Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Enigma Reborn (5/26) Rad Grill design, more forth coming

More progress. Nice.

 

Well, i promised a sketchup update. So here we go.

First i have the updated front plate. The two half curve plates, I'll have a hole drilled & tapped on each end with a countersunk tamper proof screw to keep them in place, and allow for easy access to the Hard Drives and Optical drives. I'm not 100% final on the left optical side yet, but we'll see as I keep moving along in the mod.
Also you should be able to notice the small 1/8" gap between the two plates. I'll explain that in a second.



Next, a pic with my front cover closed.



And finally, the front cover opened. Now to explain the gap between the plates.



There will be a 1/8" bar running vertical in the middle of my cover plate, that will be operated by a motor/wench system to lift the door up, and pull it back down again when not needed.
If you'll look in the first 2 pictures, you'll see a pulley system. That is what my motor will be attached to, and what will open the door up and then allow it to set back down again.

Just for reference purposes as well, the left side will be for optical drives and any monitoring equipment i might buy or be sponsored with (hint for all you manufacturers out there). The right side will be my hard drive area, I have those nice DangerDen Aqua coolers I'm going to be using. They'll look pretty behind that window

Well I hope that explains what I'm up to, if not ask questions, I'm more than happy to answer



-Tolk

 

whoaa

I LIKE!!

 

And so do I. Fantastic work mate.

 

Thanks guys!

I guess it's time for another update!

Finishing up getting the front face done, here's one cover completed with the rivets sanded down to a smooth finish.

And cover #2


A quick test fit. Niceee...



Next i drilled and tapped out 2 holes, 1 on each side of the plate. Here's the right side completed and mounted.

A side view.. smoooooth and clean


And here is both cover plates drilled, tapped, mounted! lookin good


Next i assembled the parts that i currently have, and did a stress test.

As you can see from these pics, the middle only SLIGHTLY sags ( i mean it's really hard to tell unless you sit and look at it for a bit) From the weight of all the doors, and side pieces. This also reinforces my resolve to make the support system invisible. So you'll see what i have planned here soon. I'm kinda in brain lock when it comes to what i want to do with the top radiator support plate. No idea what design i'm going to go with, seeing as the design i was thinking of was already taken lol (gotta be new and unique!)


This will also help me while I'm making the front cover. I'm going to be using styrene, not only to keep it light, but allow me to do some trick things with it
I'll be starting on that tomorrow most likely, trying to get it going.


Well, that's it for today. Gotta sleeeeep.

Have a great night, and i'll catch ya on the flip side.

-Tolk

 

Looking great with both the doors on.

 

Thanks 4rm Hard work pays off in the end. Oh, and having your nephew screw up a few pieces that makes you redesign and rebuild a major feature on your case doesn't hurt.



I should have an update here tomorrow. It'll be pretty sweet, got my support system for the middle of the case almost done.

Peace out!

-Tolk

 

Sup guys.

I have a small update, due to the bad weather we've been having in So.Cal. I mean seriously, one day it's beautiful and hot, the next it's over cast, windy as hell and raining. wtf?

Anyways... I started first by mounting the support plate for the top of the case. I still need to trim a little off the top, but for the most part that's it.

Next i drilled two small holes (just below the tape in the above pic)

Then i drilled some holes in the back of the main box, inside the hinge hide area.
Then i ran this small steel cable through the holes, and put a end cap on it.


Then i ran it through the 2 small holes on the support plate.

Then back down the other side of the case, forming a solid support string from the front of the case, to the rear of the top box.


Here's a pic of both sides with the cable through.


I did make a small mistake on the left (outer-most) corner, i drilled the hole for the cable to close to the hinge, so i had to re-drill it closer to the inside corner of the hinge hide, so

that it wouldn't interfere with the opening and closing of the doors. Eh, small mistake, but not a big deal to fix

Well, sorry for such a small update, been kinda busy, and the weather has been effecting my progress.

See ya around soon!

-Tolk

 

Big fan of this font.

 

Yeah same here, fell in love with it the second i saw it about 2 years ago.

-Tolk

 

Man this is really coming together well. I like your work.

 

Afternoon everyone!

First off, sorry it's taken me so long to update. Been dealing with life, and being sick (damn stomach flu).

Enough of the excuses, I'm just gonna get to the update!

First off, i decided to attach the top plate, and the supports for it, I'm really trying to nail out all the larger items in the case, so that i can (as you can see) clean up the shop and start working on the details.

First of all, i grabbed my top plate, and the middle support plate that i previously installed. I lined it all up with some L bracket clamps (forgot what they're called) and marked the placement points for the hinges. (for some reason the marks i made don't show up in the pic, but oh well)



After all the hinges were installed, i did a quick test fit on the case. Yeah, yeah, don't freak out. It's not a defect. It's the way the hinges are made, they are slightly off vertical, to allow the spring action of the hinge to bring the door (or whatever it's holding onto) tight to the opposing surface. The side doors are a perfect example of this.


Here are two sweet shots of it standing on it's own, straight up. This is the effect i was looking for when the radiators are attached they'll be up and out of the way while i work on the pumps & rez's. This also allows for getting the air bubbles out when adding/changing out the coolant.


Next i cut out one of the two support brackets for the top plate. and drilled out the L bracket holes.


I un-screwed the top plate assembly and drilled/installed the Support plate.


Here's a shot of it screwed back into the case, I know it's still sagging a little, but that'll be fixed when i finish out the supports and add the bracket supports on the top-inside of each of the arches.


Next, the second support bracket cut out.


And installed, and re-attached to the case.


I'm quite pleased with my progress today, I'll be finishing out the two support plates tomorrow and hopefully you'll have a good idea of how the end product will look.

Thanks, and again, sorry for the late update.

I recently re-re-deleted my WoW account, and I can proudly say I am MMORPG free.
Going on 2 weeks now.. woot!

hehe.. well catch ya'll on the flip side!

-Tolk

 

Great support brackets. It goes perfectly.

 

Wow this case is really beginning to look awesome can't wait to see the finished product, the sketch-up drawings are amazing and atm the case looks like its gunna turn out even better!!!

 

Greetings all...

Been a while since I've updated last, but i wanted to let everyone know that I'm still around and yes i am still working on this thing. I've gotten the top plate mounted and everything squared up.

The past week or so I've mostly been cleaning up a lot of the cuts, tons of filing, and even more countersinking. I've started to take out a lot of the temporary rivets i was using and putting in the final countersunk stainless steel rivets. I also took a few days and cleaned up my shop. (was getting pretty nasty out there) Right now i would have to say that the case framework and major components are completed, I'm just working on all the details. The only thing i really have left is making the optical and hard drive racks and mounting system, as well as the front cover plate (that thing has been giving me major head aches ).

So, yeah I've made progress but nuttin worth pictures or constant updates. I've also kinda hit a modder's block, i can't for the life of me design the top cut out for the rads. Everything I draw or design makes me feel like it's "half ass" if you get my meaning.

Thanks again for all the words of encouragement and compliments. I look forward to being able to give you more consistent updates here soon. I expect to have an update with-in the next week or so.

Thanks,
Tolk

 

Put up your sketches and maybe we can give you a hand.

 

Great idea 4rm,

Here's the only one i have done in sketchup, the rest are hand drawings i have yet to render.
This is my favorite so far, but for some reason it doesn't quite do it for me. I don't think I'm going to be satisfied with anything that even closely resembles the "standard" grills. I need to think more outside the box on this one...

Here's a over view


And here's an up close version, as you can see it's "floating" above. It seems easy enough, shouldn't be to hard to do something like this.


Then again, like i said above, it's not as "outside the box" as i was hoping for.

I'll work on some more designs tonight and try to post them up tomorrow. I do have an update as well coming. Just to show ya some of the clean up work I've been doing.

Till then..

-Tolk

 

I quite like that design, looks great in black and blue. I can't see what you are complaining about lol.

 

I also like it but I can see why you're not entirely happy with it. I wouldn't be either, it's nice in itself but it somehow doesn't feel right looking at your sketches of the whole case.

Maybe you could come up with something that follows the lines of the case? Like some sort of curved grille that looks like the side of the case for each fan.

 

After taking a closer look at the sketches I can see what jokkos means. Perhaps an "E" for Enigma on each grill or a silhouette of the case?