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Scratch Build – In Progress Machined Billet Alumium Cased Power PC

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by The_R1_Kid, 26 Dec 2010.

  1. The_R1_Kid

    The_R1_Kid What's a Dremel?

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    Hello all, I figured I would share my Billet PC Build. I Have been in desperate need of a
    work PC upgrade for a long time. The main purpose of my work PC is For CAD, CAM, FEA, and
    CFD. Needless to say I am in need of horse power.

    Specs are:
    Intel Core i7 980x extreme 3.3GHZ 6 core
    12GB G skill DDR3 SDRAM 1600
    ASUS Sabertooth X58 mother board
    Noctua NH-D14 SSO CPU cooler
    ATI FirePro V5800 1GB PCIE Work Station Video Card
    OCZ Vertex 120GB Solid State Drive
    Western digital 250GB Storage HD
    Running Windows 7 professional 64bit, and Ubuntu


    My PC this is replacing specs are:
    5 year old AMD something or another 2.8Ghz (I think) 2 core
    4gb ram
    250gb HD
    some cheap unstable 1gb gaming video card.

    When It came time to pick out a PC case they all seemed expensive and didn't fit what I
    wanted. What I was looking for was a stout case that could take getting transported
    between work and home, had a nice carrying handle. And was decently cool looking. So I
    decided to make my case...

    Design
    First step was to get a cad model all the Internal components.

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    The goal was to make the most compact case I could. So once modeling all the individual
    parts I tried to package them in the smallest space possible wile still allowing decent air
    flow. Thought not as small as I would like it ended up having the foot print of the
    motherboard and about 10.5 inches tall.

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    Once everything thing was in place I designed the housing around the components. The other gray thing is the new PC next to my work PC mid tower case.

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    I didn't like any of the buttons available online so I decided to make that as well

    Manufacturing

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    First step was to make a test plate to find the depth of cut for the corner rounding tool
    and to test the engraving tool. It had been a few years since I had engraved any thing

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    After the test plate I needed to make a fixture to hold all the plates while machining. The
    little black thing is a Mighty Bite they work pretty good at gripping parts. They push
    sideways and bite down. The only down side is they leave a mark in aluminum but it's not
    that bad.

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    Aligning the bottom plate to the machines x axis after being mounted in the fixture

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    bottom plate inside faced

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    bottom plate outside pocketed

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    Top plate switch housing mounting hole Threadmilled M25 x1.5

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    Top plate outside face pocketed

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    Front plate ready to machine

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    Front plate done

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    The only picture I took of the handle being machined

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    On Off button housing after 1st op

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    These are the soft jaws I made to machine the button housing and the button

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    Button after op 1

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    Button done

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    Those are the sheet metal brackets needed for the CD ROM and hard drives. Pretty simple to
    make. Just clamp the sheet metal down to MDF so nothing is damaged when it gets machined
    though the other side. The only trick is to machine or drill the holes first to secure the
    part down with self tapping screws before machining the parts outside contour.

    Assembly

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    That's all the computer parts. They took up my whole kitchen table. 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound box.

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    bottom plate

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    top plate

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    right plate

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    left plate

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    rear plate

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    front plate

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    on off button parts

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    I had to trim the massive amount of wires coming out of the power supply. To reduce the
    chance of a short I trimmed each wire at a different height so the couldn't touch each other the heat shrinked them.

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    one part I forgot about was the PC speaker. So I just scavenged one from an old PC case. I
    trimmed it down really short and heat shrinked the whole thing. It is pretty stiff and doesn’t flop around.

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    Most gamers would scoff at the specs and price of this card. But in the cad world the card
    needs to work at near 100% capacity all day and remain stable. This card can do it. In my
    experience even high end gaming card start having problems after a short time, and then die
    an early death.

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    last part in place

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    The button lit up is hard to get a decent picture of. It looks pretty good, other than a
    internal crack that developed after I drilled the 5mm hole for the LED. Oh well I might remake the button if I dissemble the case to anodize it.

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  2. Mattmc91

    Mattmc91 Minimodder

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    Brilliant. I have the same power supply and I can vouch for the octopus of cables.

    How are you finding the NH-D14 on the CPU? Mines going on an i7 next month :)

    Lovely build, cost much for the case in total?
     
  3. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    ^^^ Now THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is a project log.

    Sheer utter awesome. Don't forget the cheesecake protection system! :D
     
  4. Nealieboyee

    Nealieboyee Packaging Master!

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    Yeah Picture and plan, THEN actual build pics, THEN final pics. Its the way its done!

    This case is awesome!. Do you have any issues with the cooler hanging upside down, or any of the other components?

    That thing looks solid, well done mate.
     
  5. Kovoet

    Kovoet What's a Dremel?

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    For the first time on these forums I am speechless and not sure what to say maybe all I can say is OMFG WOW
     
  6. Guest-23315

    Guest-23315 Guest

    Now THAT isnt a stale copy of a mod log ive seen before.

    :thumb:
     
  7. Matticus

    Matticus ...

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    Hells yes, what a build.

    I hope I am not the only one that thinks one side should be turned into the mother of all sandwich makers?
     
  8. Burnout21

    Burnout21 Mmmm biscuits

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    Wish langer would learn from this log.

    The idea of a project log is to actually finish the project!
     
  9. DeadP1xels

    DeadP1xels Social distancing since 92

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    wow amazing!
     
  10. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    WOW, just, plain, epic. What are you using to keep the mobo upside down? I think it'll deform with regular standoffs.
     
  11. ringo

    ringo What's a Dremel?

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    Cool Case in a nice milled look. Why you don't change the front plate of the optical drive?
     
  12. Matticus

    Matticus ...

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    Good idea, would love to see the Dvd drive with a machined alu front. :jawdrop:
     
  13. jrs77

    jrs77 Modder

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    Very nice machined case.

    Now turn the whole concept upside-down with the motherbard flat on the bottom and it'd be perfect.
     
  14. The_R1_Kid

    The_R1_Kid What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks Everyone.

    The case cost $150 in materials and another $50 for the 1/4 inch corner rounding tool. The NH-D14 is working great. All the reviews I read about it being hard to install were BS. If it does get hot I have provisions to duct fresh air from outside to the heat exchanger then duct it out of the case.

    The Cooler is mounted really well to the mother board. Also it is supported with cables wedged between the cdrom and it. I was going to make a bracket for extra support but the wires are doing a good job.

    I am using normal stand offs. I'm not worried about anything deforming. I think there is more stress on the mother board when the unsupported pc cooler is mounted in a traditional case. All the components hanging off the motherboard have a secondary mounting to take the stress off the mother board.

    I would like to do something with the cd rom faceplate but i need to move on to other projects i may paint it gray. I suppose i could machine a face plate if i get bored one day.
     
  15. wahoomcdaniel

    wahoomcdaniel Minimodder

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    Very cool PC. Nice work.
     
  16. jhanlon303

    jhanlon303 The Keeper of History

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    I'll probably get the BanHammer for this, but I disagree.

    Let me explain.

    It is a beautiful mod. Finally had to happen. Full CNC case. Like Dark Blade. Work of art. But...

    It is not a project log in the spirit of Bit-Tech!!! This is Show and Tell.

    A project log on Bit-Tech is a social community commitment. Should have interaction with our community. Where is/are the pauses for comments during construction? Where is the opportunity to become part of the social circle?

    Have we become viewers of finished projects only?

    I see a good Project Log as a commitment to Bit-Tech. An interactive open door into how we modders think, design, build, make mistakes, listen to feedback, comment on such.

    This is not a Project Log. This is a "Look what I have done log"

    john
     
    Javerh likes this.
  17. talladega

    talladega I'm Squidward

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    :thumb:
     
  18. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    1. You can't banhammer Yoda. You can't banhammer Gandalf or Morpheus. You can't banhammer jhanlon303. Don't talk crazy.

    2. Nobody gets banhammered just for having a different view. This isn't Sparta, THIS IS BIT-TECH!!!

    3. I see your point, and even agree to an extent, but it was more a comment on someone posting pictures of real work in progress in his first post --not just a few concept sketches and perhaps, if feeling particularly creative, pictures of a bunch of parts --or just pictures of a wishlist of to-be-purchased parts, but actual work. Perhaps this log has gone too far to the other extreme, but at least it shows some work and we can ask questions and give feedback now.
     
  19. Waynio

    Waynio Relaxing

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    LOL awesome :clap:, I agree with Yoda :D sorry, John :thumb:.

    Great solid looking case though The_R1_Kid :jawdrop::thumb:.
     
  20. Unicorn

    Unicorn Uniform November India

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    Two posts?

    How is that a project log? When, in the long history of modding and bit-tech, has two posts been a project log?!

    I am 100% in agreement with John on this. Move it to the modding section.

    It's a great build though, my comments about the log itself are in no way meant to detract from the skill and effort that has gone into creating this. I genuinely admire the design and execution :thumb:
     

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