HexaDragon - The Liquid Dragon Project. (Damaged in transit)

Ok, a few of you may have seen this case (Cheiftec Dragon Mid Tower) with my 120mm rad in.
Trouble is, with the heatload I'm producing from the amount of blocks I have in my loop, I needed to use a bigger one to dissipate the heat under load when overclocked.
This required a bit more work for me to fit the larger rad and still maintain good airflow through it, hence this project.
(I also want to enhance the looks of the case where possible.)

First off, I worked out that the 120mm fans would fit fairly snugly if I cut out the centre louvres on the front of the bezel.
No sooner said than done.



I then located the fans in the bezel and worked out where the holes would line up vertically on the front of the chassis.
By then placing the rad inside, I worked out what level the fans would have to be at to allow the rad to stand on the bottom of the case and marked their outline (leaving metal at the corners for the fans to bolt through)



With the chassis cut and the fans fitted, I then tried the bezel back in place but as the fans were offset slightly and the bezel tapers down towards the bottom, I couldn't clip the bottom left corner back in fully.
After removing the bolt from this corner of the fan and removing as much plastic as I dared from the inside of the bezel, I managed to finally clip it in place.





Time for a test run.
(clicky biggie)
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Next, I moved on to the drivebay door.
I have a pair of HDD coolers in this rig that I like to show off, er, I mean, keep an eye on...
Solution? Window mod!
Details of how I cut the plexi are in my rotozip thread.

For the door itself, I tried using my router with a modded edge guide, so that it sat in the slots of the door.
This got straight lines either side formed ok but the speed of it melted the plastic too much and fused it shut behind the cut.

I then tried freehand with the rotozip, which went well until it snagged in the piece and dragged it into the 550Watt cutter...

In the end, I resorted to light cuts with a diamond cutting wheel at slow speed in my minidrill, finishing with a diamond burr, diamond file and sandpaper.
Then I refitted the acrylic.

(clicky biggie)

Another update coming shortly...

 

going well, keep it coming

 

Hey Pug, where are you going to put the hard drives?

You gotta love that case.

 

Cheers OLv_, will do...

bilnv - they're already in,
(Check out the bottom two 5.25" bays).


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I wondered whether to do this next bit as a mod guide but decided to keep it together in this thread for now until I actually finish it...

First things first, massive props to Bill at mnpctech.com for supplying the modders' mesh I used in today's pics.

I used the honeycomb grille in this example as it has 70% airflow over the 60% round hole mesh. I did notice that as there was less metal, it was easier to form into more complex shapes, whereas the round is possibly better suited to more square edged applications.

Lesson One - This stuff is perfect to replace the restrictions that are in most fan locations, be they of the metal and/or, as in my case, plastic too.
It's easy to work with and quite forgiving even when you get a little ham-fisted with it (see lesson two).

Lesson Two - If you happen to break your last intact dremel mandrel by being lazy and not changing your diamond grinding wheel for a proper cutting one, don't do as I did and reach for the jigsaw... the blade will snag and pull the metal out of shape.
Instead, use side cutters or snips. I went through it in no time this way, easily as quickly as with the dremel.

Lesson Three - Read mnpctech's guide to working with mesh before starting work (and not afterwards like me )
Click on the thumbnails on that page for more details.

Tips I found - Long straight line folds are easy to achieve with a workmate as pictured higher up in the thread, simply clamp the piece where you want the fold and press the sheet over as close to the base of the fold as you can.
If you don't have a workmate, you can do pretty well with the hinge side of a closed door.
Try to fold evenly, ie. make sure you don't go too far over in one place at a time.
Once the piece is pretty much folded, chase the line of the fold with a mallet depending on how pronounced you want the angle to be. (I went for a slightly more rounded effect and went easy on the mallet).




The fold on the left hand side is actually the front half of a double one which forms a lip that secures the grille in place behind the bezel. An opposite double curve like this one isn't a problem to do this way.

Short folds can be done easily in a vice.



Curved folds (as in the top and bottom) can be achieved by cutting the piece into tabs to be folded and shaping with pliers. Even the pressure of finger and thumb can get a curve fairly well defined.
I made tabs approximately three cells wide & two (whole) cells deep and kept them symmetrically apart from the centre. Tighter curves may require narrower tabs.
Ideally, I would have made a wooden former and again, chased over with a mallet but the results in the pics were pretty much done by hand (literally) in no time.



The top plate visible in the close up pic is actually a s/steel PCI blank plate.
I folded the top tab flat and then back on itself, bent it to shape, ground off a couple of corners and screwed it into place with a self tapping screw.
It makes the perfect temporary former to fit the grille up against.
I hope to make a fibreglass bridge over the top of this to replace it (although I do like the way it looks now). I may also be moulding the surrounding edges in to keep it in place under abuse and I'd like to box in where the fan sticks out at the top.

It's currently in place only by friction but it requires the use of a screwdriver to pop out of place. It's actually more secure than the speaker grilles in my TV.

All things considered, the honeycomb mesh lends itself really well to multiple-curved applications and is extremely sweet to work with - it probably took me longer to write this than it took me to make the grille!
It also maintains its rigidity when secured in place. If I spread my hand slightly over it, I can actually push the not inconsiderable weight of my full rig backwards along the desk without buckling the grille inwards as I might have expected had I used the aluminium mesh I had originally planned to.

Me = chuffed ++.

Side note:- for anyone considering a similar project with this particular case, you might find it easier with 92mm fans 'cos 120s don't really fit!
I used 38mm deep Papsts and had to forego the bottom left mounting bolt and ream out the bezel to get it to clip back on.
I also had to offset them slightly to retain the structural bracing of the bezel.

 

almost a rally style grille... where's the intercooler?
looks really cool!

 

wow that mesh looks really good, i like it a lot!

very cleanly done aswell, i'm impressed. nice way of tidying up those standard ide cables but still it seems impossible to make grey flat cables look good, maybe your could paint them or something, hmmmm.

and y settle for 92mm fans when u can have 120mm

 

Great job! That mesh is awsome and the blank PCI plate on top of the mesh was a great idea.

 

now go paint yer drives

 

Cheers folx.

Paint is one of the next jobs on the list but as I now live in Wales, rain has stopped play (until Wednesday possibly, if the weather reports are anything to go by).

 

Looks sweet but the top half of the bezil is just dieing to be replaced with mech as well Like the mech looks awsome

 

Heh, damn. Good thought.

If the plexi hadn't gone well, that might have been my saviour.

 

Hey pug just got a few questions about the mesh you used. Would it be possible to make a case out of it, is it strong enough to support itself and the wieght of a motherboard or would i need a skeleton. i also read that it comes covered in some kind of oil? how did u deal with this? is it a pain in the ass?

 

The metal mesh in the front looks great!

 

Nice one Pug , Ive been looking around for some mesh like that for a while. What was the dhipping cost like and how long did it take to arrive etc.

 

Oops, sorry guys, I got busy this week and didn't check the thread (but I do have pics to make up for my absense).

OLv, the round hole mesh is stronger as it has more metal and might be better suited. That said, once you put a curve in it one way, it adds rigidity the other (like a cardboard tube is).
A skeleton frame wouldn't be a bad idea though and could look smart if you used s/steel rod or something.
I take it it's for a w/c rig, 'cos you would have no decent airflow concentrated to your components the way I'm thinking of it.

The oil can be dealt with with degreaser but etch primer needs to be used (zinc primer flaked off when I tried it).

fivecheebs - it arrived in a matter of days. Bill (superstar that he is) sent me this FOC as a working sample for this project, so I don't know exactly but I think he paid about $8 to send a foot square sheet of each type. £5 or 6 then.
I've used under 1/2 of one sheet here.


Right, progress pics...



The moulded bezel in all its glory.
It's now been primed with base primers (etch on the grille, plastic primer on the rest) and is ready for the hi build primer to cover the last of the imperfections.



I secured the back of the grille with fibreglass and filled the front edges with aluminium filler to create more of a one-piece effect.



Here you can see, in detail, the bridge I made to replace the blanking plate I had been using previously.
Turned out quite well I thought.
I initially laid down some aluminium mesh in the shape I wanted (allowing a couple of mm to where I wanted the surface to be) then laid fibreglass mat and resin down on that for the strength.
Than I used the aluminium based filler to get the shape I wanted, followed off with some cellulose putty (1K stopper) to fill out the imperfections.
Lots of sanding and detail filing later and I have holes free of clag again.
The base of the door forms a uniform gap with it too. Bonus!


I've modded one cathode to fit the door (but broke three in the process of doing the second so I gave up on that for a while. Didn't snap them, they just don't work right now ).

I'll probably also redo the pipework between coats of paint, as I also have a new toy to factor into the loop.

 

Darn Infidels...

Hey that mesh turned out great. I bet the honeycomb is easier to work than the other metal mesh Bill sells. I was wondering if you have an information link on that aluminum filler you used. I searched for it and came up with some type of aluminum brazing material. Is that the same stuff?

Anyhow it came our really clean looking. Congrats.

 

That looks dam nice man!

I like the look!!




DDK

 

DDK - cheers, I was just reading your log and got worried when I saw you'd cut the centre section out too, thought I might have inadvertantly been copying you.
Sweet result though, hope mine looks as good.

Lnyx - hehe, I may well subscribe to Ars soon so I can change my name to Pug there too.

The round hole stuff is easy enough to shape from what I can tell. If anything, this stuff is more prone to distortion if you're not careful where you bend it.
For straight line folds, the round hole stuff rules. It's like a perforated guide.

Here's a link to the stuff I used for filler - http://www.u-pol.com/Products/bodyfiller1.htm#Isopon Metalik

I's pretty good but I think the Aluminium content is a bit gimmicky (I haven't tried the old magnet trick on it yet).
It's probably no better than P38 but it is a closer colour match to the plastic of the bezel and it sounds more performance oriented!

[Edit] Ah, seems it's better for multiple material use

So it was a good choice for the project in hand.

 

The bridge on top of the grill looks great. Nice Job.

 

Is that a watercooled PSU ? If so, where did you get it ?