Well, unfortunately I was not able to do as much today as I had planned. I mentioned earlier that I primed the drive cages and the mounting mt. mount thingies, well the parts dried and I did the black color coat. A day and a half later (earlier today), I put a good layer of that fantastic DupliColor truck bed lining spray stuff. Now scratches will be impossible! BUAHAHAHAH *evil cackle* heh... ehh... yeah, so anyway Today that is drying and tomorrow I will probably clear coat the parts that don't have the truck lining finish. I only have a pic of the primed parts, nothing color coated or truck lining stuff. I might tomarrow. After that, I finally got to my testing of FIBERGLASS! HURRAH!!! I got all my supplied together, must be prepared! I made sure that I had a respirator, plenty of disposable gloves and some goggles just incase. First I went to Home Depot and got some insulating foam that I cut layered into a shape that the fiberglass could be molded on top of. I glued the layers together with Elmer's glue, nothing fancy. I then covered the entire mold in aluminum foil which the fiberglass shouldn't bond to too much. This session is just a test, to see how I work with the fiberglass. If it turns out well, I will be able to use what I have made. If not, I shall try again with my newfound knowledge of fiberglass! I mixed the fiberglass jelly with a few drops of hardener in a plastic cup. My random choice of cup was a bad idea. The resin slowly softened the plastic and halfway through the project I realized that the bottom half of the cup was missing! So I used a cheap plastic container that some rivets came in (which are now neatly on my floor). I cut up a few strips of the fiberglass cloth to have them ready. I then coated the entire mold in the resin. I then placed a strip of cloth on, brushed more resin over it and made sure the resin soaked through the cloth. One thing to note about the brushes, I had to buy a bunch of really cheap ones. One you get the resin on the brush, it isn't coming off. Ever. I had to use two brushes for the first layer of fiberglass. Since this is my first time with fiberglass, and really just a learning experience right now, I didn't do everything how it should have been done. One thing I learned was that the fiberglass cloth doesn't like tight corners. It isn't thin or flexible enough for a nice 90 degree turn. While I wasn't really expecting to achieve a perfect corner, I was able to get it decent enough. From now on though, I will have to cut smaller parts that will meet at the edges rather than trying to bend the cloth over the edges. Working with fiberglass is also much more of a mess than I expected. I thought it would be messy, but not this bad! The fiberglass cloth is a fairly loose weave, so when pieces are cut, the resin likes to pull off strands of fiberglass as the cloth is put in place. Then the fiberglass gets on your hands (which damn well be in gloves) and when you use your fingers to push or poke an edge, a strand attaches itself to your finger and doesn't let go! It is worse that those Face Huggers from Aliens!!! Towards the end of the session, my fingers had annoying strands stuck all over them and a big pile of fiberglass strands which I was able to pull of my hands. It is dark out now and the fiberglass isn't 100% dry, maybe 99%, but that isn't good enough! So tomorrow I will hopefully get to go at the beast with a dremel and then apply another layer. Wish me luck!
What do you all suggest about dealing with the dust? I have goggles and a respirator and latex gloves. Should I wear a long sleeve shirt? If the dust collects on that, I would have to wash it separately from anything else?
I hope that's sarcasm The fumes are horrible. Don't inhale it or get the resin on your skin or in your eyes. Don't inhale the dust, don't get the dust in your eyes. As far as I know, the dust can irritate your skin, but to what extent I'm not sure. I was hoping Mashie would drop by or something The fumes cause brain damage and the dust can permanently mess up your lungs.
Ok, well I used the dremel to cut of the overhanging edges and then I put on a thick layer of overlapping cloth which covers every corner. After this dries, I am going to remove the fiberglass from the mold and try to clean up the inside a bit. Then I am going to put a layer or two of fiberglass on the inside to re-enforce the structure and hopefully allow for some better shaping when I go at it with the sander. The last batch I mixed up should harden completely in an hour or so. I hope I can continue working today and give you guys a nice visual update. Oh, and my nose isn't bleeding yet, so I guess I'm doing ok with the hazards
Ok, well I have done some more work with the fiberglass. After my 2.5 layers had completely dried, I had to pry the fiberglass cast from the mold. My idea to use styrofoam covered in foil was a horrible HORRIBLE idea. Many thanks to the guy who said it was a good idea! Next time I will cover the mold with some kind of oil or wax prior to laying down the fiberglass. Anyway, getting the foil off was a bitch. I couldn't get it all off because some resin had gone through the cracks and embedded the foil in itself. Doesn't really matter though. After I pulled out the mold and sanded off as much foil as I could, I cut off the nasty edges with my dremel. I had a huge vacuum on while I was cutting so most of the dust would get sucked up. I still managed to get some dust on my shirt, but the vacuum made short work of that! After everything was cut to a more clean shape, I washed off the fiberglass and wiped it down to get rid of that horrible dust. Next I fixed up another batch of resin and precut some cloth squares and did a nice good layer on the inside of the shell. This way, if the shell is a little too big (in the end it has to be flush with the power supply), I will have plenty of room to sand down. The shell is pretty much hardened right now, so tomorrow I can continue my work on it. Tomorrow I will cut it down to the right height, check the dimensions and sand it down. Once it is the right basic shape, I will need to use a bit more fiberglass so I can get some inner flaps made so it can be attached to the PSU. After that I will better define the shape with bondo. Of course, I will only be doing all this if it turns out well when I check it out tomorrow. If it is horribly wrong, I will get to do it over, starting off with more knowledge than before. Also, a big thanks to Siege on [H]Forums for his tips and experiences!
Earlier today, I took the fiberglass shell, and placed it on the PSU it will eventually be attached to. I checked the size and measurements and the shell is a tad too big. In some areas, it would have to be cut down so much that it would leave barely one layer of fiberglass cloth as a wall! Since I would have to sand the walls down to fit the dimensions of the PSU, I first had to thicken the inner walls. I mixed up some resin and did about a 2-3 layer thick application of fiberglass on the inside of the shell. Once this is dried, I will trim off the excess cloth and compare it to the PSU again, making sure that after the walls are sanded down, that there will still be enough wall left for good structural support. This is my first attempt, and I didn't get off to the best start. Now that I know so much more, I will be able to spend more time planning and preparing the mold next time. So right now I am waiting for the inner layers to finish drying, then I will hopefully be able to sand down the outside until it fits the proper dimensions. If I can get that done today, I will update with some pics. I would like to start doing bondo on the outside today as well, but I will have to see how the time goes.
The last update I had was that I had added a few more layers of fiberglass onto the inside of the shell. Well, since then, that has dried and I was able to flatten the bottom of the shell. I also took a power sander with 40 grit sandpaper and sanded down each face of the shell. Now was fun part #2. Fiberglass work is pretty much done for this shell right now, and now it is on to Bondo! HURRAH! Not worse than fiberglass, but still a little messy. Here is the shell after sanding: Anyway, I applied a layer of Bondo, enough to fill most voids and cover most peaks. After that dried, I spend a good amount of time sanding down each face until it was reasonably smooth. Of course there were some pits left over, and another application of Bondo was needed. After the second coat, I sanded it down again with 40 grit sandpaper and there were still some minor imperfections. Another coat of Bondo and some more sanding. Now the sides are almost perfectly flat, and the corners are nice and clean. The shell now fits the almost exact dimensions of the power supply. Tomorrow I will be cleaning up that angled hole you see in the pics and cutting an 80mm fan hole as well as some holes for the wiring that will go to the hard drives. If I am really in the cutting mood, I will also cut a hole in the side panel of the top cooling compartment so the wires can exit and enter the power supply and the case. While I have been waiting for the fiberglass and Bondo to dry the past two days, I decided to jump around a bit and get started on another part of the mod. This part involves the keyboard. I used a spiffy looking Cooler Master Keyboard Q which sort of fits my theme, but not enough. I took of the top aluminum plate and sanded it down with 240 grit sandpaper. That was a huge pain in the butt! I have to go all the way up to 2000 grit and then apply a metal polishing compound, clear coat and rubbing compound or glaze. That will get the keyboard looking nice and shiny, but that isn't all that is in store for this baby! Anyway, here are some pics of the keyboard so far: Before: Notice the dull brushed aluminum (if you can see it in the pics): Here is the face plate after 240 grit: You can sort of see a reflection… a ways away from the finished product though.
Tip for fiberglass The best tip I can give you is IF you want to use a mould of some type start by making the FINAL shape from foam, coat it in resin and finish it to the same level as you want for the final product. This is what is known as a "Blank" you can now use this blank (or plug) to create your mould. Seperating compounds Some places will recommend a specialist product, but I have found that Pure And Simple (an oil based spray for your kitchen fry pan) works wonders and is a HELL of a lot cheaper. A good guide once you have made your mould by laying up LOTS of layers of fibre you are ready to go! (dont forget to give the plug 2-3 very careful coats of resin before you start on the fibre. You will need air inhibited resin so the next layer will bond) Happy glassing!
Thanks for the tips, but this was my first try, a new experience. The next piece I make should go along a bit more smoothly now that I know what to look out for and what to expect. I may try out that method for the hell of it, and see which I prefer. BTW, what kind of work have you done with fiberglass? If it is anything interesting, care to share any pics?
I love how you work for TTL and post here I love how I do it too (except switch 1SweetPC for TTL).... *ponders: WHY?!* I like it so far... I keep meaning to order some mesh like that too. I don't really know why, I just like the look of it. No idea how I'd use it though. Same with bondo as well... although I can't seem to find it anyways. I like what you did with the keyboard as well (not the keyboard itself though, that cursed laptop-style layout!!). It's the little things. Personally I'd be happy for any other keyboard for the computer that I'm tpying this at... it's so old it's not even natively PS/2 *shudder*
Our forum is pretty slow, and I want to share my work with everyone, so what better idea than to post it on the most popular modding forum out there? The keyboard is by no means done, and a nice reflective surface isn't the end of it. I can't really explain what else I am going to do to it until I actually start doing it and make sure it will work Thanks for the comments.
Now that most of the fiberglass mold is done, it was time to cut and drill to make room for the I/O and 80 mm fan. The big hole in the middle is obviously for the 80mm fan, the three larger holes on the side will have IDE and SATA cables that go to the HDDs and the smaller holes accompanying them will be the HDD power wires. The large angled hole on the opposite side is where the PSU wires will exit and the IDE/SATA/fan wires will enter. Right now I am in the process of applying fiberglass to the open end of the mold for mounting to the PSU. Ok, well the paint on the drive cage and mounts have fully dried now after two days. They are painted black and have a nice and thick clear coat on them to hopefully resist small scratches. The flaps and the mounts were painted with Dupli Color's truck bed lining stuff which is really heavy duty. I can go at that stuff with a screwdriver and it doesn't chip! Now that it is dry, I got some rivets for my pop rivet gun and assembled the cage. Voila! Nice and purdy. Here is a pic with the mounts screwed on via thumbscrews. These mounts will later be riveted to the inner walls of the top cooling compartment. I am about to go continue working and might have an update later tonight.
Ain't modding Grand? I really like the whole concept of your mod. as well as the great work you are doing!!! I will stayed tuned with you on this and see where it leads. WZ
Well, it got too dark too soon :-/ I used fiberglass to add some internal mounting flaps on the shell and cleaned it up a bit once it was dry. I also got some Bondo Glaze and Spot Filler to, well, fill spots. Right now it is 11:45 and I am letting the final little application of the spot filler dry so I can smooth it down. I didn't have time to cut with the actual PSU or the side panel of the top cooling compartment. I will most likely do that tomorrow as well as prime and paint the shell. That is, unless I think of something else I need to do on the shell. Like drill some holes in the flaps so it can mount onto the PSU (figures, I always forget something).
I have a quick question. For this mod, I am going to need to make my own Serial ATA cables. I have to fit the cable through an enclosure which is too small to fit the connector through. Does anyone know where I can get the connectors themselves? Solder or Crimp... although I don't think there is crimp. I have checked the local computer hardware stores, even a place that is all connectors and ICs and resistors but nada Thanks!
Very nice work with the bondo and fiberglass! I had similiar issues when I made the shroud for goliath's radiator, but my first attempt wasn't even close to usable. The second attempt came out like yours, and then I had a friend do the bondo work (I couldn't quite get it right) Yours is much, much better.
Sorry for the delay. I was having some non-computer problems which are finally getting better. I have gotten back to work. I have been trying ever so hard to get the very light scratches out of the first piece of fiberglass. It is taking some time because I am trying to retain the very delicate shape of the piece (right angles and whatnot). My work on the second piece of fiberglass is kicking ass. Worked out a lot better so far. I don't have any pics yet, but fear not, they will come. It has been raining all day today, so painting is out of the question. Hopefully I will be able to display my progress soon.
