Project Stealthlow

[Waynio]

Found what I'll need for masking the helicoiled holes, they are like ear plugs but made from silicone specially designed for the job .

Been going at a good pace but I think I'll pass on making a physical update today & let my energy build back up , I got the replacement sheet of aluminium ready & waiting but I ordered some better jigsaw blades so hoping they come tomorrow, if not then I might just get started on the final side panels, I should be starting with the fretsaw really to get the pci/io piece made but I'll probably get around to that in less than a week .

I have however thought up a much better looking & way of mounting the fans around the mobo, was going to keep it secret though until I've managed to make at least 1 of them, it's a sweet idea in my head so hopefully it'll work as I imagine it would , ordered 3/16 inch round bar for these.

Also the aluminium case feet I ordered & planned on modding them, I've scrapped that idea because they take m8 bolts & I got some m8 countersunk bolts & they are way too big & blompy so decided to order some 2 inch round bar & I'm going to make them myself sorry Bill for using a rough design of yours hope your ok with that I do plan on adding some forms of detail on it too so it's not just plain, I have a plan of using the drill press like a lathe with long full threaded bolt & nuts lol should be interesting, I have my doubts about this one but it's worth giving a try .

[Waynio]

Ugh, my energy & concentration levels peak at the wrong time of day, think it stems back to when I excercised every single day for a few years late in the evening so naturally the best time for modding is evening onwards which is bad if I have any noisy stuff to do so I'm finding it very difficult to progress at the moment, don't want to be going at this with my head not being 100% else I'd probably muck up.

I tested the alcohol ink out though, had trouble applying it nicely with cotton wool, so tried a brush, then tried a sponge but I think some kind of feather would apply it pretty well, but I have an airbrush which I think I should try out with this stuff as I wasn't able to get consistent application, anyway the below pics show the ink applied with sponge & the final 2 pictures show it with a fresh spray of clear lacquer so I'll see what it looks like tomorrow, there are loads of bits on the surface though so it's far from optimal lol.

[Waynio]

About the black ink, someone said it looked copper, someone said brown lol it's supposed to be black , anyway the black turned out pretty naff, 1 of the blues turned out half decent though but I'll stick to the anodising with the case , even tried the ink out in my air brush, it gave a much better finish but I'd need quite a bit of the ink to do the whole case so figure a nice solid protective anodising job would be best.

Here they are once the clear had dried.

Not got my tripod handy.

[x88x]

Very nice finish; I like the blue.

[Waynio]

Very nice finish; I like the blue.

Thanks 88 I dunno maybe I could go this route instead of paying out a load for anodising, it's like £3 for a small bottle that goes a long way, do you think it's worth persisting with this ink stuff to see how good a finish I could end up with?.

Not sure if black is an option though .

[SXRguyinMA]

get creative and anodize it yourself!

http://www.rapidfirepaintball.ca/Anodizing.htm

[Waynio]

get creative and anodize it yourself!

http://www.rapidfirepaintball.ca/Anodizing.htm

To be honest I'd really love to but anodising is something I'd need to have someone who knows the whole process teach me lol, I couldn't read up info & try doing it myself, too dangerous & I'd have no idea where to get the chemicals .
Looks like a lot of good info on the link though .
Also where the heck would I get an 800mm long by 500mm deep tupperware box lol .

I really like doing everything myself so when the time comes for finishing maybe I should just practice my air brush skills from zero to ok .

[Waynio]

So I want to make the case feet now since I got the 2 inch round bar, I really should have got it cut to size as it took me from 8pm to 1:30am just to get them to size, flat & square wow that was sooo tough & thought I'd never get them simply to size & square lol, was all nice & quiet work though so didn't matter .

Here is the case feet choices I've set for myself & still think the ones modelled on mnpctech look the best lol but I might get a last minute idea like with the fan mounts, suppose I could keep them as they are & add simple grooves into them .

Here is the 2 inch bar next to a 3/4 inch square bar & the daunting task ahead of cutting it straight & to required size, it's by far the thickest stuff I've ever cut through.

Would have used the mitre saw but I find it difficult to clamp in place properly if it's a short length like this 125mm piece which is only just enough for 4 feet .

So I took it to the vice, with it being so thick I put a mark about every 15mm & just used the hacksaw to get the saw line twisting the bar around bit by bit & carrying on until I cut all the way through, if I'd have gone straight though from 1 angle it would have been way off & the end result of the first 1 was spot on, however one of the others came out at 23mm instead of 25mm so had to file them all down to the same length, oh how I wish I had a chop saw lol would have been done in a few minutes, anyway got them all to the required same size & square flatness.

Woooooo almost ready for the drill press lathe trick, just need to drill the bolt hole for mounting it in the drill press.

Sooo just hope I don't balls the next stages up .

[x88x]

Wow, nice work with those....and yeah, I can't even imagine cutting that thick aluminum with handtools.

I also like the first foot style best, fwiw.

[Waynio]

Yeah the first ones pictured are the mnpctech design feet I think might be as good as can be done with some round bar, it's the only reason I want to do my own, don't want to copy but yeah it's hard to do better than that .