Project N0NAME

[dgrmkrp]

dammm.. i found several ways of silverplating.. 1 is achievable, but it is the most school-experiment-ish of them.. so i need 10parts AgNO3, 1 part HNO3 and water.. plus 6V and about 80Amps.. this is the problem.. 6x80=480W!!! too much.. 2nd method involves some chemicals i never heard off.. and the third is a bit do-able..

Try to find good plating shop-most of silver plating solutions are cyanide based.If you want you can use do it yourself cyanide free solutions.
Ferrocyanide based plating solution:
40 gm silver chloride
200 gm potassium ferrocyanide
20 gm potassium carbonate
1 lit water,stainless steel anodes
Dissove ferrocyanide in boiling water,add carbonate and then add chloride(fresh,you can make it by mixing AgNO3 solution with kitchen salt solution),boil 30-180 minutes,then filter it when cold,then you may use it!
Never try to mix it with strong acids!
Phosphate based solution:
25 gm silver nitrate(or better pyrophosphate)
100 gm potassium pyrophosphate
25 gm ammonium carbonate
1 lit water
Stainless steel anodes
Aluminium must be zincated!Hope it helps and good luck!

problem with last 2 methods.. now i have to zincate aluminum..
another problem with last method is i can't find soo much chemicals (for free or not) and what the hell is potassium pyrophosphate? (i googled it.. googled everything.. found explanations)...darn it.. i'm puzzled.. still, i wanna do this

[chedabob]

to get a lot of amps, put a bunch of car batteries in series. you can weld metal with 3 of them.

[dgrmkrp]

10ks chedabob.. usefull to know i like welding..
but i was warned not tu use car batteries for this, as they are 24V.. and i need 6V(max12V.. i'm thinking psu ).. a power down transformer is out of the question(DC) and no way am i using resistors(i'll cause a fire!)..
so if am gonna do this, i either need the additives or i will wait longer(80 times longer..) with the simplest way, as the current intensity(A) only influences the speed of the reactions.. faster is bad, but i see no con if i go slower.. except t----i----m------e and that zinc thing is still bugging me..

edit: dang, i wanted to write that i've masked the front, lower piece, for cutting and drew where i need to cut.. i think i can improve the airflow in that part by cutting a bigger hole "down-under" and some holes in the sides.. calculated the surfaces and i should get a 120mm fan's surface, disregarding the fact that the intakes will be in 3D space, not directly infront of the fan... well.. i'll post pics in the morning..

[chedabob]

car batteries are 12v (well they are over here).

if you need six, just get like a 6v lamp or something, use some of the volts up (something tells me thats not right).

or grab a bunch of leds and make a led cannon

[dgrmkrp]

f you need six, just get like a 6v lamp or something, use some of the volts up (something tells me thats not right).

yep, not right.. the problem i have when requring so strict numbers is.. the strict numbers! basicly, i need a "generator" that can output 6V and keep the intensity at 80A.. now, if u look at anything out there u can find "x V", but there isn't anything that can vary intensity.. except in a laboratory or.. an electroplating shop and basicly 80 A is a huge amount of current.. think overclocked cpu @1.something V.. or all the apliances in a large building @110/220V.. this power will melt wires..

or grab a bunch of leds and make a led cannon

j/k? >> what should i do with it? ..hmm.. maybe if would connect a led at 5v/80A (vs 20mA) it would turn cannon-bumm on me

[dgrmkrp]

well.. did some more research, some hands on work.. will continue tomorrow.. some pics:
marked the cuts for the front plastic piece:

redid the clip..from mild steel.. consumed a disc in the process:

i used this jerry-rigged head for cutting:

(looks ugly, complex to assemble, but has much more strength when cutting)

..unfortunatelly, this steel was too soft.. i don't know.. guess it wasn't steel as i thought.. it was easier to bend than the aluminum.. both are 1 mm thick...

but this gave me an idea.. nope, i don't wanna use the three prongs to fix the sonic tower.. but i like the black/white contrast

..So i started to cut the dang thing from 2.5 mm thick aluminum.. it's taking hellish long but the disc is not wearing as much.. this aluminum is still bendable.. if i can't do the clip with this.. i'll go to 3.5 mm hard aluminum.. heavier and trickier to cut..

..looking nice and i like how it's shaping i'm doing it a bit oversized.. but i hope this will be the final fingers crossed..

[dgrmkrp]

aaarg, i just wrote a post and my pc crashed... dam' winamp.. when it reaches a certain song, it crashes and takes my pc with it... so, i'll do a summary of what i wrote earlier..

back to modding.. the silvering process is on hold: no money, the clip is cut, but still too flimsy: i'll do a 4th version, but can't find 2mm steel around..

the front panel has been cut, holes are nice.. camera can't photo the shades of black, so no pic.. the front door has been masked and awaits for cutting and some grill material.. then bondo and paint long time......

because i have some (=lots of) scrap aluminum sheet, i took a learning brake from boring algebra (i have an exam tomorrow... bleah :-( ) and did this:

2 pieces of 1.75mm aluminum (needed the precise size this time for CAD work)

large piece vs antec side panel.. lots of stuff to work my brain on.. i'll use the smaller piece for now..

what to do with this? any suggestions? as they will multiply in number

marked the fan/holes/bends..

bigger picture.. i mean from farther away.. the piece is loooong, but this is quite high quality aluminum..

cut away the excess to allow better management of the big piece..

pieces cut, awaiting bending and further cutting..

my bending rig.. wheni don't have my 180+ pound friend to act as a vice, i have to use my foot.. remarkably, i got like 89 degrees.. close to square

bending done.. for this part.. 2 more to go..

small piece which will fix the hdds bent and tested.. perfect fit..

second piece done too..

testing..

2 scrap hdds in for testing and thinkering porpuses..

from another angle.. hmm.. i think it would be better with holes on the side..

fan inside for fitting.. it fits =)

dont know if i'll use this fan or another model.. i like blue leds a lot.. but i'll have to mod a fan to look good as there are some very expensive 120mm led fans here.. and just them.. no choice

i am now sure it needs more holes! it loks like a small... kitchen thing.. what do you people think? leave it white or strip it and make it silver? or paint it black?

this definetly wont do.. one large hole coming up..

this is how i made bending easier.. cut a very shallow groove with dremel and used that for bending.. if it werent the cuts, i would say this is cardboard.. but it's not, it's aluminum.. yum yum.. i just love this material.. so easy to shape.. i'm definately gonna do a case now

call me crazy but i attempted to cut the hole with this here.. almost worked, but i should have made sure it's bigger than the metal thickness.. it wasn't.. so i ended up with..

no problem though.. i made another blade.. but i'll probably use that on saturday morning only.. i'll be gone tomorrow all day long and i have to respect my neighbours.. i fear that loud music at day time ~ learning time and high pitched squeels after 4 pm ~ modding time, will make them angry
see yous later..

[Kaej]

Thats a pretty sweet thang you got going on there. I tried to make my own HDD bay with an integrated 72mm fan but it turned out to be way to much trouble for me (no patience). And FYI, if you're gonna get something silver plated then i seriously reccomend getting it done by a pro. I based my A-Level chemistry investigation on electroplating and all i got was a whole lotta mess and pain trying to get Silver to plate out of AgNO3, so i'd get it done professionally.

[dgrmkrp]

thnx..
the drive bay is in it's 5th incarnation by now.. this is my 2nd attempt at actually building one.. i wanted as few pieces as possible.. but rivetting is also a solution.. you're right, it takes patience.. i can't picture myself drilling and smoothing n holes for the hdds but it will be worht it, as preparation for something bigger

4 the silverplating: i was thinking of going pro.. that's what gave me the idea in the 1st place.. i saw a commercial loong time ago (easter holiday, i think).. it stuck with me.. at first, i was pndering a "silver" silencer.. with a silver painted case.. then it hit me.. i have a friend that is rally good with chemistry and her mom works at a lab.. so i asked her and she told me stuff.. wow.. i'm studying physics and electricity at university (electronic engeneering) and what she told me wasn't feasable fo me.. pros can do it, but they would still charge me lots.. so i pondered the DIY way.. maybe i'm wrong

but hey.. if you know stuff about electroplating... help?
is there a way of doing this "acceptably"? i could get chemicals, pure silver and pure stainless steel.. and consume a bit too but i can't go the hi-wattage electroplating way.. time is not an issue the final product counts

eidt: after 5 hours of cramming $#|& in my head.. ok, usefull.. stuff.. for my next exam.. i unwinded by cutting the fan hole in the hdd cage.. and manually drilling the 4 holes for the fan also, i needed a fan to see if it all fits and i got the one "mounted" on my sonic tower.. so an experiment rose:

temps go nicelly down when i fit it back.. so i have 2x120mm fans for intake@5V, 1x120mm exhaust set to low and one 120mm@5V sat between the towers of the sonic tower.. less noise i'm happy why? for the first time in a long time, my +12V is happier:

this voltages and temps are sooo nice.. vs my old ones.. so, as an advice for those who have crappy no-name atx psus.. load the 5v more and unload the 12V

[dgrmkrp]

i'm leaving for a few days and i'll be back on sunday hopefully have 3 exams to take care of.. wish me luck when i'm back, i'll go in overdrive.. at least with testing