Case Mod - Complete ⭐ Morphosis - Cooler Master World Series 2019

I think I'm the only person posting because I'm the only one here that isn't in the contest.
Did you hit up EK for some of their walnut hardware by any chance?

 

Haha, you're probably right. I wanted to do this case sponsor-less since I never completed my last case that did have sponsors and I feel bad about that. And to be honest, I like the shiny bits on the other blocks better for this case anyway. The case is actually done now (since the contest is over) and i'm debating weather to just put up the whole log at once or do it bit by bit. Since you are the for the most part, the only commenter, I'll let you decide. (Unless you've been to the coolermaster forum and have seen it already anyway)

 

Bit by bit it's better that "netflix's style "

 

As long as you post it, I'm happy.

 

I wanted to try a finish on the aluminum panels that would go with the casing on the outside. I have a drum sander I use primarily for making cuttingboards but I decided it might work to brush the aluminum also. The panels got pretty hot but in the end the effect turned out successfully I think:



Here's the before:

_9192829 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



And the after:

_9192834 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

_9192835 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I did the same on the motherboard tray. The spots where it did not quite brush enough would be hidden by the motherboard:

_9192833 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I thought it was time to cut the top panel of the case to get a better idea of how it is looking overall. I modified one of the fan grille designs to the size of cutout I wanted in the top, made a template, and decided where it should fit.

_9182804 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I taped it too the wasteboard and after carefully zeroing the coordinates, I got to cutting:

_9182806 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I roughed out the shapes then ran a finishing pass to clean up the last .1mm:

_9182813 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I think it turned out pretty cleanly:

_9182821 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

_9182827 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



And with it on top of the mesh. This should give the case some extra ventilation:

_9192849 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

 

Gorgeous brush finish !

How long does your CNC take to mill the top ?

 

"A little hot" I bet.

 

Thank you! The top only took about 20-25 minutes or so. That is with the cutter cutting .3mm passes plus a finishing pass.

@Cheapskate Haha yeah a bit. I was worried about melting the glue on the other side for a bit there.

 

Flawless finish, eager to see the result, congratulations

 

I wanted to refine the shape of the GPU bracket so I first started with a chamfer. I used my router table and chamfer bit to accomplish this:

_9182797 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



Next, I wanted to make a bracket to help hold the card on:

_9182800 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I used some extra veneer covered aluminum for this:

_9182801 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I used sandpaper to give the piece a brushed finish. I started with 80 grit and moved up to 220 grit. I will use this for the rest of the small parts:

_9182808 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



A couple stainless 6-32 screws will keep it in place:

_9182809 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

I wanted to put the case together to see how it was looking. Here is the current state of it assembled:

_9192838 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9192840 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



Here we have the front and top panels and some hardware installed:

_9192846 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9192855 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



One more view for now, the top/front panels:

_9192853 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

 

very nice metal work,the case is splendid

 

I cheated and peeked at the CM log. It came out delicious.

 

Next up is the case window side panel. For this, i wanted to incorporate brushed aluminum and inset it into an acrylic panel for a clean and cohesive look. I made two models in Fusion 360, one for the acrylic and one for the aluminum.



If I was smart I would've done the aluminum first so I could perfect the fitment of it while the acrylic was still on the cnc table but instead I cut the acrylic first:

_9152767 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I used a 1/4 inch single flute endmill to machine out the space for the aluminum to sit:



Almost done!

IMG_6517 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



All done!

_9152771 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



IMG_6520 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I ran a finishing pass to clean everything up. Unfortunately the aluminum didn't fit so I had to remount it to the table in order to recut parts of it. Luckily Fusion 360 is awesome so I could pick which contours I wanted to be cut more. This took a bit of trial and error but eventually i got it to fit quite snuggly.



Here's the aluminum part mocked up on the case:

IMG_6521 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



And here it is finally fitting into the acrylic:

IMG_6530 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



Mocked up on the case. I need to work on attaching it to the chassis:

_9152775 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I aIMG_6461 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



l also cut a piece of acrylic for the inside of the front window section:

_9192850 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9192852 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

 

The case has an interesting power supply placement and holding solution that I liked so I wanted to incorporate a modified version of it. Here is the contact point transferred to the new motherboard tray.

IMG_6462 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I made a little bracket to take up the space between the tray and the power supply carrage:

_9182815 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I used sandpaper again to give the piece a brushed look.



Here is where it mounts in the case.

_9182794 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



Soon I will modify the rest of the power supply shroud to more closely match the rest of the case.

As part of the illumination in the case, I will be using ARGB light strips. These will be going in the two sides of the Res/Pump room along woth in the ceiling of the main compartment:



Here:

_9172779 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



And here:

_9182791 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I made a model and got to cutting:

_9182792 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9172786 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I needed something to hold the actual strips though so for this I decided to route out a 3mm deep channel in some 1/4 inch acrylic:

_1012868 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

_1012871 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

_1012873 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



Perfect fit:

_1012874 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_1012877 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

 

Back to the feet. I wanted to carve the feet and add some chamfers to them to match the asthetics of the rest of the case. I used a band saw, file, sand paper and a router to do this.



Basic design sketched out:

_9252885 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9252886 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9252887 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9262897 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



The front needed extra attention to match the profile of the front panel:

_9252892 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9252889 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9252893 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



All sanded and ready for finishing:

_9262902 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



Starting the finishing process:

_9262911 by greensabbath911, on Flickr

 

I have to be the only modder left on Earth that hasn't used RGB now.

 

Haha, probably. I figure I can always turn it off and I try to keep it tasteful. The best thing is when you turn off the computer at night and for some reason the ram leds don't turn off so I have to put a blanket on the computer so I can sleep. I remember back in the day when I changed the led color of fans by taking out the leds and resoldering new ones in. Times sure have changed.

 

You are immune to the virus...I want to believe one day a cure will be available for all the modders on earth.

 

A Cure to help modders to avoid rgb leds.

I am joking Jeff, it's simply a trend I dont' like specially when the use of rgb is abused.

 

Next I wanted to make a wood accent piece that mimics the design of the case window and acts as a partition in the case. I modified the same file I used on the window to make it deeper and cut a test panel. I then mocked up the test panel in the case:



_9252882 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9242880 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



I then milled some Walnut to the approximate size I needed. I paid special attention to the grain to ensure it would look cohesive.



Here are the two pieces:

_9252883 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



Even without glue it is hard to see where each piece ends:

_9252884 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



After it was glued, I milled it to a bit over 1/2 inch thick and set it up on the wasteboard and got to cutting:

_9262895 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



_9262909 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



All done but before sanding:

_9262913 by greensabbath911, on Flickr



All sanded and ready for finish:

_9262916 by greensabbath911, on Flickr