Rogue

[craigbru]

April 2, 2008

Well, I've got another update here. Unfortunately, it's not very exciting tonight. That's okay though, I've got a bunch of small details to wrap up, and they've got to be done sooner or later. Tonight just happened to be sooner.

The first thing that had to be done, was to mark and drill the holes for mounting the Meanwell power supply.

Two quick holes later, and one job is done...

Next up, I'll take these little pieces of metal...

And turn them in to this. What I've got here, is simply a metal tab that will slide under a lip on the front of the case. It is attached to the channel for the fan wiring. This piece will be responsible for holding the front of the fan assembly in place.

Now, I've got to make a home for this. It's part of a wireless antenna assembly. Both the Rogue, and the Epia will be wireless capable.

There will be an antenna on each side of the case. Here the holes are marked and ready for drilling.

Next job... Here I've cut a small piece of metal to fill up part of this hole. Once it was cut to size, it was JB Welded in to place.

Last up for the night... Since the case will have two power supplies, I need to find a home for the Meanwell power connection... Um, where am I going to put this?

Well, there really weren't many options, but I found a home just the same. The bottom two slots on the motherboard are inaccessible because of the radiator placement, so I decided to make a modification to the I/O panel. I'll make a panel to fill the hole, and the connection will be placed in it. That's something I'll have to finish tomorrow.

With a few things that I finished up tonight, it means I'm only a day away from painting a few things. The main part of the case will be ready for paint, as well as the top panel and fan assembly. I can't wait to get the hardware dropped in there! :rock:

[craigbru]

April 4, 2008

Well, tonight I finished painting the main part of the case. As I mentioned earlier, the flat black I originally painted the case, was a little too flat. However, I am keeping that color on the inside of the case. That means I had to mask off the interior before I could repaint the exterior. In my eagerness, I didn't get many pics of that process, but maybe it wasn't that exciting anyway. However, I do have a pic of the case primed...

Now I'll jump right to a few pics of the case already painted. For the exterior, I picked up a black metal flake paint. As I took these pics, I realized how hard it is to photograph a metallic paint. The camera simply can't do it justice. I'm hoping that the effect is more visible on the sides and the front, where there happens to be more surface area.

The case will be ready for hardware this weekend. In the meantime, I've got some more painting to do!

[craigbru]

April 5, 2008

Well, kid issues aside, I've got an update!

So, let's get on with a little more painting. I've got the top piece of the case all prepped and ready for paint. I used 4" bolts to allow me to paint both sides easily.

I painted both sides flat black, then once the paint was dry, I masked off the bottom.

Here is the piece after painting and baking... Ooh, shiny...

Now I've got a few miscellaneous things to take care of. Feet, this thing needs feet... I just happen to have 4 of them about to find a home on the case.

I wanted to get the front panel mounted. In order to do that, I need to mount a few components first. I'll start with the Matrix Orbital display.

Next up is the fan controller...

I thought I'd test fit the front panel before I went any further... It fits!

Now, let's get those gauges in place...

More coming soon!

[craigbru]

April 7, 2008

I'm on a roll tonight! I've got lots to do yet, including some more fabrication, but I thought I'd get a few assembly shots posted.

Since the side panels will be illuminated, I had to drop CCFL's in the lower sides of the case. These things fit like a glove...

Next up, I attached the radiator mounts in place.

Mounting the reservoir...

The LCD mounted...

Front panel back on, and gauges in place...

Bulgin switches mounted...

The work continues...

[craigbru]

April 8, 2008

Just a quick update here before I get to work tonight... The fan grills have arrived! I don't care how wrong it is... These things turn me on! :rock:

[craigbru]

April 8, 2008

I'm on to mounting the grills, and just had to show you guys what it looked like. I think I should have done these last... 'cause I keep getting lost in the red anodized dreamy sweetness...

These stickers gotta go...

A little sleeving...

The six-pack...

This picture needs no explanation...

[craigbru]

April 10, 2008

Um, is it Thursday already? I'm only slightly panicked at this point. Netwar is tomorrow, and the rig's gotta be running tonight. If I don't make it, surely it's not for lack of trying. I've been getting to bed around 3am every morning. Heck, I think I've got more time working on the Rogue, than I have at my regular job this week. So, that brings me to this update...

To start things off, I'll show a shot of the completed top panel.

Next up, I've got a little more fabrication to do on the interior of the case. I need to make a bracket for mounting the Via Epia system.

All drawn out...

All cut out...

Let's get some bending done. This is a piece with some fairly complex bends for it size. I start by bending on both sides...

Then bending again, to form mounting tabs.

We are left with this.

Okay, now we have two more bends to make. Because of our prior bends, the piece will no longer fit in the brake. Here I've clamped the piece between an aluminum bar, and a square.

After bending...

Repeat on the other side, and we are left with this piece.

I had to cut a hole in the center to clear the back of the pico board.

The board fits on one side...

The hard drive on the other...

[craigbru]

April 10, 2008

I'm on a roll tonight! I've got lots to do yet, including some more fabrication, but I thought I'd get a few assembly shots posted.

Since the side panels will be illuminated, I had to drop CCFL's in the lower sides of the case. These things fit like a glove...

Next up, I attached the radiator mounts in place.

Mounting the reservoir...

The LCD mounted...

Front panel back on, and gauges in place...

Bulgin switches mounted...

The work continues...

[craigbru]

April 10, 2008

Next up, I've got to make a bracket for mounting the pump.

Here is where it will be mounted on the internal tray.

The Via, and pump mounts in their final locations...

With the internals completely fabbed, it's time to do a little assembly.

Tonight, I will paint the side panels, and drop all the hardware in the case. About the biggest thing to finish, will be the front door. Right now it's not as critical as having the rig running. So, I'll see what I have for time tonight, and maybe I'll get it done too...

[craigbru]

April 15, 2008

Time for another update! If you've been following along, you all know that last week was a mad rush trying to get the Rogue ready for Netwar. Ultimately, I didn't get it done, but I still had fun trying to make it. I think I'm finally catching up on my sleep, but I've still got some catching up to do around the house. I ate cereal out of a measuring cup this morning... Also, starting next week, I've got to start finishing my basement. My fiance and her son, are moving in to my house, in a little over a month's time. I need to get an extra bedroom down there... So, this all means that although the work on Rogue will continue daily, updates are going to come a little slower than in the past. I hope all of you can hang in there...

So, on with the update. Here I've got one of the side panels painted...

Acrylic insert in place...

Next up, I've got to assemble the TEC and CPU block. A little Arctic Silver on the block...

Peltier in place...

The cold plate was installed, and the whole assembly was mounted on the motherboard.

Now, I've got to make a custom assembly for the Dakota Digital water temperature sender. The sender is designed for automotive applications, so I've had to get creative to adapt it to work in my loop.

Here is the bare sender.

This right here, is an G 1/4 to G 1/8 adapter. It's actually designed to be used in automotive nitrous oxide systems.

The sender has been fitted in to the adapter.

The sender and adapter have been fitted in to a delrin t-block.

Finally, the wiring has been attached, and finished off with some heat shrink tubing.

Tonight, I'll cover a little of the hard drive tray modification, and the start of some detail wiring. I'm also going to be fabricating a new i/o panel for under the reservoir. The one I've got, has a slight alignment issue, and I'm not happy with it. It sits just a little higher than I'd like...