Case Mod Project : Azure - A Rack Server Mod -Complete

[wastedtime]

Thanks for confirming it The boy 4rm oz

[jhanlon303]

Got some 5 stars from me - this is wicked!
John

[wastedtime]

Thanks John.

[ComputerKing]

wastedtime you got 5 stars from me too. You deserve them

[wastedtime]

Thanks ComputerKing .. Looks like someone gave me lesser stars .. Its gone down to 3 stars.

Never Mind ... Its time for an update

I finally got some time this weekend and did some work on the monitor mod.

I cut the outer frame for the monitor. It will be composed of 2 * 1/4" acrylic pieces. One black and one fluorescent blue.

I completed the black piece. It didnt turn out as well I had hoped but decent nonetheless.

I also cut 5 identical (3 black + 2 fluorescent ) square sheets. The fluorescent sheets will be sandwiched in between the black sheets. To make the base of the monitor.


Here is the base . I have to do a roundover on this one and sand it and polish it.



The first black piece for the monitor frame.
Didn't turn out as well as I had hoped for.. but its alright.. The fluorescent sheet will sit on top of this. So minor imperfections wont been seen.



Another picture



Ahhh.. Nice and shiny.




Thanks for looking
wasted

[jhanlon303]

I'm sorry dude, we can only give stars once - it's still 5* in my book. Never mind the jealous who rate it low. Stars are not the measure of the mod.
Too bad we can't PM the mods and find out who the nosepick was!
John

[The boy 4rm oz]

Well I voted 5 stars. You get my vote lol.

I think the monitor frame turned out pretty well.

[Teknokid]

Back up to 4

[wastedtime]

Originally Posted by jhanlon303

I'm sorry dude, we can only give stars once - it's still 5* in my book. Never mind the jealous who rate it low. Stars are not the measure of the mod.
Too bad we can't PM the mods and find out who the nosepick was!
John

Its alright John. What is most important to me is comments from you guys

Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Well I voted 5 stars. You get my vote lol.

I think the monitor frame turned out pretty well.

Thanks bro. I am hoping to get it done by this weekend . Hopefully i get enough time.

Originally Posted by Teknokid

Back up to 4

Thanks Teknokid

[wastedtime]

Well all that could have gone wrong went wrong today

I started to finish off the monitor mod and I realized that the holes on both the panels that had to be sandwiched together didnt match.

I wired the LED's to the base and was just about to finish soldering when I found that I had stuck the base of the monitor to the acrylic base in exactly the opposite orientation of how it was supposed to be done.

I managed to break the PCB that holds the brightness and contrast buttons and also the power on/ off switch.

The mounting holes were about 3mm off on all sides

In sheer anger and frustration I ripped off all the acrylic and threw it in the trash. I dont know what to do now I will possibly go back to painting the original panel black and using it.

-wasted


EDIT :

Added Images of the pieces

The mounting holes 3mm off on all sides



The holes that didnt match

[wastedtime]

Hello Everyone.. I am happy to report that I now have a sponsor

John @ Delvies Plastics happily agreed to sponsor some acrylic for The Clone and the Monitor Mod .

Thanks John








A tiny tiny Update :


I re-did the sandwiched base. This time it is a lot smaller and is rectangular. I didnt have enough acrylic so I had to make it a lot smaller.



Drilled a hole on the back of the monitor panel. This will hold the switch for the LED's.





Cut the acrylic rod into 6cm pieces. These will hold the acrylic sheet that will cover the monitor. They will attach to the sides of the monitor panel.
For some reason the rod started melting every time I touched it with the jigsaw. even at really slow speeds. The result is pretty very uneven cuts.. Sigh... more sanding for me





Thanks for looking,
-wasted

[The boy 4rm oz]

Congratz on the sponsor mate.

[Nolimited]

yeah congrats with your sponsor and the base will be nice also when it are smaller

[wastedtime]

Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Congratz on the sponsor mate.

Thanks mate

Originally Posted by Nolimited

yeah congrats with your sponsor and the base will be nice also when it are smaller

Thanks NoLimited , . A smaller base surely looks a lot better .



Well another tiny tiny update:


I cut 8 similarly sized acrylic pieces. Each of them have a square cut onto them. (My trusty dremel with a 561 bit did this.... I love my dremel)



Two pieces will be sandwiched together to make a 1/2" thick piece. and will be mounted to the back of the monitor frame.. like this...






When you look at it from the front....




This is where it gets interesting. I will effectively have a 1/2" deep cutout of a square whose side measures 5/8" .
I will slide the acrylic rod into this cut-out and then weld it to the mount

The acrylic rod will be lighted so hopefully I can reproduce the whole glow effect that the rods of the drive hold have.








Well why did I do a cut-out when I could have just stuck the rod onto the acrylic. Well when the monitor stands vertically gravity will come into play.
Each of these 4 rods will be responsible for holding a 3/16" acrylic sheet approximately 20" x 12" in size. I didn't want a situation where the weld gave way and the rod starts sagging.
By inserting the rod into the cut-out I completely eliminate the chances of a sag. and that way a lot of load is transferred from the rod to the actual mounts themselves.

Thanks for Looking,
-wasted

[jhanlon303]

Sponsors recognize 2 things. Quality of workman(person)ship and exposure. This mod has both in stars. Well met! Excellent!
John

[The boy 4rm oz]

Nice idea. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[wastedtime]

Originally Posted by jhanlon303

Sponsors recognize 2 things. Quality of workman(person)ship and exposure. This mod has both in stars. Well met! Excellent!
John

Thanks John. I am humbled by this statement

Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Nice idea. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Thanks mate. I hope this is completed by the weekend. Then I can focus all my energy on modding for The Clone

[wastedtime]

Yehh another update... A small one though..

Over the weekend was able to get the roundover done on the mounts. Here they are.. I still have to sand and polish them



Another picture with the mounts along with the square rods. All the mounts have been tapped to accommodate a 6-32 cap screw.




This is how they will look when attached to the frame



Ah here is when I encountered a small glitch.. The piece of metal that you see here is the one that actually holds the LCD in place. There are a total of 4 such pieces .. One on each side.
I initially thought that these pieces have threaded holes.. turns out I was wrong.. The plastic outer shell that I am going to throw away plays an important part in holding the piece in place. Hmmm..:buttkick: this is what I call bad design...





Well nevermind I ran to the hardware store to pick some JB Weld up and I also bought a 10' long drain cleaner..
Well the idea is to sleeve the wires using the drain cleaner thus giving it a nice metallic look The diameter is exactly 1/4" and it will fit perfectly in the holes that I have drilled for the LED's



A peek of how the drain cleaner should look




Well this was sorted out and I found myself in trouble again.. After ordering a 6-can pack of what I thought was good ol Krylon regular clear coat. I ended up with this..



Well looks like I will have to make do with this now ..
So instead of waiting to find out if the varnish works with the regular krylon that I have i decided to do a test run.. (The paint is also set to go on the clone.. I am in no way risking a $300 case because I was too lazy to see if the paint reacted with the clear coat.. l learnt ths when I screwed the paint job on the monitor)

I also decided to have a small competition.. Krylon products on the left and Rustoleum on the right.. both of these will be tested on a scrap piece of metal that I have..




The scrap piece.. Krylon will be used on the left and Rustoleum on the right. that way I can directly compare the two side by side..



I will also put in a little bit of these ...



Thanks for looking,
-wasted

[wastedtime]

Finally I have something to report

I tested 3 different combinations of paint .

This was the first combination :

1. Krylon 1318 All purpose gray primer
2. Krylon 1601 Gloss Black Paint
3. Krylon 1301 Gloss Clear

This combination for some reason seems to work for some time Once the paint starts drying it slowly becomes duller

Here is a picture




2nd Combination :

1. Krylon 1318 Gray All purpose primer
2. Krylon 51601 Gloss Black Paint (Not sure how this is different from the 1601 except for the spray nozzle)
3. Krylon 1301 Gloss Clear

This combination seemed to work better the gloss black retained its shine even after drying.

A picture




Finally Rustoleum

1. Rustoleum 2089 Dark Gray Primer
2. Rustoleum 7779 Black Gloss Enamel
3. Rustoleum 7701 Crystal Clear

This worked the best. The coats went in real nice and the gloss stayed intact.

A picture



Overall the rustoleum seems to work the best but the second combination of Krylon comes in very very close. I will still be going with the Krylon because I still have over 6 cans of primer remaining. I will now have to get only the gloss black.

Any inputs will be greatly appreciated.

thanks for looking,
- wasted

[The boy 4rm oz]

Dude looking sweet.