Case Mod - In Progress Project: Orange Monster, 26 July 2006; Wire routing blocks 16.3.2014

Thanks Cheaps!

I too only recently "rediscovered" the belt sander I used on this. My go-to tool is the router, but even this cheapo belt sander has its place sometimes

Darkened

 

I was just chatting about this project with a smile to a friend, and thought I'd ask how things are going?..... I love the custom wire routing you've created

 

I got really excited when I got my email notification about a reply to this thread.

Hope all is well Darkened.

 

Still here though

My modding goes like a sine-wave and it seems I need to gather some modding inspiration once in a while. There has been some progress as well, but not enough for an update. Let's see if I can get back at it this coming week...

Thanks for the support again guys

Darkened

 

congrat's on the MOTM nomination! Got my vote - perfect work!

 

Thanks a bunch Shurika!

I was actually fairly sure you had posted in the wrong thread and there was a similarly named project in the MOTM. Still can't believe OM is there

It's also a fairly good timing, since I'm about ready to roll out an update quite soon.

Stay tuned...

Darkened

 

MOTM nominated (and voted) indeed. Sub me in for the future update!

 

I figured this was the second or third time you got in MOTM.

 

Congrats on the nomination! Cant wait to see the next update.....

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If I don't remember wrong, the reason why I registered to Bit-tech forums was to be able to vote for this project back then.

And project just keeps getting better, I'm glad I have followed this since the beginning.

 

Signature plate...

This isn't the update I wanted to give you, but being embarrassed for the lack of updates especially after the MOTM nomination I decided to move forward with this one.

This part was done in February if that counts at all





I decided to attack this eye-sore, which used to be the area for front ports with a vengeance.

I had been putting this one off for ages for a few reasons:

1.) I didn't quite know what to do with the area
2.) I knew what ever it was, it was going to suck noodles to fabricate a decent looking piece for it.



From this photo you can see that the hole was quite rough around the edges and not even 100% straight at this point.



I cut a strip from 1,5mm aluminum for the hole and made it a bit large at this stage.

There's also a backing plate I cut out of 3mm alu and drilled & tapped holes in it for the mounting screws.





It took literally hours of filing to make the pieces fit.

I made the alu strip straight from the beginning, so the material was mainly removed from the case.

The reason I was going to reveal this part later is that it's not quite ready yet. I'm going to have "Darkened" engraved to the piece and polish it to mirror finish after that.

At this point the part isn't attached to the backing plate at all, it's just such a snug and flush fit that I could lift the case up and shake it and it wouldn't fall off



This doesn't have anything to do with the update itself, but I just liked the photo

A kind thank you for everyone who has voted for OM!

Sincerely,

Darkened aka. Janne

 

I think my next build will be orange

Thanks for you comments, and keep up the good work your doing

You have my vote, hope its helps give you some extra motivation

 

Ok, this was a epic read! Great build log. I read the whole thing. took 3+ hours but it was totally worth it!

 

Every little detail counts, glad to see progress again

 

Wow dude you started this back in 06? Glad to see you're back on the mod train! Looking fantastic so far! Keep us updated! And good luck in the MotM!

 

I've been browsing through other peoples threads and forgot to check my own (getting old and forgetful)...

@mega-deblow

Orange can cause severe addiction, so proceed with your own risk (aka. welcome to the club)...

Also thank you so much for the vote, motivation levels are quite good at the moment

@AlderonnX

I tip my hat to you if you read through the whole thing. This should also act as a warning about what happens if you don't plan the mod beforehand

@mnpctech

I'm thinking tomorrow will be a modding day again. So maybe there will be a bit more progress coming your way.

Seeing your comment here made me realize that I still haven't read through all of your FrozenCPU thread. I'll get right on it!

@humanityBG

Yeah, 2006 allright

That makes me old AND lazy

Just kidding above (although I am old and lazy), but yeah, it's been a few years. And yes, I will keep you updated and try to get back at it ASAP.

Thank you for the good wishes also

Darkened

 

That last picture is gorgeous. Your attention to the finest details is unbelievable. Really hope you'll see this through, even if it meant coming back for another eight years.

 

Wire routing blocks...

I've been MIA for a short while due to non-modding life obligations, but let's continue shall we...

The next job was to fabricate the rest of the wire routing blocks. I was really reluctant to begin working on these since making the Aquaero block was still fresh on my mind.

Sawing through that aluminum HDD heatsink was really difficult, the bandsaw wouldn't saw straight, the piece got really hot and it just generally sucked. After bumping my hand on the bandsaw blade (while moving the saw, not after f***ing up ) I realized that it was really dull. In fact the back of the blade felt sharper than the front, so after a lot of I replaced the old blade with a new, much coarser blade to begin with.

I did a bit more after sawing the needed parts, which proved to be "a cakewalk in the teapark".



First I rummaged through my scrap acrylic pile and made a bunch (about 90) of pieces which go inside the grooves.



Here are the blocks cut and sawed to length and bathed in drain cleaner to remove the anodizing.



Next step was to glue the acrylic pieces in the grooves.

I made them a bit long since it's really easy to trim them down with the bandsaw and belt sander.





After trimming the acrylic pieces, here's what I got.

At this point they are a bit rough around the edges and also quite dirty, but that's not a problem.





Next I drilled and tapped M3 holes through the blocks and joined them together.

I also "countersunk" the screw in the acrylic to make it flush and usable for routing a wire through it.





So here's the wire routing block sandwich.



Next I did some careful measuring and attached the Aquaero wire routing block in its place.



I also mounted the shorter block to the MB tray.

This will route the fan wires and also the power switch and front panel led wires.







And finally here they are mounted in the case and photographed from a few different angles.

Next I need to fabricate the top parts out of acrylic so that the wires will actually stay in place.

So stay tuned and as always, comments are welcome, especially from the "lurkers", I'd love to hear from you also

Darkened

 

Again worth the waitb:-D

 

Totally worth, although I got a little live sneak-peek, thanks for that

Great job (as usual), keep up the good work

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