paper dry, then 240 wet, then 600 wet, here is the outcome.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-23.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-23.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-17.jpg

[cellsite60]

Really likes those fan grills =)

[Waynio]

Thank you again cellsite60 :).

:D, Even I didn't expect this update, was just meant to be with the new panel attatched to the case, but.

I went to file 2mm edge of excess panel off the top and side of the panel to make it a perfect fit, was going to just install it as is until I got around to buying an airbrush.

But I forgot about the extra can of paint which I used for a faint haze over the lighter blue and seen it sat on the shelf when I was tidying up with a can of primer and clear laquer so just thought why the hell not and cleaned the panel of any dust, oil or prints and primed it, then coloured it and then added the clear, all by the notes on the cans, so once it has dried & have it on the case and update a few more final pictures, then I can officially call this case closed & enjoy the refined case & enjoy everyone elses worklogs & look ahead to designing whatever good ideas come to mind in the future.

I very nearly forgot about the dvd bezel DOH!!!!, but luckily there was just enough paint for it :).

Wanna watch some paint dry lol :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-24.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-24.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-19.jpg

[cellsite60]

Thats a great looking color and nicely applied :)
Gonna be a kicker to see this thing fully assembled and fired up, good job !!!
This front bezel looks better and cleaner than the previous one.

[Waynio]

Thanks for your comments again cellsite60, appreciated :).

And here we go, last pictures on this case I believe, borrowed a slightly better camera for these, woo hoo :) :banana:.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-25.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-25.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-20.jpg

On this one my new 5870 peeks over :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-10.jpg

Was well worth re attempting the front :banana::banana::banana:.

[cellsite60]

Looking good.
Nice and clean :)

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

definitely nice... and i must say an improvement over the first one.... great job

the stages of a good build... plan plan plan - prototype - rebuild lol

[Waynio]

Thanks again cellsite60 :).

LiTHiUM0XiD3, thanks, and the stages of a good build lol :D

blueonblack was absolutely right about the grills adding to noise though, must have added a good 5db on top of the plain holes to the case, Tried tollerating the noise difference for a couple of hours and didn't like it much :), too used to it being nice & quiet, so I went & dug out my old zalman zm mfc1 + fan controller and hooked all the front panel & side fans to it & lowered the speed a little and it's now the same noise as it were with plain circles while keeping a good flow of air going through, was considering doing volt mods but figured it be easier and cleaner just to use a fan controller, it's hidden inside the case and can catch some air flow so it shouldn't overheat and fail. Side effect of this is temps have gone up by 3c but thats not bad.

The spiral type grills are more restrictive than the ones in the middle so I can run the middle ones a bit faster than the spiral ones and noise stays the same so it's worked out good :).

Also fixed the top problem I had with it not sitting flush :banana:, I should probably replace the pictures.

[Waynio]

Definately last pictures now because I fixed the top and to show the fan controller.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-26.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-26.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-21.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-19.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-14.jpg

[Waynio]

I bought some 10mm spacers and rubber washers to put between the front panel & fans so I could put the fan controller back in the box of parts and it really helped cut the extra noise from the air restriction, so back to decent temps and normal noise :banana:.

[Waynio]

Can't really call this a new project, more of a part 2 :), I wanted a nice new unit for my consoles, pc & favourite games/dvds to be all in 1 space saving stack, had quite a few redesigns & settled for this one, seems my modding has overspilled into making furniture :D.

It's going to be a stand for the air cube on top, ps3 level below with great ventilation, a level below for my xbox 360, dvd storage below on the bottom 2 levels on both sides with a psu sat in the middle of level 2 for powering the xbox 360 & fans with room for control pads inbetween the dvds.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame01front.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame02back.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame03left.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame04right.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame05top.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame06bottom.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame07iso.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1frame08iso2.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/2closeup1st.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/2closeup2nd.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/2closeup3rd.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/2closeup4th5th.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/2loaded04.png

I'm also working on a new top & rear panel for the xbox 360 to accommodate for better cooling replacing the gpu heatsink for a 360 cpu heatsink & placing bga coolers on all chips with 120mm fan intake & exhaust & dvd drive relocation :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/3xbox01.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/3xbox03.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/3xbox360better.jpg

[Waynio]

This aluminium was for redoing the corners & bottom sides & back panel.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/5alu1.jpg

When doing my design over & over I figured I dont have to re do the corners & bottom sides but I still have good use for the sheet to reorientate the back panel a little, so the angle bars in this picture are not needed for the build, had a slight redesign after I made the order.
Here is the right side panel botch shots, they will be covered by the chunky angle bars that hold the air cube in place, this mod has spawned from the botched corners & price of delivery not being worth just doing the air cube.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/4botch1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/4botch2.jpg

This is the aluminium for the new build, I beleive if the frame is good & strong then there is no true need for expensive thick sheet, especially for what I'm making.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/6alu2.jpg

I was sat on this aluminium for over a week which is a 1st, I usually can't wait but I wanted to do this properly, I needed a tool for doing clean bar cuts at 45 degrees & 90 degrees.
Missed out on a bargain for a really good cut off saw at £100 it was worth £300 but because of very low money I had to get a much cheaper alternative, a manual cheapish £30 mitre saw, the build would have gone tragically wrong if I didn't :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/7mitresaw.jpg

Should have been 1 of the 1st tools I added to my collection when working with aluminium bars, it's proven to be a very awesome tool for this build :).

Finally the work begins woo hoo :D.

Friday
Got the angle bars for all levels cut to size, all 45 degree cuts.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled01.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled02.jpg

Saturday
Got loads more cut to size, not much more to do other than a few more bars (but the thicker ones) & 6 thin sheets.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled06.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled07.jpg

This is 1 of the basic levels
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled03.jpg

Got all bars cut to size today except for the main corner angle bars, want to get everything correct before I do them, so I'm just working on making the levels 1st.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled08.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled09.jpg

Did a loose fit of all the levels & they are great, the bottom panel will be ultra strong, it looked pretty reasonable in google sketchup but in reality it does look a bit overkill, nonetheless it will be very strong indeed lol :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled04.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled05.jpg

More updates soon :)

[blueonblack]

nonetheless it will be very strong indeed lol :D.


Ummmmm... wow. I think you could use that as a base for a transmission dolly. Nice.

+ rep for the overki... uh, functionality.

[Waynio]

:) Thanks blue lol.
I got all the sheets cut to size today & made the new back panel, all was going very good until I attempted to do the mesh again, I failed miserably, didn't space them out enough so it was starting to look awful, should have stopped as soon as I seen the marks were too close, I will work a different vent into it, not to worry :), I'll up the pictures when I have a decent fix, design time for the rest of today & more dremel time tomorrow :D.

[The boy 4rm oz]

That rack is looking really awesome, I can't wait to see it come together.

[Waynio]

Cheers Jase, it's been on hold the past 3 days so I can get the rear aircube panel redone, heres the update on that.

Oh no's, done the spacing wrong by 3mm for the mesh, should have been every 9 or 10mm, should have stopped after the 1st hole & remade the grid to follow, but no I ended up with this & thinking I'd have to buy another sheet.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-19.jpg

My dremel has been dying slowly lately & has now become useless, it was getting lateish so couldn't use the air dremel (very noisy) so I made a quick alternative for the design & drilled within the areas I wanted cutting out & done a ton of filing, even used a hacksaw blade pushing & pulling through the area to get it done lol, was thinking it's just too rough looking but carried on anyway, it could still use a little more smoothing out here & there but I think it's turned out not so bad, what do you all think?.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-28.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-28.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-23.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-15.jpg

Be able to get back to the stack soon :banana:.

[The boy 4rm oz]

If it's any consolation, I think the new grill does look very interesting.

[Waynio]

Thanks for feeback jase :up:.

This update covers the last few days.

With my dremel being useless now & the reinforced cutting discs having the wrong sized hole 1/8" making it a hassle to change discs because they also need aligning, I tried this other cutting air tool but couldn't see where I was cutting so put it away, this picture shows the new right side window & grill for the psu & also the 3mm higher motherboard tray, the flat bars are a temporary loose fix at the moment, they will be attached properly when it's time.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-29.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-29.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-21.jpg

This shows the washers & 10mm spacers I used to cut down the noise from the restrictive front grills, I realised I only mentioned it in the log so heres a picture :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-24.jpg


I can get to work on a few other things while waiting for stuff to come, the new cooling & top & back for the xbox 360, the ps3 stand, paint the fans, trim the back panel & smooth out any rough spots & get it painted, so no excuse for not getting something done while I wait :).

Getting the feet off the air cube might be tough because I used araldite which sets like stone, it was the feet that introduced a little wonkyness to the case, seems it's sat correct on the right side & not on the left which is why there was a gap on the top left, can picture myself having to hammer & chissel them off so I can tap a solid bar for a good fit to existing bolts coming through the bottom.

I decided to do the xbox today, made a good bit of progress, spent near 12 hours on it, figured I'd keep the gpu heatsink so it will be about 130mm at it's highest point, got the basic functionality sorted on it, just need to make a nice cover for it all then the xbox is ready for painting, got the tap & tap wrench & it works a treat, used it for the rear fan mount, holds it nice & firm :), this was a rrod xbox I bought & fixed it had a 0020 error code & figured the only way it will stay fixed is if I boost the cooling, all of the long screws still have their place but I'm thinking of loosing the middle back one so I can create a duct for the rear fan, as you can see it's half in & half out. Ha, it just dawned on me while looking at the picture that I'll probably have to make a new hold down strip else it might not close, doh! :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-11.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled10-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled13-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled14-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled15.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled18.jpg

More soon :).

[The boy 4rm oz]

Love the Xbox hacking :D, I can't wait to see more.

[Waynio]

:D Well here you go then, man I'm knackered lol, it's worth it though :).

Didn't get much done yesterday or today as the sun was too tempting to miss after a long winter :D.
Got the rear fan properly secured down while the xbox was properly closed, filed the corner supports of the rear fan so the strip of metal would fit closely for it to be well in place.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-21.jpg

On this back shot I plan to get rid of all the internal mesh, fill in all the plastic mesh & create a nice hole for fan wires to come through & a little cut to size strip bent to get rid of the gap from the fan to the plastic xbox case so it doesn't look rough, I'm also going to fill in the dvd slot hole & keep the eject button functional, waiting for some velcro tape to secure the dvd drive down which will reduce dvd vibration, the actual dvd tray will be stealthed also.

Measured, marked & placed little angle bars in place & riveted them to the xbox shell & tapped a hole on them ready for fixing a cover which I'm still thinking about best way to do it.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-30.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-30.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-25.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-22.jpg

Thought I'd try & make a 1 piece cover, 1st try at using my cut to smaller pieces steel flat bar from my 1st metal bender, tripple checked the required measurements & marked the sheet, ready for cutting the corners out, it's really a pretty good cheap method for cutting sheet metal, think I'll use this method quite often :)
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-17.jpg

Human jigsaw lol :D.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-12.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-8.jpg

This is a shot with the cut up steel bar from my previous sheet metal bender, they are cut to size for making back pci/io pieces, still not tried making my own yet though.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11-4.jpg

Going good so far.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled12-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled13-2.jpg

Woo hoo :D :banana:.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled14-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled15-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled16-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled18-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled17-1.jpg

The edges will be smoothed & closed together, I just had enough for the day lol.

1 tiny detail I forgot to think about is the right side clip on piece, 1 of the upper slots will not be able to slot in, but I'll work something out for that & luckily it's not the important hdd side :).

More soon :up:.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Probably the beefiest Xbox I have ever seen lol, nice work mate.

[Waynio]

Didn't get anything done from tuesday to friday, here's why.
To keep this bit light hearted I'll just say my bro messed up badly again, I needed some time to brighten up after this latest do, seems he'll never learn that legal highs are just plain bad for him, I'm losing count how many times he has come close to death now & they could be & probably are laced with toxic crap. It's been hard keeping bright when he plays up like this, but spring is definately helping with some nice blue skys & sunshine, long grey winters make you really appreciate a nice blue sky & some warmth :).
I have come to a firm conclusion that many people who say they are bored should rephrase it to I'm a boring person, time to change lol :D.

Right, now my excuse for no updates is out of the way, onwards with the project woo hoo :banana:.

:D Thanks Jase, yeah it's nearly double height lol.

I have tried out the upgraded cooling on the 360 without the casings though within that time, main 2 fans blowing on the components, rear fan pulling air out, played some gta iv for 10 minutes, turned off put my hand on the gpu heatsink, was nice & cool :), did same on cpu & it was very hot to touch.
So I flipped the cpu fan over to take air away from it & had the rear fan blowing in, both gpu & cpu run nice & cool to the touch after half an hour of gta iv mayhem :D so I'll make a duct to guide air out of the side & put an easy to remove & clean dust filter on the back to minimise the need for clean outs.

So it's looking like a very good anti rrod fix so far :), concernig the cooling layout it's a good thing I had a little downtime else it would have been done wrong, I'll take the 2 temperature sensors from my 1st 360 mod & place them on this new mod so I will be able to see if the fans start failing + it might make it look a little better :).

I would do a cooling mod on my new ps3 but it is still under warranty so that is why I'm just doing a ventalation mod outside of it which I hope will be enough for it's longevity, it does get pretty warm sat on a desk but a good flow of air passing above & below it should help.

Here's what I got done over the weekend, should be back on track with regular progress from now :).

The 360 is coming along ok :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-31.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-22.jpg

Whilst I was without a dremel, I started drilling, filing & sawing to get things done, silly me I tried the same technique for the air cube right side panel & ended up putting it aside until my cutting discs with the correct 1/16" hole in the middle arrived.

Well, got the cutting discs :), I cut along the lines I marked out perfectly, filed & sanded all the edges, thought jobs a gooden, pulled all the masking tape off & the drill holes left a bit of a mess on the psu grill, yes it could have been patched up with body filler but I prefer not to use it so I filed away settling for some wonky lines instead, I'll mask around the grill & give it a quick spray of matisse blue & spray some into a pot & use a fine brush to do all the bare edges.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-31.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-26.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-23.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-13.jpg

The other window will be removed so I can get the white double sided mounting tape cleaned off & replaced with clear mounting tape.

Thats all for now, more soon :).

[Waynio]

Ahh, think I'm coming together again, a few said I should do a scratch build 360 case, I had pretty firm plans on just modding the 360 with scraps I had lying around to keep it's original functionality & to cost nothing other than the fans, the last week I just didn't know how to carry on (head was scrambled) so kept putting it off, so I sat down & started designing a completely custom 360 case, kept my mind busy for hours & it seems to have done the trick to get me back in the mood for continuing, had to get some new body filler (the activator had burst out of it's tube & become useless while in storage), wanted to carry on for hours more but had to call it a day though because of noisy filing, don't want to irritate any neighbors in the evening with my hobby :).

The back side is coming together, cut out the internal mesh, used little pieces of sheet aluminium held on the inside of the exterior mesh & filled over the holes & sanded down, have made the filler strip template but can't do it until tomorrow (the air dremel is noisy) & had some more filing to do on the internal metal chassis which resonates a loud racket, so I hope to get all the body work & air ducts done tomorrow, then I can put it aside until I paint it & can continue with the stack, woo hoo I found my mojo baby, yeahh :D lol.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-23.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-32.jpg

I'm feeling good again so more soon :).

[Waynio]

Lol, I thought I'd get all the xbox body work done today :facepalm:, but only got the front gap between the metal cover & xbox filled & sanded & made the gap cover at the back, still, it's steady progress :), it looks like there is a gap still but that is just perm marker from a guide I made on the filler to form a nice smooth edge, used 60 grit, 240, 600 sand paper.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-24.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-33.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-32.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-27.jpg

Needed a bit more filler.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-24.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-19.jpg

I don't know when the body work will be fully done on this xbox, could be tomorrow or the day after if I keep at it like the past couple of days.

I'll just keep posting at the end of the day when any progress happens :).

[Waynio]

Only done the face plate today (started too late), I trimmed the original dvd bezel so it was 1 or 2mm thick, placed maksking tape over the front of the face plate, lay the trimmed bezel in place & slapped some body filler over it, sanded, then flipped it over & covered the gaps for the bezel & sanded smooth.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-26.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-35.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-34.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-29.jpg

The top piece is going to need a bit of work on it before it looks a bit nicer but it'll come together, just had a slack day lol :D.

More soon :).

[Waynio]

Xbox 360
Filled & sanded the inside & outside corners of the top piece.
Made a quick & simple air duct to blow out of the side, still undecided if the rear fan will bring air in or out.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-27.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-36.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-35.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-30.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-25.jpg

The back could do with some filler so it all sits nice & flat all around, I'll get that done tomorrow, I'll also trim the flat bars out of the way of the side hole.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-9.jpg

It's getting very close to being ready for painting :).

Air cube
LOL, the temps are better with the exterior panels on rather than off :D, just thought I'd take a pic of the air cube with the new panel on :), the onboard led lights only come on when starting up the pc & are quite subtle but good looking, I like them, there is a green, orange & red light which has given me an idea to use some leds on both sides of the case to be different colours, the 5870 pretty much splits the case into 2 halves so I think it'll look quite decent if placed in the right spots.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-10.jpg

More soon :).

[The boy 4rm oz]

The work on the Xbox is comming along nicely. I like the disk drive relocation.

[Waynio]

Sure is Jase, the dvd cables just about reach :D, nearly got this xbox done now, phew :).

Put a good layer of filler on the back & smoothed out, the top piece is laid flat now & cut the flat bars lower to be unseen.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-28.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-37.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-36.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-31.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-26.jpg

Decided ac ryan meshx is the right stuff for the side duct hole, it's very unrestrictive so would be perfect for it, thought about doing my own grill but the meshx would be better, once I have a mesh sorted for the hole it should be ready for painting & then I can move on with the stack, after a couple of days for a break :).

Doing the xbox the way I have has given me more appreciation for case mods, scratch builds are more straight forward because you are the one who designed it so you know exactly how it should all go together, it requires a lot of adapting with a ready made case so I believe it can take just as much effort to do a good looking mod, case mod appreciation +10 :D.

The ps3 is going to look too normal amongst the 360 & air cube, I'd love to at least give it a paint job but that warranty is stopping me, for now :D.

More soon, Can't do nothing more on the xbox until tuesday but I could make a start on the levels of the stack if I feel up for it.

[Xtrykr]

Wow, that's some awesome metal work! Everything all snuggly fit. Good job, can't wait till this is done! :D

[The boy 4rm oz]

I think the AC Ryan MeshX will go very well with the mod. I have used the stuff before and must saw it is very easy to work with, you can cut the stuff quite easily with tin snips and it bends like a dream.

[Waynio]

Thank you Xtrykr, just waiting for the mesh, should have it tomorrow, then fix it to the 360, then clean, then paint :).

:) I should have some tin snips but never got around to buying some, I'm friends with the air dremel again now I have the correct fitting discs lol :D, still got to order the paint for the xbox.

The stack.
The makeshift table was not flat enough for putting a jig on & getting this stack made, luckily my dad had a kitchen work top doing nothing, so we took the clamping piece off the rough makeshift table & put it on the kitchen top, so now I have a nice table to work on :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-29.jpg

Made a square jig, I cut the wood to precise sizes of the angle bars so I needed 4 hands to make it 100% square, my dad helped me on this, it would have taken ages to do on my own & might not have been 100% square, anyway the jig is perfect so I'll be able to do my marking spot on when I start on this stack.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-38.jpg

This is the bottom level piece, it's the chunkiest level of them all, I wanted it to be well grounded :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-37.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-32.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-27.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-21.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-15.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-10.jpg

More soon :).

[Waynio]

Decided to do the part I was dreading the most, removing the air cubes feet which I stuck on with araldite.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-30.jpg

I removed the araldite by using my heat gun on all the exposed bits for a few seconds & then scraped it off, then heated the whole bar & levered it off, it all went nice & smoothly :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-39.jpg

Polished up the original polish so it looks all fresh again :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-38.jpg

With the old feet taken off the sides & top fit perfect.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-33.jpg

cut, filed & polished some new ones from solid square aluminium bar & decided to use mounting tape to attach the new feet.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-28.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-22.jpg

With the new feet on the sides & top fit perfect, so glad :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-16.jpg

Looks pretty sweet :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-11.jpg

Finally cleared up the garage so it isn't like a game of twister any more, it was getting ridiculas lol :D.

Got the ac ryan meshx, got it installed on the xbox (used my glue gun), where the rivets are hanging out I want to tap the holes so it is properly secured in place & so it can be disassembled easy, once I get that done it is time for painting it.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-11.jpg

More soon :).

[Waynio]

Time to sort the ugly brown & green fans out, the fan blades pop off easily.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-31.jpg

I looked around the house for something that could quickly cover the fans motors & found spice jar covers to be a perfect fit :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-40.jpg

Primer
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-39.jpg

Shot to show the spice covers doing their job :).
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-34.jpg

I cut a load of circles from card board & stuck the sharp end of a rivet through the centre & popped them onto the fan blade.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-29.jpg

The fan blade colour was not as light as I was hoping, originally wanted a close to white ice blue so this is way off that plan but I'll settle for it, not putting more paint on the blades, anyway, much better than brown/green, got the frame colour exactly how I wanted it at least.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-23.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-12.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-12.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-7.jpg

Now, I need to make my mind up if I'm going to paint the internal panels or not, & if I am what colour, so I'll put that bit off until I'm sure.

I'll take some better pictures of the fans when I have some good daylight.

[StormRider]

better? they're impressive now! ^__^

[The boy 4rm oz]

The fans look so much better now that they are painted. So so much better.

[Waynio]

better? they're impressive now! ^__^
:banana: Thanks StormRider :D.


The fans look so much better now that they are painted. So so much better.

:D Thanks Jase.

This is how how my pc has been the past few days while I've been painting, had it functioning purely for media & internet.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-32.jpg

Spent a bit of time sanding all the work on the back panel & it's all nice & smooth now, painted both sides too.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-41.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-40.jpg

The front panel needed the countersinks to be a little deeper so the bolts sit flush, painted the rear of the panel too.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-35.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-30.jpg

Painted the back expansion/io piece.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-24.jpg

Here is a better shot of the hdd cage I made, the ssd can slip in the top space just perfect :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-18.jpg

The blue gigabyte motherboard goes really well with the fans & back panel & the braided cables you can see are extensions (got them for pcie, 8 pin atx, main atx, I would rather buy them like that than void my warranty, especially with a decent psu (they cost too much to void them), the sata cables could do with being swapped out or even braided, I would love to shorten the psu cables because they are way too long but I can tidy them into the front right corner just about, got rid of the rounded ide cable, it is supposed to be clear but it had turned nicoteenish lol, the flat ide cable routes better anyway.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-13.jpg

withgpu
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled10-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled12-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled13-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled14-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled15-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled16-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled17-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled18-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled19-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled20-1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled21.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled22.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled23.jpg

I think the back looks better than the front now lol :D.

Everything is done on the front, back & insides, I'm going to come up with an alternative for the right side grill, either make the bars slimmer or get another sheet, then all thats needed is the left window removing to clean up the white mounting tape & replace with clear mounting tape, then the air cube v2 is complete, still waiting for my drill bits to arrive before I can do anything else on the xbox & the stack, so I'm having a few days off from it :).

[billygoat333]

looking good!

[StormRider]

I'd rob a bank(or two) for that case:devious:
well, not really, but you get the idea:D

[The boy 4rm oz]

The painted fans really finish off the mod perfectly, it looks so much better now then it did with the fans their original colour. Everything just blends in together, makes it look like it all belongs together.

[blueonblack]

Outstanding work! +rep

[Waynio]

looking good!
Thanks billygoat333 :).


I'd rob a bank(or two) for that case:devious:
well, not really, but you get the idea:D
Thanks StormRider :D.


The painted fans really finish off the mod perfectly, it looks so much better now then it did with the fans their original colour. Everything just blends in together, makes it look like it all belongs together.
Thanks Jase :up:.


Outstanding work! +rep

Thank you blue :), woohoo I've gone up another notch :banana:.

In other news the air compressor is playing up, it's getting up to 50 psi & not going any higher & keeps running rather than switching off, doesn't look good, most of the air tools I have need up to 90 psi the compressor could go up to 150 psi until the other day :(, hopefully it is a simple inexpensive fix.
My dad went to a motorbike show the other day & came back with a few nice new air tools so this is a bit gutting, a sawzel & a belt sander.
I managed to clean all the dust out of the case & psu with it, it was while I was doing the dusting I noticed a change in the noise of the motor, I have really taken a shine to air tools now so I'll have to get it fixed :up:.

I ordered some small light changing LED boxes for the air cube :D.
Called Lamptron Psycho Lazer LEDs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uro-7a1zQ24&feature=player_embedded) :D.

[Waynio]

Ughh, 1st the air compressor, now my tap snapped & got stuck.

Got the fan frame for the xbox properly mounted to the chassis now, tapped it earlier so it's ready for painting, nothing new visually so I'll post pics when it's painted.

I made a start on the stack today, marked up where to drill, drilled all the mounting holes for the bottom level & was going very good, maybe too good lol something bad had to happen & it did.
Ran into a problem while tapping the final layer of the base of the stack, the tap snapped off while doing 1 of the holes, can't remove it at all, tried all known methods, just nothing to grip hold of, so my best bet is to file down the parts that stick out & relocate the hole & body fill over the failed hole or redesign the base a bit, ahh the joys of modding lol :D, it's all worth the effort in the end though :). Anyway, the stack is back on hold until I get a couple of new taps :hurt:.

Looking forward to installing the LED's in the right spots tomorrow though :).

[Waynio]

I don't think I'll be using the LED blocks, they really are awful, on the video it shows them changing slowly, the ones I got change far too fast & then strobe, straight away I found them highly irritating lol, I should have just learned how to do my own LED lighting, would have been cheaper & far better, I have soldering irons & am pretty good at solder work, I just got lazy lol.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Really sucks about the compressor dying on you and the snapped tap.

From past experience I have found that the LED block are pretty useless unless you lightly sand the globes a bit to frost them, the strips are much better.

[Waynio]

I would go for the LED strips if I wanted a lot of light, but I just want subtle bits in cirtain spots, strips are too long for what I have in mind.

Heres what I've done while waiting for the new taps.

Grinded the stuck tap so it's level, relocated the holes, ordered some new taps, got them today.

Received the changing LED's, wrong version, sent back, waiting for the alternative which looks better :).

Put a bit more work into the right side panel grill, lots of filing & sanding so no more wonky lines & put some mesh behind the grill & painted it haze blue with a light mist of matisse blue :).

Removed the window & it took a whole load of elbow grease to get the white mounting tape off, painted the inside upper half haze blue on both sides, need to order 2 windows, thought I had a couple spare, thought wrong lol, so I'd expect to receive some time next week, also buffed up the inside top panel so it's better than it originally was now.

Very tempted to sand the front grills to get really nice edges like I did with the rear, but would probably require painting again so I think I might pass on that, once the windows are installed the air cube v2 is done, but I think I'll always wish I sanded the front grills, so with that in mind I think I should :) lol.

Painted the xbox, I'm especially pleased with the hdd :), done it all matisse blue & the power button is haze blue because I ran out of matisse lol, doh!.

On with the pictures of the finished sides, buffed inside top & the finished xbox, just wish I made enough space to add some meshx for the back fan, it's already a tight fit once the top piece is on so no room for it, oh well.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-33.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-36.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-42.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-41.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-31.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-25.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-19.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled10-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled12-3.jpg

Now I can fully focus on getting this stack put together, so more soon :).

[StormRider]

-applause-
that is one sweet xbox. ^__^

[billygoat333]

oooh... that blue is pretty! I approve! :up:

[The boy 4rm oz]

That is one sweet looking XBox, looks a ton better then white :D.

[Waynio]

-applause-
that is one sweet xbox. ^__^


oooh... that blue is pretty! I approve! :up:


That is one sweet looking XBox, looks a ton better then white :D.

:) Thanks guys :up:.

Walked into a wall with the stack build though.

The taps I got seem to be the wrong pitch size thread, not only that but the guy I bought them off on ebay also only sent me 3, was supposed to be 6, so thanks to the ebayer I bought them off the stack build is fubared for the time being.

So I'm quite unhappy with how the base is turning out, all tapping related, the pieces for the 1st base are turning into swiss cheese, making me think I'd be best off making another order of aluminium to get it right, 1 bad hole was bad enough, now there is 4, if I do order more aluminium I'll make the postage worth while & order enough to do another project at a later date, I would like to do a mini ITX media case at some point, was also thinking of making a desk, I was a little short of flat bars anyway so maybe this was supposed to happen, I also wanted to add some trim bits to the stack to give it a little flair :).

So other than putting windows in the air cube, noting more to do until I get the right bits & new aluminium so it could be a couple of weeks before the next update, sigh.

[Waynio]

Wow, was nearly 3 weeks since my last pictured update, many problems with the rrod xbox's leading me to just say the hell with it & buy a new late 2009 one (jasper) to put it in the modded case so had to mod the hdmi bottom half & the internal metal case again, I should have originally known getting a new one without previous problems is the best way to start off an xbox's life inside a well cooled case, anyway it's now a green 4 life 360 :D.

Had various tapping problems with the stack & problems marking the chunky angle bars accurately which has made me decide to use black rivets on the corner angle bars, the levels are fine, just the main corner angle bars, not all the mounting holes line up perfect but at least every levels corners does by at least 1 bolt which will enable me to rework them easily to take rivets instead.

Got all the base levels put together without nuts :).
Made another temporary jig for getting the marking done on the chunky angle bars, was a real pita to mark accurately & took quite some time before I figured out a good method, then it went quite smoothly, but still a few holes don't fully line up which is why I'm going to drill the holes with a 3.2mm drill bit & use rivet washers & black rivets.

I decided to do away with the 0.7mm aluminium sheets on top of each levels frame base & instead get some clear polycarbonate sheets & paint all the frame work so you can see through it all, should be pretty sweet, The sheets of aluminium became too messy with failed taps causing me to need more sheet aluminium which I didn't have.
Any polishing I do on this stack will be given a coat of clear so it keeps the polish.
The end of the framework is close to finished now, phew, was a bigger mission than I anticipated :).

Not been taking my camera along to the work space & instead just been pushing forward so it's straight to the form which gave me a cheesy grin :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack7.jpg

More soon :banana:.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Sucks to hear about your Xbox dieing, good to hear you got a replacement though :D.

I am liking the tower structure. It's looking very good, quite sturdy.

[StormRider]

i approve. I approve a lot:D

[Waynio]

Thanks Jase, StormRider :up:.

Update time :banana:.

OK, painted the levels, cut the angle bars to size & smoothed off the top edges by filing & sanding & spent today polishing the angle bars, the plastic sheets for the 1st 4 levels needed a smidge filing off the ends & trimmed little corners out to make way for the rivets & then started fixing it all together, at last :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-34.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-43.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-42.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-37.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled4-32.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-26.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled6-20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-15.jpg

Still more to be done like little extra support bars, guide rails placed inside, switches, but the main effort is now done phew, was a mission & half lol :).

I'm also going to put some more effort in on the air cube by sanding the front grills so they are nice round & smooth edges.

More soon :).

[The boy 4rm oz]

That looks AMAZING!!! The blue shelves go beautifully with the polished vertical bars and the plexi shelves allow you to see everything, superb work :D. +rep

*EDIT*
I need to spread some around first :(.

[Waynio]

:) Thanks Jase, yeah it was as good as I visioned it to be & even a little better :D, I'm quite chuffed with the stack :), to be honest my room needs a make over now as the stack looks too good in my room lol :D.

[Waynio]

Update time :).

Skip to the pictures if you're not interested in the details on what's been done ;).

1200mm high
400mm wide
380mm deep

Weight air cube v2 empty ??? very light but won't be known until I upgrade to a i7 or amd hex core rig or given the speed of new tech these days & my money flow being slow & low maybe something far more awesome once I have enough.
Weight air cube v2 fully loaded ? I'll update soon
weight empty stack ? I'll update soon
weight fully loaded stack ? I'll update soon, it'll be heavy

Since last time where I got the main basic structure done, I have been busy getting the trim supports made.

The front & back of level 2 & 3 I put 1/8" polished angle bars for a support for the various sized flat bars to stop dvd's falling out, I gave the flat bars a simple brushed finish, also put 9mm x 6mm flat bars for a dvd stop & psu slot, put a flat bar with switch mounting holes for turning ps3 fans or xbox fans on/off, upper 1 is for the ps3, lower is for xbox. All the extra trims are put on with araldite rapid steel adhesive, very very strong 2 part adhesive.

Cut solid square aluminium bars to the size of the ps3 with extra for a slope on both sides, cut angles & super glued them perfectly aligned to the ps3 base to keep it easy for putting it on the level how I wanted it, this doesn't void the warranty btw as I can easily remove the bars if needed ;), so the ps3 has very good ventalation now above & below so the side vents should be able to take new air in, much better than just having it on my desk, I no longer have to worry about it having a melt down so now I can get really stuck into red dead redemption :).

I was thinking of cutting solid square bars to size to put in the corners of each level to give even more support but I'm not sure it needs it to be honest, it's very rigid all over, I'll have to think about this.

The braiding could have been done better, I'm a n00b at braiding, but I'm ok with the result, they're out of sight :), the psu wires are folded over & over & wrapped with cellotape to keep them in a compact bunch with a paper clip in the green & black pins to run the fans, the switch cables I chose the lazy route & bought 2 off ebay, 900mm long though so just folded the cable to the length I wanted & wrapped tape around them so no cables interfering with the games/dvd's area, hmmm nintendo wii in the bottom space, hmmm probably not, currently or planned to play games/films, ohhhhh yeah :D.

The xbox wouldn't fit into the level, so it was either refabricate the top piece or cut the rear off so I could slide the top on, I cut the rear off for the time being, after the amount of space left over with the air cube & wanted it all to be a good fit, must be less than 1mm spare above it, the missing rear piece can only be seen from behind so I can live with that.

One problem I've come up against is the floor in my room where I want to have the cpce (Console PC Entertainment) is not flat so I'm going to cut a wooden piece to size, put something underneath the wood at the front so it makes a level surface to keep it on, need to do this asap as it's a bit like the leaning tower of pisa, keep expecting it to collapse all of a sudden, so yeah I need to do this asap :).

This stack project was something I was not very sure about, mostly needed something to keep me busy for a while & was a bit of a spare of the moment kind of design, but man am I glad I went for it :D, I mean I'm sat here & I look to my side & I'm surprised it's me that made it lol :D.

There will hopefully be another update with quality outdoor daylight pictures once I've sanded the front grills to a nice finish & repainted, it'll need it since it'll be taken back down to bare metal, then I believe I can call it a 100% finished for sure this time woohoo :D.

With it being summer & I like to keep a good overclock with nice temps the quiet small fans have a hard time keeping things really cool, so just for summer warm spells I will use a desktop fan on the lowest setting with the top & sides off, the results are better than peak winter & temps barely rise when gaming & pushing the pc hard.

OK I think I've covered everything about what got me from my last update to now so I'll shut the hell up & show a pile of pictures in it's 99% complete state, enjoy :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce11.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce12.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce15.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce19.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce21.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce22.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce23.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce25.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpcetempse.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce24.jpg

Wow, took about 4 hours to do this post lol :).

[blueonblack]

:bowdown:

Dude. That is absolutely beautiful work. +Rep for sure, love it!

[StormRider]

sweet tower you've got there

[The boy 4rm oz]

Now that is an awesome rack and a really nice setup, not to mention a nice OC :D. I like your Sennheiser's also, I have the same pair, the HD595's are awesome.

[Waynio]

:bowdown:

Dude. That is absolutely beautiful work. +Rep for sure, love it!
Thank you blue, appreciate the feedback :):up:.


sweet tower you've got there
Thank you Storm, me thinks so too :D:up:.


Now that is an awesome rack and a really nice setup, not to mention a nice OC :D. I like your Sennheiser's also, I have the same pair, the HD595's are awesome.
Thanks again Jase, really makes a good difference knowing other modders have been following this, and yeah the 595's are awesome for gaming, I have it set for stereo but it's like surround sound, on games like left 4 dead I can pinpoint where enemies are, forget those gimmicky surround nasty headphones, the 595's rock for gaming/music/movies :D:up:.

[Waynio]

Final update :).

Took some new pictures earlier today, the yellow light was nasty I think you all would agree ;).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc7.jpg

Now, back to my unlevel floor, I just took some scrap ply wood, placed the cpce on top of it, marked around the edges, got busy with the saw, filed the corners round & edges smooth, took it back to see how bad the unlevel floor was, was off by near 10mm, so I had these furniture slide pads & placed 1 underneath the front of the board, not quite, tried doulbling them up, spot on, luckily I have a bunch of others at a smaller diameter so I stuck them to it & thats my floor sorted, it stayed fine all the way to the top of the air cube, phew :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc11.jpg

This shot shows how close the top of the xbox is to the next level, I'd say 1mm spare, talk about cutting it fine lol.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc10a.jpg

And so, the rest of the pictures are just to show it off in natural light :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc15.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc19.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc21.jpg

Back to the weight of this thing.

Air cube v2 fully loaded = 42 lbs
Stack with psu & fans = 27.4 lbs
Xbox 360 = 8.4 lbs
PS3 = 8.4 lbs
Total = 86.2 lbs without dvd's/games

And thats it, I've decided not to sand the front grills to a perfect finish which I know I could given an extra couple of days, but if I wanted it 100% perfect I would have had it done by a machine for me, I don't want or need to compete with a lifeless machine lol, I like the fact it is a little rough here & there, keeps it completely unique :). I'm leaving the slightly rustic cuts so it remains an average joe made piece.

So thanks for showing an interest in this project & peace out & mod on all until my next unplanned mod ;), I definately had an all you can eat buffet of modding for the time being, I'm absolutely stuffed lol :D.

[The boy 4rm oz]

You really have done an awesome job, everything compliments each other beautifully and the design is truly unique. A beautifully executed and design project, very nicely done.

[Waynio]

Thank you Jase :), now, how long will I be able to read other worklogs without getting the urge to mod again lol, time will tell :D.

[The boy 4rm oz]

I get the same feeling but I will definitely be starting something new within the next few months ;).

[Waynio]

Looking forward to it Jase :banana: :):up:.

My modding journey so far, a recap & finale - Part 1 of 3.

The reason I jumped in at the deep end doing scratch builds is because every single case I ever bought I found it could do with some cooling mods doing to them so I thought why not just make my own, tried cad programs & couldn't take to them, then I found google sketchup & were soon making models that I knew were possible to do in reality with my tool set, hail google sketchup, without it unprofessional people like me might not have gotten into designing & building our own cases/stuff.

I started off just doing it for functionality but after hanging around tbcs & bit-tech for a bit & seeing everyone elses mods I started coming around to appreciate the fine attention to detail people were putting in & started seeing it all as high quality modern art that I could highly appreciate because it's functional as well as great looking, more & more modders are raising the bar of excellence so I thought I should put more effort into the looks also, but still I put form & function 1st, looks 2nd, looks take longer to achieve :D.

So, it all started from just doing blow holes in pre-made cases & wire management holes with a dremel, I remember it being tricky to handle but with more practice it makes near perfect & then with files & sanding can make perfect, not laser perfect but human imperfect perfect lol :D.

I like to make a premium case for the price of a mid range case which is another part of why I don't go the machined route & powder coat/custom paint route, I have to say though it would be a total buzz to use a bigger budget so I could rule out tool restrictions in designs.

----------------------------------
My tool set - for anyone wanting to know

I'm quite lucky as I only had to buy the bits that say "woo hoo" next to them.

A work space of about 5 foot by 8 foot, gets like a game of twister in the thick of modding lol.

Manual tools
Small but useful work bench
4 Quick clamps woo hoo
5 C clamps
6 squares woo hoo
Rulers woo hoo
Good range of files
60, 240, 600, 1200, 2000 grit sand paper woo hoo
Vice
Cheap sheet metal folder woo hoo
Hammers/mallets
Wrench tapper woo hoo
Manual mitre saw woo hoo
Hack saw blades
Pop rivet gun
Rivet nut gun that I haven't found a use for "yet" ;) woo hoo
Various drill bits, countersink bit woo hoo
Razers

Power tools
Chomped my way through 5 dremels woo hoo, no more, they die too easy & cost too much to keep replacing.
Bench grinder adapted to use polishing mops & modified to keep cool
Drill press
Cordless power drill & 2 batteries
Cordless sheet metal shears woo hoo
Hot air gun woo hoo
Air compressor that needs a new gasket which is hard to find so I'm going to use gasket high temp silicone or make one.
Air dremel, an absolute breath of fresh air compaired to dremel.
Air gun - perfect for cleaning solid dust from a pc to make like new.
----------------------------------

Picture time with brief discriptions.

Badly planned & executed 1st case, was trying to mimmick the Lian-Li X2000 when it hit the news, mine had some flaws & looked pretty awful in comparison lol :D, but I like the fact that my 1st case was this horrible as I really feel I have progressed nicely :) + I think I did the 1st 1 over a couple of weeks.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/a10.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/a08.jpg

When I got a cheap sheet metal folder, my 2nd case made entirely with sheet aluminium & a bit of body filler & pop rivets, it cools all the components really well but lacked strength & was made pretty fast.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/13.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/15.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-1.jpg

Latest which I am very happy with I started using a drill press & combined some of what I learned from my 1st & 2nd case & added some new tricks, spent a couple of months last year making it, then got back to it from feb to the completed project now, I intend to make a low power media pc before I make a completely new gaming case to fill the spot on top of the stack.

Went from this pile of raw goodies.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/aluminium.jpg

To this

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frame1b.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/allpanels.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/posstop.jpg

Mobo tray by me, pci/io piece from a lian li case which is the only bit not made by me in this build.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/tray.jpg

Did this but at the time I was planning on polishing the whole case & the cuts were not clean enough so scrapped the grills.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/frontb.jpg

Shiny :D, polishing bars is pretty easy, it's polishing large sheets that is more difficult.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-1.jpg

To this

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled7-4.jpg

To this

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-20.jpg

And finally got around to painting the akasa apache fans to fit the colours :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled8-12.jpg

Decided to have another go at doing the front panel with built in grills.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled1-25.jpg

CONTINUED:

[Waynio]

My modding journey so far, a recap & finale - Part 2 of 3

& finally to this :D

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled19-1.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled21.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled22.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled3-36.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled2-41.jpg

Then I wanted my pc & consoles all in 1 place so I made this :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/6alu2.jpg

To this

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled08.jpg
Then 4 of these.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled03.jpg
& this bottom level.
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled04.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/stack.jpg

To this

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-26.jpg

To this

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/cpce.jpg

Also made a cooling mod for the xbox 360.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled5-25.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled11-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled9-9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Untitled12-3.jpg

Which leads to the finally new in use shots. Whilst doing this recap post I remembered saying I'll leave the front grills rough, but that wasn't the only imperfection, there were bits I had to touch up with paint & they didn't match perfectly, so I thought with this definately being my last post I would go ahead & get this front panel finished off properly to a good standard & present these final pics.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc20.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/acpc21.jpg

CONTINUED:

[Waynio]

My modding journey so far, a recap & finale - Part 3 of 3

And the latest pictures of the Air Cube with properly finished front panel, a days worth of sanding & a new coat of paint.

Before
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-0.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-1.jpg

After
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-11.jpg

With stack left view + flash
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-12.jpg

With stack left view no flash
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-13.jpg

With stack right view + flash
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-14.jpg

With stack right view no flash
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/1-jul-10-15.jpg

There might be more pictures coming soon "if" I'm successful in making a big light box that aids in better pictures :), got all the materials, just need to make it.

And that wraps it up :), thanks to all for viewing, feedback & motivation to make it look nice, mod on all :):up:.

[Waynio]

Damnit I was carrying on calling it finished prematurely, newb modder mistake, sorry, possibly 5 times now, I should change my name to Waynidoh :D.

I think I'm catching the perfectionist virus (bad for me, good for viewers :D), I was fixing up a few things I didn't like much on the internals for the bottom level which I admittedly half arsely done originally, upper level is great, just the lower deck is a mess of wires & things that could've been done a bit better.

Made a new internal side fan mount, cut some solid square bar to the depth of the inside, smoothed the edges, used 2 flat bars to mount the fan & added another square bar with 45 degree cuts, used araldite adhesive to stick it to the bar, much nicer than the last one & doesn't resonate any vibrations & has a good weight to it so it doesn't fall over.

I was going to drill vent holes into the hdd cage but scrapped the idea (was unable to use the drill press without a lot of messing making a custom platform which I done a few times throughout this mod) & instead just sanded & painted it lol :D.

Made & installed mounting brakets for the optical drive at last.

Replaced the misfit yellow sata cables for black akasa round sata 3 cables, much neater.

The power wires are far too long for this case, I'd have to make custom power cables for everything to be really tidy, but for this time I'll just go mad with cable ties :D, at least the flat bars for the middle level will come in useful for cable ties, a flukey cable management feature there :D.

Ordered a 360mm x 120mm x 10mm & 120mm x 120mm sheet of polycarbonate to replace the feeble fiddly standoffs for the front fans, they were causing annoying faint vibrations, so I traced the mounting holes from the front panel & cut circles to make a perfect one piece standoff that will not cause vibrations & it works really nice.

One main outstanding thing I have learnt from doing an effort inducing mod is it would definately be best to have a running pc so I don't end up putting the system in too early & calling it finished, so when I get around to upgrading my complete system I won't be selling my current parts, I'll instead build a temp pc, then I could do a mod & keep working on it without long breaks, but it will be quite some time before I can afford a new system & new materials, possibly a year off, but theres nothing stopping me from designing new cases.

Only thing that could wrap this log up now is when or if I get my light box made to get some good quality pictures of the Air cube & stack.

Spent a good chunk of the day cable tidying, used over 40 cable ties & sleeved an ide cable lol :D.

Ok more than enough blah blah, it's picture time woo hoo :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals11.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals12.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals15.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals16.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals17.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals18.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Bottominternals19.jpg

Project comlpete, 6th times the charm lol :D.

[Waynio]

I just keep on getting little ideas to improve this case, this 1 was worth doing.

With the summer rising ambient temps quite a bit, the low cfm of the akasa apache's were struggling to maintain nice motherboard temps, I like to keep it at 30c so I've been using a house cooling fan right next to the open case, it lowered temps by 10c & even while gaming it kept the motherboard temps just as it were at idle.
So today I grabbed 1 of my spare fans, plugged it in & tested to find the sweet spot to keep temps low during the summer, didn't take long to find, so I made fan mounting holes on the top left support flat bar & screwed it in, it's only supported on half of the fans mount holes, but it's good & not vibrating, this mod now holds 10 case fans.

Heres the mod I done today.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/newmod1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/newmod2.jpg

This capture was made on a cool night with cool ambient temps recently without the extra mod.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/926pm.png

This capture was done just now on a warm day after a gaming session.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/4pm.png

Anyone think I should make it permanent or just for seasonal, if I make it permanent I will make a simple grill for the top panel & a cover & switch for turning it on when needed & get another apache & paint it, the top panel could use a re-coat of paint anyway, the front edge is a little scuffed.

[Couch3ater]

Why bother making it seasonal? That's a whole lot of work. A permanent fixture would lower your temps year round which is never a bad thing. ^_^

[Waynio]

True :) thanks for a vote to make it permanent Couch3ater :D, I mean if it produces temps like this in summer, it'll be crazy cool come winter :banana:.

DeadP1xel suggested a window grill over on bit-tech, so I took measurements on the workable area for the top panel & got messing with sketchup.
Coudn't do an inside window/grill (not enough clearence).

So I could mount a window/grill above & make a small frame around it, hmmmm.

Or as above but without a frame & instead a bevelled edge like this quick sketchup I just done, with threaded holes for attaching from underneath, the square is just there for measurement purposes if I go ahead & do this. Also the blue panel represents what surface I have to work with.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/topwindowgrill1.png

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/topwindowgrill2.png

This sketchup doodle could be an actual item by wednesday :D.

[Luthien]

I like the whole set-up of the case and the x-box together. They match well.

[Waynio]

Thank you Luthien :), wow, once I've finished the top piece I'll have a lot of catching up to do on peoples project logs.

[Couch3ater]

Glad to see you went for the permanent option; sure it'll look great. ^_^

[The boy 4rm oz]

It has been a long time since I have checked in on any projects (damn exams). You have learned a lot during your time modding, as we all do. I too was shocked at how my worked progressed from a crappy window mod to a full blown case mod. I have learned so much from experimenting as well as looking at other peoples work, goes to show that there is always room for improvement, then we all become perfectionists lol.

I like the design for the top window BTW, looks like it will work really well with the rest of the project.

[Waynio]

@ Couch3ater I Couldn't resist :D:up:.

@ Jase I've really enjoyed going from meh to oh yeah, the learning curve modding has I think might be infinite which is why I think I like it so much. Hope you did ok with the exams m8 & looking forward to your upcoming project :):up:.

I have an update on the project :).

Was going to wait until I got the plastic sheet, but thought why not just get stuck in on the metal work, I really miss not being able to use a dremel :(, was the hardest window mod ever lol, took all day to do this, just finished sanding at 8pm.
Masked up & marked up, drilled & countersunk all the mounting holes, then drilled opening holes so I could get the hacksaw blade in & went human jigsaw on it, hours later the pieces fell out, then had a ton of filing & sanding to do, but at least all the edges are nice & smooth now & ready for painting :), I'll try to get that done tomorrow, need primer.
Perfectly on schedule to get this done by wednesday still woo hoo :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Topmetal1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Topmetal2.jpg

Next & final update hopefully either tuesday or wednesday night :).

[Couch3ater]

Human jigsaw FTW. Oh, and...


Next & final update hopefully either tuesday or wednesday night .

You should really stop saying that. You've said it many times and you've always added something else. =D

[Waynio]

Lmao, tell me about it :D, I'll have to design all of it instead of just the frame for my next log that should put an end to final update, not syndrome lol :D.

[Luthien]

Lmao, tell me about it :D, I'll have to design all of it instead of just the frame for my next log that should put an end to final update, not syndrome lol :D.

Hey, "final update, not" syndrome isn't too bad. I suffer from ""I'll get the pics posted asap" syndrome.

[StormRider]

should I call the doctor?

[Couch3ater]

I suffer from, "I'm gunna do a serious mod... Meh, I'll get around to it" syndrome. Hahaha

[Waynio]

^^ :D

Got paint, pre-wired blue & green LED's to experiment, a pre-wired molex power rocker switch, the piece of plastic & another apache fan ordered, hopefully have it all tomorrow, the plastic is gonna require a lot of work, lots of filing & sanding awaits me.

The LED's are for plugging into the front spacer pieces, I frosted it before I installed it, was an idea I got last night after viewing other logs & I mentioned it on another forum & sure enough someone said go for it, was going to pass on it but thought yeah why not :D, I'm hoping it gives it a good effect, the switch is for turning the LED's on/off (yet to decide where it will go) & the apache to keep it all in uniform, that'll be 10 apache fans then lol, should have asked akasa to sponsor me, the fans cost more than the case materials minus the paint :eek:.

[Waynio]

:) Got the 6mm plastic, paint, fan & immediately got started masking, measuring & marking.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting0.jpg

Messed up badly on the drilling of the plastic piece though, did it all spot on 4mm into the 6mm thick sheet, but should have used 2.5mm drill bit for the m3 thread but used 3mm by accident (I blame it on 1st thing of the day eyes half shut modding), not to worry I ordered some m4 bolts & if I'm lucky I'll have them tomorrow fingers crossed, it can & will be fixed :D. I'm not rushing it but I am working extra hard to get it done for tomorrow my birthday :D.

Used the bench grinder to give the edges a curved bevel as good as I could & used a file to clean up edges.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting2.jpg

Got 60, 240, 600, 1200, 2000 grit sanding over 5 or 6 hours & a nasty blister on my thumb, damn it was hot :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting7.jpg

Got the air cubes cover sanded & primed & both sides of the fan.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting9.jpg

Got the metallic matisse blue on & a coat of clear & half of the the fan coloured & clear coated & a late night colouring & clearing of the other side hopefully.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting11.jpg
http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/plastictoppainting12.jpg

Going to do the grill on the plastic sheet tomorrow, unsure to do lines or holes or even both.

[Luthien]

I like the fans.

[Waynio]

Thank you Luthien :).

Ok, see what you all think of this :neutral:.

Had a rough nights sleep as I fell asleep at the pc & had an auto shut down, 1 minute I was watching a show, next I woke up 9am lol so wasn't in best form for today.

The day of modding started fine, marked a grill to cut & went to work on it.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece0.jpg

I'm unsure if it worked out well, when I went to enlarge the middle mount hole it went all the way through which was bad. I gave up on doing the grill, my files were barely doing anything on the 6mm plastic so as a result I had to cut a bigger than normal hole to get past where I was trying to do a grill (the new hole cutter is awesome though :)), also some spray managed to get under a bit of the masking :(, but there was a good layer of clear on it so I should be able to fix that pretty easily.

Good points, it made the cover more rigid & have better temps than before the extra fan mod, theres virtually always a way to fix things up, window on the outside was either not a good idea or I just fluffed up over & over or I'm tired & not thinking straight.

I honestly don't know if this extra mod is good or bad or inbetween, but do know there are some things I could do to fix it up if I'm correct in thinking it's not looking right, but if it's good then I'll just need to fix the extra large vent hole (easy fix).

I really don't know what to make of this top piece which is why I'm including quite a few shots of it to see what you all think, designed it quick & made it quick within 3 days so it's such a drastic change from what it was, could do with as many opinions as possible please.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece6.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece8.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece10.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece11.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece12.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece13.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece14.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/TopPiece15.jpg

Again I could do with as many opinions as possible please.

[Couch3ater]

That looks really good! I like it. A lot

[Waynio]

Thanks Couch

Just so you all know, I'm having a small time out, I managed to remove the plastic piece I think it was a bit of a wreck when I failed doing a grill & then made the hole to cut out what went wrong, it was hellish to get the bolts out too, all of the allen head sockets lost the sockets so had to use mole grips for all of them, It's off now, there was a moment where I thought I messed it up completely.

I did some more testing with the extra fan & found an even better spot to place it, looks better & cools better, pretty much just above the bottom side fan so the left side panel will require an extra vent which will probably be the most difficult part to do with it already having a window there.

Set myself a realistic goal of having the top & side done by the time Mafia II releases which is 27-aug (game I'm most looking forward to this year :D) I'll probably have it done way before that date but gives me a chance to step back & really think this out & do this properly :).

I'll try & save the next update for when it's finished :up:.

[Luthien]

It looks good.

[Waynio]

Was going to make my last update my final but delivery delays so why not a quicky before the finished pics :).

Ok so here's the new top, made a frame from 20mmx3mm & 40mmx3mm flat bars to cover up the mounting holes from the previous plastic top piece, painted them same colour as the fan frames, stuck them down with 2 part araldite epoxy resin, put my left over ac-ryan mesh x to use, barely had enough to do this, painted it the same colour as the fan blades, for the time being the mesh is held in with scotch mounting tape & for the finishing touch 2 3mm thick windows that slip into the 2 vents in the top making for a flush fit, the top windows can easily be removed just by poking through from underneath & lifting out, the side panels needed a means of getting fresh air so I went with the mesh on both sides so the entire case is awesomely air cooled & very well ventilated.

Excuse the nasty surroundings, my room is like a bin at the moment lol :D.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop0.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop6.jpg

Here is the new revised placement of the extra fan, I stuck a 1/2 inch angle bar to a 40mmx3mm flat bar for extra support & stuck the flat bar to a middle level flar bar, it's a very close fit for the fan mount but is just perfect, honestly amazed at the temperatures now.

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop7.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop8.jpg

Re-made the front spacers & added 5mm LED holes, 8 LED's for the tripple mount, 4 LED's for the single mount & going with blue & green, waiting for the extra LED's (tested it with 2 green LED's & it looks good glad I went for it :).

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/Newtop9.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/LEDteaser.jpg

Still waiting for sewing machine oil so I can fix the fans, must have wiped whatever lubrication was on them off when I painted them all.

All in all this is mighty close to finished & I'm far happier with the new top, can't wait to get all the fans lubricated & install the new front lit up spacers & call it finished.

[Waynio]

Still got the other half of the LED's to come tomorrow, once I place them where I want them, I'll work out the wires so it all uses 1 molex for each spacer instead of 6 & so it can be switched on/off, yet to figure out where to put the switch, here's some daytime & night time pre final shots :).

Day

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics0.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics1.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics2.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics3.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics4.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics5.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics6.jpg

Night

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq59/waynio_2008/prefinalpics7.jpg

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Another thing kind of off topic but, my razer lycosa keyboard has been playing up by blacking out for a second now & again so I dug deep & ordered a steel series 7g, looks a great no nonesense quality keyboard, the lycosa had issues with the media control panel not long after buying it, I fixed that by snipping the connections to the boards internals & now randomly blacking out making me miss letters in words now & again not even a year old, so after looking at gaming boards they were all overpriced gimmicky nonesense types, the roccat valo v2 would have been a good choice if it weren't for the extra 100 macro keys lol, the logitech g19 needs ac power for the bling it carries, thought there were no good gaming keyboards anymore & then read up about the 7g & my mind was made up almost instantly so should have it soon woo hoo :D.

[Waynio]

It's kinda northern lightsish but static :D.
http://admin.vivideventgroup.com/uploads/NorthernLights(1).jpg

Got the extra LED's today but need to wait for braiding supplies because all the LED's have piled up the wires so I'm going to modify them all to be nice & neat so with luck I'll have them tomorrow.

[Waynio]

Woo hoo, all main work finished, but yeah you guessed it theres still more to come lol (most unprofessional worklog ever).

Had a problem with compacting the pre-made LED cables combining green & blue LED's to use 1 molex passthrough, the green ones were wired funny compared to the blue ones so had to do them seperate so the front lights use 4 molex passthroughs, originally had it all nicely heatshrinked & sleeved for the first 2 times, then lost the will to sleeve them properly & instead used thin strips of gaffer tape wrapped around them & used my glue gun to stick the cables to the plastic spacer so at least it's tidy wires, just not pretty looking like sleeving is :D, next time I'm playing with LED's I'll be making them myself, still got to make it so the lights can be switched on/off.

I removed the meshx, like I said earlier the panels I cut barely fit so if looked at a cirtain angle I can see small gaps so it's not a perfect fit, also tested if temps were affected with solid covers for the sides & they were not so I have some 0.7mm sheet aluminium spare & since the air compressor is back up & running good I'm thinking of doing some designs for grills to fit inside where the mesh was & then stick a window behind them, need to think up a nice design first though, want it so you can still clearly see the insides which the meshx failed on imo so I'm chomping at the bit to do some dremel work after struggling with human jigsaw method lol :D.

On with the latest pictures without the mesh & side windows & LED's done & plain windows in the top for now until I make the new grills :), night & day pics.

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Can't wait to get busy with the air dremel again :banana:.

[SXRguyinMA]

that looks awesome! +rep