Project Stealthlow

[Waynio]

Hi all, I got a suggestion from voigts on bit-tech to use full length strips instead of frankenstein type tabs, it left me in a pickle for a bit as I knew he was right lol so I've since ordered the copper sheet but it could be up to about the 4th of June before I get it, so theres the upcoming change which will delay this a little .

Sleep pattern fixed I hope & took some pictures in better light.

Designed & printed & marked the shape of the vents on 4 individual pieces because each 1 will be very slightly different.

Stuck them down to the 3mm copper sheet with cello tape, I'd do a lot better if I used adhesive spray but don't have any & couldn't be bothered with waiting for a delivery or going out to get some lol anyway got it spot drilled & drilled, I was going to use a 4mm drill bit but it was really blunt & getting nothing done so went to the 3.5mm bit.

Then took it to the fretsaw & this was a point where I wish I went & got some spray adhesive so had to be really careful I wasn't going inside the cut line, I really must buy some spray adhesive before I do the other 3, it would make it a lot easier.

Cleaned off all the cello tape.

Got the big stew pan which I partly used for curving the main curve bars & heated up the copper piece a lot & then clamped it at 3 points to make it curved.

It was curved a bit too much so had to carefully whack it with a mallet on a solid metal piece so used the vice & with the shape not being exact with it not being stuck down properly I had to take it back & forth to the disc sander shaving bit by bit off until it plonked into the vent hole & here is the first 1 done wooooo .

[Waynio]

Got my head straight with some good much needed rest & got the other 3 vent meshes made today, mucked up on 1 of them somehow so re-made the 1 I mucked up .

Up next cut, bend & drill the mounting holes in the copper full length tabs.

[Waynio]

Ok so this is why I like the little tabs, they are highly functional & show the fact that the window is flush to the alu curve bars which in itself is pretty cool but also it makes taking the window out or the bottom panel out incredibly easy with only needing to untighten the tabs a tiny bit to flip them up or down which releases the panels, also no excess forces.

Anyway on to making the full lengths strip tabs, here is 2 25mm strips cut with the jigsaw.

Also before moving on I put the mounting bar back in for holding the bottom of the window in place as it bulged out a tiny bit & I didn't like that & was scared stupid of wrecking the window while drilling & countersunk the mounting holes lol, it went fine thank goodness .

So the actual bending of the copper strips was soooo much more difficult than I anticipated & done heaps of different methods to get the curves I was after but as usual the top curve was a PITA .

This is the first thing I really don't like with the copper strip tabs, with it being 3mm thick (I should have chosen 2mm) I think it's tougher than the aluminium as it's pulling the alu curve out by a good 2mm on the top curve, not good.

I placed the left side vent meshes in for a glipse of how it might look .

I don't like it as much as the tabs but even though it cost extra to get this copper piece I'm kinda glad I did even if it was just to put the idea into practice to see if I like it or not, sometimes you just know straight away if you like something or not & this is 1 of those things I don't like, doesn't look as good to me & it's a massive hassle with installation & that was without having the window & vent meshes in, so yep I'll be going back to my original tabs & I'll straighten out these copper strips & put them aside for other projects.

So up next is taking measurements of the bottom optical tray, eject button & vent location & designing it & making it .

[Waynio]

Got the alu curve bar fixed back in shape after the copper ripping it out of shape, it also ripped the helicoil out & knackered the thread for the helicoil so called for drilling the mounting hole with a 4.5mm bit & whacking a brass thread insert in place but it's sorted now, phew .

Run a little test on countersinking the mesh holes like I did on the back panel, 1 side deep countersinks, the other tiny countersinks, bit iffy with the holes close to the edge as shown but I do quite like this effect what do you guys think.

Also smoothed off all the tabs by brushing them & they are to a nice colour now, the next stage for these is to polish them.

Anyway I'm back to where I were the other day but with cleaned up tabs & cleaned up curve bars.

So now I need to get the optical drive mounted back in the case so I can take measurements for the bottom front panel design .

[Waynio]

Looking awesome! I like it with the tabs better as well, I can't quite put my finger on it but it just "works". The vent panels are a nice look.

Think what Gtek said earlier about not adding too much was very correct , guess it was just too much copper, thanks mate .

you know what... that copper look has just grown on me man... THAT IS NICE!!!

Thank you licenseless .

I like the two tone effect as well. It's not just nice, it's great!

Thanks mate .

Took the measurements of the locations of the eject button, optical tray & where the front vent should be, then designed it & went to work on it, still need to re-make the alu panel as I carelessly turned the piece while being distracted by something so cut it in a wrong spot accidentally, also need to do the diy mesh on the copper panel but got a few shots while there was a touch of blue sky & it really was just a touch .

[Waynio]

/drool

Hehe Cheers Blibbax .

Re-made the front alu piece & brushed it & laid a mesh template down on the copper piece & spot drilled, drilled with a 3.5mm bit & then a 7mm bit & then countersink madness .

[Waynio]

Nearly had a disaster for my power drill, jigsaw & fretsaw as I forgot about a spot in the garage that leaks when raining heavy, the jigsaw & power drill escaped the water but the fretsaw was covered in it & it also lost it's ability to tighten up the blade properly before this so I took it all apart to dry it all off & to see why I can't tighten it, figured as much the thread had worn away & I've barely used it but didn't let it put me off using it & wooooo I love using it for complex cuts, really really nice, but want to get a better one as I could only use the pin less blades a couple of times, it has a really crappy method for using pin less but it's fine for pinned blades so I'll stay with that until I can afford a new better one .

I got the feeling whenever there was too much copper built up in an area it didn't quite make me smile or it did & then I'd be saying to myself it needs something else so I set about designing a different alu panel to break it up a little & man am I glad I did , been a while since I've cut something nice like this & it's got me hooked on the fretsaw .

But was all out of 0.7mm alu so had to use 1mm, the copper sheet for the mesh panel is 2.25mm so the 0.7mm made it a perfect flush fit so think I'll have to either sand the copper panel down 0.3mm across the whole face of it or just give a faint bevel on the alu panel.

I think this piece might have come about from the moral boost from comments so thanks everyone & keep em coming .

I'm going to add something different in place of the stretched copper tabs also .

[Waynio]

if you ask me... this is much nicer and goes with the flow of the case than the copper tabs (and i know it was just used to clamp stuff down but it still looked better)

thats just my opinion man... but keep up the good work

Not given up on the idea, seemed to have gathered some motivation after doing that bottom panel .

If you could combine both (with arches in the copper to support removal........


But MAN THAT THING IS HUGE!

That is another alternative , I think it'll look pretty normal once the hardware goes in .

^^^^ I agree

Seems a popular choice then , it was voigts who suggested it he has a good eye for quality .

I'm trying to think of a way to implement the copper curve bars but I found it was too much copper & it didn't look right to me, plus it messed up the form of the aluminium curve, fixed it now but it'll require a good bit more work on them to make them a perfect fit without it adding excess force to the main structure, I'm considering using the drill press & the milling bit I have to route a 10mm channel 1mm deep to place aluminium in there & so the mounts go through the alu, I'm not certain but I think it'll look much better than big plain copper bars.

Another alternative but requires a purchase of 1.2mm copper sheet is to do a pyramid step type form so a 25mm copper bar, then a aluminium one then a copper bar & the middle 1 being the mounting one.

Heres a concept of both.

I was going to make an alternative for the tabs that stretch across the case but everyone saying do those so came up with a couple of alternatives that I think would look better, so let me know what you think, cheers .

[Waynio]

Well rested & back on form, shame my tools aren't decided to give the copper bars another shot but with a strip of alu in the middle like in the concept pics I shown earlier, got 1 of the copper strips straightened back out.

Here I am getting the centre of the copper bar aligned with alu flat bars clamped in place to stop it moving around, I did clamp extra bars on top to hold it in place properly vertically too but it made it so the copper couldn't slide through , anyway it all went wrong because of the crappy drill table moving up or the chuck letting the mill bit move down & ended up milling all the way through the flipping piece grrrr, think I'll accept I can't mill good with a drill press now .

The main problem is getting the correct depth when doing this, takes ages to set the depth & for it to stay there, I tightened it all up good & proper but still just wasn't enough, mills are way too expensive for me so next best in line is a router.

But I can safely say the full length copper pieces will not happen on this, I tried with what I've got & failed so I'll keep working on tabs & reserve the copper for something else.

Just taking a quick time out to post this, then I'm getting back onto it .

[Waynio]

under neath the clamps on the exit side of the path for the copper... place another piece of metal above that so that the copper has to ride underneath it like a bridge to hold the copper in place so it doesnt want to flex up causing it to rise and drill all the way threw...

basically make a guide... so you have two pieces of metal giving it the path and two more pieces of metal going perpendicular to those two pieces forcing the copper down.... does that make since...

and keep it lubed baby yeah hahahaahaha

hehe , Yeah makes sense mate but it wasn't that that caused it to go deep, it was either the drill platform moved to a different higher height which is doubtful so I'll rule that possibility out, I'd say it was the milling bit came down a bit causing it to cut deeper, it went too far along to make this piece usable & the copper is too expensive to be wasting like that, so I'm not sure I'll bother with copper strips, not got deep enough pockets lol, was ok with the acrylic as it wasn't expensive but the copper .

I'll find a solution to make it good though .

Didn't get to do any more on it today, garage got taken over , but was sunny again so took a couple extra pictures , also flipped the copper mesh around & think it's more fitting with tiny countersinks so matches the other front vents better, so will need to make a new eject button hole.