Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Aluminum Water Cooling Case

Sweet! That's some serious rad you got there! 4x140mm push'n'pull configuration?

 

Thanks! I believe the setup is going to be push with custom shrouds:

 

Looking very much perfect .

 

Nice Rich. Very nice.

 

Awesome shroud you got there! You need to do a metal working guide once you're done

 

Thanks.

Here's my aluminum working guide:

• Cut flat/bar stock with a chop/miter saw
• Cut sheets with a router guided by a template or straightedge
• Drill holes with a drill press and invest in a self-centering vise
• Don't waste your time reading my boring project logs, read Attila's instead.

 

Next up is to cut the front sheet.




In order to cut-out all of the openings for the 5.25-inch drives accurately, a custom router template is required. I used .5x1-inch u-channel and .25x1.25-inch flat bar to frame the openings on .5-inch particle board.




The aluminum bits guided my flush trimming router bit.




The aluminum bits were removed and the particle board template was used to cut the .10-inch thick aluminum sheet.






Now I just need to square all of the corners and cut to width. Ugh.

 

Oh, I'm reading his aswell belive me Nice work with the router too! Never seen Attila use a router btw

 

"Life" had gotten in the way of this project for a few weeks, but I've managed to fabricate the inner and outer sheets of the front panel. It took me 5 hours to square-off all of the inside corners.

 

Back sheet cut to width, height and the hole for the 10-slot motherboard tray routed out.

 

nice work so far - I like the rounded corners.

 

Looking good, got the exact same motherboard tray for my build

 

The inner and outer front sheets, cut to final length.

 

Looking really nice Rich .

 

Shelves!

 

I remember the render threads for this in the EVGA forum. Glad to see it's finally coming to life

 

nice case you got there.
it must be sturdy as hell with all that thick alu

 

The 5.25-inch drive bay rails:

 

I bolted the 5.25-inch drive rail assemblies to the front inner sheet.






Note how the extra deep rails will completely hide the drives and cables.






Another design benefit of the front air duct is hiding all of the mounting hardware.

 

Monstrous. Looking good