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Thread: The TIP-3000

  1. #11
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Thanks for the compliments and suggestions guys!

    Kimberley (My girl, she's a farmer) Candlelighted the eggs last night. Which is where you put them next to a light and look through the eggs. It's really too early to be able to tell what's going on, but she thinks there's something in the duck egg D3. We can't tell with the chicken eggs yet. The REALLY BIG duck egg has something inside of it, but Kim thinks it's just a double-yolk or something.

    Apparrently the reason chickens lay so many eggs is because they're so crap at reproducing. They attempt it on a nearly daily basis because if they didn't they would all die out. So we're not holding out for much from the chickens: it would just be luck at the end of the day. Ducks, are apprently a whole different kettle of fish. They have a pretty high success rate and lay far fewer eggs.

    And it's about 18 days till hatching time; i just realised i'm not exactly sure on that to be frank. I think incubation lasts 3 weeks, and you can only properly candle after 18 days. But i can't remember when i started incubation. I think it was about 6 days ago actually. Not too long i guess.

    On another note, i passed my driving Theory test this morning, which is pretty sweet. And i just noticed that this thread topped 1000 views. Crikey, eh? Well, i'll post another update later when i get the chance.

    Thanks guys!

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  2. #12
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Brief update:

    A great discussion has broken out over here about some ideas for the case. I figured i should post a link here in order for this worklog to be more complete-some of the ideas getting chucked around are pretty incredible, from a pad that needs to be stroked a certain way to thumbscanners and such forth-honestly, take a look.

    The eggs were candled again the other day; it doesn't look like we're getting a duck, but we seem to have 2 chickens. I'll let you know on friday, and they should hatch next week if they're going to.

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  3. #13
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Worklog time!

    I’ve finally found the time to get some work done on the Integration Project. It’s been a while since I’ve been into the cellar, almost 2 months, and I was a little annoyed to find out that someone had carelessly put something on my side panel, bending it out of shape. After a short period of hammering I had it back in shape, and cracked open the Bondo, although it’s a cheap knock-off called ‘Chemical Metal’, whatever the heck that is.

    First off, here’s a plan I’ve been working on in Sketchup. It’s not finished yet but it helps me visualise where I’m going to be taking the mod.


    So one of the first things than needs done is the rails for the side panels. After cutting them off the old lid, I attemped to attach them to the new one. I used a chopstick to apply the bondo in small amounts into the crack, in the theory that it’ll hold it all together nicely. The first time I tried it, it didn’t exactly work, and I had to go back and re-apply more bondo. But after a few tries, I think I’ve got it sussed. Here’s some pics of how I eventually got it on.






    I’m aware that it’s a complete mess, but this stuff is much harder to use than bondo brand I suspect. I’ll use the dremel to shave it down. finally, I put the mesh in the side window. I’m going wait for it to dry, then I’ll be looking at the putting the mesh into the lid, and from then on, I’ll be done till I’m sure about what I’m doing. I suspect it will be back to measuring and trying to find a suitable hinge for the front of the computer.


    Unfortunately, all the eggs I was incubating were infertile bar one, which died when we had a sudden heatwave in the last day. Needless to say I was a little upset, but such things happen. My girlfriend, Kimberley, will buy chickens from the next farm market she comes across, so we’ll get a mascot for this project at some point.

    That’s all for now, I’ll update again tonight, hopefully!

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  4. #14
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Worklog Time!

    Maybe that should read "Damage Control". Here's a photo of the original mess...


    ...then I cleaned it up with the dremel...


    ...before assembling the lid and re-applying the bondo substitute. Not sure if i used enough hardener this time, but i think it'll come out ok. I used the sanding part of a dremel to clean it up, and then a tack cloth to ensure that the whole thing was clean for the liquid metal crap to stick to. As you can also see, I’ve started putting the mesh into the lid too, although the mesh at the front is going to be tight fitting to say the least.


    Here's a close up of the 'bondo' job. I know it looks a mess but I’m working with crappy tin-like metal and the bondo substitute's pretty heavy, so it tends to sink.


    I used a small pair of clamps to hold the damaged rail that the Jigsaw wrecked earlier on into shape. Hopefully, when this crap has dried, it'll all be held in place.


    I also used some of the left over stuff to fill in some holes in the back of the computer. I'm going to give this plenty of time to dry before I worry about it, so expect a work log update sometime next week. I'll be working in a job (shudder) just after I expect this stuff to dry, so it will take a while.


    As always, feedback is welcome.

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  5. #15
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Worklog Time!

    Sorry about larger filesizes in this particular update.

    Well, the clamps did their job poorly. Well, in truth, I messed up the bondo again-I never mixed the hardener all the way through and a part came out soft. But, I managed to fix that with some epoxy putty, which you can see here.



    Because the Mixture’s heavy, I also had an issue with the stuff on the back if the computer not holding it’s shape, so it sanded into a complete mess. But I cleaned it up, applied another layer to fill in the gaps, and it went on nice and smooth.



    It sanded down quite evenly as well, to give me this.



    from the back....



    Which means that the top part is pretty much finished! It looks a little bit like this.



    Now onto the front. I cut the pieces out of some card, so I can play around with a layout that I like. Then, I get to work with the pencil and mark out the places that I want to cut, making sure to leave plenty of space for the mesh and such. When I finally get a layout planned, I’ll add it to my render, before I do any messing around to make sure that I’m going to like the way it comes out. I’ll post that soon enough, but I’ll leave you with this pic just now.


    I also wanted to say thanks to the 2,955 people who have hit this Worklog: I know work is slow, but I’ll make it in the end. Comments are always welcome, hope you check back later too!

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  6. #16
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    hurry and finish it!
    I got fed up with part of the design, mostly because the inspiration just wasn't coming. I'd spend a long time looking at the parts i'd half finished, trying to figure out how to do the next bit. I'll try and update tonight with the new facade for the front, but until then...i'd just like to offer my apologies to everyone who contributed great ideas that, ultimately, i'll not use in this: maybe another time, but not here. The case is taking me too long, and now I just want it to be finished so I can get on with other things, like actually using the case. I had expected to finish this months ago, so i'll knuckle down and get it finished, but without all the bells, whistles, and other crap. This is really only so i can practice my techniques anyway-it is, after all, my first case mod.

    Thanks for the support guys-watch this space.

    Oh, and i'm not saying the result would be worse-just more function, sleeker design, and less rubble.

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  7. #17
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    I have had a bad, bad, day.

    First off, the top section that i spent ages trying to get right...just after getting it right? It fell off a shelf and broke. I thought i could handle it.

    Then, i opened up my brand new x1900xt...to discover it's so badly damaged it won't even fit into the case...it looks like it's been dropped.

    So i installed my new PSU. It's a great looking PSU, and i'm really impressed with it. So i was here, replying to this thread, when ZAP. Everything goes off. It seems to be dead. So allthough i have plenty to say, and even pictures to show you, please forgive me for not putting them up till tommorow. It's too late for this ****, and I want sleep.

    Hey man, that case is looking pretty good! Keep up the good work! I never have the patience to mod like that, I'm all too eager to start using it. Hope those calculations i gave you were right, don't want you ruining those meters hehe. In case you haven't guessed, I'm the guy who served you in Maplin earlier.
    Thanks for dropping by! Yeah, the whole thing is taking ages to get finished. I set up the circuit on the breadboard with an old PSU, and it seems to be working Ok, although i haven't finished setting it up. Thanks for all your help today-really appreciated!

    man can you tell me from were the Gril you get not on he internet can yyou tell me what it called and were can i find it and what i say for shop keeper !
    If you mean the fan grill's i'm cutting, then you need to ask for some square peices of Aluminium-if you mean the mesh, you're asking for louvre'd mesh. It's pretty standard trade stuff-go to somewhere that makes the casings for stuff, and ask (beg) for scraps.

    Anyway. It's late, and i want to sleep. See you later.

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  8. #18
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Worklog Time!

    Well, you allready knew i had trouble getting inspiration for this case. These are some of the things i destroyed in an attempt to get the inspiration for this case.



    I think i'll work this in too...



    Now here's the damage that happened to the top bar. Ouch. Again...



    I made another trip to Howarth Switchgear, and these are some of the materials that i got...finally got some Diamond plate! I think I know what i'm going to do with it, but all will be revealed later. I taped up the Aluminium before cutting at this point.




    Although i won't reveal how that's going for a wee while. I have some of these metal bars that are from a broken IKEA bed. I'm going to use one of them to help support the egdes. I'll get there in the end.




    So i cut one of them down a little bit...



    ...and hammered in the ends to make it nice and square. Then i took the CD stabliser off the top of the case, and used it to further strengthen the side rails. Some epoxy stuck the stuff together, and it looks like it's going to work pretty well.




    Tada!



    I was quite impressed with this new Xclio PSU when i took it out of the box...although this label, perhaps, should have warned me about the product...




    Although i have to say, the PSU has a nicematt finish, and a good selection of cables, and in the ooh...hour that it was working, it was quiet as a mouse. Although mine blew up, i suspect that this was a one off, so maybe you shouldn't write off the company quite yet-here's a pic of the PSU.




    I've also got a picture of the damaged graphics card! I'm pretty dissapointed, but i expect those nice guys at scan computers will have it all sorted out in no time. They've allready got me a nice new PSU.




    As i hinted at earlier, i've made a lot of progress since i took these photos, so when i've finished the next stage, i'll let you know. See you later guys!

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  9. #19
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Worklog Time!

    Ok, i've finally found the time to update this! I actually updated this the other night but for some reason the post didn't appear. Which made me scream for a while, to say the least.

    Anyway: What's new? I got the replacement graphics card, and to say the least, it is noisy as hell and sweet as hell. Now, i knew those graphics coolers were said to be noisy. But this thing is NOISY. I'll take a video when i get the chance of the noise that this thing makes...it's not natural.

    Anyway, here's me plans for the computer. They're half finished, but i'm probab;y not going to finish them: I'm farly happy with how it looks, and that's as far as I can bothered going with these.


    Ok, so for this, let me explain. Behind the mesh there's going to be an LED light display, that will slowly flicker between different LED's. As the computer gets busier, the lights will flash faster. The LED from the Drives will be removed and hooked up to a PIC which will calculate how busy the drive is and perform a similar function. When i move onto the PIC's, i'll set up a tutorial on them, because they're damn useful for guys like us but most folks have never even heard of them. The panel is my custom control panel, which is actually finished, but i'm trying to work out a few niggles before i bother posting pics of it.



    This shows the side panel more. Underneath the Plexi i'm going to have waste electronics with a few peices of mechanical mumbo-jumbo thrown in there to boot, along with a cold cathode tube for mood lighting. I'm not sure if i should get a white tube, as the plexi's orange, or get an orange tube, as it would make everything even more orange. Feedback on this point would be appreciated. I'm also thinking about putting a little flashing hazard light in the top right hand corner, which is what you see there. I'm going to go and cut this stuff pretty much now, so these plans are finalized, but it's the little details that count. Feedback is appreciated, and please don't shy away from telling what you don't like about it- If i didn't want feedback, good or bad, then I wouldn't keep a worklog.

    That's all for now, I should update again later.

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

  10. #20
    Paradox Sausage DaveW's Avatar
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    Default Re: Integration Project: Stage 1

    Worklog Time!

    Thanks for the Feedback guys! I'll put an interior switch behind the front door, which will enable me to turn it on and off at will without so much as a worry. Now i'll get on with that worklog that i've been promising you for about a month.

    So first up: i've got the front end ready to cut, and i've been trying to get the time to cut the damn thing for ages. Hopefully today, but you never can tell. Pretty boring at this end, not much to show at the minute.


    But there's a decent amount of progress with my dashboard (and that is what I shall call it henceforth). It's going to have 2 fan speed controllers built in, a vandal proof switch for the main power, and two smaller switches to control the doors of the drives. The one to the left will control the case fans and the one to the right will control the speed of the Zalman fans that i'm using in this case. To design it, I masked of an area from a piece of Aluminium. I then cut out the shapes in cardboard, so I could choose exactly where to put everything. When that was done, I drew my plans in the masking tape, and got to work. (I had a bit of help from my friend Cheryl here-thanks for helping me to enlarge the holes!)


    After a few hours of work, it had all the necessary holes. I also had a small problem-somehow i had managed to put a massive scratch into the metalwork. But, after a round of some heave wet and dry paper, I managed to remove the worst of the damage. By putting it together with selotape and screws, i ended up with this-although the knobs for the fan speed controller are not installed at this point.


    Inside, instead of using the circuit that I'd planned to use, i'm using some modified Zalman Fanmates. This pic shows the progress: I'll do a small diagram about how to modify the zalman fanmates when they're finished. It's a simple circuit that anyone can make. Hell, I did it.


    I know this was possibly the worst update ever, but i've got a lot of things half finished, and i'm just waiting till i have more done so i show you something more substantial. Watch this space.

    -Dave
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Ideas are just knowledge soaked in alcohol.
    Quote Originally Posted by jdbnsn
    Did I just get in a Volvo? Volvo's don't have guns!

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