Truly sorry to hear about your mum.
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Truly sorry to hear about your mum.
Ah sorry for sharing that grim news but thanks TMM I deleted it out of the post as I probably will most of this bit later on if I'm not too drunk after the wake & wow I'll get drunk real easy with me not being a drinker any more, nearly posted about it a while ago when she was told a couple days left but left it out & carried on modding & visiting, guess it's with me being really dedicated to completing this project asap why I mentioned it, once I complete this project I'll get my fitness right back up as I've replaced excercise with modding since November last year & really see modding as a great use of excess energy unlike feeling like a gerbal on a wheel, I had side bellys before starting this mod & now they are virtually gone with all the elbow polish I've been putting in lol :D I want a rowing machine that can generate enough electricity to power my gaming pc, now that would make awesome sense to get some exercise, must invent it some how :D.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMainMan
I've never seen a dead body before yet alone watch someone take their last breaths, I would say she went out peaceful & she did appear to do so but about 1 minute before she went her eyes opened up looking alert & focused but straight ahead for about 30 seconds, kinda disturbed me a little then they closed & not long after nothing not exactly a good memory to remember of her but doubt I'll ever forget it, I like to think she seen a crazy looking tour guide that appears scary at first but is actually an incredibly nice being that guides you to the next stage :) either that or just like a nice infinitely long peaceful sleep free of thought.
But please anyone else try & forget about me mentioning it, was a mistake sharing the news, I feel better just keeping the project going, I guess I've been wanting to let some kind of emotion out for the past 5 weeks, but I think I'm lucky I got to 33 really with both parents so got to know them well.
So back to the project log, keep the face or not lol :D & what do you think of the vents if I go CNC, a first for me :D but thought why the heck not since I'd be getting it thermo formed & they do CNC also.
I think that the vents would break up the vast expanse of plastic well. Having just the text would seem out of place without some design around it in my opinion. As long as the price is right, I say go for it.
Yeah I think your right mate, just need to see what kind of price they say for the 156mm x roughly 750mm piece.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMainMan
Just seen the funeral though & got back from the wake & I am soooooooo utterly mashed I was getting given tripple shots of whisky & was knocking them back & had countless pints of guiness all day & I very rarely drink, tomorrow is gonna be a naaassstyyy hangover I think, I feel like garbage already should have stuck with good old coffee for the wonderful level headedness, it's amazing I'm capable of typing this really right now.
Sorry to hear about your mom. She sounds like she was a great person. Like I say; mourn the death, but celebrate the life. :) Sounds like you've got that well covered. ;)
The new panel looks good too. It's a shame you have to resort to getting someone else to fab it though, just because everything else in this case you've done 100% from stock materials to finish.
Thanks 88 :):up: lol can't believe how wasted I got yesterday :D luckily no hangover though just felt a tiny bit rough, sorted now though :).Quote:
Originally Posted by x88x
Yeah thats right about it'd be a shame to go to a pro to get it done but as I thought the cost has scared me away from the idea :D.
Just got the price quote from the plastics shop.
Price for moulding tool £67.20 vat included
Price for each piece £43.20 vat included
Delivery £14.40 vat included
So for 1 piece say will be £124.80 & I think this is without vents being put in & to have a spare window it would be £168.
Soooo, 4 more clamps £24 -- a new sheet of acrylic for 3 more attempts £15 = £39 diy leaving more than enough change for a diy powder coating setup.
Or
2440mm x 1220mm x 25mm mdf sheet £25 which I'm unsure of how I'd get it here unless I can get b&q to cut it into smaller pieces for easy transport, cutout the shape of curve 7 times, jam them together, put the sheet of acrylic on a flat surface, use a secondary heat gun (dual wielding :D) to get the whole sheet easily formable, then some how move the really softened acrylic to the shaped jig & use the trimmed away jigs as a pressing tool & this should do a perfect thermo form diy for a little more than the clamping method.
Either way DIY window is definitely back in the house :D.
Yeah mdf is the way I'll go, it's totally possible to get the oven style with heat guns I tested it out on a piece & was able to bend it any way I wanted with ease, ideally though I'll need to put something on the edges of the mdf to keep it from marking the acrylic so possibly tin foil completely smoothed out, I'd also need to put some kind of guide lines in place so it goes precisely & straight.
Revised clamping jig with excess length on both ends :) & for a precautionary backup plan if needed I'm getting some polycarbonate too which is tougher & more formable, when I go at it next time I'm getting it done at last :D.
So just ordered more tinted acrylic & a sheet of polycarbonate, no idea when I'll receive it with all the bank holiday madness at the moment.
The plan is to heat the sheet up on a flat surface so it's droopy, then place it on the bending jig & clamp it down & let it cool, I'll put guide lines so I put it on straight, I'll have to put something on the edges of the mdf so it doesn't mark the acrylic, tips on what to put on the edge of the mdf anyone?.
Still though I'm not 100% sure an mdf jig is necessary, if I bought 4 more clamps & used full length sheets of aluminium I think I could get a perfect result, it came very close when I did my last try & it also had no warping, I do think I'd benefit from using 2 heat guns also.
Might I suggest using the aluminum inside the mdf. Just my 2 bits.Quote:
Originally Posted by Waynio
Yeah I'll try that :), I'll be in for a fair wait for the new acrylic so I'll straigten out some of the failed ones & have a good practice to see what gives the best results, might be able to get the mdf today.Quote:
Originally Posted by msmrx57
Been a while since a real update but the project hasn't died yet lol :D.
There are many ways to fill the middle void but for the time being I want to focus on doing what I originally intended.
Here we go again :D sort of.
First I cut the 1mm sheet alu into an inner piece & outer piece, the scrap left over from the 2 cuts I clamped to the curve & put the motherboard tray in place so I could see exactly where the bottom end should be & to mark where the vents should be, I left about 10mm over for the bottom end of the acrylic.
Then I got side tracked with cleaning off all the red marker on the right side panels inside edges, started off using wet&dry strips but was taking forever so painted the edges with wd40 & it came off nice & easy :).
I got the top mount block cut outs done with the internal alu sheet & had to unbolt 1 side of the curve bar so I could get this 1 piece alu sheet in place, if only this was the design lol would be an absolute breeze to just cut a grill pattern into this, oh well I chose the difficult route & I'm sticking with it :D.
Anyway I got the clamping pieces ready for tomorrow so might have a solid update of good progress then & if not tomorrow then day after :D.
Oh yeah this will do me, at freaking last hehe :D.
Window cut to size & vents & top mounting holes added
Top little curve beginning, it was soooo difficult setting up this curving procedure with it just being me, but if I'd have been able to get a hand off someone it could have been done a lot easier, instead I had an ultra fiddly time & often had to use my head or chin to tighten the clamps lol.
Setting up for the big curve.
Crazy clampage :D.
It didn't take a solid form of what I was aiming for but once mounted to the bottom mounts & a few added tabs in key spots it should be good.
And I wrapped it up for the day since it hit midnight lol.
Still though I'll need to make some 3mm alu tabs inside & out to hold it flush to the bars & with the top mounting holes being so close to the edge I'd be wise to use washers too & I have done better top curves but this one isn't too bad but if it bothers me enough I might do what some have suggested & combine 2 winning pieces & do something to hide the fact it's 2 separate parts :D.
I've had a good relax after that & been thinking about how to make the tabs look like a good feature of the mod & other bits of the mod & I've blown the rest of the money from the motherboard switchover refund, could be a few weeks before I get to assemble it all, could be sooner, depends on how things go, I'm going to start getting quotes for anodising tomorrow but have no idea on how to enquire about it to be honest with there being many different pieces, sizes, thicknesses & a couple of different spec of alu, I still need to remove the steel helicoils & brass inserts but I'm not worried about that, it'll get done soon enough & I'll have an alternative ready for once it's been anodised, also gonna have to get the case feet anodised but don't know if they already are or not.
I've ordered some copper so I'll be changing from doing anodised blue internals to anodised copper internals to keep with the colours, was semi split between polished alu or polished copper & copper won as copper & black just looks awesome together :D, got it with the refund from the replacement b3 revision motherboard, I was gonna use the money for a few upcoming games but to be honest I doubt I'd play them until this mod is done so put it into the mod & I'll buy the games once I get this up & running, was gonna get the witcher 2, fable 3 & possibly brink but I think I'll get to see how they do in the reviews now.
The real copper I'm adding is.
DIY mesh for the vents on the window to fill the shape of the big vents I made.
10mm copper tabs that go 15mm over the acrylic & 15mm over the alu bars above & under & nicely rounded & about every 90mm along the full length of the case, even to the bottom so it looks right. Where the vents on the window are they will possibly get full length tabs, all the tabs will be polished & given a protective coat.
:) And the bottom front alu panel 1mm thick exterior panel brushed anodised black with some cut out details with a 2mm thick copper panel with diy mesh & the optical stealthed with 3mm copper piece, sure that isn't exactly stealthed but it should look good :D.
And since I ended up using body filler on the internal fan bars I'm redoing them in copper with properly aligned mounting holes :D so that's my refund gone :D.
--------
Parts getting anodised black
Side panels, curve bars, back panel, external bottom front panel, Bottom panel, a few pieces on the hdd platform.
Parts getting anodised copper colour
Mobo tray, 2nd level, hdd cages.
Parts getting painted either copper or black
Fixing bars, pci/io piece, optical drive.
Parts that will actually be copper
All front meshes, all the holding tabs & all the fan bars.
Sanded the pci/io piece & primed it, I bought some copper paint to cover it - Toyota Copper metallic & Vauxhall Bright Copper metallic so hopefully between the 2 I can make it look somewhere near the look of copper, was either this or black & since the back panel is going to be black I'd have a go at copper paint, how I left it last night I really wasn't sure about it but I think it turned out pretty good :).
The copper came yesterday :D & wow it weighs a lot compared to aluminium (never worked with it before:)), on the sheet copper though the place sent correct sizes for 2 of the pieces but what should have been a 200x200x2 piece was the same as the other 150x100 sheets so just ordered another sheet & sorted it with the ebayer to refund the difference with free postage.
Printed out the layout for the cut-outs & drill marks & cut the patterns out & stuck them on with cello tape :D lol it worked though :up: I also pre drilled the curve bars, I'll still need to file slots out of the motherboard tray to take the underside tabs.
Here is all the tabs & the optical tray cover to a basic cut done on the power fretsaw :D I got it out & messed around with it & wow, wish I did sooner lol :facepalm: it will change the way I mod quite a bit in future mods :up:.
Test fit of the 2 full length tabs.
All of them with perfectly flat edges & rounded corners.
And a finishing shot for this session of the copper pieces with the pci/io piece :), for the tabs I still need to do the underside ones in aluminium & polish the copper & aluminium then the tabs are done, also got to make the copper vents where the vents in the acrylic is, might be tricky as they'll have to be a very good fit & perfect faint curve but it's copper & it's easy to shape when hot as I accidentally found out :D.
I didn't get around to phoning the anodising place but will do on Monday :crossed: they'll do it for me :).
Aluminium underside tabs.
Printed same template & stuck with cello tape, spot drilled, drilled, tapped, cut, put helicoils in & got all the edges straight & gave them all a bevelled edge & mounted to the case, need 2 people to put the window in so left that out for the time being :D.
They still need sanding & polishing & 1 of the full length copper bars or aluminium bars need re doing as 1 of them doesn't line up 100%.
This looks more and more awesome every time I check back. Keep up the good work!
Thanks mate :):up: I'm considering not anodising now & instead keeping everything brushed & polished, if the pci/io piece doesn't fit in well then I'll strip it down & paint a more fitting colour :).Quote:
Originally Posted by BS Mods
Got the window installed so I could find the precise line I need to cut & also marked up on the right curve bar for the notches on the mobo tray that need filing down a little, I found 1 of the front fan mount bars was extremely close to the tabs so when I make the fan mount bars out of copper I'll need to file a tiny bit off so it fits without touching the tabs.
A random bunch of pictures with todays effort completed, 1 of the full length tabs is missing it's internal aluminium tab as I'm waiting for helicoils but wooooo I'm happy with todays progress :D.
Things to do in order.
Remake the fan mount bars from copper.
Make the copper mesh pieces for the front vents.
Make a 1mm thick aluminium bottom front cover.
Make a 2mm thick copper bottom front cover.
File some notches in the bottom hdd cage platform bars for fan cables to pass underneath.
Extend the fan cables & sleeve them.
Install some cable clip tidiers.
Polish the curve bars & tabs.
Brush all panels 1 last time lol.
Take the sandy bridge gear out of air cube, clean it up & install into Stealthlow & jump around like an idiot shouting wooooooooooooo :D.
Take some good pictures :).
Wait a staffer actually doing modding work? It can't be true! Who did you pay to do all this for you huh? :D
This build is really starting to look awesome. I can't wait to see it finished :D
Ehm, his boss???Quote:
Originally Posted by SXRguyinMA
Me staff? lol :D & who did I pay to do this for me? myself, the price of the service was my 3 previous scratch builds & countless hiccups along the way :D, I'll be doing a monkey to man group photo when it's complete hehe :D so I guess my design & fabrication skills have seriously come a long way since 2008 :eek::banana: if anyone is saying that, cheers SXRguy :D:up:.Quote:
Originally Posted by SXRguyinMA
Thanks Blibbax me too I just bought the witcher 2 & I'm itching to play it but I'm holding off on it until this is complete so I can play some awesome games I've been missing out on with doing this since begining of December so if I press on it could be days but I would really have to press on which I will as I'm itching to get stuck into that game :).Quote:
Originally Posted by Blibbax
Boss? I don't have a boss :banana:.Quote:
Originally Posted by AmEv
Hi all, I got a suggestion from voigts on bit-tech to use full length strips instead of frankenstein type tabs, it left me in a pickle for a bit as I knew he was right lol so I've since ordered the copper sheet but it could be up to about the 4th of June before I get it, so theres the upcoming change which will delay this a little :).
Sleep pattern fixed I hope :D & took some pictures in better light.
Designed & printed & marked the shape of the vents on 4 individual pieces because each 1 will be very slightly different.
Stuck them down to the 3mm copper sheet with cello tape, I'd do a lot better if I used adhesive spray but don't have any & couldn't be bothered with waiting for a delivery or going out to get some lol :D anyway got it spot drilled & drilled, I was going to use a 4mm drill bit but it was really blunt & getting nothing done so went to the 3.5mm bit.
Then took it to the fretsaw & this was a point where I wish I went & got some spray adhesive so had to be really careful I wasn't going inside the cut line, I really must buy some spray adhesive before I do the other 3, it would make it a lot easier.
Cleaned off all the cello tape.
Got the big stew pan which I partly used for curving the main curve bars & heated up the copper piece a lot & then clamped it at 3 points to make it curved.
It was curved a bit too much so had to carefully whack it with a mallet on a solid metal piece so used the vice & with the shape not being exact with it not being stuck down properly I had to take it back & forth to the disc sander shaving bit by bit off until it plonked into the vent hole & here is the first 1 done wooooo :D.
Front of the case (and the rest) looks really nice, but I would strongly suggest to keep it as simple as possible, to preserve the flow of the design. (but that is just my opinion/style)
is it going to be painted grey or is it going to be copper... just a question...
Hey Gtek :) welcome to TBCS :).Quote:
Originally Posted by Gtek
Are the vent meshes too much? :D the tabs are getting replaced by long strips when it arrives so should merge well I imagine.
Anyway heres what's planned, nothing more than this ;).
The only things I have planned for the front are these vent meshes, replacing the tabs with about 15mm strips of copper with bevelled edges going from top to bottom to keep the window & bottom panel clamped in.
The bottom front will be replaced with a 1mm sheet of alu that has optical tray & button cut-out & plain hole to go in front of a 2mm copper sheet that has optical tray & button cut-out & diy mesh which will be clamped in place by the long copper strips, already cut out the optical tray cover but yet to make the eject button, then it's all polishing then the front is done :).
But I still haven't decided where I'm putting the power switch but I think it will go on the right curve bar somewhere close to the 2nd level.
No paint, I only painted the pci/io piece because I used body filler so couldn't be anodised but I might not be getting it anodised now & considering just finishing it off by re brushing any of the panels that need it & polishing all of the front metal.Quote:
Originally Posted by licenseless
Actually not all of the front metal, the 1mm aluminium sheet will be brushed :).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Waynio
so what are you going to do about the copper tarnish... or do you not mind the looks of it loosing its copper look after awhile?
:) Yeah I guess there maybe no getting away from it so I just looked up what to use & brass lacquer looks to be the stuff to keep it from losing it's looks, think I'll use it on the polished aluminium also :).Quote:
Originally Posted by licenseless
:up:Quote:
Originally Posted by Waynio
:)Quote:
Originally Posted by licenseless
Got my head straight with some good much needed rest & got the other 3 vent meshes made today, mucked up on 1 of them somehow so re-made the 1 I mucked up :).
Up next cut, bend & drill the mounting holes in the copper full length tabs.
Ok so this is why I like the little tabs, they are highly functional & show the fact that the window is flush to the alu curve bars which in itself is pretty cool :) but also it makes taking the window out or the bottom panel out incredibly easy with only needing to untighten the tabs a tiny bit to flip them up or down which releases the panels, also no excess forces.
Anyway on to making the full lengths strip tabs, here is 2 25mm strips cut with the jigsaw.
Also before moving on I put the mounting bar back in for holding the bottom of the window in place as it bulged out a tiny bit & I didn't like that & was scared stupid of wrecking the window while drilling & countersunk the mounting holes lol, it went fine thank goodness :D.
So the actual bending of the copper strips was soooo much more difficult than I anticipated & done heaps of different methods to get the curves I was after but as usual the top curve was a PITA :D.
This is the first thing I really don't like with the copper strip tabs, with it being 3mm thick (I should have chosen 2mm) I think it's tougher than the aluminium as it's pulling the alu curve out by a good 2mm on the top curve, not good.
I placed the left side vent meshes in for a glipse of how it might look :D.
I don't like it as much as the tabs but even though it cost extra to get this copper piece I'm kinda glad I did even if it was just to put the idea into practice to see if I like it or not, sometimes you just know straight away if you like something or not & this is 1 of those things I don't like, doesn't look as good to me & it's a massive hassle with installation & that was without having the window & vent meshes in, so yep I'll be going back to my original tabs & I'll straighten out these copper strips & put them aside for other projects.
So up next is taking measurements of the bottom optical tray, eject button & vent location & designing it & making it :).
Got the alu curve bar fixed back in shape after the copper ripping it out of shape, it also ripped the helicoil out & knackered the thread for the helicoil so called for drilling the mounting hole with a 4.5mm bit & whacking a brass thread insert in place but it's sorted now, phew :D.
Run a little test on countersinking the mesh holes like I did on the back panel, 1 side deep countersinks, the other tiny countersinks, bit iffy with the holes close to the edge as shown but I do quite like this effect :) what do you guys think.
Also smoothed off all the tabs by brushing them & they are to a nice colour now, the next stage for these is to polish them.
Anyway I'm back to where I were the other day but with cleaned up tabs & cleaned up curve bars.
So now I need to get the optical drive mounted back in the case so I can take measurements for the bottom front panel design :up:.
Looking awesome! I like it with the tabs better as well, I can't quite put my finger on it but it just "works". The vent panels are a nice look.
you know what... that copper look has just grown on me man... THAT IS NICE!!!
I like the two tone effect as well. It's not just nice, it's great!Quote:
Originally Posted by licenseless
Think what Gtek said earlier about not adding too much was very correct :), guess it was just too much copper, thanks mate :):up:.Quote:
Originally Posted by msmrx57
Thank you licenseless :):up:.Quote:
Originally Posted by licenseless
:redface: Thanks mate :):up:.Quote:
Originally Posted by mDust
Took the measurements of the locations of the eject button, optical tray & where the front vent should be, then designed it & went to work on it, still need to re-make the alu panel as I carelessly turned the piece while being distracted by something :D so cut it in a wrong spot accidentally, also need to do the diy mesh on the copper panel but got a few shots while there was a touch of blue sky & it really was just a touch :D.
/drool
Hehe Cheers Blibbax :D:up:.Quote:
Originally Posted by Blibbax
Re-made the front alu piece & brushed it & laid a mesh template down on the copper piece & spot drilled, drilled with a 3.5mm bit & then a 7mm bit & then countersink madness :D.
Nearly had a disaster for my power drill, jigsaw & fretsaw as I forgot about a spot in the garage that leaks when raining heavy, the jigsaw & power drill escaped the water but the fretsaw was covered in it & it also lost it's ability to tighten up the blade properly before this so I took it all apart to dry it all off & to see why I can't tighten it, figured as much the thread had worn away & I've barely used it but didn't let it put me off using it & wooooo I love using it for complex cuts, really really nice, but want to get a better one as I could only use the pin less blades a couple of times, it has a really crappy method for using pin less but it's fine for pinned blades so I'll stay with that until I can afford a new better one :).
:D I got the feeling whenever there was too much copper built up in an area it didn't quite make me smile or it did & then I'd be saying to myself it needs something else so I set about designing a different alu panel to break it up a little & man am I glad I did :D, been a while since I've cut something nice like this & it's got me hooked on the fretsaw :D.
But was all out of 0.7mm alu so had to use 1mm, the copper sheet for the mesh panel is 2.25mm so the 0.7mm made it a perfect flush fit so think I'll have to either sand the copper panel down 0.3mm across the whole face of it or just give a faint bevel on the alu panel.
I think this piece might have come about from the moral boost from comments so thanks everyone :):up: & keep em coming :D.
I'm going to add something different in place of the stretched copper tabs also :):up:.
if you ask me... this is much nicer and goes with the flow of the case than the copper tabs (and i know it was just used to clamp stuff down but it still looked better)
thats just my opinion man... but keep up the good work
