--- r e f l e X i o n ---

[diluzio91]

I have $5 that says the computer comes to life at night and cleans the house!

[artoodeeto]

the side of his case resembles a whirlpool or a galaxy. If it's a whirlpool, that's indicative of 2 things. 1 - washing machines. 2- drains. this is clearly NOT a washing machine (...or IS it....). So that leaves #2, drains. I think it symbolizes the amount of money that's gone down the drain on this project. Yep.
Unless the side of the case is a galaxy, in which case I'd say that it, along with the clearly visible "zero g" drive bays, provides a space theme, and the tube is (obviously) a wormhole reference. So really, the hidden meaning is Stargate. Yep. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it, no matter how ludicrous. heheheeheee

ok ok...I *did* notice that the coiled tube does seem to resemble a bit the design on the side of the case. But I doubt that's what he's talking about.

[Waynio]

Coming along steadily .
Like the routing table , a tool I would like to get at some point, quite a lot of nice progress since I last checked in, new all black slot motherboard too nickel plated motherboard block too, going to be one heck of a sweet rig this bud , keep it up .

You & many others have inspired me to take note of the quality of pictures & have got around to getting an ok camera , it's not a dslr but it's got full manual controls and picture quality is far better than my last, even going to make a soft light box for future projects, but going to be concentrating on airbrushing for the meantime, finishing has always been my weak point so is my number 1 modding priority now .

[Xion X2]

Ok, guys. The 'hidden meaning' had to do with the side panel, so here's the deal with it.

I believe the time has arrived to reveal the secret behind the side panel of refleXion.

When at first, it appeared as acrylic. Then, I revealed that it was actually a mirrored acrylic piece. Now, here is the next revelation:

The side panel window, instead of being a mirror, is actually two-way mirror perspex. It's the same stuff that's used in security cameras. When lit from behind, it becomes transparent so that you can see through it.

Notice in the above photo that at the left corner where the softbox is sitting behind it, it is perfectly transparent. Then, as you move to the right and out of the path of light, it becomes a mirror again.

[Xion X2]

So I've been getting in a lot of practice with the router table. This is quickly becoming my favorite tool (I know, I say that with every purchase, but it's true!)

What I'm attempting now is to recess cut the Zero-G shelves that the pumps rest on. The reason I'm doing this is because, after going with 1/4" plexi in place of 1/8", the pumps now sit 1/8" higher and do not line up properly in the windows. You'll see what I mean shortly.

First step was to draw an outline of the pump base on a test plexi shelf that was cut to scale at 1/4" thickness. Then, I'll recess cut it with the router 1/8" which was the thickness of the perspex in the original design of the Zero-G Chamber.

The place you'll want to pay attention to is on the left (there are a few cuts on this piece. Like I said, it was used for testing, so please ignore them.) It's outlined with the sharpie. I'm using a standard board as a straight edge on the right so that I can cut a straight line downward on that left side.

This is how it looks all cleared out. There are some rough grooves in there, but those will come out once we start sanding it down.

I'll hit it with my power sander first and use the mouse/detail end attachment.

This is how it looked afterward.

Now we go through the torturous process of sanding this down back to opaque (I really need a torch..)

But first, this is how it will look. You can see that the base of the pump now rests in that 1/8" recess cut.

Now to the sanding...

My fingers feel like they're about to fall off at this point. 2000 grit below (forgot to include it on the photo)--

Still not perfectly opaque, so we'll have to keep working with it. I'll pick up a torch and some Brasso or another abrasive tomorrow as the sanding is taking forever.

For now, this is how it will look mounted in the Zero-G Chamber. The recess cut as shown through the pump window--

And now with the pump seated in it.

The bottom pump resting on top of the 1/4" shelf. This will need to be recessed as well. You can see the top of the pump base is showing through the window a little, and I only want the res top showing--

Now onto another piece.

I've been experimenting with my unibits and this plexi. I'm really happy at the clean circular cuts they make. I plan to use pass-thrus on the middle plexi shelf. Why? Difficult to explain at this point, but to put it short, the tubing, when routing back into the chamber, has to make its way back over to the pumps which are on the other side of that plexiglass shelf.

I've probably confused you, but it'll become clear shortly.

That's all for now. Thanks for checking in.

[cellsite60]

WOW this is awesome !!!

[artoodeeto]

wow. amazing work, as I'm coming to expect from you. I like the 2-way perspex, I didn't pick up on that at all in the older photos, but when you point it out it's more evident. I'm harboring something of a hope to be able to see this in person someday

incidentally, is that the pump w/reservoir on top that danger den is selling now? About how big is it? I might be doing something similar for my own build and I'm trying to figure out what will physically fit in there.

[x88x]

Very nice work. I love what you've been doing with the router table. One tip you might want to try for the second piece, if you're jumping straight from 150 to 600 grit, that might be the source of some of the scratches. If you use 300 or 400 or so inbetween, it shouldn't leave any scratches that higher grit cannot get at.

[msmrx57]

HOLY CARP!!! This just keeps getting cooler and cooler. Loving it. It's easy to love a router table because you can do so much with them. You attention to detail is top notch for sure.

Very nice work. I love what you've been doing with the router table. One tip you might want to try for the second piece, if you're jumping straight from 150 to 600 grit, that might be the source of some of the scratches. If you use 300 or 400 or so inbetween, it shouldn't leave any scratches that higher grit cannot get at.

I agree 100%. You should use every grit in progression because it keeps the scratches more consistent. So then the finer grits don't take as much to get a smooth finish.

[Waynio]

Very nice, the router table looks the way to go for working with plexi, sweet work Xion .
Is it possible to use a router with a specific bit for aluminium?.