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Scratch Build – Complete ⭐ WING X99 - A CNC-milled Scratch Build! (Benchmarks,temps and wallpapers posted)

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Andreas | Brodholm, 19 Aug 2016.

  1. Cleveland216

    Cleveland216 Carbon Fiber King

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    Impressive sleeving. Is that Nylon or Cloth sleeving?
     
  2. FatalSyntaxError

    FatalSyntaxError What's a Dremel?

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    Looking great man! As for hold the cables in place, there is this one neat method I know of that involves stitching the cables like they would in massive data centres.

    Here's a few links to what I mean.

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    Couple of tutorials on how to do it:

    Tutorial 1 (Part of a series, check channel for other parts.)

    Tutorial 2

    Tut 2 the guy uses an extra thick thread to better illustrate each step. You'd ideally use a much finer thread to make it less noticeable.

    Probably a bit late now but perhaps for your next mod :thumb:
     
    Last edited: 25 Apr 2017
  3. Andreas | Brodholm

    Andreas | Brodholm Minimodder

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    Haha :D Yeah my wife/fiancee also have had a bit to say about the design on this. So I must give her some cred as well.

    Well, the first bot was NOT FUN. Took like 30 seconds before it had done all the checks and the screen finally was done. You have time to think of a few things then :D

    :thumb:

    It is a really tight nylon sleeving. But it does not have that "cheap plastic look" that some nylon sleeve can have.

    Thanks for the tip and links! :thumb:

    It is a good idea, and it crossed my mind. But I decided that the hot glue would be better and easier for me. The hot glue is not visible (only on the under layer or on places under the cover) and if you want to remove a cable you just have to pull a little on one cable and pull it out. And this way I can fix it to the case itself also.

    On the pictures it looks a bit like "omg what has he done?!?" but I assure you that it looks very good with the cover on :D

    I would have liked to not use anything and just rely on friction and I almost had it once, but then it popped right out after like 60 minutes of tucking cables and then I decided that I would simply use hot glue. No impact on the visuals and very practical.
     
  4. Andreas | Brodholm

    Andreas | Brodholm Minimodder

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    [​IMG]
    Polishing and sanding the acrylic

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    I got this kit. You basically use sand paper, and then you use number 3, number 2 and then clean with number 1.

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    I recommend using microfiber cloths. And remember to NOT use the same cloth for different number bottles. You do not want to use the same cloth for number 2 as you did for number 3!!!

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    Before you go with the number 3 you will have to do the basic work with sand paper. I went from 240 grit to --> 400 --> 800 ---> 1500 ---> 2000 and then I went with number 3. That produced a really nice result.

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    Did all the sanding in this container filled with moving water. It really helps when you have running water when you polish. At least I think so.

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    This is how it can look when you start.

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    Sanded to 2000 grit.

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    Polished with nr 3, 2 and then cleaned with nr 1. I was a bit lazy with this part since it really does not matter.

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    Sanded this uneven with 60 grit. The idea being that it will diffuse the light and give a more even illumination around the base of the case.

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    Can you spot the difference? :)

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    Clear like glass!

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    Rinse and repeat, same procedure as before.

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    Finally done with the polishing. This took a LOT of hours to do, and it is really draining work, both mentally and physically. You need to push really hard when you polish with the cloth and sanding seems like it never ends. Going through all those stages of different grit papers was tedious work. But in the end the result was all worth it!
     
  5. Cenedd

    Cenedd What's a Dremel?

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    Definitely looking good. You can come and polish up the varnish on my workbench if your arm's still good! ;) If I get it shiny enough, I can blind myself with the spot lights I put in above it....that's forethought in design! :D
     
  6. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    Welcome to the torture club. :lol: Now put a Q-Tip in a drill and buff out those screw holes!
    -Joking. It looks great even without going to that level of polish insanity.
     
  7. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    I'm liking where you are going with those polished pump tops on polished pumps...
     
  8. Andreas | Brodholm

    Andreas | Brodholm Minimodder

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    haha :lol:

    All I can say is that right now, I am very much done with polishing for a few months... :D

    Yeah :D Crossed my mind actually, tried a bit on one hole but it did not make that much a difference. The issue is that it is very hard to put any pressure on the walls when you do that. And you need that to get an effect. And the finish is really good to start with on those small holes.

    ;)
     
  9. RooiDuiwel

    RooiDuiwel What's a Dremel?

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    as long as this build is still ongoing, I am more than ready to do some polishing :p

    really interested in that sleeving tool as well...

    had a bad time with some MDPC orange a while back because of how it gets stored/rolled up, it is more flat than a nice round :(
     
  10. Dr. Coin

    Dr. Coin Multimodder

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    Just saw your post of the your wire management. :clap:
    That has to be some of the best I have ever seen, absolutely love your GPU comb. Wire management to the pumps is also very nice.

    The polished acrylic look good too, but I am going to go back a look at your wires for a third time.
     
  11. Hasle

    Hasle nohasslemods›

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    Cudos for the polishing frenzy! I wouldn't have had the patience for that. :D
     
  12. Andreas | Brodholm

    Andreas | Brodholm Minimodder

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    Yeah, I have had that issue with mdpc as well. You need to stretch it a lot or it will look bad.

    hehe :D Yeah I like how the wires turned out, it was very hard to get a natural flow to the cables and make everything seem like they are a part of the design instead if just, "ohh a computer build with sleeved wires". I wanted to try and make the cables a part of the actual build. If it was worth it I don't know, it was a lot lot lot lot of work. But it did turn out nice :)


    Yeah, that was satisfying but quite tedious work :)
     
  13. Andreas | Brodholm

    Andreas | Brodholm Minimodder

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    Bleh, back again, expect updates to ramp up. I have started editing now. I have over 3000 pictures to go though. Sorry for the long delay. Here we go :)

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    Time to fill the engraved letters and wing x99 logo!

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    Warming it from the bottom.

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    Then dab the shellac on the top.

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    Let it cool.

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    Observe your hard work and burnt fingers... :D

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    After some sanding you can finally see the results! I decided to go with the all black shellac (clock makers black shellac).

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    This is the real line in the top of the case. Still needs some more sanding but you can see the pattern now!

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    All done! Same procedure was done on the other side.

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    Here you can see the button assembly and the 3 small aluminium pieces that will be glued in place.

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    I had to mill these in a inverted shape so it would fit, and then I sanded down the "backplate". It took about 3 hours... Not the recommended way. But since I could not mill these so small and send it of to the anodizing company I had little to no choice.

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    It sure fits nice though!

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    My initials A and F is the logo.

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    This is the button assembly itself. Magnets are turned against each other and provides a resistance to the button. And I soldered a small board to fit the actual switch and LEDs for the backlit. It is very tight with space here. And I wanted to get as even illumination as possible, so I just taped some pieces plexi on the leds to diffuse them a bit more.

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    This is the back side of the cover. Two connectors, one of the power switch and one to power the LEDs.

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    Here is the other part of the assembly.

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    I thought of adding 2 extra paper pieces but decided against it after testing. It was better without.

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    Here it is illuminated.

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    Same pictures without the LEDs on

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    This is the effect I looked for. An even illuminated logo. It is not a 100% even when i put it close. But still very close to perfect. I would probably have had to make the assembly deeper to fit it. But this was a compromise since there was no space left. I am still very happy with the results!
     
  14. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    Absolutely lovely.:D
    Did you make a reversed version of your plexi part of the switch to hold the aluminum parts for sanding? I can see myself grinding a bit of my fingers off trying to sand those any other way.
    That is the first time I've seen a modder using enamel techniques. You need to quit raising the bar. I've been buying tiny mill bits off e-bay because of you, and it drives me crazy that I don't have the free time to play with them.
     
  15. Andreas | Brodholm

    Andreas | Brodholm Minimodder

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    No, I did not. But I should have made one in plexi. It was really really really, really not fun doing that. So easy to sand down your fingers instead. Slowly but surely peeling off your skin bit by bit with a 240 grit sand paper...

    I got the idea with using shellac from watching clickspring (the youtube dude, I highly recommend his channel to anyone interested in mechanical things). And I thought that it would work out nicely and it did :)

    Buy more end-mills! You never know how many you will break or need :D Can never have to much! But you can definitely have to little time ^^
     
  16. Andreas | Brodholm

    Andreas | Brodholm Minimodder

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    [​IMG]
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    Pumps! Naked!

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    Well there we go! Some bling! Rinse and repeat on the next! I used Autosol with some old cloth.

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    Custom orings. I did my own orings first, but one leaked a drop every night and I had to tear it all down, after that I decided to order vulcanised orings from a manufacturer. I could never trust it otherwise. Set me back 3 weeks...

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    Fits nicely and stays in place if you don't mess with it to much.


    [​IMG]Just installed the main block. No pictures during this though. I had my hands quite full at the time.

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    The GPU connector fits nice and it was not to much of a hassle to "push on" all those tubes. Key here is to have the correct measurements from the start!

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    Yes I know the SLI-bridge does not fit this build. I have a HB sli bridge coming later that fits the overall design very well. Don't worry :)

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    Everything looks good and aligns really good!

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    Quite the slab of acrylic!

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    Really pleased with the installing. Was not easy I can say that much. But it worked and I am really pleased with the results and the overall look.

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    I also put a balloon in the fill port to make sure there are no huge leaks. Had it like this for a night and noticed no change in the size. Next update it is time to fix the last pieces of the case, button, the divider line and covers for cables etc.
     
  17. CroyAlore

    CroyAlore What's a Dremel?

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    Awesome work man, the build is looking amazing :thumb:

    The custom water block looks incredible. I'm actually trying to look into building one for my next build, got any tips?
     
  18. Guest-16

    Guest-16 Guest

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    Is one pump going straight into the other? I dont understand why.
     
  19. kim

    kim hardware addict

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    reaching this level of skills and creativity, words are useless, and coments are pointleess...I follow this great adventure from the building of your CNC, and I was expecting something exeptional regarding the first parts you made, but now... the Wing x99 is just blowing my mind :jawdrop:
     
  20. Scare

    Scare What's a Dremel?

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    You need a custom SLI bridge now.
    Use your CNC machines :D
     

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