Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Blue Horizon - "MOTY" Nominee

Damn...

I should be so lucky to have the metal working skills you're putting on display here. The brushed alu effect you achieved is right there at the top with the pros.
This case's overall design is one of the most attractive ones I've seen so far in this site. Yes; there are much more complicated cases and even more technically challenging cases, but the way you make use of space and color makes for an amazing look. I'm not even going to ask about the probability of you selling that case... But one can only hope that someone from the manufacturers sees this design and decides to implement it onto their product lines (or at least something that gets as close as possible without being obscenely expensive).

Cheers on a great build my man.
Sebas

 

Just sandblast the alu and have it anodized?

 

lol, ups spelling mistake, it should have been bad, i've changed it now I'm gonna be doing the welding soon so hopefully that will give you some more ideas

Thanks Sebas , that would be awesome if I could get them to produce my case

I thought about anodizing, but the welds would destroy the anodize layer, as it must be removed otherwise the welds don't stick. I'm not sure what would happen if the I get the whole thing anodized after the durafix welds have been done.

 

I suppose a good anodizing company should be able to inform you about that - if not, then you could try with a test piece and see what happens?

I'm pretty sure that there has to be only alu, or otherwise the anodizing won't work, but I'm not too sure.

All I know is that when I had my Lian Li mobo tray anodized, the welded-on threadings for securing PCI cards popped right off, so they're somewhere on the bottom of the anodizing tank right now.

 

Yeah all the guides I've read say that there should be only aluminium in the anodising bath. I may even try anodising some of the small peices myself, it looks quite easy and fun

 

Heres the paint that arrived today which is going to be used for the PCI back panel:



Its a Montana silver matt, I've never used Montana before, and I have to say they are definately higher quality than standard ones. You can even use the can upside down for longer periods to get hard to reach spots.

I also finally got round to start the process of welding the case together, heres the jig for the first welds on the PCI slots panel:



I then used the blow torch to heat the bars that I had clamped to the work, in order to melt the durafix rod:



I've found that if I use aluminium bars around the area I'm welding and then heat the bars not the actual work, the bars transfer the heat evenly accross the work and prevent warping. This is also the only way I've found that allow you to weld thin to thick aluminium. I've put alot of weld on that one as it won't be seen.

I then re-arrange the jig for the second weld:



This one is much neater as a small part of it will be visible:



Theres a few scratches on it again but I'll sand these off:



Once I've finished all the welding, I'll sand it down abit to make it neater, and then some of the visible areas will be filled and painted. The gap between the welds in the picture above will be filled and the PCI backpanel will be paint and the floor will be lefted plain brushed aluminium.

 

Here's a tid bit from WolfandAngels "Sidewinder" thread recently posted :

so it would appear the weld areas are problematic as you have been told. Painting on that build as well now..Thought you might like to know. A trick I've learned from another modder, dealing with picts, is to just adjust levels in Photoshop. If you have access to it! No matter. Panel looks mighty fine to me!

 

Awesome workd dude!
Would like to have the tools and knowledge too.
Keep up the great work.

 

Thanks LooseNeutral , yeah I've got photoshop, I'll give it a try next time I get a really bright pic.

Cheers Blooddrunken

 

I made myself a little stainless steel pen brush for the next welds:



First up was the welds to connect the PCI panel to the MB tray:





Then the welds to fix the MB tray to the floor:



Then the front panel:





Then one of the MB tray to front welds:



I will use filler to fill in the gaps between the welds that are behind the MB tray, then I'm going to spray paint over it.

 

Looking good! Nice shot with that lathe in the background.

 

Thanks LooseNeutral


I've finished the last bit of panel welding today.

I made a peice of alu to hold the peices together:



I then welded it together:



I've also changed my mind about using filler to fill in the parts between the welds. Instead I'm using Araldite as it gets drawn right into the corner and into any gaps. I'm also now going to make a cover which sits above the two round holes in the back of the MB tray:



This way the glue wont be see and the wires from the PSU and front panel will come out neatly through holes in the cover.

I also applyied the Araldite to some other areas which wont be visible:

 

It's a milling machine

Coming together nicely there

 

Cant believe the progress youre making mate, do you work as well? haha!!

Looks awesome, really looking forward to seeing this built up, its a great idea!

 

Looking awesome still.
Keep it going!

 

Yes it is and I spoketh to quickified! lol

 

lol, thanks RonanH

Not at the moment, but I start my second year of my degree course on the 27th.

Thanks guys


I'm waiting for some aluminium angle to carry on with the main body of the case so for now I'm doing the wiring and angle block.

I started off my cutting a bar out using the band saw, for the second peice of the angle block:



I then trimmed the ends down to the correct size on the milling machine:



And then milled off lots of the bar to get it down to the correct size and shape:









I then drilled out some pilot holes:



And then widened them:



I then began milling out the section for the angle block with barbs to fit into:



I've also brought the case home so I can work on the wiring, heres the Power/Reset button soldered and glued on:





Tomorrow I'll finish the angle block and hopefully the Front I/O.

 

Sweet dude. I like the attention you paid to those wires. And once again, nice "milling" he he.

 

Shiny

 

Thanks LooseNeutral , I was going for the circuit board look.

Yep


I've almost completed the angle block now. Heres how it looks now with all the parts cut out:





And heres how the barb peice will fit once its finished:





Now for the LED holes:



The LED's where then sealed and super glued into place:



You can see it here just poking through:



Here's a quick LED test with some scrap tubing with water:



This thing looks awesome in the dark:





The block just needs sanding and polishing now