Project: Reality Bytes

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looks great mate.

[Xperiment]

Close. Were you wearing safety glasses?

I used to work with X-ray machines. they had sixty transistors like that (but larger) on heatsinks. In four groups of fifteen (in an H-bridge configuration). If something went wrong with the switching, they went off like a machine gun until the fuse blew.

We put perspex covers over them for that reason.

I did have me reading glasses on, perhaps thats worse lol.

Now that would be cool, sixty of them all blowing up. Might have to buy a bulk load of them and have a domino rally with a difference.

[xmastree]

I did have me reading glasses on, perhaps thats worse lol.

Not at all, much better than no protection.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Not at all, much better than no protection.

I second that.

[billygoat333]

i love the way you did the vga cable, very clean looking with the heatshrink.

[TEAMIKKE]

Great solution for nast soldering indeed! I alwyas hate it if I need to solder things that small. Although it works better with a third hand

Good job!

[Xperiment]

i love the way you did the vga cable, very clean looking with the heatshrink.

Thanks, I'm quite happy with how it came out. Although it could have done with some smaller diameter heatshrink, may have to amend it a little.

Great solution for nast soldering indeed! I always hate it if I need to solder things that small. Although it works better with a third hand

Good job!

Thanks, I must admit it was a huge relief not to have to solder it, a third hand would have been nice, but then again when wouldn't it lol.

[Xperiment]

Update: Outer Side Panel

Well I've been looking forward to getting the outer side panel started for a while now and after a few days of planning and marking out the design I was able to get down the garage today and make some progress.

The panel is going to be made from two sheets of plexi (what else was it going to be) One black and one clear, both 3mm. First I needed to get both pieces the same size as the side of the case.

I clamped them to a the workbench and used a plank of wood as a guide to get a perfectly straight edge:

After two cuts with the jigsaw I had the two pieces of the correct size:

I had already marked out the cutting lines for the black piece:

I started by using a holesaw to get a perfectly round curve:

Then with the jigsaw cutout the rest:

Leaving a frame to cover the clear piece of plexi:

Next I cut 4mm holes for the bots to hold both bits together:

And used M4 socket bolts to secure:

Next to add a little detail to the panel I cut a circular piece of UV green plexi using a holesaw and fitted it to the end of the drill, allowing me to file and sand to a perfect finish:

Then the same, but smaller with a black circle, giving me two pieces:

Then cut the a mounting hole in the panel:

Before bolting together:

The idea being the UV green circle will glow from the light inside and appear to be 'floating' against the clear plexi.

I couldn't resist having a peek, so took the masking off the black plexi. I have left it on the clear piece for now as I still need to cut a hole for the res to poke through:

I'm really happy with how it is looking so far and think the curves and green circle really fit in with the theme of the case.

More to come soon, but that's it for now. Thanks for reading, look forward to hearing what you think.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Very nice cutting mate, jigsaws can be a bit awkward to use sometimes especially when cutting curves. You really pulled it off. That plexi disk is a great idea, will look great on the other plexi and tie the side in with the interior perfectly.

[Scotty]

I sat here for ages waiting for this page to load cus of my stupid internet.

It was worth it.

Lovely work.