Scratch Build – In Progress Loramentum - Fan Upgrade! - Update 27th January 2017

huh no case ?

 

From the way I'm reading it, this more serves the purpose of a filling aid.

Case'll probably come later if I'm not mistaken. There'd be an outcry if it didn't.

 

Cheers! Glad you managed to stumble upon this project

This may surprise, nay, shock you even, but there will be no case. This is being designed as an open face, wall mounted build. To me, adding a case around things would spoil the look completely. Being up on a wall say behind/above the monitors basically puts it out of harm's way.

The case shown in the renders is for transport and LAN purposes, you'll be able to prop up the build within the flight case.

 

Ofcourse no case! Who would put such a thing of beauty in a case!

Looks awesome Maki, how many times did you re-measure all the holes for the fittings, they line up so nicely!
The feet look good too, but personally I'd make them so the main panel of the build is slanted backwards a bit.

 

Aha, funny you should mention that. It's not that clear in the renders, but it does actually slant back slightly, which should help pass all the weight onto the heavily cut back ends of the stands. Through a good chunk of luck, this build is surprisingly well balanced. The vast majority of the weight is from the acrylic plate itself, the next largest bulk is from the PSU, but because it sits sunken into the plate, the centre of gravity doesn't really change (as the true weight in the PSU is on the bottom behind the fan). The mobo and GPU both sit low enough to the plate and don't weigh enough to affect things much.

So taking that info into account, it should be pretty stable. And if it isn't, well I'll just have to make a new stand I guess

As for the holes, I wish I could say I measured over and over again, but in reality I sort of winged it I have a bit of a habit of not trusting my measurements, so instead I try to work in lots of contingency. I severely lucked out with most of the holes in this build, although saying that, two of the large ones failed spectacularly.

 

Awesome work dude! Can't wait to see this beauty in it's natural environment .

 

Holy **** in that case that is a Lanning beast!!!

 

This is probably one of my favorite builds in some time, nicely done

 

Awesome project, You build is featured on Mnpctech Fanpage Today https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mnpctechcom/148733308540715

 

Nice - love Rigid on wall mount

 

Good idea to make it smaller.

 

You and me both, will be exciting for sure.

Then let's hope I can get it all up and running before the next iSeries, what better way to show it off than at an actual LAN event!

Thanks for the kind words, I loved how Dancing Iridescence turned out

Thanks Bill!

It appears to have done pretty well over there, now the real question is will the finished build live up to the hype?

Thanks Richard, I've always found wall mounted builds fascinating. Sadly as a uni student I never had the space or was moving too frequently to be able to make use of a sprawling setup like that one or the Max Planck build. Figured it would be a fun challenge to see if it could be miniaturised somewhat without compromising in too many areas. Really looking forward to seeing which areas I can improve on for the sequel (there are a lot).

Edit:

Whoops, forgot to mention that the wood rivets arrived at my doorstep today, turns out they'd been left at a neighbour without my knowledge. I went and picked up a mitre saw too, which should help for the aluminium sections quite a bit. So that means I can get working on the case now too!

 

Just had a chance to go through your log start to finish . . . all I can say is WOW. Cool idea and stunning build.

Cheers

Fen

 

Thanks!

UPDATE!

I thought I'd let you all know what parts I've been working on recently. Since the rivets and whatnot arrived over the weekend, I've been able to put my mind towards the flight case somewhat. I'm only partly the way through (should have part deux up tomorrow) so I'll share where I've got to currently.

Step one, cut out some panels. Got to make use of the circular saw for this, didn't think I'd be breaking that out out any time soon.


Step two, make the parts even and the same size. No workbench = ghetto floor setup


Step 3, make a ghetto box using veneer tacks. None of this stage is structural, the strength comes later. It's much better to build it as a whole box first, then cut it in half. That way you know you'll have two halves that fit neatly together. It would be a fair bit more challenging making two halves individually.


Step 4, used a jigsaw to cut the box in half, which was a very painless operation. Then I cut out the vinyl sheets and applied them. I don't care for the edges here as they'll all be under metal sections.


Step 5, move to the kitchen to use a poorly constructed mitre saw to cut aluminium sections. Honestly was the best place for it, a thick wooden countertop with a lip? How could I resist?
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I'll have some more time tomorrow to work on this, should be able to get it basically finished bar the interior. I didn't order the foam as I wasn't sure exactly how much I'd need or which kinds, now I can make a more informed decision.

 

UPDATE!

Had a decent amount of time today to get the case all sorted out. It's now sitting at probably around 85-90% complete? I didn't yet add the handles and am still waiting for the mid braces (which is why the lid corners are very rough) to arrive. I've also just ordered the foam for the interior, wanted to wait on that so I could see how much of which kinds I would need. The plan for the inside is to have a compartment in the roof where the stand, a keyboard and mouse can be stored for transport.

Added the top braces, which I had cut yesterday.


I'm using sunken hinges, so had to cut out some sockets for them to rest inside.


And fast forward to pretty much the finished article. Yeah I got a bit carried away and forgot to take more pictures of the process. It's mostly just a lot of drilling and riveting really. Here's the front


And the back


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Nice - I've always loved the look of flight cases, so adding a PC inside makes perfect sense to me!

 

I've always loved them also, they just seem really heavy duty and secure, but at the same time really cool.

UPDATE!

I've been putting this off for aaaaaaaaages, but I finally got round to remaking the 24 pin. I just really don't enjoy sleeving cables, at all. However, shrinkless sleeving does look really good IMO so it's a necessary step. I'll be working on the other cables as soon as I replace my currently dead soldering iron.

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That flight case looks great.

 

Then you're going to like this...

UPDATE!

So the foam and braces arrived today. I'm glad that it arrived so soon as I had a chunk of time to work on things today, still waiting on the damn acrylic for the stand though, driving me around the bend.

First up was to add the lid corner braces, these add an immense amount of strength to the case and as such are very important. After finishing that, I went and added the handles, shoulder strap and remaining support rivets. I'll tell you right now, I never want to see another rivet again.



I also added rubber feet to the bottom of the case so that it could be safely stood on the ground.


Next on the agenda was cutting the foam to size. I haven't quite finished this as I want to finish up the stand first, then I'll be able to fully trim and attach the foam more securely. The lid will house a section for the stand, a mouse and keyboard, they pack away neatly under the top eggcrate foam layer.


Cat approved.


Also need to add the fabric hinge cover, I'll do that when I've finished the stand.
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