Project "Extreme Cool" -Stacker Case Mod - MrBean - (Update 27 Feb 05)

Thinks of vapo-li, didnt you vertically mount it behind mobo tray?

 

That is the one yes Working like a dream, and it's been a few months already, with the notorious Maxtor Slimline drives.....at least these should stay cool with the Asetek waterblocks and thermal pads, I am expecting 6-10 deg C improvement in drive temp. I have the 3.5" drives, which fits to the bottom of the drive, and sandwiched between the drive and cooler is a white rubbery thermal pad to maximise heat transfer.

Will keep you posted though.

 

*looking for his Fuji S5100* *damn, i can't find it!!*
i've done a 'model' out of hard carton for the cover, so i can cut/dremel an exact one out of a Brushed Alu or something!!

 

Hi Naelq,
Sounds to be a good idea.....I was also considering brushed alu, it would look stunning! Keep me posted of your progress, even if you want to PM or email me.

That way we can exchange ideas, or you can air them here and we can discuss it

I am off to bed, after midnight already, but I will post a few small uodates tomorrow evening again. Need to contact our local Telephone company about ADSL......24/7 connectivity...jeesh, I really need it now.....perkele.....

 

Ok, managedto get one or two smallish things done today......fitted the rear rad to the case, with it's modding mesh protection cover, and looks well.....you decide I like it......

1st shot....



another one....



and one immediately from behind......



Someone asked for a full-on frontal shot with the new bezel.....well, here is 1 or 2....take note that it is not finished yet, I still need to do the small 11mm piece immediately below the new bezel......that can be done once I decide if I am going to use the original drive bay covers, or replace them with brushed alu, or UV Plexi.

1st shot....



and a close up of the area in question....



Well, you prolly want to know why such a small update only....I have a very good excuse. I went and purchased 4 very important items if you want to do decent case modiing.

1) Ryobi 16 Speed Pedestal Drilling machine
2) Ryobi combi Orbital/Belt Sander
3) Bosch 1600W Hot Air Blower
4)Bacho 325 Swiss-made Hacksaw.

I really need the belt sander if I am going to attempt to make the front from Plexi, that is one of the few tools that will give me straight edges.

The Hot Air Gun is to bend the Plexi, I want to make a very special front for this case - Thanx Modsquad!

The big full-size pedestal drill is for better control when drilling/cutting holes etc.....

and the Bacho Hacksaw? Well, you have to se the quality of this thing.

All in all, my shopping spree costed me close to US $1000-, but it is money well spend. These tools will last me for a lifetime, and just think of all the cases I can mod

So, most of my time went spring-cleaning my workarea, and I will post some pics tomorrow of my new tools.

Let me know what you guys think of the rad at the back?

 

It looks very good. Seems to work pretty well and allow for a good airflow too.

I was wondering. Which color will you use to paint the case in? If I recall correctly you mentioned powdercoating? Perhaps you should paint the mesh in the same color as you intend to paint the case? That wold look stunning. Or even tru some color combo case/mesh?


Kepp up the good work! This is truly fantastic work. Beauty from a beast. Makes me want to open my wallet too.

 

Hi Noldor,
Thanx for the reply. Depending on the quality the PowderCoaters can deliver, will be the decisor between that and spraypainting. I will probably go for a dark midnight/navy blue, or black.......maybe even a very dark charcoal grey.

They should all blend in nicely with the theme......will call in my Wife's help, as woman generally knows about these things better than us men

But, whatever color I decide upon, I will do the mesh in the same - thanx for the tip. Should blend in nicely with the case, and not stand out so much.

Tomorrow I will start with the front fascia, will make one from UV-Plexi and see what it comes like. Will probably coat the back of the plexi in black, to make it opaque. So only the edges will highlight when uv strikes it.

Alu or plexi...tough decision.... To many options are sometimes not a good thing either.....lol.

 

That's going to look great! I like how you reincorporated the plexi back in with the metal on top. A little edge lighting and that plexi will glow. Great job, glad I could help in some small way .

Are you going to add metal (or plexi?) to the top to flush up your fan grills?

 

Sup Mr Bean - looking awesome as usual!

The stacker is great, had a good look at one at Rectron this morning.... tempting, but I think first I must take a stab at some kind of mod for my Tsunami.

Keep up the good work and keep us posted!

Merry Christmas

Artag

 

is there any new bud?!

 

Hello Guys,

Firstly, a Very Happy Christmas to all celebrating this Special Time, may it be peacefull

Ok, a small update again. It being Christmas, and me being MrBean, I went to purchase myself a gift on Friday, wrapped it up and put it under the tree....and boy-oh-boy, was I surprised to find this under the tree Saturday morning.....



they go with this.....



and me setting up the software drivers on my monster 22" Mitsubishi Diamond Plus 200 Gaming Screen....



No wonder I didn't get much done, been playing NFSU2 most of the time

Nice wheel, really fun, but I am building my own racing wheel, with fluid damper, increasing resistance the faster you turn, etc.....but will post pics of that in another Project log.

Back to the Stacker:

I modified the front fascia slightly, a few posts back I showed how I made a new faceplate for my Fan-o-Matic, I have decided to incorporate this with the piece needed to cover the 11mm gap underneath the bezel.....

1st pic showing the cut-out plexi, and how I mounted it to a spare front drive cover to bend it.....



another 1....



showing clearly how I used clothes pegs to keep it in position while bending it....



with my new toy, a Bosch 1800W heat gun......

results....



and here.....fitted temporary to see how it looks....



and here.....



another shot....



and another....still need to make button-holes....



and here is the end result.....



I am busy with drive cages, 2 U-shaped plexi ones, as I will be mounting the harddrives in the floor of the case, with the 2 Raptor 74gigs mounted that the Asetek waterblocks faces upwards......

I fitted the waterblocks and optional heatpads to the 2 drives yesterday, and the look nice......I will post some pics tonight of at least one drive mounting plexi box, I fu*#ed up 2 yesterday bending them in the u-shape.....

Maybe G-Gnome or one of the plexi fundis can give me some advice? Will be appreciated.

Let me know what you think so far

 

Best pictures of the CM Stacker I have seen. I had no idea there was that much "curve" on the front panel.. I added my 5-Star vote. Rock-on Mr. Bean........

 

Hello Everyone,
Ok, as promissed, the usual Sunday avo update...

I managed to do the new harddrive cage from plexi, came ok......the drives are mounted on rubber mounts - temporary only, the rubber mounts need to be fixed to the cage permantly....this is only a trial for now, so bear with me

Any way, some pics.......drives are 2X Raptor 74gig units, with Asetek waterblocks, and heatpad fitted.....to fasilitate better heat transfer from electronics/motor to waterblock.



Close up of the rubber grommets I will use as mounts....



a few shots of the unit in the box, more or less where it will be located....









and a few shots showing how the new unit compares to the bulky old std cage.....





and a last one......



Let me know what you guys think, should I sand the plexi to make it more opaque, and hence a lot more uv-reactive......or leve it as it is? I still need to sand the edges, drill the bottom mounting holes and secure the grommet rubber-mounts....

Br,
MrBean.

 

i would mount the hard drives vertically instead of horazontaly
so the hard drive watercool blocks more stand out
and just do stuff that makes us think WOW!!

 

Hi Kamikaze-Freak,
That is an option, yes I am awaiting my mobo and cpu arrival, to see where I will have visible space or a highly visible area to mount these drives.....where they are at the bottom, they willbe highly visible, and routing the tubing to the small rad at the back will be easy as well......off course the cabling from the psu would be simple and clean this way as well....

But, thanx for your suggestion, keep em coming, I will certainly keep this in mind

 

sweet man, very cool.

Good job nice n clean.

- Sc0

 

wow Phillip - this is looking better than project Vapo-Li IMHO - and you are putting in loads of time and cash into it - i may coming over to borrow some tools for my own project soon LOL - but seriously im gonna have to visit to see this monster in the flesh

its looking great as usual and you are raising the bar as usual - so expectations for great mods are going to get higher locally - you are going to just force us to work a lot harder to match you man - which wouldnt have been a problem - but since im the laziest guy i know it now forces me to galvanise myself into action - LMAO ........ now if only the lasercutting place opens up quickly and i can start doing some work of my own

keep up the great work and keep that ZA flag flying high

 

Bad News, and Good News

Well, tonight I have learned one thing - never ever try to redrill a hole in plexi.....file it larger if you must, or use the Dremel or whatever method....don't drill it larger

The result: a Big Fu#%up...I tried to drill the holes from a 4mm to a 6mm dia hole to accept the rubber grommets, tithead that I am I could have cut them in half, and used them either side of the hole......perkele....



and



But, yeah, I quickly rectified that little mistake, 2 hours later, and here is a better and improved version of my Drive Cage......rubber mountings fitted to drives now, the unit is a little flexible due to the rubber yielding a bit.....



and



Why I say it is better, is in the 1st version, I overheated the plexi a little when bending, and the rh-side bend deformed.....in the new version, that is no longer exsistent.

Still a way to go to know exactly how much/long to heat the plexi before I bend it........but I am getting there.....

Let me know what you think.

Naughty: Good to see you are still around, you must definately come and visit this week We can discuss a few things regarding your setup, and you can eye out what mischief I am up to......again.....lol....

Scorian: Thanx for the feedback

Br,
MrBean.

 

You're far less likely to get cracks and splits when drilling acrylic if you use shallow bite angle bits. You can usually find them as carbide bits, but sometimes you can find whole sets of plastic specific bits. They're especially important when you're drilling holes larger than 1/4-inch diameter.

 

The Captain is talking about "plexi-point" bits.

Two 1/4" bits pictured, the one on the left is a PP. I have cracked more than my share of acrylic, but always when drilling the initial hole. Never enlarging one. I am a big fan of "step-bits". I only have 3 Plexi-points bits (for pilot holes), then use the step-bits..

VERY VERY sharp and two/three of these is like having hole set of drill bits.
By the way your acrylic HD rack looks GREAT. Very good bends...Nice work Bean.. Your project needs a COOL name--Project BeanStacker???