Scratch Build – In Progress * r e f l e X i o n *

Good thinking
Maybe i'm rambling, but how about letting those cables come to the drives from a slight downwards angle? To the mind, the cable will appear to be hanging from the drive, which will help the illusion of the drive floating there by itself

 

Thanks, n0va.

Yeah, now I just need to build the things.

That's a nice perspective. I may experiment with that look as well. Initially, I have the concern that having the wires hanging down may make the window look too cluttered, but the best way to tell will be to experiment with different looks once these are made to see.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.

 

First of all, thank you for all this geek-pr0n

And i didn't mean having them hang down all the way, just a slight angle so they appear to have some "slack", like telephone lines between two poles. Looking at it again though, you may not have the room to make that work... oh well, i'll just wait for you to get there

 

Subbed - loved the braking work and the waterjet cutter.

 

Yeah, once the drives and the PSU is installed in the chamber, I'll be able to experiment with some different wiring techniques. It's nearly impossible to simulate this in renders as it's very difficult to draw strands of wires.

Thanks for the ideas.

Thanks, Nutman. Welcome to the project!

 

Would you be able to bend Alu MESH like A.C. Ryan's stuff (http://www.acryan.com/index.php?option=com_acryan_product&product_item=138&parent_id=30&Itemid=59) using that brake, or would it simply snap from the heat produced by the bend, causing damage to the metal?

 

I haven't tried it but would think that it should work just fine. There's no heat involved with the brake; it's just a matter of leverage. The metal fits under a heavy steel brace that is clamped down on top of it and works together with the top of the brake to form an angle.

Here's a shot that illustrates how it works. I'm positioning the steel brace on top of the metal to be bent. The handles are attached to the top of the brake that folds in (notice the seams in the brake just above the steel brace), forming a right angle with the steel brace.



It's extremely easy to use. I've bent 050 gauge AL in just a few seconds with it, and it's rated up to 16 gauge steel.

 

Who's ready for an update? Huh? Huh? Let me hear ya.

An update to the "zero gravity" SSD project.

So, I've began to work on cutting the plexi for the SSD mounts and, as is often the case, it's been tricky to cut it and have it look clean and neat. In fact, forget "clean and neat"--just keeping it from shattering into about 7 or 8 pieces as soon as a blade touches it would describe my recent experiences a little better. I've tried both a hacksaw and jigsaw--even special bought blades tonight that were supposedly made for cutting plastic and acrylic--and both tools have failed miserably. It could very well be user error since I'm not used to working with plexi all that much, but regardless, I'm thinking to myself that there has to be an easier way to cut this stuff.

So I was talking about it with a friend of mine today, and he had this "crazy" idea to use my bending brake to cut the plexi with. I thought this was a superb idea.. not because I thought it would work, but because it would make for some outstanding pictures when the brake shattered the plexi into about 100 pieces. Live action shots.. maybe a collage that I could hang on my wall. "Plexi Distress," we could call it. "At the least, it'll get some laughs from a lot of guys," I told him.

Well, what you're about to see may be hard to believe and is evidence that the "brute force" approach sometimes works in the cases that seem to be born for finesse. And since I'm finally done yapping, let's get into the action shots, a.k.a. the good stuff.

Here I've marked the height and width that the plexi cutout for the drives needs to be. Cutting to this size will keep the edges of the plexi out of the window view, even from an angle.



Alright, let's throw this sucker on the brake. *straps on protective eyewear, ducks and covers head..*



Actually, before we go ahead and break all the rules of physics, modding, and general common sense, let's score this sucker and lessen our chances of being splintered in the eyes with shards of plexi.

I'll use a straight-razor and angle-cut it toward the steel brace.



It's tough to see there because my big fat hand is in the way, but I scored by holding the straight razor at a 45 degree angle, cutting against the steel brace that I was using as my straight edge. Clamping the brace down just held the straight edge in place and made things easier.

Alright, here we go. *ducks*



This will either be genius or Captain Idioto Magnifico, I was thinking to myself at about this point. I think I was also checking for nearby objects of value that could be destroyed by plexi snapping off at speeds in excess of 50mph.

*SNAP*



Well, it didn't go flying at the impact point, so that's good. So.. wait, what's this?



Would you look at that? :rofl:

Who would have thought that a 70 lb. steel brake would offer one of the cleanest cuts on fragile little plexi that you've ever seen? For the last two days that I've worked with it, it's seemed to crack right down the middle if I sneezed anywhere near it. Yet it butts heads with the bending brake and comes out beautiful.





It was a mixture of excitement and disbelief at this point. Not only did the brake make an extremely clean cut, but because the brake cuts against the steel brace/straight edge, it was a perfectly straight cut as well.

So that takes care of one side. Now to cut the other side to size.

So let's score the other side for cutting.



And let's cut this sucka.

*CRUNCH*







Let's take a closer look at the finished product.





Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Still can't believe how easy and efficient that was. Who would've thought.

And .. hey! You guys are early!



Apparently I'm not the only one who's excited at this new discovery. I'm not ready for you guys yet, but that didn't stop you from scampering out in front of the camera and posing on your new plexi window, did it?

Well since you're out here, make yourselves useful and show everyone how she fits.



There's now an inch and a half clearance on each side of the SSDs.



That's all for now. Tomorrow I should have some time to cut and bend the mounting brackets.

Thanks for checking in!

 

Yay, update!

haha, great writeup. I need to get myself a bending break pronto!

Actually, i've been using the "snap" method of getting plexi in the shape i want it in for a while now, and it always works, provided you score it properly and provide even pressure all along the cutting line. This gets progressively harder when your tools and materials suck more, so you seem to be in the safe zone

Great stuff, keep it going!

 

Hey, cool way to snap acrylic. Of course, you can also just use the edge of a kitchen desk, but this is way more controlled.

Also, adding heat to the acrylic, you would probably be able to bend acrylic this way. Care to give it a try, if not for fun, then for the sake of science?

I have a suggestion for the SSDs. The visible side of them look a bit "unfinished" as long as you're able to see those mounting holes. Could you cover them up with a piece of black acrylic, or perhaps a piece of UV reactive acrylic? Surely, it'll be a piece of cake snapping a fitting piece using that brake of yours.

 

i am watching this.

 

I'm wondering why you had such a problem cutting acrylic with a normal method... i've always used a bandsaw and never had any problems no matter what acrylic i use. Cool way to do it though, i wonder if a metal sheer would work like this.

Failing that a laser cut does the trick for acrylic very nicely But a bit expensive... but it does have lasers and goes pew pew pew

 

I love my brake.

I've tried the score/bend method in the past but haven't had a lot of success with it. I can never get a clean, straight break, it seems. Probably just takes a good bit of practice to get it right, but yeah, my brake makes it into a fairly easy job.

Yeah, like you said it's more "controlled" by applying even pressure across the entire plexi piece with the steel brace. I think that's why it works so well for this.

Thanks for the suggestion on the SSD screwholes. It got the wheels turning a little. I'm thinking what will look cleaner than layering acrylic on the outside of them is to simply plug those screwholes with something like little rubber or plastic grommets that are painted the same color as the drives. This should maintain the clean look of the drive itself while at the same time plugging those holes. Let me know what you think of that.

As for bending the acrylic, that's an interesting idea and I might just try it out of curiosity. It may come in handy for future designs.

Thanks for your feedback.

Welcome to the project, null_x86! Glad to have you.

Well, first I don't have a bandsaw. I was trying to use a hacksaw for this with the finest teeth that I could find. Second, this is thin plexi that I'm working with which I'm sure factored into the equation.

Sometimes, though, you discover new and better methods by experimenting and conversing with others. This way is much easier than cutting and gives a better finish.

 

Or, you could just shorten some torx head bolts (black ones, like these: http://www.mcmelectronics.com/content/productimages/s4/4068045.jpg) and plug them in there.

People would be like "WTF? Do those bolts go all the way through the SSD and holds it in place??!?!?!", hehe.

 

This is shaping up to be the best Cosmos derived project yet, very elegant and tasteful Xion

 

I would never have thought to use a bending break to cut plexi. Personally I just use a jigsaw (for smaller pieces the hack saw, coping saw or the Dremel), and have found it to work perfectly. The way to do it is to make sure the plexi is clamped down firmly, then you simply start cutting very slowly, I found that the specific plastic blades did help.

 

In my experience (limited to crap quality plexi and no tools at all) it just takes a fair bit of patience to properly score the material, and then an even bigger measure of courage to apply a LOT of force evenly. For breaks longer then 10cm i just use all of my bodyweight.

 

Yep, some nice black screws would do the trick. I've just ordered some from MDPC-X.

Thanks, man. I'm a big fan of your Bio-Mech project and hope that you'll have the remaining pieces that you need in your hands soon. Hope it works out.

Yeah, I did all the above and it still shattered on me. Maybe it was poor quality plexi, or maybe I simply don't have the magic touch. Think I'll stick to the brake as it makes a perfectly clean square cut.

As I've said before, there are a number of solutions to a given situation, and it's interesting to watch the different solutions that people come up with.

Brake for the win.

Things have been moving kind of slow this week, because I'm at the stage where I need to do some cutting, and I just don't have a place to do it around here. I took my jig to a piece of 050 Alu last night, and my neighbor started to yell at me. Never mind the fact that I can hear her and her boyfriend fighting every other day through our thin walls.

So I'll be trekking up to dad's again this weekend for some more fun with power tools and will be working on the following:

- L and U brackets for zero gravity drives (perspex cuts have been made)
- Mockup of zero gravity chamber so that I can test the components inside and make a final decision on whether to display the pump windows or the zero gravity SSD windows toward the open side of the case
- Cut shelves for the zero gravity chamber
- Cut/modify case frame to accommodate the zero gravity chamber
- Experimenting with various wire management solutions

Going to be a busy weekend!

 

Nice idea cutting acrylic with the brake.Clean work so far.

 

Thanks, Spyrious.

I was able to cut the L and U mounting brackets for the SSDs today and will work on the shelves tomorrow. I'll post an update with pics tomorrow night.