Scratch Build – Complete Cygnus X1.

I am really loving this idea, can't wait to see it in action.

 

It's shaping up nicely!

I'm curious as to how Cygnus will look like when fully opened when it's done! I mean, the side doors themselves make up a pretty impressive package, but along with the top (will the front open to reveal the fans I wonder) I think it will be striking.

Keep up the great craftsmanship!

 

Nice work man , Getting more impressive each time i look . You manage to get a lot of ideas into it without making it look over done

 

This is the best breakfast ever. Waking to new pictures is sweet. I watch.

john

 

Thanks mate.

Thanks TG, all will be clear soon.

thank you.

Glad to be of service.



After having a good look at the available space under the nose I decided that the
top piece of "U" channel wont be able to be used. Instead, a piece of 20mm
acrylic will be used to carry the top and also contain the lighting.



Because this will carry the plates, it had to have the same profile as the side panels.



Before going any further, the underside of the rear of the nose needed some shaping. Both for looks and more room.





Now this part shouldn't have been as difficult as it was. I made up a template of the
angle that I wanted and transferred this onto the part at the appropriate intervals.
Well I taped this out five times before I realised that to follow a curve all the angles
had to be different.



So then it was a matter of patience and a steady hand.





This part is extremely valuable to me. To get it to this stage took five hours over
three days. What really terrifies me though is that it's not even half done. I still
need to rout a groove into the bottom, drill 30 holes into it and tap 24. So I have a
lot of googling to do to find out the do's and don'ts of drilling plex.





After thinking about the plates for a while I decided a more gentle curve and slightly
bigger dimensions was the way to go.



Then, using a template all twelve plates were marked up and cut out.





A bit of filing here so I'll be back soon.

 

WANT TO HAVE........SO BADLY.............

 

+1

Never have I seen so much attention to detail in a project, this is a truly amazing.

 

Same here, amazing work!

 

I like how you do everything with your file! This is truly amazing, the fins are a genius ide.

 

Have you mentioned this before? Because if you haven't, more rep for you. And if you have... well, I didn't notice it, so more rep for you anyway.


- Diosjenin -

 

Yum! 3/4" plexi porn...
Drilling plexi: Set the press to the slowest setting. Use a lot of water in the hole. Do lots of pecking and keep the bit clean. You only want to have the bit in the hole for about 2-3 seconds before you retract it and add more water.

When you tap the holes you want to go slow and wet/oily too. (Mvagusta or John, who will spot it first.) It's easy to melt the hole with a small tap too.

 

Neither. It was me.....

Topic: Man, all I can think is: Patience....A lot of it.

 

Impressive. Aside from impressive craftsmanship you know how to keep us on the edge of the chair.

Lighting. Right. It's never that simple when it comes to Cygnus.

Can't wait!

 

Simply love this project and your patience. And the fact that you do it the old school style without any NC tools makes it even better.

 

Haha, thanks guys.

Thanks Dj. I can't remember. I better explain.
This PC has been running for some months now so I've had plenty of opportunities
to check out the blue lighting radiating from under the side panels. So I want a faint
blue glow seeping between the plates on the top and front., that's why the mounts
are plex. LED's will be fixed into the plex and the wiring and resisters will be contained in a groove routed in the base of the mount. I don't want wires moving
around every time the top is slid back and raised so some contacts on the front of
the mount will meet some contacts on the lower rail when the top is closed, and
break when it's open. So no moving or loose wires. I hope I've made myself clear
but if I haven't then I can show you soon.

Thanks cheaps. Water you say, OK there's another thing I didn't know.
I'll drill some holes in the scrap and see what happens. Somewhere I read that
blunt drill bits should be used. Is this true?

Yeah, you need lots with four kids.

Thanks TG.

Thanks Gnu. I was going to say so in your log but I'll say it here, great work
on the DVD drive.


While I'm here I'll show you what got done today.

After filing all the plates they were clamped together in the vice and made uniform.



And a center "V" notch was filed into them while they were together.

 

Does anyone else see an opportunity for massive amounts of thermite here?

I like where this is going...

 

Fisher, I did. One of my mates and I actually made some ferro-aluminum thermite in the 8th grade and were subsequently banned from the chem lab

Oldnewby, words cannot express what I feel when I see your work

 

this build is very nicely put together you are a true crafts man

(i can't believe how underated my comment is lol)

 

Sharp bits work fine. 90 degree points work better than the more aggressive, flat point bits. For anything over 1/4", you have to worry about the blade grabbing.

 

Not "blunt", just different.
Standard wood/metal bits are ground so as to pull themselves down and through the material.
This can cause chipping in plastics.

Especially given the amount of time you already have invested in that part, just buying the dedicated plastic drill bit would seem a worthy investment.
They aren't any more expensive than a standard bit.