It seemed to live fine thank god. Talking of living.... "I have no way to test it... Oh wait, yes I do" Update 28 "There are two colours in my head"
Update 30 "This is why I don't like Alphacool". Why does everything of theirs seem to just be janky rubbish? So I fitted the GPU and stuck down the supports. And it was all going really well until I picked up the Alphacool pump and two wires fell off. "OK whatever, this has happened before just solder them back on". Only it's close to impossible because not only did they put hot snot all over the solder points in some sort of desperate attempt for this not to happen but they then went ahead and plastic welded the bottom on so you can't get it off for access.
I fixed it but I am not proud. I have had to cast it in superglue and activator because the ground pad tore and was hanging off. But it works.
Update 31 - "Yesterday I woke up sucking a lemon". So yesterday I did some measuring and realised how badly off the top was. So I created a 1mm pocket line in Easel and used the machine to sort it. Now I can't complain too much because it seemed to work really well. Unfortunately that was where yesterday's good points all ended. I then attempted to cut the front and this happened. The 1mm bit jammed completely but did not snap. IDK where my head was, but the bit ended up in the same place. Oh OK so I do know where my head was I am gutted my uncle is dying and I couldn't get my head out of that space and into this one. So I tossed it aside thinking it was done for, and I would have to buy more acrylic/make a new one. Whatever. The pump is now repaired and the very slow setting glue is setting. The mosquito netting you see there was purchased about a week back and arrived today. That will become the top filter for the case. Not that it overly needs one, as there are no fans in that part, but simply because I don't want crap falling in through the holes. I went to see my uncle today. It was all very sad, but we did get a laugh at the end. I won't go into that, but I think it did him and all of us some good. My aunt said it is the first time he has laughed since being told he was terminal, so hey at least I was of some use. I came back in a better frame of mind, and decided to make lemonade out of yesterday's lemons. I remembered the last RH album I bought was "OK Computer" on vinyl, but remember finding out that the one you should buy is the "OKNOTOK" version, as it is three records and they are 180g vinyl. Which just about sums up my mood right now, and looks rather pleasant. That edge does still need to be cut, but my rotary tool is absolutely bloody awful so I will wait now until the one Gareth sent arrives. Later today I will solder up the power button and the paracord came so I will sort that and the power LED together and braid them both up in the yellow reflective. Happy New Year all.
OK so I am tired of fretting over getting the pieces cut out and straight edges etc. What I need is a table saw. However, I need it on miniature scale. Then it dawned on me. Diamond coated bladed tile cutter, yes. Which will be absolutely perfect for when I build my shed next year. Well, and for cutting out the remaining panels.
Update 32 - "Check out my ringhole...s". Pervert. Of course I mean these ringholes. Which are of course a really convoluted way to hold an LED. Talking of which. Bit of fine work, some soldering and braiding and this part is done. The loop is now complete. But was a total sacrifice of my sanity. Ever tried holding a nearly 5 kilo GPU one handed whilst trying to do a loop with the other? thought not.
Yeah like I said, I tend to think small. And have tools to match, as I just don't need big old heffers. Whilst I am buying quite a large shed worktop space will be crucial, as I need a clean assembly area also. I looked into mini table saws but once again it is not knowing that something exists that isn't designed for what you want to do but will do it perfectly at a third of the price. For the next two weeks it was that or a bed upgrade, but I really just don't need the bed upgrade this side of the rig being done tbh. Update 33 "No Surprises". Nothing goes unnoticed. Like how when I drilled and countered into the GPU to mount it to the back plate I hit the LED channel. I knew that was going to happen. It was just a casualty of war. As such I knew I was always going to make a piece to go over it any way. As the bottom has now become the top. And a handshake of carbon monoxide. It took a while. I now have one decorative piece left to make, but it needs changing up a bit so that it doesn't take 3 hours. It's a bit fine, so needs the text fattening up a bit so that it can be done faster. I also need to cut many more support braces (triangles) out of white. And yes, those green marks will be gone. I have set aside a few days for finishing work.
Update 35 - "My Iron Lung". So there was no more putting it off. Weather is bright but it is incredibly damp out there, but I was tired of thinking about it. So I started work on the PSU. First job was to sand it all very well to give it a key. Now the etch should help, but yeah if it falls off when I am assembling it I won't have to blame myself I can just gleefully blame the paint. I waited for it to off gas for as long as I dared and then brought it in. It is now baking in front of the radiator. Now I almost shot primer over the halo. However, again my conscience was there to nag me. "Don't leave the open wire channel as you don't have wires coming out, and don't leave the Phanteks logos on the ends either." Sigh. You can see who won.
Update 35.5 "A total waste of time". OK so TIL that JB quick will still very likely take 24 hours to harden as it can. When I say hard I mean rock hard. Whilst most people will be familiar with it for bodging things that you shouldn't bodge I have found it to make by far the best method of filling metal. As mentioned when the sun is out I am beating my body to death doing bike restorations. And, many of them arrive to me like this. See it? bottom left. That's bondo, and you may as well put bubblegum in there. So I tend to do it properly. Because after 24 hours it turns to rock. Sanding it is almost a waste of time, you must bust out the files. Oh and in case you were wondering after about two weeks it ends up like this. So this is why I use JB. Now usually you leave it for about 12 hours, then you can do this. Or rather, carve at it with a blade. Because once it turns into almost metal filing it is bloody hard work. I do have a pin hole, but then no one ever got away with one coat of filler any way unless they tend to like divots. So once it has cured fully I will go at it again. I also carved down the edges too. And here are a lot of wires.
Update 36 - "Yawn". So the weather is total poo. Like, not even 30 mins to dash outside and put some yellow base coat down ffs. So earlier I filed out the frame. But can't put primer on. I then cut a dust frame out of "3mm" and learned that when they say 3mm it is more like 3.5-4mm. So, to save me another hour of filing next time I am goinig to vernier the bloody thing. I then found out it is too big, as the side needs to butt up against it. FFS. So I need to machine one side down by about 4mm.
Update 38 - Tool talk. The cordless Dremel arrived today. Thanks Gareth ! I have ordered the bed upgrade which doubles the axis in height from 18cm to "40" but will cut better at 36c or under. Machine needs a good clean also, so that will happen on Friday when it arrives before I fit it. I also got a much larger spoilboard. Which will make it a much more capable and serious machine. My screwdriver set is dying too. One of the handles on the small one has cracked and the large one has an issue with the bit holder. So, I got a more expensive set.
Update 39 - "Some wet sanding required". Par for the course really. Bright colours are very chalky. Still, it doesn't need much.
I had it planned. TBH nearly every one who reviews them says "Don't spend money on upgrades buy a better bigger CNC". The thing is dude the next step up is £500. Now, if I bought one of the branded units for £350 this would make sense. But I didn't. I soon realised they are all the same, only some have silly features like a emergency stop button. This is silly because so does the software. And when you say stop it is instant. So spending double for silly things like that just isn't worth it. End of the day the steppers and motor are all identical. So mine cost £169. I went for the side panels, bloody glad I did 'cause they are peppered time it's done. You can also spend silly on spoilboards (up to £50 for a piece of MDF FFS) but I have found that Genmitsu on Amazon offer the cheapest stuff. So the bed upgrade was £50 even, and the new board was £23. So that brings me toooooo..... £243. Still over £100 less than a branded 3018. And half the price of the next leap worth taking. So, I got some more done. So for update 40 here goes.... The tile cutter is no good. The blade is far too thick and the bed isn't big enough. I will give that to my brother. Instead I went and got out my old 20mm diamond coated blade. I then used Gareth's Dremel until it literally stopped dead. The battery goes like instantly. So I put that blade in my cacky one and finished the cut. I need to machine more white supports. Will do that tomorrow. What I didn't say was that basically every front and rear join is getting a cover panel. But these will serve two functions. One, to get rid of any crap edges and saw marks but also to act as a channel for the top to drop into. Those are 20mm high by 297 wide. So the whole width of the case. 15mm will be joined to the front (top and bottom edges) with 5mm overhang (none on the fixed bottom obs 'cause it's already there). They read from My Iron Lung, top to bottom (one verse). I ordered an A4 for this about 6 days back. Was less than £5.
Update 41 - "Yesterday sucked". It was just going to be one of those days again. No matter what I did it was going to go crap. So I cut the front, filed the edge and then attached it to the bottom and back. And as soon as the glue took the headaches began. You could not even move it an inch before joints started to break. Mostly the ones on the motherboard tray. I would glue them up, wait for it to set again after scraping all of the old glue off, then "pop" it would go again. At this point I realised I had no other option that to F around drilling and tapping tons to get the top on. And that went crap too. The bit was getting hot, and filling the holes with molten acrylic. So the ones I did get to tap are now too big for some reason. However, they do act as pins for the moment. I stopped there on the back. I also had *another* issue where not one of my 50 odd screwdriver fittings seem to fit those gold bolts I bought from China ffs. So not one of them is remotely tight or home. However, it did allow me to pick the F-ing thing up without anything else snapping off, so there is that. I then sulked after calling it all sorts of loud names, then came up with an idea. See, I did not order plastic weld because it was with the postal service. Which meant a month wait. I thought Superglue would work, lesson learned it doesn't and it is not strong enough. So, I have ordered some plastic weld now and the parts in the post before, namely these... Will be welded across the bottom at both ends. And screwed down with M3. For the top? I will weld them to the ends of the top, so when the top goes down they hold it there and then I will use M3 again to fasten the top on. So I can actually get a good cut and tap, and a good bite on the bolts. Because M2 is sweaty nut sack. Once again, the day after (which is today) went killer. The bed upgrade and new spoil board arrived. And all went well. The A4 yellow 5mm I ordered about two days back arrived, so it seems things are finally going back to normal now they all had Christmas off, and so did the transparent yellow for the window after nearly three F-ing weeks. Now let's go back to the PSU for a bit. The paint came out a lot better than I thought. Like I said, yesterday I was in a really foul mood. I now have *another* bloody cold and that means I can't see my uncle which I now consider to be extremely precious visits. As I don't know if I will get another one. I ordered a A5 of 3M vinyl. Not that fake ass crap that every one sells for about 99p for an A4, but the REAL stuff. Because it is absolutely light years ahead of all of that rubbish that won't even stick. I got out my old friend. The first modding tool I ever bought. And cut. As you can see I also found a use for that spoil board I bought only three weeks ago. "Let's not wreck any more dinner trays again". So all was well that ends well.
"Just for chits and giggles". So today my wee Oreck stopped picking anything up. And that's a problem, as I love to work clean. Like, spotless clean. Problem is I only have one bag left, and they are pretty expensive. About two quid a bag. And given all I had sucked into it was acrylic snow I decided to empty it out inside a rubbish bag. I wonder how long you could walk down the street carrying that before you got arrested lol.
