Scratch Build – In Progress [Bit-Tech/Intel NUC Competition] Intranuc - Complete --- Final pictures

Another session of closing the edges, it's much closer now but still needs another session, it's so tedious so I'm doing this in smaller sessions, take a piece out, sand it on the disc sander, put it back over & over & over.
























Really looking forward to getting past closing the edges so I'll try to get it done today if I can stand some more, this was another .5 update.

 

Most impressive :thumbs:

 

Bevel fits can be brutal. -I feel your pain, Sir. They'd look perfect already if you didn't have the camera right up against the case.

...As fast as you work, Could you redo with overlapping seams, and lap them flat? -Aeee, Skip that. You don't have room to inset screws. I should just delete my afterthought posts, but then I wouldn't post anything -ever.

 

I'm surprised you haven't gone back in time yet Waynio. Do you have much left to do? it's looking pretty complete apart from the painting or whatever your gonna do to it.

 

Thanks jrs

First time doing a bevel fit & your right, from 2 arms length distance even the corner gaps aren't visible but they are at 1 arms length so as a HTPC it would have been perfect really.
Your also right about having another go at it.

Modding is a game of snakes & ladders & I landed on a snake taking me from seeing the finish line back to the first row.



Reeeewiiiiind.

Oops, I now only have the cooler cooler but this lets me get this all right, I fine tuned it all so much it ended up going pear shaped, the edges closed up but 1 of the NUC mounts didn't properly line up due to too much fine tuning, all the ports lined up & functioned right though, just that 1 mount hole but all the fine tuning made the base un square leaving the top area perfectly square so figured it would be best to start again so I tweaked the design instead & made it perfect.

Got all the materials put aside with the newly printed templates so I'm almost good to go, just waiting for new 12mm hex spacers.

I'm ditching the brass too & swapping it for a DIY aluminium version which I'll polish & possibly lacqodise, also dropping the light floor (too bulky).

This 3rd run should be nice with not having to grind any fittings down, here is the new base, I think it has a bit more style than a simple block, colours aren't final, could do this in any colour now that I have all primary bright colours.


I'll start updating again when I'm back to where I was, the sooner the spacers come the sooner I can get the bevel edges done.

 

So then, try number 3.

Everything other than the cooler was re made following my corrected design.

Instead of the brass hex mesh, I dug into my scraps & seen some polished 1.5mm aluminium from air cube 2009/10, perfect for this.


Adding the extra tapped hole on the cube spacers.


Bracket spacers, the 4mm ones need filing or drill milling in the middle for the NUC clearance & switch extender bits void of a chrome ball bearing & screw in the picture.


Cut all the panels to size & put 45 degree bevels on all the panels that needed it, the exterior 2mm aluminium panels & 3 1mm base panels & 1 3mm base panel.


Exterior panels with beveled edges, did the bevels before the internal cuts to reduce chance of warping when they get scorching from the disc sander.


As said I cut all panels so assembled the base, window & mesh panels, it all really looks an excellent fit to me other than the front panel being the wrong way around in the quick assembly which I somehow didn't notice when taking pictures but did when sorting pictures, just needs flipping around.






So far so good. \o/

 

Love what you did with the base.

 

Awesome. I would so buy this.
Like I said at the beginning this definitely my pick of the bunch.

beautiful work once again

 

Thanks Cheaps, gives nice sharp shadows in it's raw form.

Thanks Scott appreciated.



Done the aluminium panels now & found the back IO panel ports was 0.7mm too far up & 0.5mm too far right which was a gutting find but I made the new corrected one.

Reason I only have the first layer of the base installed is while I get the fit perfected, had to re make that layer too, did the angle at 45 degrees when it should have been 34 degrees, panels would have hung over by 1mm otherwise, now they sit at the top of the bevel.











Now I need to fine tune it for the perfect fit but I'm making a solid plan for doing it quickly & spot on knowing exactly what I'm doing rather than days of guess work with an unproductive feeling in sessions, days like those put me off modding so it's time to make that head scratcher go away & do it better.


Intranuc looking at all it's failed ancestors, I'll assemble the other 2 to do a 3 stooges photoshoot.

 

My God! There must be $4 worth of materials there. -Gotta love the tiny factor for that. Rebuilding a full size case three times would have killed you.

 

I have to keep remi nding myself that this isn't a full size case, it looks huge.... Looking forward to the final pics. I'm guessing you're gonna have some fun with photo's and scale

 

LOL at the 'giant' scrap pile in the last picture
Case looks great though

 

looking amazing as always

 

*Thinks of all the time spent cutting and sanding those 'thrown away' parts...*

Looking great Waynio!

 

SFF cheesecake, I could so easily get addicted to making SFF rigs.

I'll be sure to do scale pictures, just wish I had lean & green with the pedestal completed.

I know thanks jokkos.

Thanks Mos

Took a solid single session to make the aluminium panels so that's like 3 sessions being time wasted but I got to where I wanted to eventually, cheers Azariel.

 

All the edges are done to my satisfaction now & are closed up, had to re make the front panels, everything else was OK.


























Still a few things to do.

Complete the cooler, Switch extension, On board battery stash spot in the base, Surface prep, Lacqodise parts, Assemble & do some nice pictures.

Sit back & be happy I actually managed to complete a project since 2011.

 

Switch extension done, tiny length of acrylic tube, spring, 2 tiny acrylic discs with 3mm holes, a screw & an 8mm ball bearing bulging through a countersunk hole in the side panel, works nicely.


Fan cut out of the stock one & electronics insulated with liquid tape stuck to the second layer with tensol 12, filed a slight channel in the 12mm acrylic spacer for the wires to pass through.






Heat sink parts stuck together with thermal adhesive.




















Still to countersink all the mounting holes & make a battery stash spot in the base & then onto edge & surface finishing.


Somehow lost the on board battery though so ordered a new one, I'll try to not let that hold this up though, feeling quite a bit of relief knowing it should be done in time now.

 

Must admit I'm pretty amazed how you managed to close off those edges so well. They're almost seamless in the photos, given the scale of the thing I imagine they would be really hard to spot, especially when you get round to the lacquodising.

 

Thanks Maki, I had my doubts of it working out but thankfully it did, still no idea what colours to use though, thought of black & turquoise, the dark brown I used in midlag with hot orange for the hex mesh, or even the colour scheme in the original concept, really unsure what colours to go with though.

 

Smoothed the edges, drilled & cut the on board battery stash spot, no more bright yellow battery in sight.






Just finishing to do now but I think I'll also paint the colourful fan wires black.