Control Panel

[DAE_JA_VOO]

So, a few days ago i converted one of the rooms in our house to a modding room for myself. In this conversion, i added a PC, an amp, and some speakers so that i can watch a movie or listen to music while i mod. The PC was placed under one of the tables, right in the corner. This was a problem for me because that meant that i needed to get on the ground and under the table to turn on the PC or eject the DVD RW. That can only mean one thing. Modding time.

I wanted to make a little "Control Panel" to put onto one of the tables. This panel would have a Power Switch, a Reset switch, and an eject switch for the DVD-RW. My plan was to make this, but just 3 switches would look to plain, so i decided to chuck a 120mm fan in there too, just to look cool. So here's the project:

First thing i did was some sketching. I did this in class on wednesday:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/deskpanel1.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/deskpanel2.jpg



Then i was time to start bringing the sketches to life. A piece of plexi nicely marked up and ready for some work:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4113.jpg



After i had cut and sanded it to the right size, i marked the hole for the 120mm fan:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4115.jpg



Unfortunately i haven't gotten myself a 114mm holesaw yet, so i had to make the hole using my scroll saw and lots of sanding. Even after all the that hole still wasn't perfect. No problem though, nobody will ever see the hole:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4116.jpg



Then i made the holes for the three switches:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4117.jpg



Here's the fan i'll be using:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4119.jpg



Wanna know why i chose this one? Let me show you:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4120.jpg



That's right, it's a Thermaltake fan. I wouldn't trust that fan to cool anything, so now i'll use it in a mod where it doesn't actually have to fulfill it's purpose (not that it could even if i wanted it to).

Then i added one of the sexiest fan grilles i've ever seen in my life:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4118.jpg



That fan grille was sent to me by one of my sponsors, MNPCTech (www.mnpctech.com). It's THIS (http://www.mnpctech.com/MnpctechBilletFanGrill.html) grille. That is such a nice grille holey moley. I have no use for it anytime soon though, because i've already decided what i'll be using for grille's in my mod anyway, so i'm using the grille in this little mod. No point in the grille going to waste ;)

So, here's a test fit of everything in the plexi:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4124.jpg



Then it was time to sand the plexi and polish the edges. I owned my finger though while i was cutting the excess masking tape off the plexi:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4127.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4129.jpg



Anyway, SANDING TIME!!

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4132.jpg



Sanding and polishing done. I also rounded the corners:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4135.jpg



Now all i needed to do was bend the plexi. Once that was done, i mounted everything. I also added all the wiring involved, after i had sleeved it. So here are some final pics:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4136.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4137.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4138.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4141.jpg



Looks great in my opinion. The third switch is just there for redundancy. The PC i'm using in this room doesn't have a reset button, but only two switches in the plexi looked horrible, so i'll find a use for the third switch in the future sometime.

So, when the PC is turned on, that fan will spin. I'll be feeding the fan only 5V though, i dont want to give it 12V like i should and have it fail on me in a week. I also dont want any unnecessary noise.

All i need to do now is the PC side of things, wiring the additional switches and so on. That's no biggie though.

Here are some pics of the unit running:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4145.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c267/DAE_JA_VOO/cp/IMG_4146.jpg



And here, my friends, is a VIDEO of it. Just a clip of me switching it on, you can see the fan spin up, and you'll hear the PC start up.

VIDEO LINKAGE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoBJRWglHGQ)

SoBJRWglHGQ

GREAT SUCCESS!! :D :D


Link To Original Thread (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9739)