Project: Untimidation

[AndyLivingston]

Today I purchased an IBM eServer xSeries 205 off craigslist used for $40. My plan was to surprise my girlfriend with it when she gets back from her 2-week trip with her family. Well, she got the secret out of me, so she's wise to the project.

The idea is to take this big, intimidating server and make it as cute and girly as possible. First step is probably installing a custom window, then paint, and the rest I'm not sure about.

http://www.bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/PICT0062.JPG
http://www.bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/PICT0064.JPG
http://www.bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/PICT0067.JPG
http://www.bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/PICT0069.JPG
http://www.bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/PICT0071.JPG

It has a 2.4Ghz Pentium 4, a few gigabit lan ports, AGP graphics, 2 hot-swappable 36gb SCSI hard drives, and a DVD CDRW combo drive, and DVD+-RW too. Effing sweet. :devious:

[pcclan]

how did she get it out of you

[Luke122]

Haha.. he caved!

[msmrx57]

Haha.. he caved!

Either that or she tickled.

[AndyLivingston]

So I disassembled the entire server tonight. Soon I'll be stripping and painting it.

The front door was easy to take off - Just pull hard, and it came out of the hinge.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0543.jpg

The mesh in the front door was held in by little bent tabs.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0544.jpg

I didn't really thing that a sticker exclaiming the processor would really fit in with the case's aesthetic.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0545.jpg

so I removed it. Yay.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0546.jpg

I unbent the tabs enough to pull the mesh off the door. I'm thinking about painting them 2 different colors, and / or putting something behind the mesh, which made this necessary.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0547.jpg

The 2 SCSI hot-swappable hard drives.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0548.jpg

It looked like a standard Micro-ATX board with an extension on the bottom, adding 2 more PCI slots and a SCSI interface.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0549.jpg

The crazy dual-fiberoptic-gigabit network card that came with it.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0550.jpg

The biggest power supply cube that I've seen in person.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0551.jpg

Aaand all the crap.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0552.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0553.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/SSPX0554.jpg

[Mark_Hardware]

that's a fine pile o' parts you got there man :up:

[billygoat333]

servers are sexy. *drool*

[AndyLivingston]

This weekend I really got to work. I started sanding the outside of the case with my orbital sander. That paint dust is persistent! I washed my hands, and thought I was all clean, then discovered this.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1324.jpg

Anyway, to the stuff. First step, I gave the case skeleton a good shower.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1327.jpg

Then, after blowdrying the case, I added my own temporary handle.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1328.jpg

The after of priming. It's... still gray! Yay!
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1330.jpg

I got to the pink today, which is going all over the inside of the case, and the front grill. Speaking of grills, somehow the overspray in the wind managed to give my charcoal grill a distinctly pink sheen. :think:
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1337.jpg

I thought the SCSI drive holder turned out pretty well.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1340.jpg

The front grill turned out great, too. On a side note, I'm an idiot, and I wet-sanded my *$^%ing water-based paint on a humid day. Bye-bye paint. You can see a patch missing on the bottom. I'll have to fix that.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1341.jpg

Got all the paint off the top of the case, and part of the side.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1342.jpg

I painted my shoes. Oops.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1343.jpg

More to come soon.

[blueonblack]

I'm liking this project, I had a hunch I would when I saw the name. :)

+rep

[DonT-FeaR]

haha thats wicked!

but i painted my shoes worse. ones now black and ones now white.. was an accident

[msmrx57]

Nice progress. Pink is definitely not an intimidating color, well unless you're a really insecure he-man type.:whistler: Keep the progress coming, gives us broke people something to think about besides not being able to anything.

[Mark_Hardware]

nothing is safe from your pink paint!!! :eek:
hmmm pink bbq grill.... seems like an oxymoron. Let's see how hard you get laughed at during your next cookout

[AndyLivingston]

Soooo I hit a bit of a snag today... well, yesterday technically, it's 3:36am and I just got home from work and took a shower.
1. I cut about 3" of my window out before my dremel battery died.
2. I don't have steel-cutting bits for my jigsaw.
3. My blue paint didn't spray in a mist, it sprayed in a bubbling, foamy, globby mess.

I primed the front panel skeleton beautifully, it looked great. Then I painted it, and it looked like crap. I actually wrote a complaint to Krylon. They should respond today or tomorrow. I'm hoping for some free stuff, because I've always had good luck with their paint, but this one just screwed me over.

[msmrx57]

Sorry to hear about the problems. Hopefully they hook you up for the bad paint, I've never had any problems with their stuff.

[AndyLivingston]

Sorry to hear about the problems. Hopefully they hook you up for the bad paint, I've never had any problems with their stuff.

I've never had any problems either, and I've used a lot of it. I got a response today, they'll refund the price or send me a replacement can. I think I'll go with the refund, because at this point I can still afford another can of paint, but I can't afford to wait 2 weeks for the paint to arrive.

[AndyLivingston]

For the window, the frosted portion I wanted to look somewhat like this:
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/Fairy%20Moon%20David%20Delamare.jpg

So I started by marking the cut in the panel to match up with the moon using an Ikea ceramic plate.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1344.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1345.jpg

This is a picture of the primer the first time I did it.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1347.jpg

The final coat of paint ended up awful, as previously stated, so I scrubbed and sanded it mostly back down to a bare surface. This is a picture of that process. That sure was fun. :dead:
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1348.jpg

The finished door skeleton, and primed front panel. I'm keeping the inside black to match the bezels of the DVD and HD drives.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1349.jpg

And they're both green. The door has clear in this picture, but the front panel does not.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1350.jpg

I fixed the pink inside the case.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1351.jpg

This is what the front panel will look like, pretty much. The colors are a little off from the flash. The green is much deeper in reality.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1352.jpg

I should be at this tomorrow as well, so more updates will come.

[DonT-FeaR]

this is gunna look pretty cool

[Mark_Hardware]

Looking good man!

[AndyLivingston]

I wanted to put something on the front panel where it's perforated for air flow, so I came up with the idea of printing a celtic knot on masking tape on wax paper to save myself some trouble, and cutting out the design on the masking tape.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1353.jpg

Here it is cut out.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1354.jpg

And on the front of the case. Please ignore the leg.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1356.jpg

I put the motherboard back in to see what it would look like, and to remind myself how this case goes together again.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1357.jpg

Here's the finished knot.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1358.jpg

My CD drives are outside drying right now, they're in a slightly lighter, more leafy shade of green for contrast. I'll post pictures when I get them.

[DonT-FeaR]

wicked!

[Mark_Hardware]

Nice leg-I mean painting. Nice work on the paint and stuff is what I mean.

[SXRguyinMA]

this things comin out nice :up:

[Waynio]

Beautiful, nice project m8 :up:.

[AndyLivingston]

More pictures!

My painted drives:
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1361.jpg

I bought this stencil thing 'cause I thought it might come in handy.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1362.jpg

I took the faceplate off the drive to push it through from the inside, trying to prevent any visible scratching.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1363.jpg

Also today, I took a trip to Michael's craft store, and bought a $2 bottle of glow-in-the-dark paint. For cheap UV effects, you can't beat that! I painted the capacitors on the motherboard to look like a starry sky behind my window which I haven't installed yet.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1365.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1366.jpg

It even shows up with the lights on.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1369.jpg

[Mark_Hardware]

Thats a pretty cool idea! looks good!

[AndyLivingston]

I sanded off the gloss coat on the bottom of the front of the case, then taped on one of my stencil bits, and painted it ivory, then clearcoated over the top again.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1381.jpg

Here it is back on the case.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1385.jpg

[DonT-FeaR]

haha wicked glow in the dark idea :P
looking great man

[Eclecticos]

Fantastic job prepping the surfaces. Like the Celtic design. +Rep

[msmrx57]

Like the Celtic knot. Very original idea with the uv paint. +rep

[AndyLivingston]

I cut out the window today - the circular part is where the moon will go. I think I did pretty well, considering it's the first time I've done it. I used a jigsaw with a 24-TPI blade.

Here's pictures.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1392.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1391.jpg

I still need to file it, and cut out the acrylic I bought for the window.

[Mark_Hardware]

Nice work!!

[AndyLivingston]

So I got the window cut out, and using a board clamped to the metal as a straightedge, I filed the edges straight. I didn't want to use edge channeling, so I had to work extra hard to make it presentable. I also cut the window out and installed it for fun. I still have to sand and paint the side, but I wanted to get a feel for it. I love cap nuts.

Oh, and I'll let you in on my secret acrylic/plexiglas snapping technique. Score it a few times on one side, flip it over, and slide it under an interior door (you'll need a small gap for this). Then lift up with anything big and flat. A baking pan would work, but I used my girlfriend's lapdesk to lift it up. Then it'll snap pretty easy, without too much fuss. I've used this technique a few times now, with no odd breakages.

Anyway, on to the pics:

http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1396.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1397.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1398.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1399.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1400.jpg

I will probably paint the cap nuts either pink or ivory to go with the rest of the case, and accent the green that will be on the outside. What do y'all think?

[Mark_Hardware]

again, nice work. Looks like your edges came out nice. Sanding and filing is such tedious work, favoured by few, but the result of dedicated attention to detail always pays off. Keep it up!

[AndyLivingston]

I decided on a design for the window tonight, sketched it out, cut out the mask, and sanded it for a light frost on there. Hopefully it'll be really visible with white LEDs around the edge.

http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1403.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1404.jpg

And here I set it back in the case side so you can get an idea of what I'm going for.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1406.jpg

[billygoat333]

oooh looks good! :)

[x88x]

Looking good! Filing down those edges is definitely a huge pain, but having a smooth edge with no sharp corners really makes it worthwhile :D

[Axis Machine]

The moon looks like it turned out very well good work. :up:

[AndyLivingston]

So I decided that the primer was too perfect to wet sand on the window side of the case, so I went out to paint it. I got about a tenth of the way done with it, and the can starts dribbling on the metal. It was ruined! Now I have to start over.

[DonT-FeaR]

ok that looks wicked!

[AndyLivingston]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm going to have to take my side panel back down to bare metal, as the spray can is still screwing up, and I can't get it looking right. I tossed the bad can, and I'll be getting another one.

[msmrx57]

I tossed the bad can, and I'll be getting another one.

Try changing the nozzle with one from a can that you know works, sometimes the tip can get screwed up. I keep a little container with spray can tips for just this reason.

[Waynio]

Great transformation so far mate :up: :banana:.

[AndyLivingston]

Try changing the nozzle with one from a can that you know works, sometimes the tip can get screwed up. I keep a little container with spray can tips for just this reason.

The can was almost empty, so I just picked up another. The second one worked just fine, thankfully. So I have updates!

I printed up a clear-based sticker to put on the case window. I cut her out with my trusty X-Acto #11.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1416.jpg

Then I stuck her on the window. She's still a bit bubbly, so I'll have to smooth her with a roller or spatula or something.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1418.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1421.jpg

And one in the case side for visualization.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1423.jpg

I had to trim down each of the window screws, as they were all about 1/16" long. That was a pain. Used dremel cutting wheels. Sparks!
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1431.jpg

Got my LEDs all wired up.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1413.jpg

I redid the side panel, painted it again, and put on some stencil details. They didn't turn out quite as well as I'd hoped, but I don't have time to redo the side again.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1433.jpg

And then I installed my ivory-painted bolts and cap nuts.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1437.jpg

That's all for now.

[x88x]

It looks nice. A very different look than we're used to here :P but nice. I think the stencils add a nice accent; they help ease your eye into the image on the plexi. I hope she likes it.

[DonT-FeaR]

yeah man that looks wicked!

[msmrx57]

It looks nice. A very different look than we're used to here :P but nice. I think the stencils add a nice accent; they help ease your eye into the image on the plexi. I hope she likes it.

Agreed. Definitely different, but that is not a bad thing.:alien: Look forward to the finished pics.:up:

[TheGreatSatan]

Lookin' Good +Rep

[AndyLivingston]

Hello all.
I've got some more updates. I wrapped every cable in the case except those on the light inverters. That was a pain. I discovered that the actual cable wrap is quite flammable, so a lighter is not the ideal heat source for shrink wrap. I had to improvise after several holes in the wrap, and I took a cue from a popular '60s toy, the Easy Bake Oven. I took a 3-way bulb, put it in a table lamp, and held my heat shrink over the bulb with both filaments on. 150 watts of shrinky warmth.

So anyway, here's pictures.

http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1438.jpg

The cable wrap is so pink, I have no idea how it could even be considered red. But the pink makes it perfect for this application.

This is about as well as I can manage the cables. There is no space behind the motherboard tray to hide stuff.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1439.jpg

My rear bracket switches installed.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1440.jpg

And what I used to lessen the ugliness on the power supply. It's a sticker!
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/HPIM1441.jpg

It's been raining off and on for the past 3 days, so I haven't been able to get out and sand the right side and top of the case, so that part may have to wait until after my girlfriend gets home. However, everything else should be in order by the time I pick her up from the airport tomorrow night.

I'll take final pics without flash, properly lit, and with a tripod sometime tomorrow too.

[Mark_Hardware]

Looks great! You know, that's the problem when you order red stuff. You never know what shade you're gonna get, anywhere from pink to orange. in your case it worked out well. +rep, btw :up:

[DonT-FeaR]

deff not my style but i like it

[Frenkie]

Great log, love the color. Keep it up !

[mittelmeier]

Awesome build man. Can't wait to see the finished pics. +rep

[SXRguyinMA]

lookin awesome +rep

:EDIT: enjoy your third green bar sir :up:

[AndyLivingston]

lookin awesome +rep

:EDIT: enjoy your third green bar sir :up:

Thank you, I will. 3 bars from... 40 posts now. I feel proud. :)

[AndyLivingston]

Semi-final pics here. I still have to sand and paint the right side and top of the case, so they're not attached in these pictures.

Here it is without the side.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1456.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1458.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1459.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1460.jpg

And here it is with the side. I removed the fairy on the window because I thought she was too distracting and didn't fit in with the rest of the case. One of my UV lights came unmounted partly, but I'll deal with that later.
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1469.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1470.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1471.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1472.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1473.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1476.jpg
http://bigprojects.net/andy/untimidation/final/HPIM1477.jpg

There it is. My girlfriend came back last night, saw it, and loves it. Thanks for watching this project. I'll post more pics when I get around to finishing the panels. :)

[Mark_Hardware]

Looks good man. You gonna sleeve the wires for the CCFL's?

[AndyLivingston]

I might sleeve them eventually. For now, they're pretty much not visible hiding on the bottom and the front of the case.

[DonT-FeaR]

nice!

[x88x]

Very nice. Usually people try to hide the CCFLs, but the two crossing in the middle really works.

[billygoat333]

I agree, the cross of uv ccfls is pretty unique! I like it!

[AndyLivingston]

I didn't really have anywhere to hide them, so I just put them where I thought they'd have the most effect. Thanks for all your support, guys.