1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Scratch Build – In Progress [Worklog] HyperMod - FINISHED! |Vote for it on CM modcontest|

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Ch2pa, 30 Aug 2012.

  1. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Hello and welcome on my worklog,

    I am proud to present you my third mod scratchbuild: the HyperMod.


    •Presentation:
    The HyperMod intend to be a showcase for the CoolerMaster Hyper 612s. The name is also a reference to the Kingston HyperX DDR3 module and SSD used in the configuration. Thanks to the unique architecture of this mod, the heatsink is the only piece of hardware visible. It sits on a sober case made of exotic wood and brushed aluminium. The configuration is based on mini-itx motherboard and designed for casual gamer. The mod was designed with CAD software CATIA V5.

    I started this mod mid august 2012.

    This mod is my entry for the CoolerMaster Case Mod Competition 2012!

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    I count on you to go on the CoolerMaster facebook page and support my mod ;)

    •Sponsor:

    Kingston agreed to sponsor my project by putting at my disposal a SSD HyperX 3k 240GB.

    [​IMG]

    http://www.kingston.com/fr/

    I want to thank them for their support and confidence in my project.


    •3D model:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    •Dimensions:
    Length: 400mm
    Width: 275mm
    Height: 290mm with heatsink, 170mm without


    •Configuration:
    -Asrock H77M-ITX
    -Intel i5 3450s with CoolerMaster Hyper 612s
    -Kingston HyperX 3k 240GB SSD
    -Kingston HyperX 2x4GB DDR3-1600
    -MSI NGTX 560Ti TwinFrozr II OC
    -500GB HDD 3.5"
    -Seasonnic Gold Series X-560 PSU
    -CoolerMaster Excalibur 120mm fan


    •Material:
    -Solid wood (Heritiera utilis (Sprague))
    -Aluminium

    •Progress: FINISHED!!!

    •Current status:
    [​IMG]

    I wait for your comments and feed back :)


    Note: I am from France and english is not my native language so please forgive my spelling mistake.
     
    Last edited: 16 Dec 2012
    Angel OD likes this.
  2. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    First of all, I will show you the components that I will use in this mod. Here is all what I ordered:
    [​IMG]

    I still miss the CPU, the GPU and the SSD. I don't know yet what component I will choose.

    Unboxing the motherboard:
    [​IMG]

    The bundle is a bit poor (only the driver CD, the IO shield, the user's guide and two Sata cables) for a mobo that cost 100€ but the card seems well build:
    [​IMG]

    With the HyperX DDR3 modules mounted on:
    [​IMG]
    The DDR3 and motherboard gray tones fit well!

    Now let's ahave a look to the key of the mod's architecture: the PCIe riser:
    [​IMG]
    It is well built, with ribbon cables screwed on both extremity, and a good quality connector. I will try it as soon as I get a GPU to connect to.

    And here comes the CoolerMaster Hyper612s:
    [​IMG]
    The bundle is complete with user's guide, mounting kit, thermal paste, antinoise pads and clutches for a second fan.
    The heatsink is massive!
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Last but not least, here is the system fan, a CoolerMaster Excalibur:
    [​IMG]

    I chose this fan mainly for its ability to be dismounted:
    [​IMG]

    which will allow me to keep only the needed parts:
    [​IMG]
    Disassembly is nevertheless delicate because the plastic of the frame is fragile. I already broke one of the plastic clip that hold the metal frame (circular parts with honeycomb holes).

    Next part of the mod will be the wood structure.
     
  3. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Let's start with the wood structure.
    The first thing to do was to find a wood suitable to my mod, which was more easy than I taught. I found and bought a plank of sprague (Heritiera utilis) at my local materials merchant. Dimensions of the plank were 3950x220x41mm, which is enough for the two or three next mods :D.

    Once at home (at my parent's home precisely, I borrow most of the tools to my father, especially his woodworking machine), I cut the plank in three pieces: the two flanks and the bottom.
    [​IMG]
    That was the easy step.

    Then started the planing:
    [​IMG]

    That was a long, dusty, noisy, exhausting work but after 15 pass, the planks for the flanks had the right thickness.
    It only remain 30 pass for the bottom plank...

    The planing machine makes a lot of wood shavings!
    [​IMG]

    Finally the wood reveal itself:
    [​IMG]

    Actually it is a bit more red under sunlight and it is a bit "oily" on touch.

    First dummy assembly to check if I going in the right direction:
    [​IMG]

    Until now it seems correct, there is a good potential!
     
    Last edited: 7 Sep 2012
  4. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    The three planks are now cut and planned:
    [​IMG]

    The router can make its entrance now!
    [​IMG]

    First router's job: reduce the thickness of this plank from 30 to 20mm.
    [​IMG]
    It's about 20 time faster than using the plane.

    The shaving pile keep growing...
    [​IMG]
     
    Livio likes this.
  5. Livio

    Livio What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    20 Sep 2011
    Posts:
    20
    Likes Received:
    1
    This is going to be very nice and original. Keep up the good work. :thumb:
    I also had a similar idea regarding parts layout therefore I am curios about the end result.
     
  6. Angel OD

    Angel OD Pump Killer

    Joined:
    16 Sep 2007
    Posts:
    1,610
    Likes Received:
    114
    This has some seriuos potential! I'll definately be following your build! :thumb:
     
  7. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Thanks for following my mod:thumb:

    New update:
    The four pieces of wood (flanks, front and bottom) are now cut and planed, let's use the wood shaper.
    [​IMG]
    I am really lucky to have this kind of tools at my disposal :D


    The objective is to make rabbet at the front of the bottom and on the three sides of the flanks:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Then I rounded the angles using files and wood chisel. Lots of patience required here.
    [​IMG]

    I am quite satisfied of the result:
    [​IMG]

    The covers can now fit in their final position (though they still need to be cut).
    [​IMG]

    Some more works on the flanks with chisel, file and patience: the chamfers
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    and the cut in the bottom, then again with chanmfers.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Another work started on the wood structure: the integration of the 120mm fan. First step was to cut a circular hole in the plank.
    I used for this task a specific and very useful Dremel tool :dremel:
    [​IMG]

    Here come the critical phase:
    [​IMG]

    Plop, hole done.
    [​IMG]

    The result after sandpapering:
    [​IMG]

    Once the big hole was finished, I drilled the holes for the fan fixation and placed the M4 nuts with screws in the holes:
    [​IMG]
    Then I put some wood filler to hold the nuts.

    In parralel of that work, I prepared the fan for its integration.
    Before:
    [​IMG]
    After:
    [​IMG]

    That's all for now.
     
    Livio likes this.
  8. quizz_kid

    quizz_kid Squid

    Joined:
    19 Jun 2011
    Posts:
    808
    Likes Received:
    51
    Following...
     
  9. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    New update of the mod!

    First, the integration of the fan. It didn't go well with the nuts on first attempt because the holes were not deep enough and the screws were too long. The nuts went off their holes on first screwing :/.
    I made a second attempt with deeper holes, shorter screws and more wood filler:
    [​IMG]

    It worked!!
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Next big update on the wood structure concerns the bottom. At the begining it was just a parrallelepipedic piece of solid wood measuring 310x210x30mm with a 15x20mm rabbet on the front.
    I began by routing the hole for the PSU (150x160x12mm).
    [​IMG]

    Then I draw
    [​IMG]

    and routed a hole for the PSU fan. I also routed a 140x140x2mm pocket for the dust filter underneath the bottom.
    [​IMG]

    Here comes the biggest routing job for the bottom: the flat underneath must remain with only two 55x30x10mm feet at the front and a 15x210x10mm strip at the rear. All the hatched surface will be removed.
    Before:
    [​IMG]

    After:
    [​IMG]

    Again, a big pile of wood shavings :D.
    With all those routing work, the bottom plank has lost 50.9% of its volume.:yawn:

    Unfortunnatey I made a splinter on the front side of the bottom plank while routing :(
    [​IMG]
    I will have to hide this with wood filler.

    After filling down the angles to abtain chamfers and sandpapering the surfaces, the bottom is finished:
    Top view:
    [​IMG]

    Underneath view:
    [​IMG]

    With the dust filter in position:
    [​IMG]

    I made a first dummy assembly with old components:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    It's tight but all fits in :).


    You may have noticed that the wood colour varies from one picture to another. This is due to the camera that I use which has a faulty "Auto white balance". I will try to get a more decent camera for the final pictures of the mod.

    I also cut the aluminium covers and made some brushing tests. Until now I am not satisfied by the result as the covers have scrathes and marks that I didn't manage to hide.
    [​IMG]

    The box is finally closed:
    [​IMG]

    Next work will be on the flanks.
     
  10. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    New update of the mod!

    This is the summary of one of my last day of work on the mod.
    The goal of the day was to make the holes for the integration of the DVD reader and the front panel. As shown on the CAD models, they are both located on the front side of the flanks:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    (The power switch and the states leds are missing from the front panel).

    I used a mortiser to make the holes in the flanks:
    [​IMG]
    (I really love my father's woodworking machine :D)

    Here is the left flank after two vertical pass of mortising:
    [​IMG]
    The table horizontal stroke force me to do two horizontal pass.

    The result is very rough:
    [​IMG]

    But after some filing, wood chiseling and sandpapering work it is much better:
    [​IMG]

    I will make the finishing while integrating the DVD reader.

    Once It was over with the mortiser, I took out the router again to make a hole on the inner side of the flank. This way, the mortise will have two openning:
    [​IMG]

    This kind of work is the dustier work I have ever done. Even with a filtering mask I ate dust!

    I make the finishing of the holes again with file, wood chisel and sandpaper. It took me about 1h30 to get to that:
    [​IMG]

    The DVD reader almost fits in, I still need to file a bit:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Next update will come very soon.
     
  11. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Last update of the mod.

    The DVD reader is now in position thanks to the last chiseling work:
    [​IMG]

    I wanted to create a cover for the DVD reader that would be invisible, or at least so far as possible. It means that I hope to keep the wood grain continuity between the cover and the flank. So I started to cut a piece of wood like that:
    [​IMG]

    I made a mistake cutting this piece with a handsaw. As the wood is an orthotropic material and as I sawed it perpendicularly to the fibers, it became very fragile. After 40 minutes of cutting and sanding, the piece of wood broke off into my hand. In three part. FFFuuuuuuuu!!!!

    I made a break, breath and start again. This time I cut the piece of wood with a hacksaw, and hand-sandpapered it instead of using a sander machine.
    After 1h of meticulous work, I got that:
    [​IMG]

    This small piece of wood does integrate well in the flank.
    [​IMG]

    Then I started to make the "eject" button.
    [​IMG]

    After cutting the piece of aluminium, I filed it to get:
    [​IMG]

    Once assembled on the DVD reader (with temporary adhesive tape)
    [​IMG]

    And finnally, the assembly mounted in the flank:
    [​IMG]

    I am really proud of the result.


    I also started another part of the mod: the motherboard tray. I used an off cut piece of aluminium gathered at work:
    [​IMG]

    I cut it and bend one of the sides:
    [​IMG]

    Now I am able to make a first dummy assembly with all the components!
    First the wood structure only:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Then I put the PSU, the GPU, an HDD (old and broken components) and the Excalibur fan:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Then come the motherboard tray, the motherboard and a 2.5"HDD (which will be replaced by an SSD):
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    With the covers on:
    [​IMG]

    The good news is that I manage to get new aluminium sheets so I will be able to make new covers with perfect surface finish!

    That's all for this week, next job will be the creation and integration of the front panel
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Last week I worked on the front panel as announced.
    [​IMG]

    First operation was to file the pins at the back of the PCB:
    [​IMG]

    Nothing must exceed 1mm under the PCB or it won't fit.

    Before creating the panel support with aluminium, I made a try with cardboard:
    [​IMG]

    The final result with aluminium will be longer, which wil allow me to hide the cables. It will be screwed in the flanks.


    I began the integration of the front panel in the flanks by creating a wood cover, as I did for the DVD reader. Once again, my goal was to keep the wood grain continuity between the cover and the flank. I cut it in this piece of wood:
    [​IMG]

    Thanks to my experience on the DVD reader cover, I did it the right way at first:
    -Cutting with hacksaw:
    [​IMG]

    -Hand-sandpapering (with P40):
    [​IMG]

    Results:
    [​IMG]

    It is even better than the DVD reader cover :D.

    Then I made the aluminium front panel support from a sheet bended in Z:
    [​IMG]

    I cut it, bend it, drilled it to get to this:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I still have to put caps on the nuts, but I need shorter screws for that.
    Next week I will make the holes in the flanks and the wood cover to finalize the front panel integration.


    Second thing that I worked on last week was the motherboard tray.
    I cut with my Dremel the back bend of the tray (which will be screwed on the PSU):
    [​IMG]

    The rough result:
    [​IMG]

    Once filed and drilled:
    [​IMG]

    Test in its final position:
    [​IMG]

    I drilled the tray and mounted the spacers:
    [​IMG]

    To finally be able to mount the motherboard:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    And lastly, I started to create the piece that will hide/support the GPU. It's a "U" bended sheet of aluminium:
    [​IMG]

    Until now I just cut two slots (2x10mm) for the bracket:
    [​IMG]

    That's all for this week, next working day will be Saturday 22th.
     
  13. dietje1908

    dietje1908 What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    12 Jan 2009
    Posts:
    33
    Likes Received:
    0
    looking very good !
    I like where this is going , subbed !
     
  14. Mechh69

    Mechh69 I think we can make that fit

    Joined:
    16 Sep 2009
    Posts:
    1,298
    Likes Received:
    59
    Great job and nice wood working skills. I am impressed, how old are you? Just curious because you mention working in your dads shop. Very creative way to hide the DVD and back panel connections. Subbed.
     
  15. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Thanks for you comments. I'm pleased that you enjoy this mod :)

    I'm 25. I work in my dad's workshop because he has tools I cannot afford, like the woodworking machine you saw in previous posts. This kind of machine costs about 2200€ :D. I am lucky that he let me use it.
    Once the wood structure will be done I will bring the mod at my place to do the wiring and final assembly.
     
  16. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Update of the week!

    Here is the summary of the work I did last saturday. The goal was to finnaly integrate the front panel.
    For this purpose, I had to route the left flank. I did a triple pocket, i.e. a pocket with three different depth(5, 10 et 29mm):
    [​IMG]

    First pass:
    [​IMG]

    In order to have straight borders, I had to steady the flank and another piece of wood in position to make a guide for the router. It took me about 5 minutes per border.
    Once I had finished the four sides of the first depth, I routed the second depth (29mm) which was opened onto the mortise:
    [​IMG]

    Second pass with 29mm depth:
    [​IMG]

    And after the final pass with 10mm depth, here is the rough result:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    After some sandpapering (a lot actually) and work with wood chisel, I got a cleaner result and I was able to mount the front panel support:
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I also worked on the GPU holder/cover, bending the bottom edge. It now fits in the flank:
    [​IMG]

    I still have to make some cuts and add the fixations.

    Let's get back to the front panel. I mounted it with its support in the flank:
    [​IMG]

    Then I started to create the opennings in the cover that I made last week. For this task I used a drill press. I proceeded with extrem precaution by drilling progressivly (Ø3.2mm then 4mm, 4.5mm and finally 5mm).
    [​IMG]

    Once the holes were drilled, I made them bigger and rectangular using precisions files and a cutter:
    [​IMG]

    Two of the four USB holes done:
    [​IMG]

    Here it is, four USB holes and two audio jacks holes.
    [​IMG]
    The two holes for the power switch and states leds are still missing.

    I just keep a bit filing when suddenly:
    [​IMG]

    5 hours of work ruined in the blink of an eye!
    I didn't want to start over so I decided to glue the two broken parts together.
    Once in final position, the fracture won't be visible:
    [​IMG]

    The gluing process started, result will be known at the end of the week.
    [​IMG]

    Last thing started this week end: the power switch. It will be cut in a slid piece of aluminium:
    [​IMG]

    Next update next week :)
     
  17. Mosquito

    Mosquito Just 'Plane' Crazy

    Joined:
    24 Mar 2011
    Posts:
    979
    Likes Received:
    71
    Wow! Not sure how I missed this, but it's looking good so far! :thumb:
     
  18. FatPandas

    FatPandas What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    4 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    29
    Likes Received:
    2
    I'm sure you've thought of this, but don't forget to insulate the aluminium board from the PCB. Those solder points look very close. Wouldn't wanna short it :thumb:

    Great work so far though mate. Keep it up :D
     
  19. Ch2pa

    Ch2pa What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    28 Aug 2012
    Posts:
    35
    Likes Received:
    6
    Thank you:blush:

    The solder points are actually very close but not in contact. There is no tracks on the surface of PCB in contact with the aluminium support, so I think it won't be shorted.

    Do you have any suggestion for a cheap, easy to find material I can use to insulate the support? (I will have the same issue with the GPU holder)
     
  20. FatPandas

    FatPandas What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    4 Sep 2012
    Posts:
    29
    Likes Received:
    2
    Anything that doesn't conduct. You could use the plastic from an old ring binder and cut it to the same shape and just epoxy it on. It'd give a professional finish and serve a purpose.

    Failing that, just run a few strips of electrical tape around the close contact areas.
     

Share This Page