Project "Carbon Copy" ***Mini Update (07.02.05)***

Lookin nice.

 

Wow dude, How did I miss this project? Awesome work so far, I love it. Can't wait to see more progress.

 

Nice and acurate work, man!

 

Smexy.

I dont think it looks like a copy anymore, its great

 

No physical work done today, I've just been fiddling the desin a bit in AutoCAD.
The case will no longer have the Matrix Orbital screen in it. I have been inspired to make a standalone MP3 player, of which the screen will be very important to.
It didn't really serve any function in this case anyway, it was just a pimp factor.

So, on with the drawings:



This shows the new front design. The lack of screen and surround means the space had to somehow be taken up. After lots of different designs, I settled upon this one. It incorperates a floppy drive, fan controller and the relocated switches and LED's.



This shows a close up of the floppy bay. The two holes either side of the opening are for the fan light switches, 1 for the front 2 fans, 1 for the left 3 fans, 1 for the right 3 fans, and 1 for the back 2 fans.
The LED's (4 red for fan power indication, and 2 blue for DVD and DVD R/W activity) have also been reloacted from around the power switches to this "control panel" bezel.
The fan controller is also included in this panel (shown by the lighter circles)

It may not look as "bling" as before, but this way, it means I am left with the LCD I need to make my next project work.

Any opinions?

 

Looks very smart!

But would space the dials further apart myself...

 

I would like that too. However, they are fixed on the PCB, and I don't really fancy unsoldering them, because it then leaves me with having to build some kind of support for the board.

 

Nice work so far dude, I'm lovin it. Lian-Li's always look clean. I wish I had the money to buy one.

 

clean job on this one. but i liked it more with the lcd. anyway keep up the good work

 

looks sweet dude

- S

 

That is so DAMN nice! want more pics now!!!

 

Aww, use the LCD anyway and just buy an mp3 player.

 

Changed my mind again.
After experimenting with cutting the floppy drive slot, I discovered it was too tempremental...and who uses floppies nowadays anyway?!

This is the new plan:



The wording on the drawing will hopefully be cut out of black vinyll using the school's CAD/CAM vinyll cutter.

I set about transferring all the measurements onto the aluminium, and masked it all off ready to cut:



This is the control panel after the outline had been cut, and the pilot holes drilled for each hole:



Here it is again with the holes at their finall dimensions. I had to use a grinding piece on the dremel to enlarge a couple of holes slightly. I assumed the spacing of the pots on the controller were equal, but they were ever so slightly out, so enlarging the holes in the crrect place allowed to panel to sit square on the controller:



I then fitted out the control panel with its accessories. I'm not sure which version I prefer...the black:



or the silver:



The black knobs are the ones originally supllied with the unit, and provide a smoother turning action. The also fit in quite well with the LED surrounds.
I'm still undecided though...what do you think?

More to follow tomorrow (hopefully)

 

Tha black ones, i think.

 

I have been lurking on the forums for a while now getting ideas for my case... But I had to register to say I really like to look of this mod.

Keep up the good work.

 

I think the black knobs will go nice with the carbon Then you can put the silver knobs back on your amp

 

At first I thought I liked the silver knobs better, but after remembering what the rest of the case looks like, I agree that the black ones will better suit the overal theme. Or look. Or whatever. The whole thing looks very nice so far!

 

Got a fair bit done today, but nowhere near as much as I hoped. There just never seems to be enough hours in the day

First job was cutting a slot in the 3 1/2" drive bay to allow the USB cable to pass through.
Here is the cage before cutting...



...and after:



Next up was cutting a hole to allow the fans to sit in the chassis. This meant the front panel would sit slush against the chassis. The current fan hole positions meant the front panel was raised by about 6mm.
This is the chassis front before cutting:



...and here it is after:



I then marked the hole to be cut on the acrylic to allow the control panel to sit in:



I then used a dremel (on a slow setting) and a hacksaw to cut the area out. It still needs to be filed and sanded, but the basic idea can be seen. The hole allows the fan controller and the LED's to fit through, and give room for wiring. The switch holes still need to be drilled at this point. I decided to drill the holes for the switches instead of just extending the cut, because this allows the switches to act as a supprt for the front panel. This means it doesn not rely on the double sided tape to hold the aluminium on:



And that finishes today's updated. I have decided to go for the black dials

The end is finally in sight for this project. All that needs to be done is for the DVD and DVD-R/W slot holes to be cut, the carbon laid down, the aluminium panels stuck on, and the right hand side fan holes cut

 

A mini update for today. I smoothed out the edges on the cuts made yesterday for the fan controller hole, and drilled the holes for the switches:



I then cut a slot for the DVD drive. A piece of acyrilic will then be glued to this, and the aluminium front will then be stuck on to this piece of acrylic...basically stealthing the drive:



EDIT: For some reason the drive cutout doesn't look level on this picture, but I can assure you it is. Stupid camera

 

It's just a matter of lights and shadows... They are really aligned!