Project: The System

[Xperiment]

Originally Posted by p0Pe

new frame is so much better

Agreed, great work!

[Lord Ned]

Interesting, I'll have to watch this. I'm doing a frame similar in my build, and I don't know what to use for the frame. (Like what type of metal)

Let me know if this gets any easier to work with.

[Tavarin]

@pOPe, The boy 4rm oz, and Xperiment - Yah, I am so much happier with this frame. The last one was made more on a whim, this one I was very serious.

@fate - I did think of that, fortunately the riser I made is only glued in. Strong enough to hold everything, but I can get it off to make adjustments if it turns out to be off.

@Lord Ned - It not that it's that hard to work with, it's just that did all of that work with a hand saw, making it far harder than it would have been with power tools. I would definitely recommend this stuff, it's strong and lightweight.

Update 7 - The Top

So today I got the top of this system finished up. This included fitting in the power supply, and making the top panel.

So I tried fitting in a power supply:

As you may be able to see the screw holes don't exactly line up. Also this is just a spare power supply, not the one I'll actually be using.

So I did a bit of filing and expanded the holes for the power supply, and voila:

It fits like a charm. Once again, I am not using this ugly old power supply, it just happens to be the same size as the one I plan to use.

So I also said that I made the top panel.
Well that began with me marking out the cuts I had to make on some sheet aluminum:

The smaller holes will be for my Zune dock, and the larger for that 120mm fan.

So I cut out the panel, and the fan hole, and test fitted it into the frame:

Not too shabby. I'll make it look prettier later. I also need to get a good looking fan guard. I am not good enough with metal to make my own.

And I commenced with cutting the Zune dock hole:

Since I am not blessed with a hole saw or drill bit large enough I had to use a small drill and cut out around a circle. It was not pretty.

But I filed it down and made that dock fit:

It's a tight squeeze which means I don't have to bother making a support for it. Yay for the easy way out!

As you probably know sheet aluminum is rather flimsy stuff. So I added some support beams to the bottom of the panel:

I may put some on the outside as well, cause those look pretty good.

And voila, here is the case as far as I have gotten:

Not too shabby. I still need to add a few more screws to secure the top panel, but that can wait, gravity is on my side.

And as always my trusty to do list

To Do

- Make power and reset buttons
- Make the rest of the paneling (bottom, and sides)
- Make front door system
- hinge front door system
- Make fan holes wherever needed
- Make windows
- Install lighting system

Thanks for reading. I hope to have another update soon.

Cheers

[Lord Ned]

Looking good, nice idea to intergrate the zune dock.

[Tavarin]

@Lord Ned - Thanks

Update 8 - More Panels

Well it's been a while since I updated, real life was calling me. Since March Break ended a week ago, I've had a few unit tests, and some projects due in school, leaving me no time to mod. But I had today off since it's good Friday.

First thing's first, I got some goodies in the mail from Frozen CPU last night. Here they are:

From left to right we have fan extension cables, black wire sleeving, a cold-cathode light tube (blue), and an Aerocool FP-01.

Here's a close up of the FP-01:

This thing is pretty cool. It's a 55 in 1 card reader, had front USB and e-Sata, 3 temperature monitors that can be placed anywhere in a case, and is a fan controller. This is all done through a flip out LCD screen. I can't wait to get this thing running, and it will be a great addition to my computer.

As for building I made the bottom panel of this case.

I started with the panel I had made for the previous frame:

This thing is too wide.

So I bent in the excess on each side:

This was to add strength and stability, as well as to all me to make tabs for sliding it in.

Here's it on the case:

The panel slides in and out easily, which will be necessary to swap hard drives, and it wants to stay on without any screws.

I also cut out these three bars for the top panel:

These should look cool.

So I used Epoxy to attach them to the panel:

I also added on some offset pieces underneath to hold the panel down without the need for more screws:

And here it is, all pretty:

It looks pretty good.

I'm going to fill in any gaps in the corners of the frame with green stuff (epoxy putty, which modelers will be aware of) and then I'm going to paint the frame a matte black all over, and the I'll paint the panels. I'm not sure what colour I should paint the panels, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I'm open to input.

To Do

- Make power and reset buttons
- Make the rest of the paneling (sides)
- Make front door system
- Paint frame and panels
- hinge front door system
- Make fan holes wherever needed
- Make windows
- Install lighting system

I should have another update in the next couple days.

Cheers

[The boy 4rm oz]

Looks very nice but fix that fan hole up on top.
Get some of this, it works great.
Linky:
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...roducts_id=189

[Tavarin]

I am most definitely not done with the top panel. My intention is to put a nice fan guard on the top, I just haven't purchased one yet. I want to get all the sides and components made first, then I'll set about making this case look good.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Originally Posted by Tavarin

I am most definitely not done with the top panel. My intention is to put a nice fan guard on the top, I just haven't purchased one yet. I want to get all the sides and components made first, then I'll set about making this case look good.

Fair enough.

[Tavarin]

Sorry if I sounded a little condescending there, I meant nothing by it.
Thanks for the link though, I might be able to use that to edge the panels, make them look cleaner.

[scar~face]

good stuff man, looks alot better with the better frame