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Scratch Build – Complete Project CryoPC

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by Datulab, 20 Feb 2021.

  1. dan297

    dan297 Modder

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    Full resolution pics, please.:thumb:

    Check out screwsandmore.de for small size imperial.
    They should deliver to Switzerland.
    But that is also one of the reasons I prefer Alphacool rads, they use M3.

    The whole thing looks amazing :jawdrop:
     
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  2. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    Yes, red water is normal when I shower. :lol: I prefer to drain in a bottle and finish up with the wet/dry vac.
    It's weird to hear about a shortage of 6-32 here. It's like coat hangers or dryer lint, there's always some around.
    As for the previous resolution, save the big pics for showoff stuff. A full page of high-res pics can get really laggy. It's partly the reason you can only post so many pics per post. -That and ComputerKing once posted 100+ full-res pics to a single post and crashed every PC that dared look. :lol:
     
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  3. dan297

    dan297 Modder

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    Imperial hardware, especially the small sizes are somewhat alien on mainland Europe :grin:
    Need to find a specialized online dealer. There are some, but most of them ask a kidney from you...
     
  4. Frode Bergeton Nilsen

    Frode Bergeton Nilsen Minimodder

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    I love the artistic expression of this build.

    I guess this is printed in PLA? Since you glue and paint it?

    If PLA reaches 50C it looses integrity. That is not really much of a worry for this build, but be careful about the PSU, and watch them temps. A small non-PLA support of the baseplate to support the PSU, when on a wall, might be something to consider? The PSU is seemingly just hanging in some thin PLA with no other support? A 90deg bended PSU power cord might come in handy, as the rear of the PSU is on the top of this thing on the wall? How are you routing that cable?

    Love that dual layer of plating below the MB, that solves the cable mess so gracefully, and deal with the malleability issue of PLA. It is not obvious how the weight of the plexi is dealt with, or if it is heavy enough to be an issue, but hopefully you are aware of the issues at play.

    How is the external cabling managed? Stuffed in tubing? Hidden in the wall? Given how cool everything else is designed, it would be fun to see how you end up solving that.
     
  5. Karrek

    Karrek Minimodder

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    I'd say that overall these smaller pics are fine, but maybe full res for some of the final shots?
     
  6. Datulab

    Datulab Human? AI? Robot?

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    Yes, I used PLA for all the printing. The PSU is "just hanging" from the backplate, but it is also touching the wooden base, and if I feel like it's not sturdy enough, it'll be easy enough to add a small stopper on the bottom. Temperature wise I'm not really worried about the PSU, more the GPU, as that gets quite warm under extended heavy load. Worst case I can always add some metal reinforcements.
    The Plexi is not much of an issue, as the pieces holding it are quite large and sturdy. There will also be some bolts holding it to the backplate in the end in addition to it being self-locating and supporting, thanks to a cutout for the backboard.
    The cables will be encased in some plastic tubing that fits the theme quite well, I'll show more details about that once I get to it.
     
  7. Datulab

    Datulab Human? AI? Robot?

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    While I've been spending hours in CAD coming up with the design for the reservoir and centerpiece, I also finished up the first build log video, make sure to check it out if you want to see some more about this project:


    And for those curious, here's a sneak peek of the CAD, the reservoir is pretty much done, while the centerpiece still needs some attention.
    [​IMG]
     
  8. Canardwc

    Canardwc @French_fab_factorie

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    Really Nice build and vidéo !

    Impatient to see next steps...
     
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  9. censored_Prometheus_

    censored_Prometheus_ Minimodder

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    O, is he so huge? :lol::lol::lol:
     
  10. alain-s

    alain-s Minimodder

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    Love everything about it. Bending the plexiglass was very smooth as I could see. Are you going to print out a bracket for the radiator and reservoir so they can hang in the main part?
     
  11. Datulab

    Datulab Human? AI? Robot?

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    Was surprised too when I saw it in real life for the first time, in CAD everything looked so small and reasonable :lol:

    The radiator will be wall-mounted separately, just hanging on a single screw. This allows me to position it perfectly once done and in place.
     
  12. Dot_Kappa

    Dot_Kappa 100% Puppet

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    Great work with plexi :thumb:
     
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  13. censored_Prometheus_

    censored_Prometheus_ Minimodder

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    I meant "O, is he soooooooooooooooo huge?" :lol::lol::lol:
     
  14. Datulab

    Datulab Human? AI? Robot?

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    Started on the weathering of the radiator unit this weekend. While I've done some small weathering stuff before, I don't really know what I'm doing, just mostly following my gut. So if there are any pros reading this, feel free to give me some pointers.
    I also made the extension for the fan wires, using a fan extension I had lying around and some wire. It's enclosed in some construction conduit that I found in my basement from who knows what. After a coat of paint, I quite like how it looks.
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    I also just now finished printing the first pieces of the pump/res mount. I decided to challenge myself a bit and make the parts fit together without any fasteners, while still being removable. So it was time for some 3d printed threads, which actually turned out really well and worked first try (surprisingly) :lol:
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  15. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    Looks properly weathered. :thumb:
     
  16. Datulab

    Datulab Human? AI? Robot?

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    Another productive weekend! I finished printing the parts for the reservoir, so it was time to paint and assemble that. The 3d printed threads that hold everything together worked out quite well, though the area where I used 3mm pitch does work a lot better than the 2mm pitch (didn't have enough room for larger threads in that part).
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    I also went ahead and did the weathering on the main shell, which definitely makes the whole thing come together much more.
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    But by far most excitingly, I got started on the centerpiece, more precisely the small distro plate. For this, I need to give some context though. Over two years ago I bought a BF30 milling machine with the intention of converting it to a CNC mill that would be comparable to a Tormach. I got most of the way through the conversion, but after a while lost interest, patience, and time. More recently I started working on it again and got it to a pretty much working state. There are still some things to do, like a complete overhaul of the electronics (they're horrifying at the moment), but functionally it should be working. What I never considered when planning the CNC conversion was the learning curve of using a CNC. Used to 3d printers, I expected it to be pretty simple. Was I ever wrong:lol:. It probably also didn't help that I had no idea how well the machine is working and if it is working properly at all, so a bad result could be user error, or the machine having an issue. Because of this, I put off using it for anything for a while, which is a real shame.

    Here is a playlist of all the videos I made about the conversion process, if you're curious: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzcD3pbxIKwKrhmqNYE0wJajUTWb9nST6

    This brings us to current day and this project that finally gave me the perfect first project. It is relatively straight forward and being acrylic it is a lot more forgiving, or at least that's what I tell myself.

    I started off by holding the workpiece in the vice and drilling the holes. After I noticed that the Y-axis was reversed, it didn't even crash the machine anymore when I hit cycle start:grin: It would have probably also helped if my drillbit was not quite as dull, but I got the holes in. After that, I moved on to drill locating holes in my wooden fixture plate (sorry machinists, I know this must hurt) and used the previously drilled holes to hold the piece with access all around. After slightly adjusting the speeds, the milling part actually went really well with a surprisingly good finish.

    Overall the piece didn't turn out perfect, but a lot better than expected. I still have the top to do, and if I don't mess that one up, I have one spare acrylic piece that I can use to remake this part with all the right settings.
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  17. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    :thumb: looks great. The learning curve is forever, :lol: but it's easier in a community of cnc users.
    Wood: It works. You want something softer than your material.
     
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  18. Datulab

    Datulab Human? AI? Robot?

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    Thanks! On this part using wood worked great, but I imagine that when I actually do double-sided machining, it might be rather hard to accurately locate it, as it is very soft wood. But I plan on adding a fixture plate at some point, which should make that a lot easier.
     
  19. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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  20. Datulab

    Datulab Human? AI? Robot?

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    Back at it again, seeing things slowly come together! During the week I finished up the design for the center and printed all the pieces. That means it was time for a big glue-up, followed by a lengthy sanding session.
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    I also did some more machining and finished the distribution plate. While it's far from perfect, thankfully the tolerances for this part are quite loose as far as machining goes, and all the major oupsies were just cosmetic errors. Considering it's my first real CNC part, I'm quite happy with how it came out. I considered remaking some of the parts, but in the end, most of the outside will be covered anyhow, so you won't be able to tell, that some counterbores are a bit offset and not all the holes are too nice.
    Of course, I also couldn't resist putting some coolant in there, and damn, does that EK Cryofuel green ever glow! I didn't even get that kind of glow from using specialized UV dyes in a previous build. I'm not 100% sure that this will be the final color, but it's looking promising.
    [​IMG]
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