Project X1 (Updated Nov 3)

bah.. that window thing is is such a great idea that I would rip it without giving it any thought, if only it didnt crash a bit with the rest of my design and the theme

 

that's the point of the plexiglass partition. The heat will be trapped in a sort of tunnel, and go from front to back... not up.

umm.. thanks... I think...

 

Agreed!

If you could etch (sp?) out the circuts and paint with uv paint then light it from inside....baddddddd!!!!!!!

 

That has already been done, by Dionis over at Pheaton, quite a while ago. Although I had it in mind before I ever saw this project or his.

 

Here's the new PSU all sleeved up.

I've got a few days off this week, so I hope to start on stripping the case down to paint it.

 

I undressed her with my eyes 8)


Unfortunately I can't get the rivets off until I get a smaller chuck (whatever that piece is called) for my dremel. I was surprised to see that pretty much the only thing in this case held on by rivets is the top panel. Hopefully I can start painting tommorrow.

 

I think its a pretty cool idea the circuit design in the window, how are you going to do it??

 

I was thinking of doing it as an applique, but I'm not sure right now. I'll need to see it with just the black first. I think it might end up looking too busy with the applique. I may just tone it down a bit, though.

I'll know for sure one the painting and cutting start (sometime this week)

 

very nice case, i wanna see where this goes, should be REALLY cool

 

Alright, I'm having a little trouble with these rivets. I have one on the front that just does not want to come out. This is my first time drilling rivets (or modding a case really) so I don't want to screw anything up. I'm using a bit just slightly larger than the hole in the head of the rivet, and from what I've read I should just drill in , and It should just pop out the back. Mine is going really deep, and still not popping off. Is this normal? Any tips appreciated.

 

Woot! never mind. Looks like i was just being too cautious.

Me 1 - Rivets 0

 

if ur going deep but no poping use a larger bit and if the rivit is spinning and not bring drilled juts press realy hard and itll shoot out after being drilled for awhile at least from my experience, so ur basicaly making a btx case will the mobo filped the other way round right? edit: u posed while i was typing

 

SO, still not sure I'm doing this right... from what I can tell on the rivets there's a head/shaft that are connected, and a peice in the middle of the shaft. I was drilling right down into the shaft the first time. all the way through, actually. I haven't seen any clear instructions on this, so I'm just doing what works.

I f the holes are 1/8", should I be using a 1/8" drill bit? or something smaller? right now I'm using 3/32" (I think) and drilling the top a bit, until I can see the middle part in the shaft. Then I just pop out the middle with a precision screwdriver, and pull the top/shaft off with a bigger screwdriver.

I'm not sure if I'm making thinsgs too complicated or not, but it seems to work so far.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

You want to take the 'head' off the rivet, use a drill bit 2-6 mm diameter and drill slowly until the back can be pulled off

 

D'oh... I accidentally scraped up the top panel a bit on the cement. (didn't even think about it). Anony know what I can do to make scratches in brushed aluminum look less noticable?

 

It depends how deep they are, try using brasso or somethin similar for small scratches, i dont know about deeper ones though.

Btw when drilling rivits out, use a 4mm bit in a drill its much easier. Aluminium rivits well be easier to remove than steel ones and just use a bit of force.

 

Thanks for the tip.... I went back at it using my 1/8" bit, and they came off much nicer.

 

Hey, looky here!

PSU cage is next!

 

So now I'm about to cut the PSU cage to fit my rad.
here it is:


and here's where I'll make the cuts:


I haven't cut with a dremel yet, so this is kinda exciting. Wish my luck!

 

Well, I haven't updated all day, but I only have one more pic.
I got the PSU bay cut:


It's a little different than planned, because it saved me a few cuts, and it'll be a little more sturdy once I put the rivets back in.

I'm in the process of painting everything.

So far I've done:
sanding with 320 grit
Wash with TSP
primer
primer
sanding with 400 grit
primer

I'm just waiting to do the final 800 grit before I start with the paint... Also, I'm using a self-etching primer to make sure the paint sticks really well.

whew it's been a long day