Thanks again for the comments and support. Of course your'e right again Aniki. It took me a while to work out how you knew because I tried to get meta-data by clicking on the images and this didn't work. But when I copied the image to my PC and looked, all the info was there. Yes the new camera is for 1080 movies. This one is much better planned than the last but you can't think of everything, so some things change, some things are ditched and some things are invented. Just about everything went wrong in the last project and many parts were remade or redesigned. But I've learned a lot from CX1 and that has helped this project go along much more smoothly.
oldnewby, I am here to sing your praises. You are an artist that elevates the art we profess known as modding. My goal has been to work away from the standard nice looking boxes and move toward the unexpected and jarring--and you have been a continual source of inspiration. Your designer's mind is sharp and luminous as the star your mod is named after, and your craftsmanship is impeccable. My two cents on your mod--I like the positioning of your vandal switches. The only other location I would suggest would be the back of the system to add some nice lines to what is normally considered the "side of shame," what with the IO ports and cables and all. Secondly, I have some questions: I need to know the name or where you purchased your cute strip rollers from. I have only been able to find rollers monstrous in size and weight and I am looking for something like you have. What bit are you using to countersink the m3's? I have an idea on what you could use for the 6-32s but I can't find a decent bit for m3's...It looks like you have some universal sink? What grade aluminum are you working with, or what do you prefer? I have experience with 6061, is the stuff you are using similar? Finally, how do you brush your aluminum. I have read countless articles and looked at countless more pictures, and I myself have done it, but you, sir, give your AL panels the best treatment I have ever seen. Period. I would love to learn from your techniques. Thank you so much for your time, and thank you even more for gracing me with such marvelous beauty and craftsmanship.
Your not slacking ill give you that Great worklog, ill be watching^^ um, and i like the clear plastic <3
I am in your debt. As well as your wife and daughter. Yes, you are crazy and I wish more in this world were crazy like you. You wife must have a great many things to say at times to you about your other love. I have a feeling perhaps not so much at times. They always come first, as it should be. Again, I say thank you for your time to share with us. You are an inspiration, now more ways than one. Reading this log and learning more and more each time I read it. It is music in the making, and I see the notes with each picture and paragraph you provide. Bravo
This is the best thing I have seen since Orac Loving it but one thing.....HURRY UP, desparate to seem more!
Thanks for the great comments everyone. Thank you. The mini slip rollers were bought on ebay for about A$150 and are made in China, so I'm sure you will be able to buy them locally. I use these to countersink M3, M4 and M5 holes: Just a tip., if you want to countersink thin material (1mm-2mm) then you can get a good result by also countersinking the substrate. That is, hold the two pieces together, align the holes and countersink into the piece underneath so that the screw doesn't "bottom" early. I don't know the grade of the alu I'm using but I do know it's not 6061. Because my supplier tells me that they only sell 6061 in 10mm and greater. I don't "brush" the alu, just sand and sometimes polish, and then anodise. I'm still waiting for the GFX card, but I can make most of the corner cover and play around with other things. Before the cover is made the cutouts for the fan bodies need to be made bigger. I know this sounds stupid but because the bodies will be painted, then putting them into position will scrape the paint if I keep this tight fit. Once that's done then a cardboard model of the cover is built up. The outline is then transfered to some 1mm alu. This outline will be larger than the size that is needed but that's good because I can then file to the correct shape. Then these tabs can be made to fit by direct comparison. And the first bends made. Then the cut-outs can be made to fit. Then a line is scored for the next bend. And it fits pretty well. Some areas need to be cut out and some tabs are made to hold some more covers. And the finished part (I think). Two screws are removed from the fan mounting plates and these are replace with dome screws and hold the cover to the fan bodies. Two holes are also drilled to hold the tabs to the fan carrier. I had a small piece of micro mesh laying around so this was used for the cavity where the switches were tried. And a piece of 6mm plate was cut for the front of the cable/HD compartment. The lower holes to mount the side panel were countersunk. So we can have a look at how it looks so far. It really sucks but even the corner cover needs to be loosened up here and there so fitting and removal doesn't scrape paint. Ah, what can you do. Back soon.
I know what you mean about the fan bodies being too big to fit in the holes if you paint them. It's not stupid at all, but merely bares testament to the precision you work with each and every build
I love the attention to detail in your mods. It really makes it stand out. I also love the asymmetry you seem to be going towards in this one. When you get your aluminum anodized, do you prefer a glossy or matte finish? What grit do you take the sanding process to if you want glossy / matte? I can't seem to get a straight answer, I've heard go no more than 'x' because it will ruin the process sometimes, etc. Fill me in !
Thanks guys. Thanks, all the alu will be anodised. Thanks, in the last project I had planned to do the anodising myself, so to that end I did a great deal of research. The process itself is very simple, however, as with anything there are a lot of variables to achieve a particular finish. As it turned out, for various reasons I was unable to do the anodising myself, removing the opportunity to experiment and find how to achieve these finishes. I did find a company that didn't mind throwing my stuff in with the large commercial work that they involved in but asking too many questions is not something they like very much and one would think I was engaged in industrial espionage. The finish on CX1 can best be described as a 'satin' finish, and the preperation involved wet sanding with various grades to finish on 600 grit. Here are a couple of photo's of the mobo cover. I don't think you can see in the photo's the very fine sanding marks that are visible but I'm happy with this finish and I don't see any reason why a finer grit can not be used to get an even better finish. Polishing should give you the best possble finish but if you are after a brushed finish, then something around 320 grit would be the finest you would use and possibly a course grit, way up to 120 will give you a more pronounced brush finish. You can also color the anodising to virtually any color you want and this process is done after the actual anodising. Various pigments can be used, some better than others but I don't have time to go into all of this. But be aware that the anodising will NOT hide ANY imperfections and will HIGHLIGHT many. Please excuse the dust. Continuing on with making whatever parts I can and the details can be sorted later. The cover for the cable/storage compartment was first measured up and then a pattern assembled from pieces of cardboard. Then the design transfered to a piece of 3mm alu. A small tip: Use a knife to cut through the tape just outside the line to prevent the tape from fraying while being cut with the jigsaw. And this area is starting to look a little better. I've no idea how all this will fit together (it''s mostly just sitting in place) but I'll think of something.
How about filing it down (I already feel sorry for suggesting this) so that it sits inside the 'wall' of the compartment. Much like the supports for the bottom part of the wall. That way, you can have symmetrical screws on the top and bottom.
Each time I see an update I get more and more curious how this mod is going to look at the end! Amazing job once again man, keep on rollin!
I am very curious about the anodized finish. Personally I love the way some finishes look like a oily like surface where the original optic characteristics of the aluminium are kept. Look up some bicycle parts (brakes for instance) in flashy colors if I'm to vague. Very nice. Have you decided colors yet?
