Case Mod - In Progress *** PHINIX AURORA *** - 12/10/14 - Grand Finale !!! It is done...

Thanks! Yep, I'm back and working hard

Thanks Bill!
There will be 120mm fan on top end of the case. I will push blue acrylic between this grill and case, so it will be raised 3mm. Maybe even put some leds to light it up a bit

Thanks New shed is freaking awesome - now I'm thinking on permanent power, not just extension... will see


New update this weekend! I've done some work on acrylic bits. I will start cabling process soon...

 

Awesome, look forward to seeing more

 

Ahh, a workshop at last, no more modding in the rain looks good.

 

Cheers Bill

Yep, rain won't stop me now!

 

A wee update/summary for today.

I have put together drive cage to finally see how it will look inside. I drilled all holes in blue rods and pushed brass inserts. Then mounted all 3 shelves and installed it in the case.
Basically, pretty much all main bits are done inside. Power cage (PSU and wire cables junction) finished before, now drive cage and radiator cage.

First - wire holders for mobo 24 pin cable.
These were cut from opal 10mm thick acrylic ****. Holes are for two wires each, 12 in total.
I drilled holes and mounted it behind mobo tray.








I put that additional wall in front so you can see how wires will go.
First will go through first wire holder, up to the second, were they will turn a bit left, to finally get to blue holder to other side. Then straight to mobo.




I used Tensol 13 to glue together those white bits for a dvd shelf.






So here it is - this is what we have at this stage.

Drive cage ready and installed, dvd shelf installed.


























Here's dvd coming in. You can see this wee bracket for mounting it.
I need 3 small screws to finish it, but they are coming to me now, thanks to mingingbollock - thanks man!






With the top on...




Unbranding the front




That is all for now
Stay tuned!

 

Nominated for mod of the month

 

That was HUGE move you know!

 

YAY YOU'RE BACK AT IT! Okay, done with caps. Looks awesome!

 

Acrylic **** huh.
Can't wait to see that with the cables.

 

YES! -No logos.
"This is ****!" "-Yeah, but it's really good ****!" -Firesign Theater

 

Awesome work!

How you are able to get all edges fit together so nicely? I always end up having some narrow slots if I try to get aluminum pieces aligned like that.

 

That white and blue plexi on the bare metal just looks.. WOW!!

Great job! going to be watching this from now on

 

Simple - you just have it or not!
Jokes aside - just take your time, do not rush cutting aluminium pieces, use something straight with sanding paper when cleaning the edges. I always like to use original sheet side (straight edge cut from manufacturer) for most sides/edges, it makes easier to align your own hand made cuts later on.
Most important is your planning - measure up everything in your head, remembering to add thickness of the materials etc. Lot a of people forget about it and then they are 3mm short or too long - I had it in the past
Real problem is when you build something like I did here - power cage has acrylic holders inside, which need to be cut and aligned with all aluminium walls - then all screwed up to the bottom and side of the case. Lots of holes that need to be perfectly drilled - 1mm on one side will make a huge misalignment on other corner/side. Pain in the ass.

Take time and measure each piece step by step to keep the dimensions.
I hope that helps.

Thanks
It does look cool now. I hope it will also look great when I powder coat it white.

 

I don't see why it wouldn't

 

Mike's patience in executing everything perfectly is why I enjoy watching his projects.

and agree, Love seeing the logo removed..

 

It is already looking awesome!
Subscribed to it to see the end result!

 

Hey Bill! I love the way you said that: "..patience in executing everything perfectly..." - in free translation that means - "this project is SLOWEST EVER!"

I think I'm far from perfection, but doing my best to get results as close as possible to my "visions".
Thanks again for being with me on this one too
I'm always happy to see your comments in my logs

Thank you! Happy to see CM rep following my build As you can see I already started modding your keyboard Stay tuned, there is more to come soon!

 

I knew I saw you before ... *just kidding*

 

Yep, something like that...

 

OK guys, I owe you an explanation - another break from modding - this time I was on holidays with my family. Almost a month without PC was really hard you know... At least I had my phone was on our forum every day!

I came back, got myself new mouse (Zowie EC2 EVO, nice piece of hardware!) and started working on panels designs.

Sometimes when I don't feel like modding or designing I prefer just stay away, don't want to push anything, you know what I mean?

Here is a bit of my work in Google Sketchup.
I had different design of front panel, but decided to do something else.
Again, as all my previous projects, I stayed away from curves.. I don't know why but I can't design anything with curves! Seriously! All must be in straight lines! I think I'm scared of curves! (no no.. not lady curves.. those are 24/7 in my mind)
Anyway, this time too, front panel is pretty simple. I think sketchups don't give how it's really going to look like. Let me know what do you think guys. I'm still looking at it and think I'm gonna change that middle bit...




Of course it's not all flat, here you can see blue acrylic layer and aluminium on top...




So, middle bit covers exhaust mesh on front of the case, so that is why decided to add those angled long holes in it.
Top long bit is dvd hole, next is main part where fan controller/USB is coming out and main name/logo is cut out. Bottom bit is simply final piece closing whole panel.
All 4 pieces will be raised from the front panel on about 2mm - there will be lots of leds installed below lighting it all up, so this gap will help to spread the light to cover all blue acrylic pieces. Blue acrylic will be frosted Sapphire Blue, so it's a bit dark, but exposed to light gives nice deep blue color, darker than those fluorescent bits I used for internal bits.


EDIT: OK.. I'm looking at this front... I need to change something in that middle bit.. it's too simple... a bit of chaos would do...