Case Mod - In Progress NZXT Lexa -Experimental Modyssey - June 5 - new CCFL, lighting question

Jan 22nd update

Jan 22nd Update – Drillin like a Villian

Drill Wet!
(Your plexi likes it better!)


Taking your advice, I applied water to the next drilling batch. I experimented with the different bits, not yet applying the grinding.
With this 1/8 regular twist drill, water & syringe form a happy threesome. Add Plexi for an orgy of goodness… Luckily I was there with my camera to record it all. Video hitting the interwebs sometime in the future… no promise on the near future, as I have to find vid editing software for win7/vista.

Tools of the trade:


I used the other bit from before and it sucked in comparison. (too much remelt, some bit chatter, etc.)

Ended up redrilling that hole and all the others with the above twist drill.

Exit holes came out great:


After that I tapped the holes. I started with 10/24 since that was the bolt sizable enough that I had on hand, but then decided against it and did 6/32 and 8/32 taps.
Here’re the collected tools and tappees



I started the tap with the drill press on lowest speed, but that really tore things up too much, so I went back to the hand tap.

I also put the side door back on last night to get a better look:

Turned off the Lights




Turned the lights back on


Here’s my mobo I/O panel scan/print:

And with old I/O shield for perspective.

 

Don't work too late on that I/O panel MM...there's work in your near future!

Can't have you getting fired for hitting "Super Snooze" aka "off" on your alarm. It's another hellaciously evil Korean winter (-10F currently with windchill) so I ain't leaving the house this weekend, and may even get snowed-in...

MM, you know for a fact that you ain't been cold till you've been Korean Cold!

I'm well stocked on beer, but need the updates so I don't have to watch Korean TV or have to do some premature modification (Cheap & EEL don't...well, go ahead. lol) to the 2nd TJ07 to keep my tiny braincells entertained.

I'll lay out those simulator panels and some other bits for pics for you and Cheap (I remember our conversation Bro, but the best stuff is back in the States. Think I still have some cool stuff around from when I was an M1 tank crewman.).

Cheers,
Mac

 

Lol... yeah, that's a manifestation of my Obsession. I just need to walk away from the computer.

Stay warm, Mac, I'm spoiled as a born californian... Never had to deal with snowfall in the morning until DC, and that had nothing on Korea (not even the muggy summer! well maybe.) ... no more updates for you tonight, but you could check out my newest ToDo list and let me know what you think. I'll be reviewing my notes (after I find all the pads and scraps of paper I jotted things down on, and see what else is needed to fill it out. Once I cross off or assign a later date to things on this list, I can call it Done! (temporarily, at least, keeping in mind Mino's quote from before!

Thoughts on color scheme are needed as well (although the coolest thing is that I can swap panels out at any time depending on my mood...

I googled the U-60 and saw some fan pics online of the intrumentation... that's really incredible... there are so many dials and devices on there... can't wait to see pics of your hoard. What were you thinking of doing with it? They let you walk away from there with this stuff, or do you have to sneak it out under your coat?
I bet if you shipped some to me for S. Korea, we'd have more troubles than John had with the CF from Canada... Korean shipping actually was excellent when I moved home, tho I sent it slowboat. Customs might have a thing or two to say about helicopter parts on my stoop!

Without further ado, the To Do list:
January 22, 2009

To Do List:
Case Physical stuff:
-Cut and polish shroud cover. If you look at the pics above you'll see 2 diff orientations for the cover. I'd like to have the psu cover go over the big divider bend, so that lower bended edge stays as a lit edge as seen in the later pics.
*I'm also thinking of making it into 2 pieces (to make it easier to assemble/disassemble) in the case), with an overhanging piece that acts as a badge/logo as well as a cover for the split. Some engraving/letting/graphics needs to take place. Kind of like a plaque (with edges router profiled, possibly) mounted on the cover piece, with two corners unboltable to remove from back piece near PSU.
-Cut down big divider bend edges and sand and polish. Might have to cut more passthroughs for cables/CCFL
-Design and cut I/O panel.
-Design and make final cuts to shape HDD covers (windows) and sand and polish
*Decide which HDD cover color scheme to go with. (UV Clear all the way, Pearl Over, White behind, black on top.) Right now I’m at either UV Clear all the way or Pearl on top for the HDD
-Plexi accent pieces/looms - shaping, drilling, mounting, polishing, decisions on layout.
*possibly make card backs/covers from plex.
*possibly make mobo tray
-Nuts and bolts acquisition (6/32 or 8/32 or what?)

Lighting & Wiring:
CCFL - Inverter holder and placement, rewiring, sleeving, locating, replacing?
*replace inverter?
*get small sized ccfl tube?
LEDs - holder and placement, rewiring, sleeving, locating.
*order 3mm UV
Electronics - Terminal strip/powerbus/circuit board - design, holder and placement, rewiring, sleeving, locating
DIY Fan Controller mounting location and leds
PSU Sleeving – Cord length, single sleeves? (plexi case?)

Case
Repaint interior (maybe v2 in June when it's painting weather)
Exterior paint (maybe v2 in June when it's painting weather)
new window - engraving? Logo?

 

O-YES
Rock on MM... I did a "box" very-much like this one and named it Soylent Green
Excellent-work.. That green acrylic looks great..
MS

 

Thanks Modsquad! I've liked Soylent Green alot, and am subbed to copperhead so your praise means a lot to me! I take it you like the unclothed HD Cover, with no pearl or no black, in all its UV green goodness?

Psst...

Hey you...



Wanna watch me drill? Click image below. It's SFW.



What a ending, eh?

lol

There was a better video but not under the 100mb limit from photobucket. Once I get some vid software set up and make the time, I'll compile a little video. (and try the grinding down of drill bits in a comparison test.

 

Actually, and I'm sure you'll get a kick out of this since you know what it's like living in Korea- It was all stacked-up beside the dumpster at work. I just did the Korean thing and saved it from the landfill. I always wanted to mount an all-weather cam on my balcony aimed at the local trash collection point and do a live webcast. People globally would be amazed at Koreans rooting through (waking me up at 2-3 AM damnit) and taking bottles/cans/FURNITURE...

I just CHEAPSKATE-d and brought em home. So if you'd like em and must have em before I hit the States for good in April, the mail from here will be no problem. Otherwise, they're still coming back to "The World" with me in my $3K household goods shipment and I can UPS/FedEX them to you so they won't get lost.

As for some (albeit major) parts of your mod, I'll let you know what I'm thinking through PM because you gave me a couple of great ideas for your rig....especially since I don't have to do the work...but will on mine as well...wait...that's messed up! (In my best Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes impression) DDDDAAAMMMMNNN YOU ModMinded!!!

The biggest suggestion I'll give you openly here: Work your lighting like fflow did his. If you aren't building a scratchbuild case, then do your best to hide all of your aftermarket parts. Show the world what you have done, not what the so-called "mod companies" have "helped" you do. That's what I've always loved about the modding gig... Modders have done their own thing like using an IDE cable to run LEDs, and some s**tbag company wants to turn a profit from it by "pre-modding".

A huge general modding suggestion: Think "outside the box", cliche I know, but I've been lurking this forum since 02 (thanks to the original MacroMan mod) and joined just to comment on Bod's BSG thread. I've followed Cheapskate, E.E.L., and (the rising star- and then some that he is) JHANLON303, do some outstanding mods (although I personally think that EEL's Building Better Worlds was an inside joke to get people to say "BBW" ).

I'm loving your 1st mod Bro, and you did the homework on the project log portion quite well. To curtail my long-windedness, and give you some extra work, a PM is on it's way soon.

 

Great first mod MM. I like that you show your experiments and test pieces, good and not so good. Same for the various new toys you've either borrowed or bought during the build and how you're learning to use them as you go. It gives some of us more confidence in making a start with limited resources.

I've got one tip on using the press drill for tapping.

For safety, unplug it, then remove the belt before proceeding.

Mount the tap in the chuck making sure it's nice and straight and centred. Now turn the spindle by hand using the pulley to cut the thread. This is easier if you can remove the spring that holds the spindle up.

You get an accurate square start for the thread, but the drill doesn't eat your work, or your fingers.

You can finish the job using the tap wrench once the thread is started if it's is easier, but at least the thread will by square to the surface which will help minimize the chance of the acrylic cracking.

Good luck with the mod.

 

Korean Dumpster diving! Nice one Mac! You know, I always tell people that the Korean area I lived in had the recycling down to a science. I lived in one of those ubiquitous apartment blocks that all look the same. There was a fantastic system of like 8-9 bins in front of the building for all sorts of recycling - glass bottles, colored glass, bags, clear plastic, colored plastic, paper, food, etc... And the guard/attendant and your neighbors would make sure you were properly recycling. And I loved that they kicked all the old people out of bed at 5am to sweep the downtown streets up after all the young'uns and bar promoters had finished partying and making a mess! (Ok, J/K They didn't kick em out of bed, and it wasn't all the old folks, just the poor ones.) Regardless, I liked the system.

I'm looking forward to your ideas via PM, and thanks of course for the ideas and support in the log! Fflow's lighting was dope (meaning good! ) and I'd love to hide some CCFLs in a false floor or behind some plex to enable a nice glow yet avoid the tube blinding you. I was thinking last night of a plexi box with slits.

Thanks dogknees for the post and tip!
I'm glad that you like my project and that my log can serve as a learning model (both positive and negative) to other noobs. That was one of my hopes with it (as well as showing off and basking in your praise and adulation ) It can be pretty daunting to think about starting this sorta thing, especially without the tools in hand, but it is well worth it. I'm thinking I should have a log that's based on the theme of minimal tools (ie, dremel, drill, jig/sabre/hand saws.) (Now I'm one of those guys that I envied, that appears to have the workshop full of tools!)

That's a great tip about the drill press tapping. I'd read about it before (I'm thinking from Cheapskate, but could have been someone else) and actually tried it, but didn't think to release the pulley or spindle tension! Brilliant! I was getting much more of a wrist/forearm workout than I intended, and was having a harder time than by hand... It will be tried again with the next taps that have to be done.

thanks again, guys!

 

wow, I was on holyday for a week and you've done a lot of work!

 

Nuts!

Thanks!
I actually didn't get much work done this week, but I did have a 3 day weekend, which really helped. Plus lots of pics and fitting together of existing parts.
I'm getting ready to spend some time in the garage now, just had dinner, and could probably manage a couple hours of power tool use!

I stopped at Ace Hardware on my way home from work to pick up some 6/32 bolts long enough to hold the drive accents together. While I was there I looked at acorn nuts, which ranged from 40-60cents each in the size I wanted. Chromed options were available as well, for quite a bit more. I stopped and asked a guy who worked there if they had any packages of acorn nuts in this size, and he went upstairs to look, coming back down with a display case full of them, and covered in dust. Packaged in groups of 5, they were being sold for 89cents! I picked up 6 boxes of 6/32 and 6 of 8/32 for future use. They're shiny nickel plated, so they don't match the socket head bolts I got... but then again I don't have 6/32 socket head bolts!
I may have to change up the hardware....

 

Setup for the weekend!

I didn't get to use the power tools tonight, too late by the time I got down there.
I did use the drill press tapping method as described by dogknees to finish the last untapped pieces. Worked much better without the belt attached!

I also did a lot of planning and layout for tomorrow’s modding.

So here’s the plan:

Re- Mark PSU Cover cut lines:

Which Line



Final Line


Scroll Saw setup for Shroud Cover:



Profiles to be tested


Rail Edges to be trimmed:


CCFLS to sand down:


Marked out I/O test/template to be:


Tools I used:

 

cant wait to see the I/o plate am having one machined for me as i thought it would be a pain in the ass to do!!

 

I'm even interested in the io plate, is my big trouble in my new mod, now I want to see how do you make this
Today even I have some trouble finding the nuts and bolts that I need, you're not alone, ModMinded!

 

Hehehe... I think it will be, too! I have high hopes about this method so far.
I looked up the ATX specs on formfactor.org
There's a section that talks about it from the viewpoint of mobo makers and how they can lay out components in this certain region, with a little "keepout" area to allow for differences with case design... so I have room for error. I was planning on doing a mini "rabbet" along the plexi edges to achieve flush fit, so I'll just cut a little wider than I think I need, and trim to fit.

I thought of 2 things after all this that might have made things easier.
1) transparency paper
2) clear plexi/lexan, etc

I should have put this template on a clear piece of plexi to help with alignment later. Opaque white is not gonna help me. Those Xray specs I got from HF don't seem to work at all!
(I kid, I kid)

I can still cut a rectangle 6.25" x 1.75" (spec dimensions from above link) from the transparency, and just stick it between the mobo and the premade case cutout, and trace with a sharpie. I had tried the transparency, but not cutting it smaller first!

@ Spenc- You mind me asking how much its costing you to get it made, and how you provided the dimensions? I forget if you've mentioned it in your log. (feel free to PM me bout it if you'd prefer.)

 

Must've crossed posts there Mino. Yeah, I've been putting it off, but it's something I will need to do on future mods as well (since I've got a couple of this without i/o plates... well that and it just opens doors to flexibility.

Thanks for following along, and hopefully I'll get this made up pretty quickly without too many problems :knocks wood:

I thought I scored on the nuts. I forgot to upload the pics... I'll show you what I got in a few.

 

Jan 23rd update 2 (early AM)
6 x 6/32 Stainless Acorn Nuts (5pk) @ $0.89
+
6 x 8/32 Stainless Acorn Nuts (5pk) @ $0.89

+
6 x 6/32, 1 1/4in bolts w/ nuts $0.99
+
Tools


+
Plexiglass


= Priceless






I don’t even need the acorn nuts to hold the 2 pieces together!
One was already tapped to 8/32, so I’m gonna need to get longer bolts… but what style? I like the hex head look from socket caps, and the recessed ones especially. I think I want to go shiny with these, rather than the dull black. That is the conundrum… that and looking for a good deal on nice looking bolts.

I drilled matching holes in the wooden template as a method of holding the 2 pieces together as I route them… It’s not going to work as I’d originally intended, but I’ve got some wacky plan Bs to try.

 

first i got the dimentions of where the edges would be. i.e the dimentions for mounting. and then cut with the table saw then i basicly just done the same as u. i drew around the i/o plate and the assorted ports.. handed it to my m8 with the original i/o shield and he said he would check the layout and sort it for me.

all that service and its for nothing! he's a precision engineer and he said it wouldnt take long so there would be no charge.. well maybe a vodka and coke nxt time were at the pub!

 

ModMinded, you gave me an idea!
Now I have to cannibalize some old case to bring out the shield receptacle to use it as a template!
Tnx for the idea!

 

Nice mate you have there! Sounds like a great way to do it... I wish I had the original shield.

Yay! I love that I can provoke thoughts and give help while I sleep!

I'm about to get back to what I set up yesterday, after a morning/noonish coffee. I quit smoking a couple days ago, so no cigs for me. That would be the normal routine... couple and a couple of cigs while checking the web or looking at plans... now it's straight to work!

 

January 24th update

Mobo Template
Well, what do you think, was it a pain in the ass, or a simple job for me?


When you line up the right audio and USB and Ethernet ports, you think that all is well!

Then when you look to the left, you notice everything else is off ‘rea-life’ alignment. :Wallbash:

Something (either the scanning or printing) wasn’t properly set, I imagine, and scanned it at a less than real size image. I’ll have to try again and see.

Lining up on the left side seems pretty promising. I’ll have to enlarge that USB hole and Audio connector, but most everything on the left is aligned once the PS2 ports are set up.


Plexi Bits (3.5 Bay Rails)

On the router after finishing
I’m trying out a new tape to affix plexi to the template: carpet tape, which is much thinner than the 3M but nowhere near as reusable.


Sanded with 220grit

3.5 Bay Rails & PSU support


Sanded to 220 or 500

I/O Slot Cover Pieces

Here’s the new tape. It’s wide enough for 3 of these so I just stuck some plexi on a short strip and later used the hobby knife to cut them off individually.

CCFL-
I trimmed down the end blocks on the 2 best tubes:



I used my sanding drum jig to take them down to size by feeding each cube face through a gap between the fence and drum face. The little white shavings are the old faces of the cubes! (Video was taken, but needs to be edited, will post it up when complete.)

Plexi Profile Experiment:
I had a bit of a mishap with the router:

That little piece was taped to a metal bar and fed through the router. It got caught and went flying.

I covered it up as best I could:


Here’s all my plexi work of the day (well almost)

Did I mention I trimmed the shroud down a bit? Still have another fraction of an inch to remove in certain areas.

Here it is in the case:




I just need to trim basically that notches width up to the curve and to the line. I'll have to take the top line up some more as well, but an even smaller amount there, evenly, so the cover rides on the shroud flatly.

PSU support



Some lights on the rails: