Scratch Build – Complete Cygnus X1.

what they said ^^

excellent solution for the 'nose'...now it looks incredible. So sexy...

 

R they any proper words to describe how my jaw feels rights now????
No comments brother. I would appreciate if you could find me a doctor to fix my jaw!!!!
P E R F E C T O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Personally I would leave the new front bit how it is, adding a ridge in the centre would not be a good idea IMO

 

So here I am watching vids of the reddish brown dust storms in OZ and what pops into mind? Oldnewby is back at the woodwork and ...

An update - very nice. Tuning the top fins will be an exercise! Keep a count for us for every unbolt, adjust, re-bolt

 

Absolutely epic updates! To chime in with everyone else, yes, this has to be MotY for sure. I'm so glad I didn't get started on my new case yet. I wouldn't stand a chance!

 

totally agree

 

Every time I see an update for Cygnus X1, my eyes pop wide open, the anticipation is infectious.
It reminds me of hearing The Musical siren from the Ice cream van, when i was a kid....lol

My Superlative's vocabulary has dried up at this mod, its truly biblical.

Cygnus X1.....The 9th wonder of the world....MuhahahahahWoahh!!

 

And me, very, very nice work!

 

Oh wow just spotted this one. That is Stunning

 

Sweet mother of Raspberry Jam!!!! How did I miss this?!?!?!
I've been reading from page one (I'm on 18) and I must say your hand made 'machined' parts are spectacular! The overall design is great looking.

Now, to continue reading.

 

Thanks a lot everyone.


This is not very exciting, but I thought you may like to see how the top will slide
and pivot.

First some slots were cut into the lower rail. This starts off parallel with the rail
and then there is a slight incline, then ends with a dip. The dip is to lock the top
before it pivots.





Then a hole was drilled into the top support and the lower front rounded off to
make room for pivoting.



And here's how it goes. When you pull the top back it slides parallel for a bit.



Climbs the incline.



And then drops into the notch to lock in.



Then pivots to allow the side panels to open.



Back soon.

 

Mate your design skills are just absolutely awesome, I have much to learn .

 

What do you mean not interesting? These little details are the bread and butter of all mods and scratch builds.

 

woah. those cuts are CLEAN. how'd you cut them so they are parallel to each other?

 

And just as I was about to think that it was a slow morning and we get an update!

As always dude, your technique are outstanding and precision impeccable.

It will be a catch-22 day when you finish. We'll finally get to see the finished product, but then stuck with the horrible fact that we can't look forward to updates on Cygnus

Keep up the great work

 

This made my day. I love waking up to seeing an update on Cygnus. Can't wait to see this mounted onto the case proper and opened up along with the doors!

Mod on!

 

Thanks b4oz.

OK, thanks Javerh.

Thanks mate. The slots were made by drilling lots of holes and then filing them out.
My first thought was to drill these holes through both sides at the same time in the drill
press, but it's a cheap and nasty drill and wouldn't have been square over the 25mm gap.
So they were made seperately and then filed together until all was good.

Thanks ziip.

Thanks TG. There's still one more opening part to come and hopefully it'll be the most
interesting.

 

I love it! It's brilliant, but don't put too much pressure on the lid when it's open. You built a pry bar there.

 

Thanks cheaps. I have two options to hold the plates up when open.
The first, and most simple is a swinging arm that drops down and locks the the top
up. The second is a bit more difficult (but only because of the limited room left in
the plex support) in that a spring is installed in the plex and a small alu sled is fixed
to the bottom. Then, a slot is cut into the lower rail with the end open and a screw
installed into the plex to drop down (under pressure) into the slot and hence compress
the spring and lock the top. With this scheme the top has only to be slid back till the
screw in the plex reaches the opening in the slot, then the spring will automatically
lift the top and keep it there. I hope this makes sense.

 

I dropped into the electronics store this morning on the way home from work, and
didn't really know what i was looking for. I needed something to light
up the top and also something to make the "make/break" contacts for the top rail.
As is sometimes the case (I wish it was often) things all fall together and I walked
out with a LED strip that can be trimmed down to whatever size you want, and some
fantastic magnetic contacts that not only solves the make/break problem but also
gives me a method to lock the top rail, all in one. WOOT!



So when I awoke early afternoon, there was a couple of hours to spare before I
had to pick up my daughter. The first thing I did was tape the LED strip to the plex
and wired it up to a fan header just to see what it will look like.
I think it will look good when fitted properly and everything's cleaned up.






This is the area, between the front of the plex and the standoffs, where the contacts
need to be mounted.



But before I start with that the plex needs a clean up.





Now I don't know how to polish plex but I have read about people melting it to
get a smooth finish, and I have one of these. I think the last time this was used
was about five years ago.



As usual with anything I don't know much about, or haven't tried before, a bit of
practice on some scrap.



And it worked OK, although I decided to stop doing the trench when I noticed some
distortion happening.



The magnetic contacts are pretty strong and are rated at holding 300 grams each.
So they will need to be fitted robustly to withstand many make/break operations.
Starting with the plex side the idea Ive come up with involves a small square of
3mm plex.



That fits in here. It's 20mm X 15mm.



Then a couple of small holes are drilled.



And a couple of trenches are filed into the inside of the part. I'm not used to working on
such a small scale, so you'll have to excuse the quality of the parts. The most impor-
tant thing here is the strength of the fixings.





The idea here is to pass the magnet wire through the holes, and then cut a small
strip of steel or brass ( I think there is a sheet of brass around here, I just have to
find it.) and solder this to the wire to clamp the magnet to the plex. Then some holes
will be drilled into the top rail and the wires passed through these, and the whole
assembly glued to the front of the top rail.



But I've run out of time.
Oh, if anyone knows of a good, strong glue for plex, please let me know.