So what are your plans on mimicking the watercube look?
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So what are your plans on mimicking the watercube look?
I have a pseudo-plan to get it done, which will begin with testing a few different ideas on small scraps first before committing to an entire shell. Mainly, I want to use layers of acrylic. The inner layer will be mounted with the LED's and it's outer surface likely frosted. Then the outer layer will be used to make the design, and I have several ideas, just none that are worth mentioning until I have tried them.
Will you bend it into almost shells? To achieve the bubble look? But, I agree I think layers of acrylic will look nice.
Dude, this is turning out nice. Keep it up!
Thanks for the kind comments guys, I appreciate it!
Now that the foam is down it's time to re-check some measurements and mount some of the brackets...
I picked up some nylon washers to keep from scuffing up the aluminum and also got a few more hex screws with a lower profile to fasten down the shelf...
Since the foam has a considerable width, I needed to trim out the spaces below the motherboard rails or it would have skewed the rear plate alignment...
This is what I decided to go with for the shelf mounts...
I mounted the LCD/remote controller to begin the wiring process, it will power and control the speed of the two fans mounted on the side walls. I wanted to set this up so that most of the wires could be run beneath the stage, we'll see how well that works out in the end I guess...
lookin awesome! :bowdown:
Oh man this is looking way cool. What are your plans for the outside? The blue and what not.
Thanks! I will be trying a few things out before I commit to any certain plan for the outer shell.
No major updates, just been messing around with wiring the hardware and thought I'd show you how it's coming...
Pretty slick cable management!
This is looking great. Very clean, very neat, excellent work thus far. +rep
I knew this would be a great idea! +Rep
The best cable management is "what cables?" hehe. The foam is a VERY nice touch! I've been grinding some ideas on your outer shell too, so if you need some brainstorming sessions, I'm in to help!
Thanks so much fellas! And Luke, once I get to the outer shell I may just hit you up but for now I am just concentrating on finishing the base before I head out to California where I will be for a month or so.
Not much in the way of updates today, just been trimming away sections of foam for supporting brackets around the inside edges. I have made 3 more angle supports which I have painted black and are now drying but I didn't take any photos of those. I did start on the power leads for the hard drives also, still much to do but I have a couple of pics of the progress so far but I can't do much more until I get my set of cable sleeves in the mail...
damn jon, looks like spending some time around paul has done you some good! this is modding at its finest
nice and clean :up:
i missed this? how did i miss this!!!
this looks awsome jon!:D rocking design! go for it:D
looking freeking sweet dude, i love the lack of cables!
dude, whoa.. like, just.. whoa
Love the cable management!
Thanks so much everyone!
I haven't been paying as much attention as I should have been lately, I have no idea how I missed this mod jdbnsn.
Very well though out and executed. Everything from the cable management to the shell construction and even the foam has been done with remarkable accuracy.
Keep up the awesome work jdbnsn, I can't wait for your next update.
Not much to report today, just been getting the cables set up. Here are some pics of the progress...
I decided to paint some of the brackets I made to brace the walls to see how they looked. Painting aluminum is a new one for me and I suck at painting anyway so it was a trial. The first time didn't work out so I cleaned them up and tried again, I'm satisfied with this result...
That's looking awesome Jon!
Brackets look good, rubber grommets and all.
wow this looks freaking sweet and gives me a few ideas. Me likes!!! :D
very good man!
Thanks again for the nice comments everyone!
I have been pretty busy lately, but I have also managed to get bits and pieces of work done. I installed the power and reset buttons on the back panel, just need to wire them up now...
I had to modify the molex cable running to the older hard drive so that it wouldn't smash into the side of the optical drive, I showed you this picture of the chopped plug before...
I then took 4 molex pins and cut them in half with a dremel disc...
Next was the soldering, now this is my first time soldering since trying it as a teenager, and I was terrible back then too, so be lenient please...
I still have a bit more work to do on the connector before I consider it complete, but that's it in a nutshell.
That black sheathing looks kick ass with that case. you going to sheath all of the cables?
They make some cool industrial sheathing that has copper wire spun into it. helps with EMI protection. I've seen it at my buddies job. there Glass optimizer (picture a cutting machine the size of a apartment) has the stuff all over the place.
That machine is nuts. Straight slice your arm off if your not paying attention
http://www.dalewebster.com/pics/Picture%20079.jpg
[edit] made it a link so it doesnt throw off your blog.
see the arm chopping ability though?!
nothing wrong with that soldering job... this case is sick as man
Thanks guys!
Twigs, that is a cool machine and definitely looks like it could take some limbs away. I do plan on sleeving all of the cables possible, but I am on a very tight budget so any high end sleeving material is out of the question. But thanks for the idea!
I finished up the connector earlier today with a hot-glue gun to insulate the individual leads from getting damaged/exposed. Then, I coated it with some of that spray-rubber used for wrench handle grips...
Nice work on the connector, really compact.
very cool molex mod... looks very good as good as stock!
Jon I'm so happy that you're finally getting a chance to build a mod and show your surgical precision--!~! I have an aluminum angle fetish so I'm diggin' this project. Great choice on the polycarbonate material. Keep it up!
Thanks Paul! It's been very therapeutic and fun to finally get behind the modding wheel and join the fun.
I've been getting odds and ends finished up lately, mainly cable work so bear with me for this relatively boring update...
If you were curious, this is the stuff I'm using to coat the custom fashioned molex connectors...
Here is a glimpse at the unsightly underbelly of the platform lid...
I spliced some wires using the same short-cut molex connector method that I used for the HDD power to supply the optical drive...
I have an idea for these that I'll get into later...
I am trying to keep all of the cables uniformly black in color and I only had one black PATA cable so I coated a gray cable with that spray on rubber. Still not sure I'm going with this, I want to try something else first...
This was it's color before...
and this was the result after the rubber coat...
Otherwise, I just soldered, sleeved, and cleaned up lots of cables like these power and reset buttons...
nice effect on the cable, similar to vinyl dye in appearance, does it make the cable harder to bend with the coating of rubber on it?
That cable looks much better. Why not get a round cable, AC Ryan make black ones that cost $6.50AUD.
No, the rubber coat did not change the rigidity of the cable at all. But I am not entirely pleased with the outcome either, it can be a bit rough and peels from edges slightly. I may have to come up with another solution.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobra
Several reasons. One, I am not interested in buying pre-modded materials and substituting them for my own effort. Another is my budget, must spend as little as possible and I have a whole trunk filled with spare cables and parts. The rounded cables are nice, but I think I would rather try to make something that is much "made-by-me" as possible. But there is always a middle ground that must be settled upon.Quote:
Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz
oh the things that make me stain my pants....
