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

I'm surprised that acrylic snapped so cleanly and easily


+ rep for this epic project

 

Thanks, much appreciated.

Time for another update.

The zero gravity chamber is... well, it's still not complete, but it's getting close. All the pieces are cut now, and it's just a matter of drilling some holes, a little bending here and there, and then assembling. So it shouldn't be too much longer. There are some final measurements that need to be taken to ensure, once again, that everything is going to fit ok (it is really, REALLY tight in there) before the chamber cover is bent. Because once it's bent, there's no turning back.

To start, I set up the jig to cut the L mounting brackets for the drives. I used 36 TPI blades. Getting a smooth cut with a jig can be difficult, but these finer blades cut cleaner than anything else that I've tried.




Focus, focus.. cut along that line. Don't blink, sneeze, or do anything stupid...





Hmmm, not bad. Could be a little better or could be a lot worse. I'll go with it and take a file to it to clean it up some.



Oops. In my eagerness to get all this done I forgot to snap off a shot of the U mounting brackets being cut. (That's them on the left, the thicker pieces.) Ah, who cares, right? If you've seen 1,000 rectangular jig cuts, you've seen them all.

The file cleaned the pieces up nice, and when checked against the square, they were all fairly close.


Let's mark off the shelves that will be mounted inside the Zero G Chamber. There are two shelves that need to be cut. One for the top pump/res and SSDs, one for the bottom two.



Oooook. And time to break out the jig again.



Looking pretty good there...

Exciting stuff, I know. I can sense that you're on the edge of your seats with anticipation of what will come next. For those of you outside the US, I can hear your snores from overseas.

Let's spice things up a bit.

To have the Zero G Chamber fit properly, the existing drive cage needs to be removed from the internal structure. So, time to get those rivets out once and for all.



Anyone want to take a guess at how many rivet heads you can fit on a drill bit? Anyone ever try? :shrug:



Ooooh boy, there's no turning back now. Mark, if you're reading this, Kansas' "The Point of No Return" has never played so loud inside my head.



Case = destroyed.

The Cosmos S that was has now officially become the ever evolving "refleXion." A continuous evolution of ideas, some nutso, some possible, few practical.




Well, I really wasn't LYING when I said I'd add a little spice to this update. So let's pick up the pace a little.

Here comes the Sonic boom:



A new tool that my dad introduced me to over the weekend, the Sonic Cutter. 8)

No moving parts. Uses a static blade mounted onto the end that simply vibrates at insane speeds and inherently cuts away the material in its path. "Faster than an electric toothbrush," dad said. Hmm, sounds interesting. Let's give it a go on the drive cage to see how it does.

Why break this new tool out? Well, the drive cage will be a somewhat awkward cut on what is rather thin material. A jig would probably work just fine, but it may cut a little rough since the cage material is so thin. The wheel attachment for the Sonic is much finer than a jig blade as you'll see below.

We'll just test it on an unimportant section of the drive cage first to see how it does.





Hmm, not bad. And the blade barely saw any heat at all. This might be a good tool to use for modifying the cage.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time right as I was about to give it some decent play. Cutting that cage will have to wait for a little while.

After arriving back home, I set all the completed parts out on my studio (seems like there should be a lot more, as always...) for a few finished shots. No tripod for these (still deep in the trunk of my car) so they're not quite as good as I'd hoped, but they'll do. Hope you enjoy.

 

Nice!!!, love what you are doing here.

by the way, how many rivets can you fit?

 

Thanks. I'm not sure how many will fit to be honest. There were about 25 on the bit in that picture.

 

I feel a competition coing on - come on, who will sponsor prizes?

 

Looks to be a cracking build. I need to pick the section of your brain that has all your sketchup knowledge stored

And that Saw is Awesome!

 

Thanks, Skorchio.

Believe me, it took a lot of time and patience to build the autocad skills. I'm still very much a beginner and learning new stuff every day.

And the saw.. over on XS, they're calling it the "autopsy saw."

But hey.. whatever does the job, right?


I'm contemplating my watercooling loop. Let me know what you think, guys. I'm thinking this should yield me good temps.

 

Hell yeah! I was reminded of the saw Hannibal Lecter used to saw open Paul Krendler's cranium

 

Alright, it's decided. Next update w/ the Sonic Cutter I'll be wearing a surgical mask while cutting.

 

Sounds like the reasonable thing to do, unless you really DO want those iron lungs that everybody's raving about!

 

This page is way too long. My iPod won't show the pictures at the bottom

Really coming along though

 

Sweet, that's the way to do it. It's a good job those SSD disks only weigh in at app. 80 grams or so. Now all you need are those black hex head bolts from MDPC. Can't wait to see how this will look like when it's finished.

 

Thanks, all!

I'll be gone for the next two days traveling for the holidays but should have the zero gravity drives completed upon my return. In addition, I'll be revealing a new sponsor for project r e f l e X i o n that I am tremendously excited about!

Til then.. enjoy your Thanksgiving, everyone.

 

At this time, I'm excited to introduce my new sponsor for refleXion, MNPCTech.



I've been a fan of Bill's work for a while, particularly his rad grills, and he's been kind enough to supply me with two of his amazing new Billet 240 aluminum rad grills, along with some other small items that will be very useful in shaping refleXion into its final form.




The smooth shaped vents on the Billet 240s are great and will definitely mesh well with this build, but what makes them even better is you can actually rotate the vents against the grill in any direction that you like.




I plan to orient them diagonally on top and on bottom, with opposing angles, to fit the reflective theme of my build. I will be creating custom radboxes to mount them on both the top and bottom interior of the case. There's also a silver aluminum version of the Billet 240 that comes in a nice machined finish. I thought the black would look better in my case than the silver, although the silver looks quite nice as well.



In addition to MNPCTech's awesome rad grills, a number of other items will be very helpful in completing this build.

U-Channel molding for dressing up those radial cuts on the radbox.


Vandal Resistant Power Switch as I'll be replacing the stock switch and top casing.


Acoustical soundproof foam to install under both pumps in the Zero Gravity Chamber.


3-pin Wire Extension Kit for extending fan wires.


Fan Silencing Grommets to reduce vibration noise of the fans.


And some nice Socket Screws for a professional looking attachment on the rad grills.



I'll begin work again on the Zero Gravity drives tonight and hope to have those finished by the end of the weekend.

Thanks for checking in!

 

Woooo, sweet. And congrats on the sponspor. People like Bill are God-given to the modding scene - awesome stuff he does and I really think it'll fit your build really, really well.

 

Thanks, I believe the grills will mesh really well, also. I plan on lighting them from behind with either a pure white light or a light purple so as to show off the smooth shape of the vents. To me, the vent shapes give an alienated or cosmic kind of look.

 

Fittings arrived this week. Believe it or not, this is not all of them.

For now, it's only rotary love.

 

shiny 8)

 

An update on the Zero Gravity Chamber.

It's late, and I'm very tired, so you're not going to hear much yapping out of me tonight. Fewer stupid jokes as well.. could be a good thing, right?

Here I'm marking off the bends for the chamber shell.



No turning back now... we're about to bend this thing for good.




I clamped through the windows here. I figured since they were hollowed out that it'd be the weakest point when the opposing force was applied to the brake. It worked pretty well.




Clamped down at a 1/2" bend and ready to go. This will be the back bend of the chamber that will be drilled and mounted to the inner case frame.




The first bend turned out very well.




Positioning for the second bend.



Bending upright. This will be the chamber side that shows the Zero Gravity drives.




She's really starting to take shape now.




The fourth and final bend. We now have our finished Zero Gravity Chamber shell.



















Teaser.




I hope to have the shelves installed by middle of the week and the zero G drive mounts shortly after.

Thanks for checking in!