DESIGNS ARE FINISHED!!!!!!! (I'm happy in case you hadn't noticed) (All the hardware in the designs is for mock-up purposes only) First image: The new internal structure is what I was really focusing on with this third design, using M6 screws passing through the side panels and into the hand-fabricated cubes (although they're actually 50m*50mm*40mm) and all the other panels being glued together, but using 20mm*20mm beams running along the essential joints for extra support. Second image: An idea first suggested by Cheapskate to which i was cynical at first was to have a kind of secondary bracing panel on the side of the case (Cheaps may have meant on the top and bottom, but it's gone on the side), this decreases the likelihood of the case bending under stress. Third: This is how the bracing panel would look with the right side panel and radiator Fourth: The back panel of the case was made to have a Lian-Li style PSU bracket, and room for the motherboard to be pulled out via the handle conveniently attached to it on the right of the card slots and the two drawer runners with disconnecting mechanism, so the tray can actually be taken away from the system and placed on a table to work. Fifth: The front panel houses room for up to 11 drives, with three of those taken up by hard drive storage. I plan to make adapters to be able to fit in 120mm fans into three drive bays, or 80mm fans into two bays. Sixth: The top panel is designed to hold up to two 120mm fans, as before, but you may notice that there is a hole on the right side and 3/4 of the way up, this is for a Koolance fill port, as the previous fill port was located on the top of the old reservoir, which I unfortunately had to scrap due to insufficient room. I also wanted to be able to install a two fan radiator in this space in the future, because as newer technologies create more and more heat, more heat dissipation would be required, either that or i could just decide to cool the NB/SB etc. Seventh: The middle panel has a cable management hole underneath it, but will also have more holes toward the center and above the motherboard tray in the final version. The motherboard tray has capacity for an 80mm fan, which will be attached to the same lighting faders as the lights on the other fans. Eighth: The waterfall!! The gap which water can occupy on it's way down is actually 2.5mm (don't ask why) and there is a small reservoir at the bottom of the fall. Ninth: This is a view of what the left side would look like, with a very nice shot of the motherboard through the window (what am i talking about, this case IS a window!) Tenth: I'm really only posting this so you can see the beveled edges on the bracing panels, this is on the inside of the oval shape on the bracing panels as well. Eleventh: You can see here that the fill port would pass straight by the radiator This also gives a good aerial perspective of the motherboard pull-out handle. Please feel welcome to keep posting names, ideas, and advice on the designs and the project that is soon to ensue... Thanks for listening
First, I see no way for you to get screws into the back side of the drives. It also appears to be hitting the motherboard. The 20x20 beams would be unnecessary because the inner walls are preventing shear, and the cubes are overkill. They are keeping you from fitting your parts too. The thickness of the additional bracing walls is pretty extreme. I can see you having problems getting parts past them. The external bracing you added is a better idea. It's similar to what I have planned for my next build. -Which I don't mind if you steal from at all. Edit: I posted it here. It's the ugly green one. If you are dead-set on adding a big cube, I'd add a lot more bolt areas to the frame, and use something like the 20mm stuff glued behind each bolt hole Remember that the laser cutter can only cut through about 1/2" maximun.
, i just realized that before you posted! And i was hoping that no-one would notice about the long drivebays, I'll shorten them by a couple of cm I think I'll remove the section of the middle panel that's parallel to the drivebays. All true, i don't like the beams that much, they are quite overkilish But the cubes have to stay, there's no other way of being able to access everything in the case, I may just edit them and bring them down to maybe 20*20*20 with the tapped ALU inside being 15mm long and 7-8mmOD? Say again? not quite understanding here, I've only added in one extra bracing wall on each side panel...
Ok... You said you were going to build this in 10mm, right? That means the beveled external braces you added will make the edges 20mm~3/4" thick. That's plenty of bracing right there. -The glued in drive bays and central divider are helping fight shear forces... -The cubes are still overkill. That's at least an inch of extra material going into each corner. You only need another 10mm section to hold the nut in place. Mill a little hole in the back, and trap some of these in the hole. Or some of these would be easier. Captive nuts are a bit trickier. Sometimes you have to pull on the screw to get them to grab as you unscrew the bolt. That's why I'm recommending the square nuts. Of course with m6, you could just tap the plastic. I'll throw some sketchup in later- food now... Edit: -This would be 2 10mm panels glued together with the nut trapped inside. This way would give you back all the space that the cubes steal from you. You could make the case much smaller too. A clean fit with no wasted space would get better marks. -Here's what I meant when I said curves, etc. The inner frame thing in your current design wouldn't need to be much. -Say 10 to 12 mm thick and 20mm around the nuts, (unless the nuts used are huge.) You need more than just 4 bolts per side on something this heavy, though. I'd also start thinking about your cutting layout. If you can get all your small parts cut out from the waste of the supports, it will get you better marks again.
