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Thread: Project Stealthlow

  1. #61
    Now making cases for the heck of it =) Waynio's Avatar
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    Quote Originally Posted by x88x View Post
    Probably, but you'll probably need a carbide-tipped drill bit to make the initial hole in the bit.
    Maybe my spot drill bit could do that .

    Got the rest of the windows cut out & mounted the side panels to the bottom corner bars today (they both still need to be filed smooth & to the guide lines) but on 1 side the helicoils aren't working as they should so before things get anodised I'll need to fix this by either drilling the helicoils out all the way through the corner bars & then putting longer helicoils in or drilling holes for m4 helicoils & bolts, the side panels are essential to function spot on, sure I could relocate them but then there will be un-needed holes & I don't want that similar thing happened with my first scratch build & won't let that happen again , I'll try longer helicoils first but I won't be able to buy them until next week.


  2. #62
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    Was up early so got started on filing the left side panel & wow was I seriously wrong about it being a half hour to an hour task started at 6:30 am had the filing done by 10:30 am, only had a 5 minute break, the satinising mops came the other day & thought I'd clean up the freshly filed panel with the coarse grit one & wow I really like it, possibly even enough to not get it anodised but thats my initial reaction to how good it looks anyway , also used the satinising mop on the curve bars.

    Fixed the 2 iffy helicoils on the right side, managed to remove them & tap it again & put new ones in & it's good now .

    Did what I planned on doing by doing the brush flow the same as the shape .

    Currently taking a little break to post this update, then I'll watch a show then get back to doing the right panel, need a good hour break after all that filing.

    So here is the coarse satinising mop on my drill & a scrap piece for testing.


    Heres the another test piece after the brush.


    Heres the left panel after all the filing.


    After the satinising.


    Closer look.


    Back on the case with both curve bars brushed too.




    Hopefully if I can stand it I'll get the other panel done today .

  3. #63
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    Quote Originally Posted by TheMainMan View Post
    Wow, that's quite a difference. I'm picturing that with the blue colour and I think that would be a really stunning look. Great work and congrats on the sponsor!
    Thanks MainMan , I still need to find a good way to apply the ink if I go with that, the sample pieces I done with a coat of clear on was able to scratch it off with my nail quite easily so probably need a clear primer for extra grip, I give up with the black ink, just can't get it looking good even with the airbrush it has hints of purple but there is hope in the colours next time I'll try a few coats of clear .

    OK don't know what driven me but I filed the other panel & brushed it so that must have been about 8 or 9 hours today filing so have sore finger tips lol, still needs a good bit of work like sanding the edges so they are perfectly smooth looking & need to get rid of some scratches which the alu already had when I received it but it's going well, also I thought I fixed the right side panels helicoils but no they are still iffy so best thing to do is remove the helicoils & use m4 helicoils & bolts, shame as the left sides helicoils are perfectly fine so I must have drilled the right side badly creating too much space.

    Bunch of pics of the pieces for today, couldn't help myself & took quite a few .






















  4. #64
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    Holy sheet I've developed a muscle in my forearm I never knew existed & it aches a lot, filing total for yesterday & today rounds up to about 17 hours, gahhh I feel like a zombie.

    The brass thread inserts are meant for acyrlic but I must have miss drilled the bottom right side holes for the helicoils so were not a good tight fit so I used a 4mm drill bit for the brass inserts, placed them in the hole.


    Hammer time

    Put masking tape over it to keep it in place & whacked it in with a hammer, then fine tuned the whacking with a small hammer so it was in flush, good stuff , seems I clipped the back panel & it made the right panel not go on correct so whacked the excess off with a chisel & it goes on fine now.






    Fan mount bars.

    Cut the main 6 bars to required size & was only gonna do these 6 & the other optional 2 or 4 tomorrow but done the lot today.


    Many hours of this.




    Test fit


    Panels on with an extra bolt near the top back of the side panels & the front 2 fan mounts, top fan mount & bottom fan mount filing done.








  5. #65
    Now making cases for the heck of it =) Waynio's Avatar
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    Knowing people are following the log & commenting really does give me that bit more drive to keep moving forward, without the comments from people I'd still be doing slack efforts lol so thanks for that & last but not least thanks to every other modder who do amazing projects who have inspired me to do better .

    I marked up the mobo panel for the fan mounts & where the pci/io piece will go during the night but need to make the pci/io piece before I can mark the mobo mounting holes so I'll work on that tomorrow, had a crazy long sleep waking up at 2 pm yesterday after the filing so I count that as 2 days worth of sleep , I should have been up all day too which should mean a decent update by the end of today but I nodded off the sleep so wrecks the acceptable noise time levels so tomorrow it is .



    LOL I can't figure out why I didn't draw the pci/io lines on the materials when I drew the mobo tray layout last night as it's taken near 3 hours & it's ready for taking to the garage to be cut out which with it being near 8 pm I'll leave until tomorrow now but a little more rest won't hurt .

    This was inspired by an aluminium billet pci/io piece I seen a while ago here on bit-tech but the guys price was I think nearly 200 euros (about the cost of the aluminium on this project), I was in love with it but the price ended that lol so I decided to make my own solid pci/io piece by making layers, the theory is spot on, just hope it turns out the same taken precise measurements from a lian-li piece, made the sketchup model & now it's time to make it.

    I'll be using 2x 5mm acrylic sheets, 2x 2mm aluminium sheets & 1x 1mm sheet to make a 15mm thick piece, only the 2mm inside sheet will have slots, all the rest will be plain cut out area, always wanted to make my own & figure this will be the easiest way to do it compared to bending a sheet of alu.






  6. #66
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    This was going to be an update earlier but got cracking on with an alternative so it wasn't a wasted day .

    LOL didn't go to plan the metal work did but the 5mm acrylic pieces didn't it's just soo brittle so came back in to get my thoughts together & as usual came up with an alternative which is all aluminium & if that fails then I could always go with a pci/io piece from another case & admit defeat on making my own but I'll give it another try but yeah that means loads of marking up again which takes a while to do right.

    So the new plan is 5 3mm pieces bolted together, got 1 done & checked the IO cover from my last mobo & it won't go in easily because of it being 3mm instead of 1mm thick so to fix that all I need to do is give it a bevel on the last piece so the notches of the IO cover can click on.

    Anyway the marking up will be nice & fast actually as I have 1 of the pieces made & it's spot on so it'll make a good template even for the 1 with the slots so back to it I go included the failed acrylic pieces for a laugh, the 1st 1 when drilling ripped a corner off & the 2nd 1 was going ok & cut out the IO piece but the reciprocating saw melted the cuts so wouldn't fall out & with already being frustrated with the 1st piece I whacked it out & it ripped it in half lol.

    Hopefully I'll have some more pieces done by the end of the day, especially the 1 with the slots.

    Started off positive.


    Metal work went well.








    Hmmmm acrylic pieces :lol:.




    Last try but this time all alu .


    Alright, got the needed pieces marked up in about 15 minutes thanks to the piece I already made, time to cut these out & even with getting them done as fast as possible it took 4 hours to cut all these & they require a lot of filing, I'll just have to remember it'll be worth it lol.













    Yeah they look rough as I don't know what but that will change after heaps of filing .

  7. #67
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    Started at 9:15 PM, finished 4:40 AM lol, managed to keep the noise quiet by clamping heavily & holding the pieces so they don't make any vibration or high pitch noise, then came in & cleaned the kitchen, made a coffee & started putting this together while parking my rear, ahhhhh .































    They still require some more work but nothing major .

  8. #68
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    Rolling on again .

    Today I thought why not just make the pci/io jig for while I drill 2.5mm holes for fixing the plates together & used some 2.5mm nuts & bolts while I file them so they blend together better, inside work is done on the 4 plates while the slotted plate needs finishing & the exterior needs the same inside treatment to look good, but yeah I'm liking how they are turning out & the 2.5mm holes are ready to be tapped for m3 bolts .

    Think it took about 2 to 3 hours this.










    Also while I was getting busy doing this & came back over to see if the bolts had come they have so I have the 15mm m3 countersunk bolts & the m6 countersunk bolts for the case feet (wanted to replace the standard bolts for countersunk ones) but thinking about it I might go with the easy option of using the stock bolts, undecided .

  9. #69
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    I tried, I failed at making my own wish it were billet pci/io piece lol bleep happens, 1 of the bolts snapped in half & is stuck in the piece & the hole is countersunk so can't hide that & can't accept such a big imperfection so I drilled a spare pci/io piece off an old case & I'll go with that now, 2 things I'm gutted about: 1 the amount of time ultimately wasted on making this part. 2: it was starting to turn out awesome.

    Also the 15mm bolts I ordered were 13mm this is why I had to countersink deeper so they'd stretch the full length.

    I know I could fix it by filling all the holes & using adhesive to stick them together but that's not a standard I'd be truly happy with so I'm gonna try to forget about it & use the standard piece.






  10. #70
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    Default Re: Project Stealthlow

    I was premature about calling it a failure .

    So here's what I done.

    I did the rest of the bolts to hold the plates together & the failed 1 I ignored & did a new bolt very close to it, had to grind the bolt down so it was correct length, then started on the mounting holes for attaching the piece to the mobo tray & back panel, used wd-40 on all the drilling, tapping & then put helicoils in all the mounting holes, I left the expansion card holes alone as I'm thinking of making a clamp piece that holds all cards in place.

    So I'm going to use body filler to cover all the countersunk bolt heads & to hide the failed hole & for getting the mounting holes aligned to the mobo panel & back panel I'll use my tried & tested cotton bud stick with a blob of paint on method lol it works perfectly so why not .


























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