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Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Design
Wanted a low power good capacity HTPC & looked at the range of available ones at retail that could hold what I want it to but thought I want something worthy enough to replace Stealthlow with so wanted to make it a dual system to use a lot less electric when I don't need the extra power of a normal system which is most of the time, I didn't think I'd manage making an ok looking dual system where they can still be used as completely separate rigs but I think I got there in the end & went much further, it does look top heavy but I have it figured out nicely & it will be very Heavy Bottom not the other way around ;) & I still haven't designed the case feet, want to have a good idea of it's weight before I do those.
I added a porthole window where the psu cables come out from for giggles in an otherwise super neat system internally with interesting exterior from any angle & this dual system is also highly functional, everything is easily removable & the gaming rig can be removed & placed on alternative feet & the top of the HTPC can be replaced with a plain top or test bench rig very quickly, I know this design rocks for my PC wants with it being very modular :D but as always with my designs if anything lets it down it will be the style not appealing to many but it will brighten up my eyes each day if I manage to make it as good as I hope to :D.
I took another good final examination of the design before marking the materials & tweaked it a little more to perfect it & so it will support slightly higher mobo standoffs & give it a little more strength & a little extra on the looks.
Name
Lean & Green - Yes I would have chosen a better name for it but my mind goes nicely blank caught up in the detail when I look at the concept & only random words find their way out so I'm quite happy it has that effect on me where it leaves me kind of speechless, I considered the name of Heavy Bottom because of people saying it looks top heavy but gave it a miss lol :D.
Why
Needed another reason to do a good personal build & the how much does your rig cost to run blog on bit-tech caught my curiosity to go find out & it came to about £210 for the rig alone each year, I figured I could trim that down to about £60 per year with a better use of electric separating low performance needs to high performance wants & still be able to have a performance rig to enjoy when I want so totally managed to convince myself this was a good idea so got on with it :).
System components
HTPC
ATX PSU, mini-ITX on board CPU/GPU 18w motherboard with hdmi & DVI, good low profile sound card, 4 HDD, 1 SSD, 1 full size optical, full size 140mm custom fan.
Gaming rig
ATX PSU, Full ATX motherboard, moderately overclocked quad core, 8GB RAM, high performance & quiet air cooler, 3 custom fans, good GPU, good sound card, full size optical, 1 ssd, 1 hdd.
Control of the systems, good quality cable splitters.
Materials
Aluminium 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10mm sheet/plate & some bars round ones, square ones & angled ones. Screws & precision DIY fittings :).
Acrylic 3 & 5mm sheets, Black, Opal frosted, Brown tint. tensol 12 adhesive.
Wood 3 types, Cocobolo, Ebony & Maple. gorilla glue bought the wood as turning blanks & they come coated in wax.
Manual modding is my approach of choice still & no plans on changing after grinding through the difficult barely skilled wondering if I can make anything phase up to feeling pretty confident about my increasing skills phase but I'm always learning & know I always will be which is probably a big part of why I enjoy it so much & feeding the difficulty a few notches higher each time in some way is making me get pretty good at this :).
Reason I am a week late on starting the thread is I've been waiting for deliveries & the last of them came today nearly 2 weeks after ordering them :D scroll saw blades, drill bits & a quality dormer tapping set so as long as I don't screw up anything I should be able to go at it until it's done but what are the chances of me getting through all this without screwing up, place your bets now :D.
First slice of progress, minimal but it's enough progress to warrant for the new thread :D.
Tackled the 3mm sheets first with them being the hardest to manage being so massive, really should have ordered smaller easier to manage sheets, d'oh, the small work bench is waaaaaay too small for the 1650x1000 sheet & the kitchen work top I used to use I found my dad made it into a fixed side table for the garage so had to improvise, quick look around & seen a bunch of beer packs :D used 5 or 6 12 packs of beer :D they made for an awesome make shift cutting table in fact they worked better than the work bench because of the even load of the packs spread out in the right places :D but it put a good bit of strain on the back from leaning over a lot & about an hour later of a jigsaw frenzy session they are to rough size within a 3mm safety measure ready for detailing, but when I marked the cut lines I forgot to make notes of which pieces are which so need to work that one out lol, should be easy enough & I'll cut up all the other sheets next, it's interesting how much I can do in a short time when going at it with a solid determined plan, I think the days of standing around for hours thinking what next? might be behind me :D.
Needed a map to get good use of the material cutting layout.
Nearly as tall as me.
After the 1 hour jigsaw frenzy, all the 3mm alu cut to rough size within a 3mm safety gap.
Shot of the wood ready & waiting to be worked.
I didn't take my ok camera to the garage though, it's too cold & would be bad for it & it was a quick get in there & get it done type task :D not faff about with a camera in the cold :) & was only me using a beer table lol which yeah I suppose would have made a good fun opening work shot really now I think of it sat in the warmth :D.
More tomorrow I hope :).
And it's awesome to be at it again :banana:.
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23rd May 2012
Changes :D
The design has been a work in progress all along but I thought the first update would have been the final look of this, it's a big relatively complex design so it needed quite a bit more effort going into it so it would turn out as I want it to look & to function, I also chickened out of the wood work for fear of it being a big hassle with my tools & lack of experience of working wood & as you can see they are square 2 inch thick blocks of wood which I'd have to make slithers of to form panels so not exactly something for a wood work newb. :D
Here is how the design looks now with a side by side comparison. :)
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
reserved for final pictures :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
^ Cheers mate :D.
Since first update of cutting all the 3mm sheet to size I have been busy, marked & cut the 1mm & 2mm sheet to size & made layouts ready for printing & sticking, worked out a good way to span big designs over multiple pages accurately when using an a-4 printer.
I print & stuck the 10mm plate designs for the HTPC which just about fit on an a-4 sheet :D & drilled the holes for scroll saw access & I believe I'm tackling the toughest part of the project as the first bit lol, not because of complexity but because of tough material, good grade 10mm alu is very flipping tough :D, my small 18TPI blades cut it well but takes ages & will be great for curve cuts so since I was cutting the outer edges of the HTPC sides & front first which are straight I put the cut up band saw blades to the job but still took countless hours, was up good & early & about 5pm called it a day after getting those pieces ready for the next phase of cutting the holes out.
The bigger stand sides I will do 1 at a time trying to get 1 done each day rather than be an idiot trying to do them both in 1 day lol & that is being optimistic, I will amaze myself if I get the holes cut out of the HTPC 10mm panels in 1 day tomorrow lol I said the scroll saw is like a manual laser cutter but boy oh boy it's a slow one for chunkier materials lol.
Pictures of the day.
All the sheet alu ready & waiting for detail & the sign of 10mm plate, need glue spray to get things done quicker & better so will get some on Wednesday.
10mm HTPC side panels & front panel printed & stuck.
The blades & drill bits which held the start off for a week.
Starting off with normal scroll saw blades at 18 TPI for thicker materials.
Switched over to the band saw blades for doing quicker straight cuts.
Each & every line I had to cut took a while & took a lot of concentration.
Sneaky peeky at the chop saw in the background & the thinnest slither I took off the 10mm plate :D.
My view all day today lol:D.
More soon :).
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aldersan
Looking good!
Thanks mate :), I wanted to do more than just cut around the outside edges but it took agaes to do :D.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
The lighting in the cellar was pretty bad, too dim so took the daylight bulb from my room & used 1 of my clip on light fixings so no more cast shadows in way of the cutting line & far better lighting for good work & better photos but my eye focus is carry on wandering off with it taking so long so have to stop every few minutes to regain it, taken over an hour to get the cut this far, could really do with some kind of magnifying aid, it cuts so slow you sometimes think it isn't cutting even though it is but agonisingly slow, I hate cutting thick tough material it's easily the biggest test on my patience I ever had & this is the smallest piece to be done, ugh lol :D think I'll mark every couple of mm so I can tell it is cutting :D.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
If I did this on my first scroll saw coffee would be everywhere from vibrations :D.
Half way point of the curve cut.
Lol after getting to half way around the curve cut I decided it's really going way too slow for my liking & would have taken a really long time to do the way I was doing so gambled the lifespan of the blades but carefully :D.
Glad I did, I found by pushing them close to snapping point but a little bit away from that I was getting though it pretty well indeed, took quite a few hours to realise this though so I think I shouldn't have a problem getting the 2 bigger side panels done tomorrow :).
And any straight cuts in thick materials I'll stick to using the cut up band saw blades, much quicker.
Also I must have been rusty or struggling with the never tried before thickness of alu on the scroll saw when doing the first cuts so ideally I should buy a little more 10mm plate so I can remake this piece but having said that I could mod the design a touch to hide the tiny mistake & hiding it would allow for a touch more detail which isn't a bad thing so think I'll do that with it being a faint cosmetic flaw rather than a structural flaw so the game plan has already changed a tiny bit but thought of something which will just make it more detailed :D.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Going at the slow pace I was before figuring how to do it faster it would have taken a week of many hours a day to get through all the 10mm alu :alien: but with knowing how to go faster now I'd say a couple of days instead :) still a long time but not bad really :D.
Also found it does the thick stuff best on slowest speed.
Got some adhesive spray & more masking tape so good to go but I think if I started right now I'd end up doing it until it's done which would probably be in the early hours so I'll pass until tomorrow so I can maintain a proper sleep pattern & put a good solid day into it :D.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Started a bit late but because of skipping yesterday I just wouldn't stop until I got 1 of them done. :)
Tried the 12 TPI & they cut really well but only for about 2 inches & then they get pretty blunt & struggle to cut more so I'll stick to the 18 TPI, seem to get a whole lot more done with those on the 10mm alu.
Snap, this happens more than I like but not too often. :D
Continue
Neeeeeed fuel :D awesome pasta pesto 10 minute quick fix of goodness with a good kick of scorching chillies. :D
Woo hoooooo feeling 50 times better so time to get this panel finished. :)
:D More soon :banana:
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Neodymium
Looking good, mate :D
Thanks Neodymium :) I attempted for part 3 of 5 today of the 10mm stuff but my patience has gone walkies with the fretsaw blades lol :D so I'm going to mod a couple of the band saw blades so they can cut curves better, they eat though the 10mm alu nicely :D so should get quite a bit done tomorrow. :up:
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Figured it would only take a couple of minutes to mod a band saw blade by grinding it so went & done it & tested it & it works awesome. :D
Took a few seconds to get from the start hole to be just inside the line for the cutting & can easily do the curves I need it to while eating though it nicely. :)
And since I'm not 100% happy with the front chunky piece for the HTPC because of a tiny error while getting used to the 10mm alu I will continue to do the whole project & make notes of any bits I botch so I can make another order to re do any bad parts so it all stays to plan.
I looked on ebay for 10mm alu plate & it is far more expensive than the place I buy from, to get a replacement piece from the shop it would be £3 on ebay it would be £21 for double what I need so if I wait until I have all panels & bars ready to fix together then I won't waste money on postage unnecessarily. :)
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Modding a modding tool? Nice :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Neodymium
Modding a modding tool? Nice :D
So glad I tried it. :D
Soooooo much better than days getting nowhere, took about 2 hours to do this whole panel & to be honest it's done better than the other. :D
Next up is the bigger plates shown here. :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fuganater
OMG 10mm ALU!!!
Lol :D Took some getting used to cutting it well but got there. :):up:
It had a very successful diet there :D weighs loads less now. :banana:
Just got the stand design printed & cut ready for sticking to the last of the 2 10mm plates & I'll be using the adhesive spray so should be a quick task. :)
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Seriously impressive work.
I've scrollsawed a fair share of materials, but 1cm alu would probably kill mine.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aldersan
Looking great!
Thanks Aldersan. :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Wordbiker
Seriously impressive work.
I've scrollsawed a fair share of materials, but 1cm alu would probably kill mine.
Thanks Wordbiker :) yeah I wasn't sure if it would do it well myself to be honest & the whole project could have been a no go :D but took the risk, if I'd have stayed with the thin fretsaw blades I'd be doing these 10mm pieces still a week from now I expect & would have needed a 2 week break from the boredom lol, my scroll saw wasn't doing a true perfect up & down cut out of the box so looked around for other users & they said take the motor off & spin it round a little & re fix it on, fixed it for me. :)
I measure marked in sketchup so I could fit the stands design on 4 a-4 sheets then drew aligning crosses with circles (2 for each joining edge), used layout to make a 4 page pdf, printed, then used a ruler & razor to cut where needed, then joined together as spot on as humanly possible & tacked together with a tiny piece of cello tape & tacked all pieces together & then completed any gaps that missed cello tape to aid in none tear application, then took the masked up panel & design to the garage, gave the work piece a good spray with the adhesive & stuck the design on it, ready for cutting. :)
These are 4 a-4 prints cut to size with a ruler & razor.
Joined together carefully with cello tape.
Stuck on the masking tape covered alu plate ready for drilling & cutting.
Quite a process & botched the first one so needed to print another 4 :redface: but much easier & more precise than manual marking which takes a heck of a long time for me & the glue spray is a much better method than pritt stick. :D:up:
I did consider using a CAD printing company to upload the designs to so they could print them onto bigger sheets of paper but thought I'd give joing a-4 sheets together to learn a new trick. :D
This process is a bit time consuming with it being new to me so I'll do the cutting tomorrow & attempt to get these last 2 10mm plates done.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Even if its a new trick, you're doing a great job so far! Gunna be one heck of a mod when you're finished :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aldersan
Even if its a new trick, you're doing a great job so far! Gunna be one heck of a mod when you're finished :D
Thanks Aldersan appreciated :) I got a tiny bit paranoid the size of the prints weren't correct so ran to check them & they are spot on, was worried for a moment. :facepalm::)
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
You got the tools and "modded" tools too :D...keep going, mate...looking forward to seeing more!
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Neodymium
You got the tools and "modded" tools too :D...keep going, mate...looking forward to seeing more!
:D Cheers Neodymium I have to say though I'm getting tired of cutting the 10mm alu now lol but not too much left to do of it. :D
Could really do with making an extension table for the front & sides although I suppose I could flip the blade the other way around & pull instead of push, might be trickier though but I'll give it a try, my arms keep going dead from holding the heavy plate while guiding it with 1 hand so need to stop every few minutes. :D
Anyway taking off the excess weight from the outside edges, hopefully I can dig deep & do all the outside edges at least today, still about 6 or 7 hours until I'll call it a day.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Whether you push or pull, make sure you wear some work gloves :D I was gonna say that last time, but with your "tool modding" if something snaps, its gonna hurt you...think safety ;) that said, your cuts are exceptional! this is going to be good when its done :up:
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Waynio
Figured it would only take a couple of minutes to mod a band saw blade by grinding it so went & done it & tested it & it works awesome. :D
This is going to be off the hook! And I must say, a modder who mods his tools to mod a PC??? You are now filed under "bad-ass mutha modder" Ha! I can watching this build with great anticipation!
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Neodymium
Whether you push or pull, make sure you wear some work gloves :D I was gonna say that last time, but with your "tool modding" if something snaps, its gonna hurt you...think safety ;) that said, your cuts are exceptional! this is going to be good when its done :up:
Thanks Neodymium :) I don't think there is a need for gloves doing scroll saw work I think it's the safest tool I've ever used, I've had it were the band saw blade pops out of the holder & it just bends the blade out of shape which can be bent back into shape allowing it to be used again :D it's the really thin fretsaw blades that tend to snap but that's because of them being just less than 1mm wide & a fraction of a mm thick, the band saw blades are far stronger. ;)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jdbnsn
This is going to be off the hook! And I must say, a modder who mods his tools to mod a PC??? You are now filed under "bad-ass mutha modder" Ha! I can watching this build with great anticipation!
:D Cheers jdbnsn. :banana:
Had a 17 hour sleep lol, this cold or whatever it is really kicked my rear for the first day, 17 hours :eek::redface::D but I'm feeling a lot better & my nose isn't dribbling like it were, just a slightly sore throat & temporary damaged sleep pattern so a quick passing cold.
Since the work I'm doing is noisy due to the table not being big enough to support bigger pieces on the front I'll use tonight to get all the designs ready for printing.
I made the extension surface piece last night, just need a base & bars or blocks of wood to make the height right & then fix it to the table which the saw is on, could have ordered a 6mm large alu sheet to replace the stock one but it costs £70 with VAT & delivery.
If I bought 2 3mm sheets it would be £55 delivery included & I know the seller sends them out fast, it's tempting because it won't require a complex mod, just add the mounting holes, cutting hole & dust holes & smooth off the holes & edges & replace the stock one, very tempted but I'll see if I can make an easy to remove one first with scraps lying around. :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Finally got the extension for the front of the scroll saw made. :D
I'll be able to use both hands now for parts like this. :banana:
Progress resumes tomorrow, wooo hoooooo. :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
I want tools like yours...!!! Nice extension btw :up:
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Neodymium
I want tools like yours...!!! Nice extension btw :up:
:D It still requires good focus, steady hands & extreme patience to get through it though lol, cheers Neodymium. :up:
Ok since my sleep pattern is knackered once again but I was feeling highly focused I decided to just get on with it through the night but at a slow gentle pace so it didn't create noise & slowly but surely got it done. :D
1 of the big 10mm pieces done, 1 more to go.
And pulled all the templates & masking tape & protective film off the other 10mm pieces for a few group photos of 4 out of the 5 10mm alu pieces.
Warning, cutting 10mm good grade alu even with a good tool like the scroll saw I have tests a persons focus & patience, zombie mode with keeping control high is required. :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
All I can say is "WOW!" Wait, that's not true, I can also say I want to see more! :D Keep it up, this is going to be amazing!
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aldersan
All I can say is "WOW!" Wait, that's not true, I can also say I want to see more! :D Keep it up, this is going to be amazing!
:D Cheers Aldersan :up: I intend to stay up until tonight so I get my sleep fixed so nothing much stopping me from attempting to get the last of the 10mm stuff done today. :)
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
After the alu, what's next on your list of to-do's? :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Do you have to order those blades special? I can never find that stuff for my scroll saw.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aldersan
After the alu, what's next on your list of to-do's? :D
The plan is to do all the bits I think will be hardest first so it progressively gets easier lol, it sucks too much when you do it the other way around as your pretty knackered mentally & physically by the time you get close to the end if you not taking proper breaks & it will be nice to know it will get easier rather than harder, but I will need high mental focus when I start making everything fit together so I'll have a break to let my steam build back up for that, would be a nightmare spending all that time on pieces only for it to become a train wreck from 1 faulty drill hole. :D
After this 10mm alu I'll start work on all the custom fans, not sure how tricky they will be but think it will be a nice lighter task compared to the 10mm. :D Still unsure if I should add copper & brass into the rings for the fans could be pretty awesome but maybe too much bling looking, could end up looking like crazy royal jewels. :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Lol, from the sound of it, almost anything would be easier than cutting that 10mm alu. As for the fans, try it out, see how it looks, take lots of pics, and post them of course! :D I loved your stealthlow, so I can't wait to see how this project turns out!
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
d_stilgar
Do you have to order those blades special? I can never find that stuff for my scroll saw.
I virtually never go looking at my local diy stores for most bits because they rarely have bits I need so I just order most bits online.
I noticed there are specific blades made for use on scroll saws & they look no different to fretsaw blades but the price difference is huge, for 12 listed as scroll saw blades they were like £8 but fretsaw blades are like £1.80 for the same amount & they do the job fine. :)
Someone else asked about this, making me think they only do fretsaw blades for wood in the US lol I find that really odd, anyway I mostly use Draper brand fretsaw blades for 10 TPI to 28 TPI the draper ones are stronger blades also or Faithfull brand fretsaw blades for 28 TPI to 70 something TPI these are meant for thin metals but found all cut any material nicely, I quickly gave up with trying to cut the 10mm stuff with fretsaw blades & used the band saw blade on them, got a 1/4 inch band saw blade & cut it into the same sizes as the fretsaw blades & modded a couple to allow for easier curve cuts, the band saw blade was by Draper also.
The lower the teeth per inch the thicker the material you can cut quicker with it & for the higher TPI you can do really thin material.
So look for fretsaw blades & piercing saw blades, you should find some in the US no problem I'd have thought.
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aldersan
Lol, from the sound of it, almost anything would be easier than cutting that 10mm alu. As for the fans, try it out, see how it looks, take lots of pics, and post them of course! :D I loved your stealthlow, so I can't wait to see how this project turns out!
It's not so bad but does take a while to get through even with the band saw blades :D guess I just can't help but have a bit of a moan about it after sitting there for hours & hours & not cutting much lol, at least with the band saw blades you can see it is cutting, could hardly tell if it was cutting with the fretsaw blades. :D
Yeah, think I'll do that with the fans, :) could turn out they look completely amazing. :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Lol they just might, you had some pretty crazy breakthroughs on stealthlow, so let's see you do it again! Anyways, best of luck, keep up the good work, and post lots of pics :D
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Re: Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Aldersan
Lol they just might, you had some pretty crazy breakthroughs on stealthlow, so let's see you do it again! Anyways, best of luck, keep up the good work, and post lots of pics :D
:D Cheers Aldersan, the custom fans will have to wait until I can get some 0.5mm brass & copper sheet ordered but am keen to try the idea I have. :D
Ok Got all the 10mm alu cut but I have crap news & good news. :( :D
The crap news is the HTPC sides are 2 to 3mm too big on the size of the outside edges & inside edges so is no good for my design, I must have printed the design of an earlier revision, had about 10 revisions in my folder so mucked up good there, here is how they would have looked if I printed the right one.
And this is how it looks in reality, missing the inside lips because of the size difference.
I have checked all my newer prints & they all measure up spot on like the sketchup model so it was a pure muck up by me for using the wrong flipping model, d'oh.
Good news is I have ordered some more 10mm alu to re do them & the HTPC side panels made won't go to waste & I will make a tweaked version of the HTPC & sell it, but I won't be doing that one until I've completed Lean & Green.
So at least I have the stands panels done spot on at least & they were much harder to do because of the size & weight of them when they were stock plate alu.
Now I'm waiting for the extra 10mm alu it's time to pick what I'll do next, plan was to start off with doing all the difficult or patience testing bits first lol. :D