Mr. Kholl' Silent ContexYZ - Circuits Projects in High-res, page 3.

Silent ContexYZ is a project of mine that I made last year. I got the Cavalier case from the Coolermaster Contest 2004 and I decided to mod it, but keeping the 'spirit' of the case, so, I based the design on the vintage style, with analog gauges, orange details, etc..

It's my first project here (I have 2 more). My name is Jose Fernando (aka Mr. Kholl), 31 years old, from Rio, Brazil. I hope you like it.


The worklogs:

01 - The window
02 - Front Bezel
03 - Meters
04 - Electronic & Etc
05 - Painting & Details
06 - High-res pics of the Release 2

The pics are in thumbnail size, click for high-res...

 

01 - The Window

I made this first design for the window (with Corel Draw)...



...but the second design would be the official:



It's done (with the holes marks):



Die cut vinyl of the design:



I've cut this 3mm MDF plate with the exact dimensions of the case side:



The guide for the cutting is done:



I had to ask to a friend that have I small fabric to use his drill machine because until that moment I didn't have it. He allowed to use this:



I used 5 sizes of cup saw to cut the circular holes (I would like to thank my friend Marcelo Tchoboys and his Father Mr. Almir to help me some moments like that, when I had to stop the job to take some pics)



The cup saw work is done:



Before I continue the cutting, I placed an 9mm MDF place below the case side to get a better base to cut with jig saw:

 

01 - The Window (jig saw)

Finally, the main cuts with jig saw:







After several steps, the main cuts is done. Now, is time to do the finishing:



I've cut some small discs from a hard sandpaper sheet (80 gr) and attached it to the dremel to correct the jig saw cuts:



Finishing with 220 sandpaper:



After some polishing, the window is done:

 

02 - Front Bezel

I've decided to change the original front bezel thinking about ventilation and look, so, I made this design:



I used my manual dril machine with these 2 sizes of cup saw to make the holes (I decided to not use the 'cylinders' design, I did only the circular holes):

Again, I used a die cut vinyl mask as guide:



Finishing with dremel:



This is the mesh that I would use in the whole project:



The mesh test on the front bezel:



I've cut this CM logo from a case badge:



It's time to put the front bezel according to the project theme: Orange...

I've cut a transparent adhesive film and I applied it on the bezel plexi:



I painted it with a translucent pigment (orange) in spray:



I used the same spray for the meshs:



For the backlight, I've cut a piece of an 1mm PetG plate, wrapped with heat...



...and I painted it with an UV Orange spray:

 

03 - Meters

There are the 4 types of meters of the project:

1 x Big (from old audio equipment), for the CPU Load meter



4 x Medium (from old audio equipment), for the Tachometers



4 x Small (from CM Musketeer), 3 for Voltmeters and 1 for Wattmeter



1 x Big (from original CM Cavalier) for dB meter;





My original idea was make the gauge background cutting some white adhesives with the specific format and painted it with UV Orange spray:



I made all the scales with corel...



...and printed it on a transparent film with an ink jet printer.



Die cut vinyls for the gauge covers (corel)...



...on the 1mm PetG pieces.



Some tests:



I left the original idea of the background and painted the gauge body with UV spray, the effect would be better.




For the gauge cases I used some generic covers of cleaning produtcs (like shave creams..etc..) the size is perfect.
For the wiring, I used this P2 jack:



Plastic primmer...



....and the UV painting:



I used this perfured vinyl sheet to add a 'mesh' effect:




For the gauge frames I've cut the bottom of this particular can...

meters_17.jpg

...and it for the big gauge:



Frames, pots and knobs (I replaced this black knob for a chromed)



The original and the new:

 

04 - Electronic & Etc

I made 4 circuits for the analog meters:



A - Voltmeter
B - Fan regulator speed
C - Tachometer
D - Wattmeter

I need to finish the circuit E (not in the pic) for the CPU Load meter, It will be a PIC based circuit.

The status of the circuits are:

A - Working on the EWB (Electronic Work Bench software) and the Protoboard;
B - Working on the EWB and the Protoboard;
C - Working on the EWB;
D - Testing on the EWB;
E - In sketch;

These are the components for the circuits: A, B, C e D

PS: Pics from my cell cam ):



Some circuits running on the proto:

The simple fan control using one TIP31C:



Testing the voltmeter (scale ajustment)



I would finish the PCB of these circuits last year, but unfortunaly, I didn't have time. I have plans to put these meters running on the case until August of this year.


04A - IO Panel

For the IO Panel, I've cut this piece of an old FDD drive:



Bondo and sanding:



I had to put the mask decals to make the holes in the correct positions

I did the holes, placed the primer and painted it with a dark silver spray.

Guess what?? I forgot to take these pics!

The UV orange decals (see section 5):



The panel done:



04B - Guage wiring



I used an p2 plug for the connections of the gauges:



The wires are: - gauge / + backlight / + gauge



Packing:



UV sleeving to close:

 

05 - Painting & Details

Besides the front bezel plexi, gauges, the logo, and meshes, I did a very simple paint, but the masking was little bit difficult because the screwless set.



1 - Clear for UV;
2 - Dark silver (metallic);
3 - UV Orange;
4 - Clear for metallic;
5 - White back for UV;
6 - Plastic primer;
7 - Primer;
8 - Translucent paint in spray;
9 - Translucent pigment for air brush;
10 - Thinner for translucent pigment;
11 - Mask tapes;

Primer:



Dark gray (mask on the screwless set):



UV Orange on the screwless set:



PCI screewless set and the case feet:




05A - Details

I made all the graphics with corel:

- Project logo;
- Small logo for the front bezel;
- IO Panel decals;
- Cooler Master title for the Aero 4 cooler;
- Aero 4 details;
- PCI slot covers;
- Guage Cables numbers;
- Window title ("From original....");



I used the logo in vinyl as guide to cut the logo in 1mm petG with hot a knife. After some sanding, I painted it with UV orange.



The logo and the window title:



The window done: meshes; logo, title; gauges with covers, frames, etc...



I won these nice items from the 2005 CM Mod Contest as prizes for the stage 1 (top 10 cases)


ps: I used only the fans and cables for this project.

 

06 - Realease 2 High-res pics

 

A very nice colour theme - I like the analogue style of the case, it works very well.

 

Veryn nice mod, one of the best I have seen, great Idea on printing the layout on a sticker, youre slick man

 

Love the analog gauges! Question though. What ohm resistors did you use for them, and how does that CPU meter one work? I took 4 analog gauges from some old tape decks I found for just this purpose, and when hooked to my variable PSU they would max out at 0.3V. I haven't had a chance to try them with some resistors yet. Very nice job though.

PS your circuit diagrams are too small, I can't read them. Thanks.

 

holy sh!t

the case is perfect

 

That's HOT! The color scheme and how it is everywhere and the window....

 

AWFULLY ****IN' GREAT CASE!

add some more yellow please!
less orange.

yellow/shadow,dark is the perfect theme for the case.

 

I love UV!!!

 

Damn, thats a sweet case! Amazing how the colors fit together, and the gauges is just freakin nice!

Great job

 

WOOW!!!! I could stare at the pictures for days!!!

 

Plz do just one thing - delete the pictures of the case in the light
It looks awsome in the dark and I didnt like it in the beginig.

edit: I looked at the pictures again in awe! Great work, simply great.

 

Thank you guys very much!

Matt,

For the voltmeter (it's very simple) I used only 3 components:

1 res 3.3k
1 res 22k
1 trimpot 47k (for the scale adjustment)

For the Tachometer, you will need a volt-frequency converter CI, like the LM2917.

The Wattmeter, I'm still testing, using a Zener Diode (1n4752)...I hope to finish the tests soon.

The Cpu Load Meter is still on my 'desk', I will use a pic 16f628a with a simple PWM schematic and a client program that grabs the cpu load % via rs232 where a win32 app will send it.

I will post here the whole schematics of this project soon.

Dustin: In fact, some parts are yellow because the variations of the pigments, you can't see it on the pics. You are right, all orange wouldn't be so nice.

 

VERY nice case sir, many kudos.

My hat's off to you.