Well here is my first project log here on bit-tech. The project is loosely defined as a 16" cube made primarily out of aluminum. It will eventually house my main pc, or sit in the corner collecting dust. So, lets see materials I started with About 40" of 1.25x1.25"x1/8" square cornered aluminum angle. ~30 square feet of t6061 aluminum sheet, .060" thickness. a few hundred carriage bolts, 1/4"-20 thread. a few hundred 1/4"-20 threaded standard hex nuts, and about 40 of the same in jam nut format. So when I started not being terrible experienced in working with metal (some woodworking experience) I wanted to see if I could get acceptable accuracy with my mostly handtools and crappy powertools. So here is a picture of the first corner. That went well enough, so here are a few shots of the completed frame. Excuse the picture quality. Its not so much the camera, which i feel is decent (Canon A70) as it is the environment, poor lighting and most of all my lack of skill with cameras in general as well as photoshop. Anyways, heres the frame. Interlude: heres a shiny disc of aluminum I made that serves no purpose, but it does reflect a game of civ3 nicely. Next up was cutting and drilling the aluminum sheets for the side panels. The side panels, so far as I have planned only go on the 4 sides of the case, the top and bottom are to be treated differently, especially the top, though I have not decided exactly how or what it should look like. So in the following pics the sections you see lacking a panel are the top/bottom. Also note that the case is full of finger prints and scuff marks at this point from being worked on, it will be torn down and polished up/restored to an unscratched state before its complete. Also the panels will be going out at sometime in the future to be given a brushed finish and anodized, possibly dyed black as well. and here is a shot of inside the of one of the corners for no real reason. I'm going to try to find or order a motherboard tray, something like a Lian-Li tray would be nice. So I'm looking for some input as to how the top should look, designs, etc. I'm considering maybe some plexi, or a mesh, both, who knows. The bottom Will likely be an aluminum sheet with 4 feet (possibly captive metal spheres) and some grills to allow air to be taken in from the bottom. Thats about all I can think to write at 2:40am so I'll post this and try to keep the worklog more or less up to date. Oh yes, also looking for a project name, suggestions welcome.
That work is definately what I would call within tollerance. It looks very neat. Ive seen much worse. Nice feet. I feel that the feet would probably look better if the plate at the bottom was turned up the other way - doming down to a flat surface on the desk (unless that's a domed bolt head and then you're screwed - pun intended ) Have you given any thought to illuminating the feet? Suggest an embeded LED into each one?
Here's a replacement removeable Lain-Li motherboard tray (what I used on an apple G5 case). http://www.silverpcs.com/product/CA_LIANLI_MD_TRAY
Constructacon: actually the feet are just a cut out disc of aluminum with a rounded edge put on with a drillpress and file, and its threaded so it fits on the rod. It looks a bit off in the picture because its not on a flat surface, all the other legs arent on, so its kind of lopsided, and its also being jammed up against the piece of acrylic rod that doesnt quite have square ends. So some finishing work needed to make it fit all nice nice. Cysys: Ordered it already from those guys about a week ago, delivery date is estimated for the 16th, but I see that it's already cleared customs so it might be here sooner.
When some more modding is done perhaps? Actual modding takes time. Construction from scatch takes much longer. I'm also waiting though - but more patiently. No pressure to hurry up or anythng..... Really, none at all.
nov 12 Cleaned up the feet as per the recommendations of the good people in the modding forum, though not quite to their levels of perfection. Stopped at 1000 grit and just gave it a quick pass on an unloaded buffing wheel on the dremel at low speeds, seemed to clear it up sufficiently for my tastes. Heres a shot through a piece stuck right up against the camera.
looks like some pretty awesome construction. for the top, i suggest some sort of a plexi window in an aluminum trim, around an inch of the trim and a plexi window, possibly something etched. and if you've seen it, when Zap did his AMD/ATi case, he offset the windows from the case just a bit, to allow more airflow. this may prove to add much better airflow, since every experience ive had with sff has been that airflow is the key problem. looking awesome nonetheless, very nice work
Waiting for james bond to walk across, turn and shoot. Hmmm , maybe it's just seeing the name drknow that's making me think this
nov 14 update Warning: long. consider reading anyways because I am looking for input. Ok, been thinking about how to do the top. I've been thinking about mounting either a grill, an aluminum plate, or a piece of lexan, with an etching possibly. I havent really decided on any of these yet. But I do have an image that I like, here it is. Its a fractal, well maybe its a flame, who knows, generated in apophysis. The image was done by "Valcali" who was kind enough to send me the flame file so I could re-render it at different sizes. I would get this laser etched by the company that did the etch for the black narcissus mod here Xport1 It seems more impressive at higher resolution, like 5000x5000 but thats a bit big to post here. Now, the part that I am currently thinking more about. Mounting the top plate. So far alot of my efforts have focued on the idea of creating a mounting platform above the top of the current existing frame by attaching something to the 4 rods that stick up above. The advantage I see to this approach is that if designed right it should make for a good vent on all 4 sides and I will place a few fans at the bottom/middle and none at the top, hot air should rise/be forced out the top. So a few different ideas have struck me. 1. Using the same or similar angle aluminum mount it on the rods in such a way that the one plane is horizontal and the other vertical and above the horizontal plane on the z axis and to the inside of the box. This if joined right at the corners would create an area for the top piece, as discussed above to sit. but not look terribly great imo. also unless this is suspended above the top of frame with some sort of a nut this would offer very poor airflow out the top 1B. The same thing but with the vertical plane of the angle aluminum to the bottom (below) the horizontal plane. The disadvantage to this approach is that it doesnt cover over the hole mentioned in the next sentence, and allows things to basically drop straight into the case. I dont really want people to be able to see straight into the case, viewing possibly through the window/whatever it turns out to be at the top, but not through vent holes the size of kansas. The bonus to this approach is that it leaves a gap between the frame and the new angle aluminum above of about 1" or so all the way around allowing for very good airflow out the top of the case. 1C. Like 1 but the horizontal section now sits to the outside (overlapping the frame) and the vertical plane of the alu angle is pointing up. The joints for this are too exposed and too messy, I dont think I could make it look right unless I got it welded or something. Plus it looks shitty and isnt a very useful design, so this is not a good choice. 1D. like 1C but with the vertical section down. If raised up a bit on the rods with nuts underneath this could be an interesting idea, the top panel could be attached underneath, and air could flow reasonable well out between the 2 frames. The joining angles are difficult to get to look right and are very exposed, so they have to look good. This could be difficult. Summary of suboptions for 1, B and D are really the only ones that interest me, the problem with both is that as the rods are in the corners doing 45 degree joints is impractical, the pieces would have to overlap, I am not a fan of overlapping. 2. Something to do with this 1" square aluminum tubing I have kicking around, but I havent really figured out what yet 3. This one interests me, heres the concept. Either clear or opaque acrylic/delrin/etc rod, approximately 1"-2" in diameter put into a square configuration by putting in 45 degree angles. There would be a groove on the inside of the box formed by the rods in which the top panel would be inlayed. The whole unit would side above 1/4"-1" risers of the same material that would be shaped properly on top so that the "rod-square" would be cradled by them. This whole affair could be made out of any sort of rod/tubing really, possibly metal even I suppose. One of the interesting parts about this if done with acrylic/etc is getting a joint good enough that can still be drilled atleast partially through to allow for the rod insertion without breaking apart/chipping. #3 really is my current favourite. Mostly because I like the way it would be constructed, the methods used etc. Not necessarily because I know anything about how it might look on top of the case. Post your thoughts, opinions, etc.
I vote for #3, even if it seems the most difficult to make.... But the effect should be great... Just my 0,02 $.... Keep on modding.
Update I kept Mr. TK up until 3am producing me some handle renders. I'm thinking of having something along these lines made of out aluminum or stainless steel for the top of the case. The bars are probably going to be delrin/acetal and the in one of the shots its acrylic tube overtop, which could be coloured, or flourescant, or not. Images:
