Scratch Build – In Progress [bit-tech/Intel NUC competition] The Face Case

Hey Everyone,

Thanks to bit-tech and Intel for picking my design to be in the top 5!

I've got 10 weeks to make this thing, should be more than doable. I'm semi planning on making 2 versions, one from acrylic and one from aluminium.

My idea for the aluminium one was to turn the whole/most of the case in to a heat sink so I can get rid of the fan and have a silent pc. If I can get hold of the aluminium, and my garage tools can handle 5mm thick aluminium (anyone got a laser cutter?) then expect to see a second version!

Currently i'm figuring out the actual sizes everything needs to be, and trying to source all the parts I need.

My current list of parts is.

1 x big sheet of Acrylic (colour undecided, thoughts anyone?)
21 x 10mm m3 brass spacers (think they're called something else, little brass tube?)
3 x 110mm bolts m3 bolts (may have to go to m4/m5)
3 x m3 brass inserts (may have to go to m4/m5)
Microswitch
Small piece of aluminium to make power button


Will update when the hardware arrives!

For now here are some extra renders I did.

 

What part of the world are you, if your in NZ then I can do it on a waterjet for ya

 

I'm from the UK, but thanks for the offer!

 

That's a very nice design spooks! looking forward to seeing it finished

 

Congratulations and welcome to BitTech. A handsaw and files should be OK for aluminum. I'm imagining you will assemble the parts, then shape them with sandpaper glued inside a catcher's mitt.

At least that's what I'd do...


For plexi colors I'd go for something that looks good in stacked layers. Light blue or an edge-effect color would give you a nice staggered color transition depending on how many layers you look through.
-I know, I'm in gibberish mode today.

 

Thanks for the welcome

Sounds like the parts have arrived at my Dad's, will get some pictures up at the weekend.

Planning on making some templates at the weekend for the main parts of the case too.

Thinking about making a wooden version too, thoughts? Some nice wood, ash, mahogany or something with a nice grain to it, not some old piece of chipboard or anything think it could look quite classy in a fancy wood.

 

That could be tricky as thin as the wood have to be.

 

5mm ally should be ok to work with, get a half decent saw & a file set & you will be fine. It will take a fair bit of elbow grease to file all those angles to a decent degree of accuracy in ally, if it is a bit off it might look a bit wonky.

 

Get it close, then assemble the case, then finish the angles on a belt sander. That way they line up.

 

Personally I'd cnc it but not everyone has access to a cnc. I don't know if he has a belt sander either but that would definitely help.

 

I was talking to my buddy yesterday and he thinks he can hook me up if I need some aluminium cncing and anodizing, so the aluminium version is sounding like a good possibility depending on how much it will cost me

I feel like i'm going to end up making three versions, wood, acrylic and aluminium! Gonna start working on some patterns, figuring out the exact shapes and sizes for all the parts at the weekend.

 

I'm looking forward to seeing this one progress, nice design and one to watch me thinks

 

Really like this design. Would be something I'd happily have sitting in my living room.

 

CNC is definitely the way to go, like you say though it depends on how much it will cost.

 

I really like how fun this design is, it can take on completely different personalities simply based on the materials used. The ball shape is also pretty cool, don't really get to see that kind of style in larger cases, perfect for this size.

 

The guy with the CNC machine is giving me a quote of around £750 so I don't think that's going to be the way to go.
My uncle may be able to hook me up still though with some laser cut aluminium, so the dream isn't over just yet.

Took a couple of snaps of the hardware. Sad to see that it didn't come with a power adapter.




Been working on the measurements today, have everything pretty much figured out, planning on trying to source the bolts and spacers tomorrow.

Here's my handy work, will convert these into something a bit tidier later.


My next step is going to be making a prototype out of MDF I think as I have some 5mm stuff lying around, may get round to doing that at the weekend.

 

The most remote possible location for a contest member and you received all your kit already?

 

This will look awesome in scale shots, renders already look nice.

 

Had a play about in the garage today, seeing how easy this things gonna be to make.

I first did a cardboard cutout to use as a stencil, this didn't prove to be much help though as I couldn't cut it quite accurate enough so I ended up having to redraw my lines anyway.



I then started making the front piece out of MDF.



I used tank cutters to cut out the top and bottom circles, I then drilled and chiseled out the eyes and mouth, but as you can see the MDF was a little bit too fluffy!



That's as far as the MDF one got, my dad then pointed out that we had some perspex, so I started work on another one!



Again I tank cut out the top and bottom holes. Worked pretty well, although I managed to get some wood embedded in the plastic.



I then pillar drilled a bunch of small holes in the eyes and mouth slots.



And then jigsawed out the shape, and filed/jigsawed out the slots.



Then I had a bash at putting the bevelled edge on, I did this on a bench grinder, it worked pretty well but I could do with setting up something a bit better for the actual thing.



I read somewhere that blowtorching the edges of acrylic works well for getting a glossy finish so I had to give that a go.

Before.


The blow torch!


After. I managed to get some bubbles in one side, think this was due to leaving the heat on it to long, I was being greedy with how much I wanted to smooth it out. A good amount of sanding should still be done before so you don't need to melt it too much.




That was it for today, acrylic definitely seems the way to go, just need to decide on a colour!