A quick "Control Panel" mod i did

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:

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

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

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:

Then i made the holes for the three switches:

Here's the fan i'll be using:

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

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:

That fan grille was sent to me by one of my sponsors, MNPCTech. It's THIS 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:

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:

Anyway, SANDING TIME!!

Sanding and polishing done. I also rounded the corners:

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:

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:

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



GREAT SUCCESS!! :D :D

now that is just pure bad ass...

thats pretty sexy, shame thats not a led fan tho, and that would probably light up the plexi too

Kewlio! +rep

how did u make those acrylic edges so clean and smooth? wats ur secret!

Very cool little device. The fan is completely useless but I love it there none-the-less. I wish I could think of stuff like that...

-Indybird

+rep for fresh ideas

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lukeisthecoolest

how did u make those acrylic edges so clean and smooth? wats ur secret!

---

Sanding and polishing. Start with 400 grit sand paper, work up to about 1000. From there, you can quit, or use a buffing/polishing compound to get the edges s00per smooth.

You can also repair scratches that way.

Art and engineering make such good bedfellows. This is both a simple and clever example of that at work. +rep

You are a MOD GOD!!!!!

May not be very useful but it sure as hell looks sexy

I think the fan could be quite useful! Often here in Summer I want a small fan blowing air across me. I've hooked up a PC fan to sit on my desk before to help keep me cool.

Cool and clean :up:

I love this mod, It's calm and very stylish. My two favorite thing when it comes to customizing. I have never been a fan of the 1 mil wires and tubes all over the place, give me something simple and stylish anytime. +Rep

Looking very cool. Again, great work man.

Thanks for the comments guys!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SgtM

Sanding and polishing. Start with 400 grit sand paper, work up to about 1000. From there, you can quit, or use a buffing/polishing compound to get the edges s00per smooth.

You can also repair scratches that way.

---

This is where my "secret" comes in. I sand all the way up to 2000 and THEN only do i polish. Never in your life will you see edges as smooth as these :P

congrats on such a simple yet effective mod :D i dont trust those fans either

+REP for sure.

Quote:

---

Art and engineering make such good bedfellows. This is both a simple and clever example of that at work. +rep

---

I very much agree with you.

DAE_JA_VOO ,
That bend in your plexi is nice. Very straight and sharp. How did you get your bend so clean like that?

d0000d I want one but I want a red led fan on mine :D hehe use the fan to cool me off in intense gaming sessions

Thanks for the comments guys! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jdbnsn

---

Awesome!! Woohoo!!! That's my second front page link in about 3 weeks! :D :D

Thank A lot man!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Remy

That bend in your plexi is nice. Very straight and sharp. How did you get your bend so clean like that?

---

Very simple really. I just clamp the plexi down onto my work bench (the edge is a 90 degree bend) and then heat up the plexi, then i just bend it using a piece of wood. I'll take some pics next time i do it ;)

You deserve it, you have been doing some great work and this was a very original idea. Kudos!

Very nice work! I think the only thing that could make it better is if you would have put the DVD drive in the panel. That would be sweet.

Quote:

---

that could make it better is if you would have put the DVD drive in the panel. That would be sweet.

---

You know, that's an pretty damn good idea, would'nt work for this exact design of course but would be handy to have the drive right next to you.

+rep for ingenuity

Very Nice!
I was gonna ask the same question about bending plexi so nicely.....Do you use a heat gun? Is it the same sort that painters & decorators use?

I hope you dont mind. But I think I'm gonna have to copy your idea for a PC powered desk fan. It'd be great for hot, sweaty LAN Parties!

Well done!

Ouch!

Nope, i dont even have a heatgun! LOL

I just use one of those little gas canisters that we used to use in high school. Remember those? Here in South Africa they're called Bunsen Burners. We have a little attachment that allows you to point the flame in a certain direction, and that's what i use :)

@ Orso: That wouldn't work in this specific design, but i have already planned to make an external DVD-RW. Project: Endorphin doesn't have an optical drive, and i'm building an external enclosure for a DVD-RW and a couple of HDDs for it :)

Quote:

---

Bunsen Burners

---

That's what we call them also.

Yep in Australia we call them Bunsen Burners also. When I have to bend plastic in Design Technology I use the contraption the you insert the plastic and hot air softens it up then you bend it on metal bars. Works great.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DAE_JA_VOO

@ Orso: That wouldn't work in this specific design, but i have already planned to make an external DVD-RW. Project: Endorphin doesn't have an optical drive, and i'm building an external enclosure for a DVD-RW and a couple of HDDs for it :)

---

I cant wait to see it. Your work is very interesting to watch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DAE_JA_VOO

Bunsen Burners

---

Hmm. Always called them "Blue Flames of Death" Liked to screw around when them in high school. Acutally had a teacher blow up a paint can with the gas line. I think he did it just to tick off the janitors.

Anyway cool mod. Really like the idea of desktop access to the cpu. Now yuo just need a little robot that removes and replaces the disc for you and you never have to crawl down there again.

serious stuff...I am REALLY digging this..


(goes to add rep)