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Planning Pre Planning for First From scratch case mod

Discussion in 'Modding' started by Shadow703793, 21 Dec 2009.

  1. Shadow703793

    Shadow703793 What's a Dremel?

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    Hello all, long time reader (esp. the Mod of the Month and related stuff) but first time poster. Anyways, I am about to start my first from scratch mod soon. I have done many small mods like cable sleeving, etching, LED swaps, swapping Acrylic for mesh and things like that for off the shelf cases (esp. the Antec 900). I have also done WCing and built PCs ranging from $450-4000 (yes, $4k, for a CAD/CFD workstation build for a neighbor). However, like said I will be beginning my first custom case/mod soon. But before actually start building, I plan to get EVERYTHING planed out on CAD.

    But first, let me introduce myself. I hail from Herndon,Virginia (USA) and will be 18 in a few months and will also be heading off to college in Fall 2010. I’v been building PCs since I was 12. I am also a pretty good student and a member of my schools Robotics team (this was a influence for a bit of the project you’ll see later). Just like pretty much all the other teens, I enjoy my share of games, mainly PC based FPS like Crysis, Quake, CoD 4 (and no I absolutely refuse to play MW:2 for any reason on 360 or PC).

    But anyways, back on topic. Like I said earlier, this will be my first from scratch case/mod. So, this is what I have currently:
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I was mainly inspired for this project by the various Cube mods such as the Phinix Cube by Mike Krysztofiak
    However, to just make it a bit different I have currently planned it to be a 12x12x24 inch (LxWxH) prism. The material for the structure will also be quite different. I have decided to 80/20 Inc’s SERIES 10 1" X 1" T-Slotted Extruded Aluminum. See here. My team has used this to build our robots for the past 3 FIRST Robotics competitions (and will so again this year, we have just ordered 10x 8ft bars for the upcoming 2010 competition). The 80/20 is quite cheap, very light weight and quite strong. It’s also easier to cut and there’s a LOT of fittings that are already pre-fabricated for pretty much any project.
    I also plan to use Modder’s mesh (hexagonal) for the covering instead of Acrylic. I also plan to have 3 shelves kind of deal going on. From bottom to top:
    Bottom shelf: All the water cooling gear. I plan to put 2x 320 rads on the bottom (yes, I do realize it will stock out from the back, ~1/2”).
    Middle shelf: Motherboard
    Top shelf: HDD/SDD and DVD/Bluray burner.


    So here’s where I need some opinions:
    1. Do you think I should extend the base to 15x15x15 square?
    2. Do you think I should use ALL mesh instead of Acrylic? How much of problem would dust be?
    3. Any other opinions on dimensions? (ie extend height,etc)
    4. Color? The rendering is just done as bare milled metal. Right now, I’m considering an all-black with red or orange light scheme.

    So here’s where I need help:
    1. Any one has a life sized (as in when printed it will be exactly the same as a real item) image/drawing of a standard ATX and EATX motherboard?
    2. Anyone know where I can find a quality slim DVD burner in USA?
    3. I originally planned to do a red and orange lightning scheme with red fading to orange and back, but I realized this would involve a PIC or some serious electrical work. Any premade thing that could do that?
    4. Is it a good idea to use LED light strings used for Christmas/Halloween? Reason I ask is because I have 4x 30 LED Orange and red light strings that I bought for $12 (total) during a sale at Walmart lol. The LEDs are quite bright but I want to convert the string from AC power to DC (to run of the +12 rail). Anyone know how to do this?
     
    Last edited: 24 Dec 2009
  2. Shadow703793

    Shadow703793 What's a Dremel?

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    new rendering:
    [​IMG]
    The top is a quick draft of the Modders' mesh.

    Few changes:
    1. I decided to change the base to 20x20x20". 12" was too small to cover up the rad,etc.

    2. Decided to use Aluminum (1/8") cover for the bottom to reduce the dust since this will be on carpet.
     
  3. motas

    motas What's a Dremel?

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    Black with red lights would look cool.
     
  4. Shadow703793

    Shadow703793 What's a Dremel?

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    ^Yup. That's what I thought so too.
     
  5. Shadow703793

    Shadow703793 What's a Dremel?

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    Another design change. After mocking up the size of this thing, I realized 20" base is too big, so I finally settled on a 15x15x15" base. Also changed the Aluminum base to wood (probably Oak or Maple on the final).

    [​IMG]
     
  6. Nanosec

    Nanosec absit iniuria verbis

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    You could do a deep ebony stain on whatever wood you choose and finish it up with some heavy black lacquer to give the wood a piano finish. Make it hard to tell the wood from the metal.
     
  7. Shadow703793

    Shadow703793 What's a Dremel?

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    ^ I was actually thinking about covering up the wood. The reason I used the wood was the Aluminum I have is for the base is 1/16" (~1.5mm) which can easily be damaged. I would cover up the wood with this however, and since I have about 1.25" from the very bottom, I could route some light's etc down there
     
  8. sethnmalice

    sethnmalice What's a Dremel?

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    cubeloc and aluminium tubing would work for the frame
     
  9. Shadow703793

    Shadow703793 What's a Dremel?

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    New rendering!
    [​IMG]
    I decided to get rid of the top shelf meant for the DVD RW, HDDs,etc.

    The HDDs will not be at the bottom with no internal DVD RW, I will use a USB DVD RW.
     

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