So yeah, finally another mod! The project was named Project Al(uminium) because it'll be the most-used material in the build. As an old build of mine was named after the copper theme (Project Cu), I thought I'd keep with the periodic table naming. The mod will be based off the Cooler Master SL600M with a theme based on the patterns that CM has been using in their latest several cases. The main internal structure will be replaced by custom aluminium panels. There will be alot of polished metal (yikes, first time polishing to a high-mirror finish...!) No colours: all black and polished metal. Only colour will be added by LED lighting like the fans and LED strips. Hardware Case: Cooler Master SL600M CPU: AMD 1920X GPU: INNO3D RTX 2080ti Twin X2 Mobo: Asus ROG Strix X399-E Gaming PSU: Cooler Master V1200 Fans: Masterfan SF360R ARGB RAM: 64GB INNO3D IChill RGB Storage: 1x 1TB Samsung 970 EVO 2x 500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2x 2TB WD Blue HDD Thanks ALOT to all of the sponsors of this project: Alphacool Cablemod Cooler Master Inno3D Here are some pictures of the Cooler Master delivery. The beautiful SL600M! The amazing V1200 PSU. And now, the beautiful gutted SL600M! Took the motherboard tray out, and disassembled the rest of the case for cutting. I still had this amazing reservoir from the Masteliquid Maker 240 kit which I've been waiting for to use for a long time. This seemed the perfect build for it, so I made a cutout in the front panel for the reservoir to fit through. Also marked all the unnecessary parts on the case frame and cut those out. Essentially, all the mounting points were removed and only the bare square structure was remained intact. The aluminium replacement panels for the internal structure were cut and bent to the right shape. The right bottom two smaller panels are for the GPU vertical mount. Left front is the PSU mount. Inner front panel replacement, this will hold the reservoir. Power supply bracket cut to size, holes drilled for mounting with thumb screws. Which mounts to the motherboard panel. Behold, the reservoir actually fits!!! Then a test-fit for all the panels. Next thing was to mount both radiators. The lower radiator is mounted to the stock bracket, upper radiator is mounted to a replacement panel. Radiators are Alphacool's stainless steel radiators. Everything is copper, just the outside has a stainless steel look. Radiators will be polished.
Oh my dude, I'm amazed you didn't forget who I am. Thanks for the comment mate, good to be back for sure! Feels amazing. Let's go Jeroen!!
New update: I've been busy polishing the outer aluminium panels. The aim is to polish them to a high mirror finish, but as it's my first time doing this it seems to be quite the challenge. Hard to sand all the imperfections out of the lower grits, especially when going higher up in grit count (600+). Seem to be getting there with the panel polishing (after tens of hours of undocumented hand- and machine polishing.) Still struggling with getting the lower grits out. Might need to get different sand paper. Also dismantled the Inno3D memory to make it a high polish. Removed the anodising with some grill cleaner. First results. Did the same to the GPU waterblock as to the memory heatsinks. Same for the Stainless Steel radiators, started sanding them and finishing them with the polishing wheel. Not perfect yet, but getting there. Left is before, right is after polishing with the polish wheel.
Ghehe, perfection is needed for polishing though!!! Every little imperfection will otherwise be visible. Will get there!
Very big build update. First a test fit with the mounted motherboard and GPU. Note that this is the OLD GPU block. GPU was mounted from the back of the motherboard tray. Two 500GB SSD's and 2x 2TB HDD's on the back of the motherboard tray. Mounted the HDD's with the original rubber mounts that came with the SL600M. Test fit in the case. Also drilled holes for all the watercooling passthrough fittings that'll route the tubes to and from the GPU and CPU waterblock. And the backside with the SSD's and HDD's mounted. Top of the case with the semi-failed polish try... Painting the radiator sides and inside fins black. I was really doubting what to do with the back panel of the case. Decided to stick with the theme and design the only CNC-made panel in the build. Illuminated plexi with an aluminium overlay that will be polished. Also got matching side panels from CM. Decided to switch out the bottom radiator shroud for a custom aluminium one as well. Couldn't stand that every panel was custom BUT the lower one, haha. Thanks to my brother who works at a machine shop, those aluminium plate bends always turn out perfect! Drilling holes with a hole saw, perfect diameter for 120mm fans. Needed some drilling fluid, but worked perfectly. Next job was to fabricate a back panel that hides the ruined original back panel and holds all the I/O that will be routed to the motherboard I/O. Started with a cardboard template. After a rough finish of the template, making an exact 3mm offset from the legs of the SL600M. Marking all the holes for: 4x double USB 1x ethernet 1x HDMI 1x power cable Two Displayport mounts were added later on when I got the cables. Result, really happy with how this one turned out.
MOAR STUFF! Did some final physical modifications to the chassis/panels. Started with attaching 20mm standoffs to the sideplate storage side. Needed to mount it on quite some locations because it's only 1mm aluminium and is quite thin at the top. Test fit the 3D-printed cable combs for the SATA power and SATA data cables. Really like how this looks. I took the time to mount the new GPU block on the card. Wrapped it directly so I wouldn't have to take it apart again. First time wrapping, and this quite is a special kind of skill. Needs more practicing, although this piece turned out good enough. You won't be able to see it anyways. As 95% of all modifications were done it was time to do the final fitup of the hardware. Everything attached (CABLE MESS!!!!!) and powered on, this was my first try to see if everything worked when installed. And.... IT BOOTS!! YEY! Happy camper for sure. All the storage and RAM is recognized. At these times it is when I love my hobby the most: seeing it all come together for the first time. Next up is doing the finish on all custom aluminium parts. Some will be polished, some will be wrapped and some will have a combination of a wrapped pattern and a chromed finish. Working on that at the moment, still improving those wrapping skills...
More progress, and more struggles! Started with sanding the aluminium panels that need to be wrapped to a 120 grit finish. First part of wrapping. Then it was time to finish the other panels and make them ready for polishing! The pictures below are the steps in sanding grits. Used a rotary polishing tool with 150mm pads. Be sure to use an interface pad with these things! Before sanding: 120 grit 240 grit 400 grit 600 grit 1500 grit 3000 grit 1500 and 3000 grit are both 3M Trizact sanding papers. These things rock!! (And are incredibly expensive at €5 a piece....!) Aaaaaaand, repeat 7 times for all the other polished parts. After a first polish try. Just not quite happy with the finish. It also leaves stains in the aluminium that are impossible to remove with solvents. After trying 5 different techniques I decided to go back to a buffing wheel. I had tried it before, just with buffing pads that were not the best quality available. So I bought new buffing pads and buffing compounds to go with it. Also expensive, lol. This polishing has cost more time and money than I would have ever thought in the beginning... And finally, THE STRUGGLING PAYS OFF: THERE IS RESULT! Man was I happy to see this thing finally come to life as I imagined it. It's perfect! AND THEN the following day, I went back to another piece to do the rest, and this happens..... Small pits form whenever touching the metal with the polishing wheel. Could it be that the aluminium is too soft?? After alot of experimenting and research, I conclude that it probably is because of the cold in my shed. It's about 5 °C in there, which causes the polishing compound to immediately harden upon touching the metal. This creates little dents that are very hard to buff out. Let's hope this is the case. So... In these final days of the CMWS before the deadline, I'm still struggling. Tomorrow I'll go and buy a heater and try again in a warm shed. If that doesn't work: finish the parts that can be polished, and I'll have to wrap the other parts.. Fingers crossed!
Unfortunately the deadline of CMWS20 has passed and I haven’t been able to finish the project beforehand, but I am still very glad that this project is coming together like I pictured it in my mind. Back to the problem with the polishing: the heater helped, but didn’t fix the problem. I had to accept that it wasn’t going to be 100% perfect if I wanted a shot at finishing before the CMWS deadline… In the end I didn’t make it, but overall I am very happy with the aluminium parts. This is what I’ve been polishing the metal parts with. The wheel occasionally caused some problems with sharp edges etc. that caused the thin metal sheets to grab into the cotton/flannel wheel and bend… I’ve had it happen to me multiple times, for example with the GPU block cover. With some hammering, re-polishing and after the final wrap it looks like this! Onto the other parts! I put a reflective foil on the backside of the plexi panel and on the inside of the aluminium, hoping the light would bounce back into the panel and help with distributing the lighting. And of course the top panels, after 10’s of hours of polishing…. Then all the panels were polished and it was time to start the final assembly…. Started with wrapping the motherboard panel with the black vinyl pattern. Installed in the case Radiator shroud with radiator+fans installed were next. This thing is THICC! All installed in the case. Next up: HDD’s and SSD’s with cables. And the motherboard…..! The devil’s in the details right? Way too many bolts to mount the GPU panel, but those washers look amazing! And… GPU, reservoir/pump combo and LED controller are installed! Next up: doing all the wiring… Because the wires need to go through the motherboard panel, they needed to be de-pinned first and re-pinned on the other side. Paying a lot of attention to keep the right order of course! Top radiator installed, and the start of the rest of the wiring. Such a wire mess! Very hard to hide between max. 20mm of space. But… The first test for all the Led’s was successful! Disco space atm, everything will be configured in the software. Then it was time to get on with the watercooling. Starting with the backside. Let’s finish this beast!
Very clean build and...impressive polishing work , can't wait to see the final result...... perhaps my eyesight has gone down but I just hope that you will post larger pics, it deserves it...
Even polishing the part that the motherboard covers. -I mean, it looks fantastic, but you had a deadline. The buffer bending the part is bad, but having the buffer rip the part from your hands and slam it into the concrete floor is worse. Mirror tint the inside of the window and make it really freaky!
Cheers Kim, me neither!! Will post somewhat larger pics next time, I resize them to large on Imgur, could try a step bigger. Ohh yes! Ghehe, I know mate... The part that the mobo covers was mostly a part where I could try different techniques and mess it up without any consequences... But you're right, I could've saved some time haha. And jup, slamming onto the floor happened a few times too... Takes so much time to correct! Idk if mirror tinting the inside window would work, but its definitely worth looking at I guess... Might try that just for fun, I think I have enough spare material to do it. Cheers for the comment mate.
