Scratch Build – In Progress Temporary name: Bloo Balls --6-29-'11 Bloo 2.0 refit COMPLETED page 47

awwww, W!

Jeeze! what have I started now?

@The Chosen -Thanks. I was hoping the 2 plexi colors together would make neon purple. Purple is also my safety color. The motherboard I'm thinking of using is purple too.

 

During my test fit of my on switch, I broke the little booger. Until I dig out a replacement, that part is halted. I did take some time to clean up the hollowed out spot it fits in.

-The deadly electric Q-tip. It comes in handy for polishing those hard to reach areas. -Just don't stick it in your ear!

-I masked my faceplate. Where have I seen this shape before?...

-Oh! That's where! Hi Bloo!

-Wait, Bloo! What are you doing!!

-Ouch! I bet that hurt!

-A nice trick to get perfectly round holes...

-Sanded and beveled with the on switch marble behind it.

-back lit to give you a rough idea what it will look like finished.

I put an order in for a new power supply and dvdburner. With a rough idea what the back psu looks like, I can go ahead and cut the hole for it.

-Fitting the holes for the psu. Again I use a gutted corpse as a handy guide.

-Marks for the cut. I removed excess masking again to keep it from fouling up my view.

-All cut.

-Marked out the areas I want to bevel.

-filed out the bevels by hand. It probably took less time like this than it would on the drill press.

that's all for today, I'm currently sanding.

 

Nice. Wait, where's Coco, Madam Foster and the rest of the imaginary friends?
So I take it you're gonna roll with that cut for the fan?

Nice work though, I really need to get a router. Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks SPQQKY. the oblong rad hole is actually because of the funny shape of the radiator... Honest!
It IS crooked, but only by 1/32".

 

you should get a real jigsaw... if you don't already have one, or a scroll saw. Thats no job for a el-cheapo dremel attachment!

nice work, and nice photohsop on the bloo

 

I'm not sure what you're talking about Teyber, but my rotozip/drill bit combo works fine. I own a few jig saws. They tend to get hot and bind on plastic. My off fit came when drilling the holes with a cardboard template. I got the rig too close to the outside wall and had to ream the holes out a bit.

To be honest I have a lot of power tools, but I do my best work by hand. A lot of my beveling and all of my sanding is by hand. Since I partly feel responsible for your recent flurry of tool purchases, I'd like to tell you that they speed up the process, but are not necessary. (Nice drill press, by the way.)

Thanks again for the compliment.

 

looks good, I like bloo

 

yeah, when a power tool can't do the job, cnc!!!
jkjk, sorry, it looked like you were using a dremel with the jig saw attachment, which is crap imo.

Yes, i am going too crazy, i just got a new drill press(hitachi), and am eveuntlaly to buy a dual action sander, buffer, table saw, and possibly a mitre saw, but let me tell you. Power tools are my therapy. Seriously man, i am not buying tools compolsivly, i buy them because i have a joy of using them.

Great work btw!

 

Thanks Beast!

True. It's better than a pile of betamax tapes. You never look a tool and say, "why did I buy that?"
...
Unless it maimed you at some point in the past...

 

I did not do much this week. It stopped raining and the yard EXPLODED! I just filled 10 trash cans with creeper vines.

-I did some polishing with these things. I read a tip somewhere on the net on making softer buffing wheels. It's felt circles stacked and sewn together. You can mount this on a wood screw that has its head cut off. You can buy the felt in hobby shops.

-Polished radiator hole. Now if the radiator only had a full coat of paint... Ignore the junk in the fins. When I got the rad it stunk of paint and smoke, so I stuffed it back in the box with some potpourri someone gave me.

-This is the fit on the radiator. From this side it's only -slightly- off.

-My case, full frontal with its top off. Showing off its protruding drives... I was surprised how sturdy it was with just the bottom frame. This setup was so I could measure for the drive cut.

-The front plate marked and drilled for cutting. I have been putting this part off because this is where I fudged up on my other 2 mods.

-The fit test after the rough cut was done. I had to pull the faceplates to get the face on. I actually got it right.

-I forgot I needed to cut more than 1/4 of the spacers out. Like this they hang over the edge and get in the way of the rivet.

 

suprise
Edit: this used to say 'I'm an idiot who cant spell surprise.' -They changed the wordfilters at some point.
^
|
from s u p r i s e.
Have I discovered one of the mods' pet peeves, or is that the rudest spell checker on the planet?

 

i didn't notice

great cuts on the front drive panels!

on my rtx mod, im like 1/16" off yeah thats tricky! i hate doing stuff like that...

anywhoo, nice update!

 

Thanks, Teyber. By the time I'm done sanding, it will be 1/16" off on the sides too. I'll still have to slide the drives in from the front, though.
-and I just realized that the floppy has to be mounted in the cage before it's put in the bay...
Looks like I will be popping off the faceplate to mount it.

On a side note, I just dug up 2 old systems from the graveyard, so I have a new switch and a much newer floppy drive. I need to make a new mold for casting a faceplate now. I also decided I won't need to solder the copper piping on my loop. I should be able to get by with silicone sealant.

 

a new power switch? its your choice, but my friend... A cool power switch really makes a mod in my opinion. Performacne pc's has them.

 

Performance pc only has those $20 switches though, rather spendy. mnpctech has some for $5, but they don't have the light ring around them. I can't justify the extra $15 for a little led ring (i'm a cheap ******* too). You can get an n.o. power switch for radio shack for $4 and they aren't too bad. Pretty much the same as mnpctech and you don't pay for shipping.

 

I agree. I also cant see why the extra $15 just for a light ring. I also got my switches from mnpctech and will just add a led next to each switch.

 

as we say from l.a.

"daaaammnn white boi got dat ish raght er"

I think this applies to the situation

 

Woah! Slow down there... I broke the tiny switch I was going to put behind the big marble. I have a nearly inexaustible supply of used parts, and I have no plans on buying one. -Honest!
Teyber buddy, I think you derailed everyone!

 

A little bit of everything


-I needed to make an oddball angle bracket for the front of the reservoir. Meet my old friend, homemade-jig-thing. It just happens that the tubing is slightly less than 2", so I didn't need to sacrifice any of the plexi tubing for sanding.

-Gluing the new bracket on.

-Finished tank.

-Checking the new switch with the rest of the rig. I will need to give this one a dab of glue to keep it in place.

-Drilling the holes for the mounting of the front.

-I taped the 2 front panels together, then used the holes in the red panel as a guide. The screws were to keep stuff from slipping as I drilled.

-While milling the bracket that holds the switch assembly, I thought I'd try to make some cutouts with the deburring bit.

-I also tried it out on the baseplate for the usb port.

-The first hint of some kind of cable management?

-Gluing the mounting plate together. The blue thing is a stack of quarters.

-I slipped up somewhere and the rig is slightly skewed. It was probably when the red tipped clamp shot off during setup. My polishing job made it a little slick, I guess.

-Glued the switch tube to the front panel. This pic is the test fit afterwards.

-Making more tailfins. The wide sanding block helps me keep the work level.

-After a failed attempt to tap the plexi to 6-32, I opted for a less kind mounting: pop rivets. I will never be able to tap small threads into plexi. The tiniest wobble while tapping will ruin the thread. That's why I use huge screws in the sideplates.

-I shrunk myself down so I could climb inside the case for this pic. The bracket was slid on the switch so I could mark mounting holes.

-Switch bracket mounted.

 

wow. Everything is so...so... perfect!

one of the best updates so far! nice work on res!