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Scratch Build – In Progress TearDrop – Special Update: Custom Res!!!

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Snowcrash, 20 Jul 2012.

  1. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks bluc :D yeah, almost a shame to cover it all up with hardware :lol:


    Thanks Editor22 :D couldn’t have done it without you! :rock: amazing work on K2, how on earth did you manage to get it done so quickly?! :jawdrop:


    Thanks coolamasta :D happy you like it :thumb:


    Thanks Dk_vr :D it started off as a test bench, but now I’m thinking of keeping it as is and just adding/upgrading stuff as I go along… plus got some cool ideas for the watercooling setup, but no budget atm so it’ll have to wait :wallbash:

    About the scratches, not really worried for two reasons: first, I really don’t mind when things get a bit scruffy with use (kinda like it actually); and also, that is one of the main benefits of making the bench completely modular so if something breaks or otherwise gets damaged it can easily be replaced.

    Thanks again for the feedback everyone :)
     
    Ripitup121 likes this.
  2. Baguette

    Baguette What's a Dremel?

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    This crystal clear, absolute perfection, is just amazing... Wow, just wow...
     
  3. kelmannen

    kelmannen What's a Dremel?

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    wow! i have to say FANTASTIC work! usually i dont like benches but this one is bautiful! LOVE it! :)
     
  4. Ripitup121

    Ripitup121 MMMMMMm watercooling....

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    Friggin Beautifull. Fantastic workmanship Snow. +Rep for excellence
     
  5. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks Baguette :D

    Thanks kelmannen :D

    Thanks Ripitup121 :D

    VERY MUCH appreciated, guys!

    Mounting of the hardware on the bench is underway :rock: I've hit a bit of a snag with the optical drive, though, so spent the last week or so looking for ways to resolve it. I'll probably end up with some kind of temporary fix and post more details about the problem in hope that someone might come up with a useful solution :dremel:
     
  6. Editor22

    Editor22 E22 | Hex-Gear

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    No worries dude, I only done the easy part of cutting out your design. It really is awesome to see how all these parts fit together!

    oh for K2 I just used a mix of 1 part blood 2 parts sweat and a little dash of CNC magic :D
     
  7. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Project “teardrop” – Update 6: Back Online (15 October)

    Update 6: Back Online

    Hello everybody :D

    I can’t believe it’s been OVER A YEAR since I last posted an update on this project! :jawdrop:

    The log might have gone into hibernation, but a fair amount of progress has been made over those “silent” months. This included correction of mistakes, design improvements for better modularity and functionality, and lots and lots of shiny new custom parts :rock:

    More than anything else, the key concept around which the whole project came to revolve is “custom-made”. That is, I gradually got into designing and making almost all of the elements that make up this rig (except, of course, for the basic hardware like mobo, graphic cards, etc.).

    In this modest update, I’ll focus on some of the smaller past mistakes and design changes I’ve made in existing elements. Later on, I'll move to cover the brand new stuff and overall look of the rig :D

    So let’s jump right in & pick up from where we left off.


    FEET MISTAKE & SOLUTION

    Starting with one of my design mistakes, it turned out the original concept of attaching the feet directly with screws wasn’t the brightest idea I ever had :duh:

    Looked ok in the beginning:

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    But this is how it ended up:


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    Bottom line, acrylic doesn’t like direct pressure from metal :wallbash:


    To fix this, I re-made all the feet (and added two more, making it 8 in total for better weight distribution):


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    This time round I used those little brass inserts to prevent the screws from stressing and cracking the acrylic, as well as the usual rubber sticker on the bottom to dampen vibrations:


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    NEW STANDOFFS

    One of the things that annoyed me most about the original setup was those ugly hex standoffs :nono:


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    These are fine when they're hidden behind the mobo inside a case, but with TearDrop nothing is hidden :worried:

    Also, since I wanted all the metal parts to be either silver or (anodized) black, I set out to find just the right standoffs.

    That took me a LONG LONG time, but perseverance paid off :D

    Check out these beautiful silver standoffs for the mobo(6mm OD, M3 thread):


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    I also got slightly thinner & more delicate looking standoffs (4.75mm OD, M3 thread) for other elements in the rig which I’ll show later:


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    Much better, me thinks :rolleyes:


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    NEW SSD MOUNT

    This was the original SSD mount I designed:


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    I liked the look of it, but it wasn’t very functional (to put it mildly). For one thing, it could only hold a single SSD. For another, it was mounted with a screw in the middle and that made it impossible to remove the SSD once the mobo was in place.

    So I went back to the drawing board with the aim of creating something that's minimalistic, yet truly modular.

    This is what I came up with:


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    And all the parts ready for assembly:


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    The cool thing about this version is that I can stack any number of SSDs.

    I can also mount and dismount them from rig at any time.


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    That’s it for this update, but lots more is yet to come :dremel:

    Until then a little preview:


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    As always, any comments, suggestions, questions & criticisms are welcome.

    Thanks for watching :D
     
    Last edited: 15 Oct 2013
  8. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    Looking great.:D
    I think the feet failed on you more from drilling stress. They looked like they were heated and chipped before they were installed. It's not uncommon for the stress from the initial work to continue to damage the plastic. You should drill slowly, and with a lot of water to keep the cut cool.:D
     
  9. Derick

    Derick Senpai Studios

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    Beautifully done!
     
  10. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks Cheapskate :D

    Good advice and no doubt true in many cases, but I don't think it could have been stress from the drilling as I don't have a drill... nevertheless, heat was invovled, and it certainly could have caused some initial damage which later developed into those deep cracks. Either way, I think I'll stick with the inserts from now on just to be on the safe side.


    Thanks EK_Derick :D Stay tuned as I've got some cool surprises in the bag :thumb:
     
  11. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Update 7: New PCI & Fan Bars

    Hello again :D

    This episode will be featuring more structural upgrades.

    The original PCI bar did its job well enough, but its square shape wasn't really compatible with the rest of the curved design.

    The fan brackets did have round corners, but they were limited to carrying a single fan each and I wanted the option to mount either 2x140mm or even 3x120mm fans (and possibly a matching rad).


    Here’s a quick reminder of what these elements looked like before the changes:


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    Back to the SketchUp model with a different approach:


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    Apart from the aesthetic side, the new design makes it much easier to assemble/disassemble these parts.

    Another benefit is that now the fan bar only requires 3 legs and therefore leaves more space for connectors on that side of the mobo.

    Some finishing touches (sanding, polishing, brass inserts, etc.), and all done :D


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    In the current setup I'm using a couple of 140mm Coolermaster fans that fit well with the transparent design. Unfortunately they aren't the most powerfull fans in the world...

    Which brings me to something I’ve been struggling with. I would very much like to replace these fans with stronger/better quality ones that are nevertheless totally transparent (or “crystal” ). Problem is I can't find any :wallbash:

    So here's my question: does anyone know where I could find 120mm/140mm high-quality fans of this kind? :confused:

    In the meantime, here are some pics of the current setup:


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    SOME BITSPOWER BLING

    In preparation for the transition from air to water cooling in TearDrop, I also took the opportunity to add 5 Bitspower pass-through fittings.


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    Thanks for watching :D
     
    Last edited: 28 Oct 2013
  12. Knighthammer

    Knighthammer What's a Dremel?

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  13. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks Knighthammer :thumb: glad you like it :D
     
  14. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Update 8: Putting Things Together

    What’s up ppl? :D

    Time for the revised framework assembly & the begining of hardware installation

    The current list of hardware is fairly basic, but hopefully that will change over time:

    PSU Silverstone SST-ST70F-ES (700W)
    Mobo Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
    CPU Phenom II X3 720BE
    GPU 2 x Radeon HD 4850 (in crossfire)
    RAM Crucial DDR3 1333 (6GB)
    SSD Samsung 840 Pro (128GB)
    HDD Seagate (9mm, 320GB)
    DVD Sony AD-7640S Slot Load DVD


    THE NAKED FRAMEWORK


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    HARDWARE INSTALLATION BEGINS

    Fist the vandal switches.

    In this context I made another change by getting rid of the previous red-black color scheme, and moving to an all-white one (more on this later):


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    Center switch is for on/off, right one for reset and the left one is a surprise :D


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    Next, came the DVD:


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    Adding in the hard-drives (here mounted only on the left-hand side brackets, but more will be added on the right-hand side later on):


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    PSU: TACKLING SPAGHETTI PROBLEM

    The biggest headache by far in terms of installation was definitelythe PSU given that at the moment I’m using (the excellent, but completely non-modular) Silverstone Strider 700W.

    As I’m planning to go with a fully modular PSU in the final version, there was no point in modding the cables of this particular unit.

    Hence, it was necessary to find a temporary solution for the rat’s nest:


    [​IMG]


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    (to be continued)

    Thanks for watching :D

    p.s. does nobody have advice about transparent fans? (see previous update for details) :geek:
     
  15. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Update 9: Continued


    Hello everyone,

    Today not talk, just pics.


    TACKLING THE SPAGHETTI PROBLEM


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    SPEAKER HOUSING


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    MOBO INSTALLATION


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    GPU RIGHT-ANGLE CONNECTOR


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    Thanks for watching :D
     
  16. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    Special Update: Custom Res!!!

    Hey everyone,

    This is absolutely my favorite part of the project and it’s a great pleasure to finally be able to showcase it here :D


    A big big THANK YOU goes to E22 for having made it for me with incredible skill and attention to details - seriouly, if you need something made to the highest quality, there's no one better- you’re the man, Nate! :rock:


    THE DESIGN

    I’ve worked on the design of this part for months, constantly changing and revising. As always, I was searching for something clean and simple, but also unique and interesting (and, of course, functional to boot).

    This is what I came up with for the body of the res:



    [​IMG]



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    Once the main part was done, I turned to the question of mounting it and spent ages looking for a way to set it up without ruining the round look of the res itself.

    Eventually, I decided to go with a metal bracket attached to the back of the main body. This is meant to create a semi-invisible, “hanging in mid-air” kind of effect:



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    PRODUCTION SNAPSHOT

    (pic courtesy of E22):



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    THE FINAL PRODUCT



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    [cont. on next post]
     
  17. Snowcrash

    Snowcrash What's a Dremel?

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    CUSTOM RES CONTINUED


    Fittings with extra-long threads for attaching the body to the mounting bracket:



    [​IMG]



    And the bracket itself (before & after powder-coating):


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    And all assembled and ready for testing:



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    Thanks for watching :D
     
  18. Hukkel

    Hukkel James' minion

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    Nate sure does great work.
    You should bring out the polish though and polish the tits off that thing on the inside :)
     
  19. jimbaw

    jimbaw What's a Dremel?

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    this build is really classy!I like it
     
  20. Hanoverfist

    Hanoverfist Minimodder

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    Outstanding work Dude! Cool to watch your vision come to reality.
     

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