Case Mod - In Progress Banished - 24.06.2010 BIG UPDATE.

happy b-day! 3 more years to 30 lol

 

Yeah thanx for that Lutro...


Heres the next update....

the front is not completed but is very near completion.


1 big sheet of metal




190mm sections with a bit of gap between just so i have a bit of freedom with the cutting.




cut out the rest of the middle section




in goes the inner sheet for mounting the fans




A few tabs had to be cut around... these are end supports for the motherboard tray.




no prizes for guessing whats going here




couldnt resist myself







nanoxia fans in place







Then decided I didnt like the hole size in the mesh so I spent hours doing this....




Huge difference




Totally worth it though




Then I slapped on the front section of aluminium




Unfortunately I lost some pictures of the bending and cutting of the front section.... heres where we can continue




DVD ROM safely inside for now







All that bending was not easy at all when all you got is a couple of small G clamps and a hammer but it was ok in the end with a few small adjustments.


Hole cut for the DVD ROM




And slot for the tray




This had been done over the past couple of weeks, I have been taking my time with it all because mistakes cost money for new materials.

There is also some picture missing of the mounting I had made for the DVD ROM but very simply I bent 2 thin oblong aluminium brackets and I ground down the screw end off some motherboard standoffs and epoxied them in place so the standoffs give me something to screw into the bottom of the dvd rom. It is mounted so that when the tray is out it does not petrude out higher than the top of the case, it actually lines up at just the right height.. hope that all makes sense.


Now onto some modding of the DVD rom drive.




cut sanded and brought inside for painting prep




all clean and ready to go




As I mentioned in my video I had the top casing of the DVD ROM painted and it was left about a week before I gave it a light treatment of rubbing compound as I did not need it to be as shiny as the outside of the case as I want it to catch light and not reflect it all.
Then I got my clear acrylic sheet cut and glued it down, it was then as I placed it on top and gave it a small adjustment did the glue instantly rip off the paint

That will now be sanded and repainted, this time I think I will just rivet the acrylic top on.!!!

Here is my attempt at making some lighting for the dvd rom window whilst using the activity signal to turn them on.

I posted a question for help with this and I got the answers i needed. so a big thank you goes out to capnPedro for all his help.

2x resistors
1x octocoupler
4x green diffuse LED's




First of all to remove the existing LED







Please no soldering comments please..




I know it looks terrible but it will all be covered with heatshrink when I get some larger sizes in and the octocoupler sits in a little cubby hole in the plastic at the front of the DVD ROM so it is safe..

but the most important thing is that as you can see in the video above that it does work!!




the circuit is fully soldered together and has only got the tape on where i need a larger sized heatshrink so I will have to resolder the connections again.





The LED's will be hot glued in place around the dvd rom hole and hopefully illuminate that small area, if not i will get some higher powered LED's and another resistor, and from now on that wont be much of a problem as I have a maplin store opening where I live so yippeeee!



Back tot he front of the case and the last part of the update for now..


What are these for???




testing testing..




what do you think??




Got a hold of the workbench from the back of the garage for the bending




Both pieces came out ok but do need some minor adjustments as theyre not quite 90'




In my next project I will use tape to make marking easier and so i dont scratch up my materials, I will be ok for this time as I will do more primer and sanding before colour coat.




although some of the markings you can see arent all scratches, most of this is residue from the tape used for shipping so that will all be cleaned off too.







Please keep the great comments coming and by all means let me know what you like and what you dont, any feedback is appreciated!!!

final shot

 

Sweet! When I saw the bends for the dvd I was like: WTF??
Then I saw the edges and thought: SWEET!
Good job!

Also some rep for the mesh drilling!

 

Coooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!!

 

That front look's hot.

 

Go Big Stem, i like this worklog

 

Saw your Project link over on GTR-r so here I am. I'll have to go over your log to catch up. Man, a good old hammer with a nasty looking work bench and you got yourself some nice bends. Good old fashion blacksmith stuff. I love it! Your build looks great.

 

yer it did look a bit goofy before the sides went on.. glad u like it now. I also had to drill out the holes on the side panel mesh as well, im glad I havent got to do that any more!

Cheers!

thank you WeisseS just going a little slow at the moment..

Yeah I am just working with what i can get my hands on.... got a few more materials to buy.
I am starting a new job tomorrow so funding will be available soon.

Hopefully will have a small update at the end of the week maybe a small hardware test too and a new toy to install, not spoiling the surprise though.

 

Thoughs Fins On that case are rather lethal are they getting blunted ???

 

Love the log man! I appreciate the dvd led lighting tip! Looks like fan noise won't be an issue

 

Looking great so far StEm, just went through the log, nice work man, mod on bro!

 

Yeah they are sharp, I think my partner has already torn two pairs of leggings bumping into it... lol
I will be smoothing the points out a little though I dont want to loose that sharp look.

No worries though I only just learnt how to do it myself, I might have to redo it as Im not sure the 4 LED's are going to create enough light but I wont know untill I do a test mounting.
I cant wait to get my system in for a test run and see how they sound and cool but will be a while as I need a few more of those fans yet!

Much appreciated.

 

Have you planned for vibration isolation(not a sex joke, yet) Unless of course you plan on play'n some light and easy music! death metal+hard drive/optical = ? sorry to play devils advocate. It just hit me. Looks way cool what you're doing. Don't pay no attention to the question cause I'd throw a nice Crown amp in there LOL

 

Well I have used the rubber black washers installing the speakers...

I am currently rethinking the HDD mount location so i can keep the HDD's away from the speakers and give them some form of vibration reduction..

And I got a new job so I will have some money to put into this project again, and I have been delayed with my little purchase, hopefully i will be able to order it next week instead.

OK its nothing for you guys to get too excited about but I am.

I have figured out my cpu cooling problem with this.



I will be mounting this in the front so it will be cooled with the air from outside the chassis, as the ECO is a 120mm rad I will be using a 120mm to 140mm adapter from kustompcs and also buying a 120mm nanoxia fan for push pull.

Hopefully i will be able to show you some pictures soon... just letting you know the project isnt dead.... its undead. (that was terrible i know)

 

I'll definitely be interested in knowing how that works out for you.

 

I will be interested to see if it cools better than my zalman cnps 9900nt that wont fit in the tower.