Scratch Build – In Progress Homemade Alu case /w copper highlights. FINISHED.

me?

nice work on the frame, op

 

Nice work Indeed!

 

So far, so good. I forgot to mention that I like the CD box. It looks like it should have a little statue on it.
I know those screws. Those little turds come in kits for sliding door security drop-bars. You have to start the thread in the aluminum with a stronger screw, like a drywall screw,(LOL) or the head will snap off!
Sorry Cheezeit, didn't mean to wake you.

 

Yea, ironic that dry wall screws are stronger than screws for sheet metal. But it doesn't matter anyway; I ended up using different screws with a hex head. I was having trouble at the corners where 2 screws would run into each other because theyre ~3/4" long. The new ones that I bought are only 1/2" long so I don't have that problem with them.

 

Update 3!

Got some stuff from UPS and Fedex today! 1 shipment from DangerDen and one small shipment from MNPCTech. I'd also like to thank Dan Stephens from DangerDen for giving me a discount! It's not a full sponsorship, but hey, every little bit helps!




Pics of new stuff! 3x120mm radiator, some 1/2" ID tygon tubing, clamps, a button, modders mesh, a new acrylic face for my Tyee gpu block, and a new pump relay.


Put the fans on my radiator. The plan is to sleeve and extend all of their power cables so they'll be able to reach the fan controller location. I might route the cables through the frame if it's feasible.


This is a view of the top of the case, as you can see, the radiator barely fits in the gap. In fact, it didn't fit until I grounded down some of the screws.


Did this to 4 screws to allow the radiator to fit.

There are no pics of the process, but yesterday I cut all of the sheets for the panels. Fun times with the radial arm saw and table saw.


Here's the first panel in place (the top) with the hex screws I chose.


Tapping all of the holes for the top. What a pain.



Well worth the trouble though, it should look excellent when all of the tape is taken off. as you can see, I also drilled the holes for the radiator. I will cut out the hole for it another day.


And back to the radiator, I super glued some plastic washers on to reduce vibration transfer from the rad to the case.


And of course, I can't do anything without breaking something or another. This is a titanium coated bit. How I managed to break it, I'm not sure.

Until next time...

 

Thats going to look really nice when finished, are you going to brush the aluminum? that would look killer, either way though, nice work.

 

The case is really starting to come together. Scratch mods have always caught my eye. Good luck with yours!
About the CD Drive, maybe you could burn the other sides to give it that "uniform look"! I think that would look great: burned wood against normal wood.
Anyway, MOD ON!!!!!!!!

 

Nice! Love that wooden external drive, so cool! God I love the warmth of the look of wood. It's soo beautiful.

Mwa. Love it!

The frame on your new case looks awsome. And, man, you need to route those cables throught the frame that would be sweet!

 

I'm going to polish the front and most likely brush the rest. I did some testing with a random orbit sander with 220grit sand paper and it makes a fairly consistant brush look as long as I go over everything evenly.

Actually, the other side is burnt also. Good thing I didn't post a pic showing that or I might have been hanged.

I intend to try, but going around corners might be troublesome and the multitude of screws that poke through the panels/joints into the frame might also be a problem also. But I will try!

Anyway, thanks for the kind words everyone! I've come up with a few ideas so that the outside won't seem quite so bland (in some places).







The top grill design is not final, just something I came up with quickly in SketchUp. On either side of the grill, I will put copper. It probably won't look exactly like it does in the picture, but it will be similar. On the right side panel, the plan is to drill about a billion holes to allow air flow into the case. It was getting tedious copy/pasting them in SketchUp so there is only the little section done, but there will be more on the actual panel. Also, the front has a small LCD screen. This is a carry over from my old case (it's not being used at the moment due to clearence issues). The reservoir design will probably also be changed. I have a 5" acrylic cylinder that could make a decent reservoir if I get some 1/4" thick acrylic for the top and bottom and bond it all together with silicon.

 

Looks really good.

 

I really like the current design for the top grill. The question is would you cut a boring rectangle out and add the latice work back in or are you gonna just cut the holes? If you do the second, I would do away with the copper strips and just have either two copper accent triangles on alternate corners or just the front one. But hey what do I know it ain't my mod and these are just my thoughts.

 

Hmm good question. My intent was to cut out a rectangle on the top panel then fashion a grill out of another piece. This way, it would add a little bit of "flavor" to the top and allow me to screw up without redoing the entire top piece. Also it would allow me to get my hands inside the case if the need should ever arise. Also, the effect would be like this:



kind of a staircase. or something. thoughts?

 

Coming along really nicely, keep it up man

 

LOL ok..

Now hows that for an educative lesson!!

 

lol
I also think both sides being burnt would look very neat & uniform. Case looks good, i'm guessing you haven't put the rad in the sketchup yet. I haven't used sketchup, but with the grill holes, can't you select say, a 10 x 10 grid of the holes, copy them and then select the resulting 20 x 10 grid, copy them, etc...

I'd also say make the top grill match the side grill. You don't have to drill holes, but whatever type of vent option you shoose, i reckon it will look neater if both vents are the same. It's always nice to see original custom made grills and would be alot less tedious than drilling thousands of holes

 

Wouldn't it have been easier to use flathead screws or bolts? Are you going to reinforce the bottom of the angle joints at all? If anything, I'd recommend riveting a strip of alum along the bottom and bent around and up the vertical beam.

What brand were the bits? Are you sure they were titanium coated, or was it importanium? A high speed steel bit from a reputable company is going to be far better than a "titanium" coated low-carbon steel bit from a company that sells "budget grade" bits. Of course expensive bits can break too.

 

I didn't know the radiator wasnt going to fit until I finished the frame and the radiator came in the mail a few days later. I actually had to grind them further down than the pic shows; theres no way to get them off now, the hex head and the slit for the screw driver are completely ground down.

I think the bits were Craftsman maybe? Whatever they were, they are fairly decent bits, I just don't think they're meant for metal. They were titanium nitride coated. I bought a new one that is similar that came with a better tap than what i was using. Works much better.

 

A lot of Craftsman bits are junk, some are really good though. From the looks of it, that bit should have been okay with metal, especially aluminum. Maybe you need to use some cutting fluid?

Also, there's a Craftsman coupon floating around the net $5 off $5. Either google or search slickdeals.net to find links to it. Some stores are rejecting it but many are not. It may be worth a try.

How much did you actually grind away from the hex head screws? Have you thought about using JB Weld or some Gorilla Glue to help secure the alum. joints? I mean, if it's going to be permanently fastened together anyways...

 

I already bought a new bit from Lowes and I also just bought some cutting fluid (really helps with tapping too, guy at work reccomended it. I had never heard of it because I usually work with wood).

The hex head screws are ground down enough that you can no longer see that they were once hex head. The joints are very secure already and the frame is very stiff. I was sitting on top of the frame and it wasn't bending or flexing at all.

 

A single angle bracket like that can take a shearing weight of over 50kg. Therefore, I don't think it's necessary to reinforce the corners unless you are concerned about the frame twisting or bending.