Project Stealthlow

[Waynio]

The curved bars added a little unsquareness as expected so I need to get it squished a tiny bit so it's in perfect square form so I can get the accurate curve line for the motherboard tray, this bit really needs doing to keep the squareness of the case, so really I need to make a jig for a jig for a jig lol, I'll have it sussed & done soon, I could simplify this part but it would be a gamble for it being perfect so I'll go for the j4aj4aj , had to take a break to have a think of a solution & the day is still young so I'll get started on it in a mo .

[Waynio]

Looking great. Good luck with that j^3.

Thanks 88 .

OK here is the jig to keep the case in correct position so I can mark the motherboard tray panel.

Here it is in the jig.

The rest of the 4mm sheet.

Cut to required size & this picture shows how much the curve bars are pushing it quite unsquare hence the need for the jig .

Lined it up which was quite fiddly to get in the exact spot but got there & marked the curve.

Jigsaw time .

Cut done.

Filed down to precise size using a rough half circle file, then a medium, then soft & forgot to file the bit at the top out where the connector pieces are so went back & filed it out.

Woo hoo, motherboard tray panel ready for mounting which I'll try & get done tomorrow .

[Waynio]

Well got about 4 hours in today so not bad but nothing like the days when I'm up at 6am & put a solid 8 to 12 hours in .

The jig can hold in the case upright lol but put a plank of chipboard for a little extra support, spent most of the time lining up the mobo tray with the curve bars so it doesn't need forcing in so started marking the areas that need shaving down a bit shaving bit by bit off & re marking over & over about 10 or more times until it naturally slid in, so got the mobo side of the case nice & square now even without it properly fixed in place with angle bars, but the other side is unsquare by a little but that will be fine once the side panels are made , when taken out of the jig the mobo tray stays in place which says it is doing it's job of keeping it square like in the jig .

So once I got that done I started on the side panels, they were already to rough size needed but needed straightening by filing away, so marked a perfectly straight line to file down to & got busy, my right forearm is like popeye's now lol , the next pic shows the side panels filed to size with 2x 3mm flatbars also & it's nice & ready to get them marked up, cut & filed & the 2nd pic shows how it's to precise size , actually when I think about it I could make it so the side panels click into place rather than use bolts but either way They will need a little handle of some sort on them so I can remove them .

I'm leaving the acrylic curve piece until I have the metal work ready so I can make an accurate as possible curve .

[Waynio]

Only got 2 hours in today, the natural alarm clock did nothing this time lol.

Left panel cut to rough shape.

Right panel cut to rough shape.

All 3 panels but the side panels only got filed to a rough form of what they need to be so I'll be filing to exact shape tomorrow as I got kicked out of the garage so my dad can get some excercise lol .

[Waynio]

Ooooh. Nice.

I'm feeling great with all this progress each day , it's like spring has come early .

Already happy I got up early, filed both panels to fit perfectly, basically I only needed to get 1 of them spot on & then align it on top of the other & mark around it, then file away so they are both the exact same shape so now I'm going to go draw the simplish window design & maybe get them done today , came over to the house so I could do the measuring & drawing in the warmth & thought why not post where it's at after a few hours .

[Waynio]

Whoops or flipadeedoodar or colourful language flowing , the curves are different to the sketchup model, I knew this but some how forgot I was going semi freestyle with the curve related bits & just using the sketchup as a reference, well here's what went wrong, I drew the window cutout I wanted to do which was correct, but I added the borders seperating the top & bottom wrong so the 2nd level will be seen through the bottom windows, already weighed up the cost for another big 3mm sheet & a word similar to sheet springs to mind mostly because I had it near half done before I tried it out on the case , damnit chin up & just order the sheet. Gutted because if I held off on putting all the holes in for the jigsaw I'd have been ok, shame but sheet happens .

No worrys, I'll just have to order a new sheet & at least I can quickly shape it back to the needed form, but damn it was starting to look cool .

Here it was in progress & when I put the panel on loose I seen it & insta face palmed lol.

OK until I put the jigsaw start holes without checking the panel, what a crapper.

Something good has come from it though, I can handle the jigsaw a heck of a lot better now .

So pretty major hiccup but I'll get it fixed asap, just a shame but I can get to work on the connector pieces while waiting for the new panel & just use the failed panel as a template.

[Waynio]

Okey dokey I extended the length of the upper windows by properly measuring & marking & shortened the length of the lower windows, these should be spot on how I want them now, I'm using this faulty piece as a crash test panel so I get it totally spot on & will make doing the other 2 quite easy, anyway got the rest of the cutouts done today, only spent about an hour today, tomorrow I'll cut all the lower windows out & get all the the windows filed down to exact pattern then I could make 1 of the panels & wait for the sheet to come & with me posting these pics I'll cut back on pictures of the same process when I'm doing it for the finished pieces .

This picture shows clearly where I mucked up .

Nearly all of the aluminium looks quite a mess by now but I'll be cleaning it all up & then doing a brush on it all so don't think it will be this rough looking when complete .

[Waynio]

And one template ready for the new sheet, 1st picture shows straight after all the jigsaw work, 2nd shows after some filing & also shows how it's perfect size & shape for either side .

[Waynio]

Got some supports added for the mobo tray, still needs securing to the curve bars & I think I'll wait until it's anodised to do those as rather than adding more holes to the curves I'll use a super strong metal adhesive & bolt the mobo tray & side panels into the pieces I stick in.

[Waynio]

I started really late today but luckily I seem to be able to do the more technical mounting stuff better & faster late in the day & it's all quiet work so I took another step forward by getting the angle bars mounted for the side panels.

Also I've been looking for alternative ways to colour aluminium without painting or anodising & found alcohol ink, anyone ever tried it, I've ordered 1 bottle of black & 1 blue to test out on some scrap, apparently it comes off if handled regular but to prevent this you can brush a sealer onto it so ordered some matt sealer too, can't wait to try it out, also it is dirt cheap so if it turns out ok then that's a heck of a break through when it comes to finishing for me, reason I'm looking for alternative colouring is I'm having great difficulty finding info on how to mask the mounting holes for if I get everything anodised as the helicoils would be damaged without masking but I suppose I could change all the bolt sizes to m3.5 or m4 if I have no luck in finding out how to properly mask the holes.