Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build

[Fuganater]

Dat fan grill...

[Beta-brain]

Loving the custom fans, you have to wrestle the hoops into place but when they click in it's just an awesome satisfying moment.

I live for those moments when all the parts you've made come together and fit as well or even better than you hoped, you forget about all the grief that it took to get there and it seems worth it and gives you the encouragement to carry on and finish the project.

I've had a few good days on my build recently and that's already got me thinking about my next build, it's an addiction, but as you have said about your previous builds you learn from them and see how you could have done something better or made it easier and that only comes with time, effort and spending silly amounts of money on projects, I'm a mechanic by trade so I know how machines work but building them from scratch, that's something else altogether, but that's how you get the experience

[Waynio]

Dat fan grill...

Thanks Fuga & congrats for MOTM BTW.

I live for those moments when all the parts you've made come together and fit as well or even better than you hoped, you forget about all the grief that it took to get there and it seems worth it and gives you the encouragement to carry on and finish the project.

I've had a few good days on my build recently and that's already got me thinking about my next build, it's an addiction, but as you have said about your previous builds you learn from them and see how you could have done something better or made it easier and that only comes with time, effort and spending silly amounts of money on projects, I'm a mechanic by trade so I know how machines work but building them from scratch, that's something else altogether, but that's how you get the experience

Think that's a part of what makes us mod on kinda like gaming on a hard game & overcoming the challenge but modding is better than that.

I made today an easier day because I was starting to get worn out lol.

Resumed the spindicator electronics casing by first flattening the edges of the acrylic stack & then some drill milling but I took my time doing it to not strain the press.

After that I countersunk all the mounting holes & then plugged brass inserts with the soldering iron into the middle of the 15mm stack so it could be shared by 2 8mm countersunk screws on both sides.

Then cut the internal piece out. using the copper cooling trick on the blade.

Acrylic piece done.

Then had to countersink a tiny bit more to make them nicely flush fitting screws on the 1mm outer panels, turned out nice.

The electronics this case is for.

I used vinyl on the underside for the electronics in the hope that will be good enough to prevent short circuit, if it isn't though I can paint the solder points with liquid electrical tape or put a layer of electrical tape down.

The Molex plug slots in place really nice, I intentionally left some space around the PCB.

Top cover on & this little case is done.

For the rest of the wires going from this to the spindicator I will make a quick channel case from acrylic & aluminium scraps that keeps all the wires safe from snags & cleans the looks up even though it will only ever be seen during building up but will be nice to know there isn't chance of wire snags.

I might get this HTPC completed some time lol.

[Waynio]

Had a huge session starting yesterday & finished up at noon today, was well in the mod zone to go on all day but had to go supermarket, it broke my flow, came back ate some food, was just about to get stuck back into this but after setting things up to continue my senses must have dulled rapidly, yawning my head off with sloppy hand eye coordination, made a coffee & a tea for my dad I knocked the full fresh hot cup of tea on my crotch lol, I took it as a clear sign to not continue modding today or I would screw something up badly, luckily I was wearing thick jeans & it stopped me from getting burnt but it looked like I peed myself, oh well.


Getting the rods to exact tight fit, took a while.

Then started taking it all apart to add the mounting holes for the rods & to take some material out so the revised HDD cage covers look better by not showing the ends of the bent covers.

Then a hefty load of drilling & tapping, showing the 5mm rod I drilled & tapped for m3 screws here, this shows how awesome that rod drill helper is being able to do this, pretty amazing DIY tool I think but drilling the longer rods was more difficult, had to use my square to make sure I was drilling square.

Other bits I did but didn't take pictures along the way, was focusing on progressing more.

Rounded the edges of all the 10mm plates, removed the teeth marks on the power switch piece using the new detail sander, took apart the power switch piece a few times to shorten the width so it would fit in with the rods.

The 3mm rods I couldn't do where I did the mounting holes so I'll have to carefully move the 3mm holes forward a touch or buy 2mm rod but it comes on coils so would have to make it perfectly straight so I'm going to try moving the holes forward 0.5mm, as long as I do it with extreme care it should work nicely still.

The rounded edges, 5mm & 10mm rods installed using countersunk screws & grub screws for the level change, good & solid.

I am aiming to get the HTPC done this weekend though & when I say done I mean the main structure completed, not the finishing touches like cable management holes, edge & surface finishing, I'll likely wake up during the night & get back onto it & try to have it done by the end of Sunday so I can start on the gaming rig on Monday.

[Fuganater]

man those rods look great! I'm excited to see this first case done.

[Beta-brain]

That spindicator electronics casing is a very neat job
I tried drill milling ali in my cheap old drill press, results were inconsistent

[Waynio]

man those rods look great! I'm excited to see this first case done.

Thanks mate, appreciated.

That spindicator electronics casing is a very neat job
I tried drill milling ali in my cheap old drill press, results were inconsistent

Turned out nice seem to be able to drill mill acrylic quite nice with the new press, did the same on my last project & on copper, wow not a good result but also didn't have a cross vice then, they make a nice difference.
Thanks Beta-brain.

Would have continued pressing on at superman levels but I got demoted on bit-tech, the place I was making the extra effort for so thought screw it, back to a normal human pace now.

[BS Mods]

Wow it looks like I've been away too long. I had to catch up. Looks awesome. You are one of the modders I always try to follow in my very busy schedule. I wish I had more time to look at every build but I would never get anything done!

Keep up the good work.

[billygoat333]

You do an awe-inspiring job, sir. Keep it up!

[Waynio]

Wow it looks like I've been away too long. I had to catch up. Looks awesome. You are one of the modders I always try to follow in my very busy schedule. I wish I had more time to look at every build but I would never get anything done!

Keep up the good work.

Thanks mate I'm honored.
I pulled a bit of a hand brake needing a little time out, was going at it every day aiming for a deadline but something distracted me, was a simple thing but it broke my focus.

You do an awe-inspiring job, sir. Keep it up!

Thanks billygoat333

Where it was since last session but now with the 3rd revision of the HDD covers & they fit in there nicely, I also had to drill the 3mm holes a bit closer to the edge so the rods could fit in.

The 5mm & 10mm rods with grub screws in for the tapped rods above.

View from underneath where they are countersunk screwed in & the 3mm holes I drilled straight through & extended them more outwards so they'll fit in.

How it is now with all the rods in place, this all needs a heck of a cleaning up by light filing & sanding to make it look a lot nicer, it'll get there.

Right here I noticed how the light caught the dual layer side panels creating a sweet contrast so thought I'd take a shot, bit like a preview of the intended look of what the contrasts will look like when everything gets anodised but not this colour.

I'm still wishing I put all the mounting points in on the design phase before I got on with making this but once I'm past this HTPC & stand everything else should be far more straight forward.

Some more shots.

Other news.
Been wanting to make my dad a nice xbmc for quite a while & was browsing around fleabay for a cheap mini-ITX mobo & seen an Asus E35M1-I Deluxe same as the one I'm using on mine but 2nd hand for £68, owner had it since August, took the memory out of my current rig & put it in, tested & it's all good, then I finally installed the Samsung memory I bought a bit ago into my current rig, it's 10mm lower than normal low profile memory, low voltage & highly overclockable, no heat sink & a black PCB, got it running at 2133mhz 10,10,10,28 @1.45v, really nice memory & will be nicer still when I take the stickers off.

More soon.