Scratch Build – In Progress Fresh Meat: A Dota 2 Tribute [Updated 7/5/17]

Really like the look of the overall theme you have going on with the custom bolts, lock and mesh combination

can't wait for more!

 

great job. Tracking.

 

You know that brief moment when you think someone else has one of your hammers?
It's cruel to say, but I hope you don't plan to use clover mesh. It's overused to death. I'd rather see you have some filigree pattern laser cut instead. The materials deserve something better.

 

Will use water cooler system

 

Thanks! More will be coming

Ah Cheaps, you're bustin' my balls here man. I was indeed planning on using clover leaf. Something about the simplicity of it attracted me. Back to google... DAMN YOU CHEEEEAAAAPPPPPSSSS!

Thanks and yes, I will be doing a custom loop for the CPU and GPU. My current plans are to use a 280mm rad in the roof of the case. I need to do a system mock up soon, I'll take pics when I do.

 

Sorry, man. You don't use off-the-shelf beginner's materials with that level of woodworking. Mach's Berserkergang log had a nice laser cutting company if you want to go that way.

 

Seeing this convinced me to save for a router, those slits for internal panels are awesome.

 

Ignore the munky, otherwise you'll never finish this....lol

 

BEGINNER'S materials? Cheaps, these bananas you throw, they sting so.

I'm a believer, if you can't afford a manual mill or a CNC machine, a router is the next best thing. Build yourself a router table and you're in business.

I'm not convinced I will even if I ignore him lol

 

You will, Stu

 

Back to work on the weekend! Did some damage on the case front for this round. A few of the frame pieces got an angle to match the corner posts. No more boring old rectangles.




Time to work on the front I/Os as well. This is the stock headphone/USB 3.0 jack stripped off of the Node 304.




Why am I always cutting PCBs? 100% recommend a diamond tile blade for the ol' round fast cutter.




Much better. They all smell the same when you cut them.




Setting up to drill the holed for the headphone/mic jacks. Very scared to **** this one up. Must buy mill.




IT FITS (that's what she said)!




Carving out for the PCB.




Niiiiiiiiice.




Alright, that's all for now. Stay tuned to the next update, which will involve cutting out the USB for the other side, and I'm sure, nearly peeing myself out of terror.

 

MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, I'VE JUST BEEN HANDED AN URGENT NEWS STORY:



I'm honored to welcome Silverstone on board, they're hooking me up with some power!
Thank you very much Silverstone!​

A SFX SX600-G to be exact, most power supply enthusiasts will recognize this as the smallest, most powerful full modular power supply on the market currently.




She'll give me plenty of juice for the hardware I have in store.




At 100mm X 125mm X 63.5mm, it fits in the palm of your hand.




Also comes with a complete cable set of course, these I think won't remain stock though.




Ok, back to our regularly scheduled build log...USB ports!




Went better than I expected after I took the ports off the PCB.




After I finished the ports up, I routed the front of the case for the incoming mesh.




Infinity cloverleafs Cheaps, I'm committed.




Ended up cutting my panels via rotary tool, that way I wouldn't have to hammer everything down after tin snipping




Side panels done.




The front took a little more time, I had to account for the contours.




Yup, liking that.




Seeing how it all looks together.







Until next time, keep on keeping on.

 

Love how the mesh slots in place, nicely done & good progress.

Love the size of SFX PSU's.

 

TEN YEARS SINCE LAST UPDATE! Holy crap, ok, maybe not that long but damn it has been a while. First up on the list, a huge thank you to Asus who has helped me out by supplying an Impact VI board for the build. If you're going to go mITX, the Impact delivers a serious wallop.



Yum, can't wait to get this thing humming.





All of ze powa!





Very pumped for the sound card as well. I plan on using a m.2 drive in this build to save some space so the mPCIe combo card is great.




Time for some work! I'll be adding some slate accents to the case, starting middle chunk of the side panels. To the router I go, progress shot. That actually looks kinda nice, huh?




Fully carved out.




Next up, I cut my slate inserts to size. I picked up this Rockwell Blade runner at a garage sale for the cheap a while ago, time to put it to use. Unfortunatly, no gate included. Bust out the C-clamps.




So, did you know they make tile-cutting blades for jigsaws? Who'da thunk that?




A little hemming and hawing and they fit like a glove. But they're not done yet...




Need to hold them on there with something right? Marking some holes.




Drill said holes, in both the wood and the slate, stick in the screws, and you get this.






Who knows when I'll get more done, cabin this weekend, summer is getting into full swing, maybe it'll be another two month.



Thanks again to my partners on the build, Silverstone and Asus.

 

Looking good there M8

 

That's looking great!! I can't wait to see more of it.

Congrats on the sponsorship too.

 

Thanks very much gents

I have another small but painful update, a learning experience. It was back to the router, this time to notch the feet out. When notched, the Node 304 chassis base will be able to drop down into the wooded frame. Time to groove.




So here's the end goal, 10mm square cut out of the corner of each leg. I did this poorly, due to inexperience and lack of brain power. Poorly in the sense I did it in two passes with the router instead of using a larger cutting bit, and also by cutting the inside cut first. All that said, these came out fine.




What didn't come out fine was the other two legs. One jumped when I was taking it off the router table and got nicked beyond use and this poor ******* had the cutter grab. Both were my fault as an operator and a learning experience in the ways of router use.




And so, two replacement legs.




The good news is, things go fast when you've done them before.




I cleaned up the bottom cuts with a chisel, enough so the case floor would sit nicely.




Concerning the top edge now, everything jives together.




Inside view.




And for my next trick, I'm going to make this fit inside of that!




Thank you again to my sponsors, whose support gives me motivation and means.

 

Clovers still: Enjoy your Dean Martin-era liquor cabinet. Everything else looks great.
This fit into that: Do you really need the this, when you have that?

 

Mos brought this up too. At this point it's pretty much a motherboard tray with the rear I/O stuff laid out already. I'm lazy like that.

 

Hey, back in action. Doing some behind the scenes prep stuff to move this guy along, also some documented grinding. Here's the latest:

We've all been here I think. I hooked a Node!




Some prep for the butchering.




Chop chop




Fresh meat!




Ended up with a floor and rear out of the deal, I'll take it. Needs a little paint though.




Hey, it fits!






Had to trim up the power cord, there were some space issues.




Looking good. Probably not regulation, but hey, I don't need an certs on this thing.




Last night was spent mocking up the system, checking out the layout and brainstorming.



Until next time, nyxnyxnyxnyx nyx.

And always, thanks to all the sponsers out there: