Scratch Build – In Progress *** PHINIX NANO TOWER *** --- MOTY 2011 nomination !!!

i was wondering about that too, is it routed with a cnc ? or laser cut, water cut ?

 

I just read again through the complete log and the build is awesome in concept, design and realizing.

Well done and I'm looking forward for the next updates.

 

Thanks guys!

Hi Stoned - sorry, I forgot to mention that in my post. Any silver screws will be painted matte black, also those rivets - they will be drilled out later before it all go to powder coat - and after that I will use black rivets. Just didn't want to use black ones for temporary mounts.
So no worries - it will all be black!

Thanks man! They look fantastic I love cnc job

Yo Loose! I know, as explained, don't worry - it will all be black at the end

Thanks man! Protective film could have been kept for later finishing jobs, but I like to risk!
Thing is they are almost ready, I will file those "nipples" off just before gluing it all togerther, but I'm always very cautious with this kind of jobs, so not to worry - I won't scratch them

It is ChilledPC Tom's CNC top job!

Thank you very much! Thanks for taking time and reading it all! It's been a while since I started it! Almost an year!

 

Guys, I may have asked about it before, but don't actually remember..

Do you know some good glue for aluminium - acrylic? I'm going to glue togehter those small hex shapes, which one of them is from acrylic second will be spraypainted aluminium.
What would be the best solution for it? It would also have to be not too "thick" - those two hexes should look pretty slim, so i guess it cannot be dual-lquid solvent....
Should I try double side tape? Wouldn't that be too simple and... silly?

 

I have the same problem! need to glue acrylic panel to aluminium... I'm gonna get some stuff from homebase tomorrow and test it out, different kinds. I was also thinking about hot glue... but that will be too thick for your job I think...

 

Hmm, I expect any epoxy resin would work fine - something like araldite 2010 or 2012 would work. It's a sort of translucent cream colour when dried though. But shouldn't be an issue if you're considering tape and so presumably you could hide it okay.

Edit - might be worth checking the datasheets for it.

 

Well, whatever you choose, make sure to test it first using the exact same kind of alu and acrylic. There are so many different types of alu and acrylic, so it would be a shame if you ruined those beautiful pieces you got there.

 

That acrylic has an beautiful iridescence...

 

I'd say get some good quality thin double adhesive tape. I'm still amazed by the stickyness of some of these tapes. It should do the trick and you don't have to work with liquid glue which can drip trough these small parts.

Best advice: test. But that's pretty logical I guess.

 

Must be gooood quality, then.

I once used 3M for taping some stainless steel lettering to my anodized aluminium side panels on my Lian Li case. They fell off during that same night...

 

Thanks guys for your suggestions - I will try out some things tomorrow.
Weekend has landed, so I will work bit time tomorrow on my Tower. I have new ideas to make happened, so I will prepare nice update at the end of the weekend.

 

You might also want to try the double sided sticky tape from one of the 3M window kits sold to seal windows in winter. That stuff sticks for damn ever. Very thin.
My $0.02

john

 

Thanks John. I bought double sided 3M tape, will try it out as well.
I ordered some syringes with needles for gluing acrylci pieces this weekend.
I need to spray paint those alu-hex shapes first, then will try what is the ebst to glue them with acrylic shapes...

Those hex shapes on the front panel will have small hole in acrylic part for led to gets in, but only to the half of the thickness, so light would go around and spread on all directions. I hope this way I will light up those hex edges evently...

So much to do and so little time till Christmas....

 

Awesome acrylic , some clear resin like this might work:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/500g-Water-Cl...UK_Crafts_Other_Crafts_EH&hash=item3352d041db

 

Thanks, I was looking for this kind of stuff before. It could be a good solution as well.
However, I tried today to glue those hex shapes with simple super-glue and it worked! it's like unbreakable now! I was so surprised, but it looks like it is the best and cheapest way to do it, so problem solved

 

Update time.

After few weeks it is time to show some good stuff I was pretty busy and couldn't find time to work on my Tower, but last few days were very productive, I could say

First, top piece of "power chamber" - Week ago I made this small change and used this new piece of acrylic that I showed you guys before. It looked nice after I mounted it.







However, I was thinking about it and realised that I may have problem with it, after I install quick-release connectors. I needed another change in plans - problem was, those quick-release connectors need a bit of force to be plugged in. I had a feeling that pump stand is not strong enough to keep the pressure on the top piece when plugging those connectors.
So, this weekend I had new idea how to solve this

I added second long piece of alu to hold top cover.



Then I realised that this nice yellow acrylic under the top cover will look nice only when removable piece from pump stand will be perfectly aligned. And that could be very hard every time I put rear main panel back with the pump stand into the Tower. It could be always uneven, looking odd. So decided that this thin long gap with yellow acrylic will be permanent.
I had to trim one piece of cover to make space for reservoir and third smaller cover that will be screwed to those two long aluminium supports. This third piece would be "mobile" and match the shape of the second "not moveable" piece.
Well.. see it yourself, cause its hard to explain

This is the final version of the pump stand with third smallest alu cover-piece...




I screwed it to those two long supports... using all my nuts
I need to buy some more...




Here is the whole thing - you can see three top cover pieces, two screwed together with middle acrylic piece, and third one, the one that comes with pump stand.




It looks pretty cool, now imagine it will all be painted black, so those edges will be less visible and all will look nice




I bought this nice anti-vibration foam and cut it to size for the pump.




Looks pretty cool...








Now, this gap here between two layers of top cover will disappear when I will add thin foam under the whole pump stand later, so don't worry about it




Look what a mess I made in my attic




My new invention - I mounted vice on my drill press




What I also did this weekend is - I cut out hole for PSU and CPU cable in top power chamber panel and put some edge rubber cover, or whatever its called...






Other thing was to cut out some of the aluminium from top panel for power switch and USB socket. Old fashion drilling action






Final result - fits perfectly




I also made a nice support for leds under top panel - simple and functional.






I also have made a cover for hole in left panel of power chamber - this is where GPU power cables will come out and pump will have its outlet connected to radiator. It also covers cables to led switches in the rear panel.
This is a first stage of it, not finished yet, I'm only showing you the idea how it will be mounted...






I also bought a nice yellow temperature lcd monitor-display, will mount it next week...




Last thing - I drilled and installed cable holders - this is where GPU power cables will come out from the power chamber, so they must be held in place...






And for the end something nice to show - please have in mind this is only a mock-up
I just pushed those rings into this one support, it all looks wobbly and uneven, but.... I loved the look of it, so wanted to share











That is all. I hope you like this update and please stay tuned for next time!!!

 

Looking beautiful, Phinix!

 

You sir are fast becoming my new hero. Havnt checked this log for a while, really starting to shape up now

 

You really have made a lot of progress lately mate, the entire project is coming along nicely. I really like the acrylic rings in the res, a very nice touch.