Scratch Build – In Progress Homemade Alu case /w copper highlights. FINISHED.

Update 4!

Got another package in the mail today, a slim slot loading DVD drive. The idea is to make a similar external casing like my cherry one. Of course, this slim drive requires 2 adapters to change it to USB, so those are on the way also.




Here's what I did yesterday; drilled all of the holes for the front and tapped the holes on the frame. I ran out of my black hex screws.


The Victim.


The Target.


Down for the count!


The Prize!


Pro modder ^^


Trimming down superfluous stuff.


Mostly trimmed down.


Fnished and in place (with tape). This is where I stopped tonight...



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Until next time...

 

Update 5!

I was back at it again this morning and evening; got some more work done.


Freakin cold outside today, so I warmed up with a yummy plate of fried macaroni and cheese!




I did this yesterday. I started to cut it with the scroll saw, but the blade broke because it got too dull. It was a wood blade, so I wasn't expecting it to last anyway. So I cut the rest with a jig saw which was about 5x faster, so I'm glad that blade broke.




I attached the back pane with a few pop rivets.


Shot of an old mobo in place with the back pane.


It's not actually attached yet. I haven't decided what screws to use to fasten it yet, so the holes on the panel aren't enlarged yet.


I soldered all of the leads from the radiator fans together and routed the cable through the frame of the case.




I fabricated a smallish (1.5" tall) reservoir out of a unused piece of 4.25" diameter acrylic tubing that I had lying around. I sealed it with silicon gel. It's still drying, but I bet there are leaks in it that I'm going to have to seal.


These are the screws that I ordered for the front of the case. I think they'll look nice on the front of the case since it will be polished. I will use the black socket screws for the rest of the panels (except the back where I'll use something less flashy).

Some work not pictured that I did was drilling all of the holes for the left side panel (the one without the window).



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Anyway, that's all for today. Comments? Suggestions?

 

This made me lol!!!!
What I meant about burning the other sides for the uniform look, is to have the top, bottom, both sides, and the front burned. You know, that beautiful look of black!

 

I have the same thermometer. hehehe but it is a little colder there than here.

The case is really looking good. Could you post a pic of the res next to something so that I can get an idea of the size? It just looks really small

 

i think this is turning out pretty great. (those screws are nice too)
but I'm just worried about your res. i know silicon is tough an all, but i wouldn't trust it with my pc components.(not saying that your handiwork sucks, i just wouldn't trust the silicon)
maybe some sort of copper/alu band around it(top to bottom)?

 

Here ya go.

That's a pretty good idea, I think a sort of alu "clamp" would look pretty cool. I might need to buy some O rings. I'll see what I can come up with tomorrow.

 

Update 6!

Was busy this morning!


I started off by measuring the dimensions for the inner top panel (you'll see what I mean if this doesn't make sense).


After a few minutes on the band saw...


Then it's snug after a few more minutes of filing...


Right side.


Left side.


Drilling the (pilot) holes in the panel.


Nifty drill attachment to get into tight spaces. Very useful, only problem is applying enough force on the axis of drilling.


Method I devised to use the jig saw without screwing the panel onto the frame. Worked quite well.


And here it is after much filing and sanding. You can also see that I sanded the panel itself. I used a random orbit sander with 220 grit sand paper to do it. It looks alright for the inside of the case, but I want something more uniform or more brushed looking for the outer side panels.


Remember that modders mesh? Well here it is in place. Small screw/bolt, then a washer, then a nut.




Pic of the screws I used. Also, see the pilot hole I drilled for the 3/4" hole for the tubing.


Massive 3/4" drill bit.


Fits quite well.


And the panel finally screwed in place.

This is where I stopped today, I was getting hungry! Comments? Suggestions?


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Here I come.

 

Nice progress, but ^^ not really very funny.

 

are you gonna water cool the hard drives? it looked like it on the sketch-up

 

negative, the tubing just runs past the drives. Hard drives don't produce enough heat for it to be worthwhile. Google did a study based on several years of data and thousands of hard drives and found that drives running at lower temperatures were just as likely to fail as drives operating at high temps.

 

wouldnt it run faster and better then if it were hot though

 

No. Hard drives do not throttle their speed based on temp. They work just as well at 150F as they do at 70F.

 

oh wow thanks, i guessmy koolance HD-55-L06 is pretty much obsolete

a waste of $50

 

Not exactly my friends... So my HDD is an exception from the rule... i've got 120Gb sata 2,5" hdd in my laptop. As i bought this piece of sh%$^t (acer aspire 5112) everything was runnig fast and without any problems. One day i had to test laptop coolers... after about 4h on every cooler and there where 6 of them(differend) my laptop now suffers from slightly bad hdd performance... (in test I was copying files from one partytion to another to heat hdd up) so it was warking few days on big stress and high temps almost 60celsius degrees... now this hdd is a lot slower... temps can get influence on hdd (IMHO) as high transfers rates ... so cooling isn't so necessary.

Sorry it's a bit out off topic

Getting back to Your project ...

Legoman666 this radiator area looks good, mesh is my favourite but mounting it could be a bit more precise (just joking)... And there goes my question... second tubbing hole in radiator box will be where? IMHO shuold be as close as it is possible to the nearest component which will be watercooled (GPU i think). Am I right?

Good Job!!

 

I won't know exactly where to place the second hole (or how big it should be, I might have to make room for an L bend) until I get the rest of my stuff in the case. But here's a pic of where it should be (estimated anyway).



Also in case it's confusing, the case is upside down in this pic. The radiator is on the top.

Here's a SketchUp pic for clarification.

 

Update 7!

Well, I tested the water tightness of my home made res, and at about 7ft of water the top popped off the res.


So I dismantled it completely and decided to try again.


I found a 1/4" thick piece of aluminum plate lying around that was big enough to cut two circles to use at "lids."


So made 2 templates out of paper and taped them onto the plate.


After about 45 minutes of cutting with the bandsaw... I had to stop a few times and drench the plate in cold water because it was getting too hot to hold.


Then after about an hour of sanding, filing, and dremeling and such.




And here it is in it's current state. I drilled the holes for the bolts, but the ones I have aren't long enough. Not to mention they're probably not thick enough. I'll go to Lowes tomorrow and see what they have.

And thats where I stopped today. Comments, suggestions?


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great job legoman, love the work on the reservoir

 

How bout some copper tubing around those bolts on the res

 

That's a good looking rad cover, very well made. Nice res too! I wish it was that warm here.