ok first of i appologise for the project name i know its terrible but i'm not the most creative person on the planet - feel free to voice a suggestion. Well i've finally started on my own little project.... this being my first ever project. I dont have a huge experience of woodworking but have enough... hopefully, behind me so this prob isnt going to match some of the excellent work done on the forum but i'm going to try and make it of a reasonable quality! Basically i'll try keep this as simple as possible: Aim: build a case from scracth Ideas: wooden Frame (15mmx25mm wood), Clear 2mm Acrylic Sides base: made from old coffee table type furniture Motherboard will be on its own wooden frame Rough size 430mm X 465mm Motherboard size: 244x205mm (its quite small... trying to keep the case size down) Specifications of the machine going into this box CPU: Intel P4 2.0ghz Willametta Mobo: QDI S4LE motherboard (hmm not exactly the best board around but it works) Ram: 512MB ddr333 HDD: Unknown As of yet... need to pick a cheap 1 up Graphics Card: onboard 64mb ... maybe a FX5700ultra.. will decide later PSU: akasa 460W pax Power 2 DVD: Liteon CDRW: AOpen Tasks: 1. Sleeve some of the Akasa Power Supply Cables and 12CM akasa fans. 2. Cut wood for Frame to size 3. Cut Acrylic sheets for case to size 4. Rougly put frame together 5. Build Motherboard Mounting Frame 6. Build Cd Drive Frame 7. FIgure out how to mount an HDD and build it 8. Build Switch and led box for front of case. and sleeve all cableing. I've only just got my new camera so i'm alittle behind on the photos but i have some here to show the rough construction and how things are going. Feel free to make suggestions. The power supply: I;ve started sleeving it but am having troubles removing the molex's to sleeve the rest. Managed to sleeve the 2 very quiet 12CM akasa fans the case the parts are comeing from... cheapo £15er & another case i stole the led's and little switches from Cut all the wood and roughtly put together the frame.... still needs to be glued.. held by screws etc atm... Still in the process of working on it... all still needs to be sanded etc. Top of the little box i'm mounting the switches / leds and front usb in. Cables from this are sleeved. Front of this box... led holes are there and the usb hole still requires a bit of work.
sorry if some of that doesnt make sence.... it usually sounds ok in my head Any suggestions welcome. also forgot to mention theres a nice Red AKASA old cathod going in there and i'm also planning on trying to hide as much of the cabling as possible.
Not really much of an update but its been a busy day. Well... frame dismantled now. Tomorrow... i plan on sanding these down... 2 of them need a few mm off them as there slightly 2 large cause the frame to warp a bit. nothing too serious there... just needs a bit of sanding and more accurate measuring. Got the wood clue today so i plan on clueing it togeher to make sure everythings perfectly alligned. then i'll prob use the screws shown (used to build the test frame) and countersink them all properly. Finally I got round to sorting out the base... part of an old coffee table. cut down to size and both sides sanded down really well... still have to cut a bit of the front as its currently about 4~5cm to big... will probs get round to doing this tomorrow 2 when i start glueing the frame I'll update on the progress tomorrow with some more pictures... Finally, i need tips on pullin the molex plugs off cuase i'm still finding it extremely difficult to get them of to allow me to sleeve the rest of the cables.... i tried a ballpoint pen ink cartrage but it was 2 small. I might just have to order a kit with tool from maplins but that'll have to wait until after i get back from holiday... there'll b 2 weeks with no updates from the end of the week... sorry
hey, interesting mod! umm...with regards to removing molex, easy, but difficult to explain. all your gna need is either a safety pin, a strong one, or a compass with a fairly long point on it, around 1 cm. hold the molex so its facing you then when you look into the pins, you'll notice that they've got 2 little 'wings' that come out, use the compass or pin to push these little 'wings' into the pin, and then tug slowly on the wire, should come out, then after you've sleeved, use the pin/compass again, and from the inside of the pin, slowly push out the 'wings' agin, but just a little, not too much, then just push the pin back into the molex, and you should hear a little 'click',and you should be able to pull on the wire without it coming out. good luck!
thanks... i'll try a safety pin... i've been using a tiny screwdriver but that proved difficult cause it was alittle 2 big.
the best ever tool for removing molexes.... a radio aerial. you know those extendable radio aerial's? the ones that are like 4 metal tubes that slide inside each other, thats the thing. obtain one, and then carefully cut each segment off. you end up with 4 small metal tubes. iirc the 2nd one from the top is the one for male molexes, but try the different segments and see. just try each tube in turn, starting with the smallest and working your way up until you find the right segment that fits the pins. basicly, just slide the aerial tube down over the pin, and it presses in both of the "little wings" together, then pull gently on the wire, and the pin will slide out smooth as anything. you can use one of the tubes for the female, and one of the tubes for the male. its the best tip anyones every given me, it saves a hell of a lot of fiddy pin jiggling.
Acrylic - For the top of the case. Cut and sides sanded to size. Ready for drilling... 4 mounting screws will be used. Cable sleeved more of the cables. The SATA cable proved to be a pain and since it isnt being used i decided i'd just hide it rather than sleeve it. The Molex to Molex's havnt been sleeves either.... had to many problems with the sleeving fraying all over the place... since its just between drives etc shudnt matter 2 much Cold Cathods turned on and sleeved. same again turned off this time. I plan possibally to mount the switches for the cathods in my switch box... will see. red cathods will be used inside... blue will be used underneith and an arylic edgeing will be used so there be a blue glow around the base. I have to say the cable sleeving is not "quick and easy" as advertised on the pack.... it took me a good hour to do todays work. I've also spent about an hour sanding the top frame and i made sure every piece was the exact size.... i now have to wait another 16 odd hours for the glue to set... will post pictures when its done.
When I first glanced at the pic, I thought that bottle said "Inferior Wood Glue". I was gonna ask why you would use something like that. Anyway, I like the look of it so far. Can't wait to see more!!!
Small Update Well The bottom part of the frame is now glued after much sanding and measuring..... again have to wait for that to dry. Top of the frame came out well. I've now drilled the holes in the top sheet of acrylic and attacheted it to the top frame as u can see: Fits perfect... back side needs alittle smoothing off though. Side sheets of acrylic which were cut down to a workable size are not marked up to be cut again... this time to match the size of the frame Back & Front sheet cut to a workabe size... but not maked yet... am waiting for the frame to be completed so i dont make a mistake here. Tomorrow i shud be the fream uprights in place & i'm hoping to get atleast 1 spray paint cover on the frame b4 i go away on saturday
well i'm away for a 2weeks holiday now The frames been completely glued, but my main pc is off now so i'll post more pictures when i get back and i'll have a chance to step up the pace alittle.
well, i'm back in the uk... currently sitting in heathrow lounge using btopenworld/plusnet wifi - finally found a btopenworld hotspot anyway i fly back home later today so i'll start up on this project again possibally tomorrow.
Time for more images Frame with the acrylic top on. all guled up and currently drying. I need to do 1 or 2 wee touch up jobs now but will wait til its dry first. I have a ton of silver spray paint sitting around so the entire frame once touched up. will get a nice coat. Another view of the frame The blue box i was plannin on useing shattered on me so instead i'm just going to make a wood panel above the 2 drives i plan on mounting in there. i've sleeved teh cable (switch + reset switch + the 2leds) - i'll also add the switches for the 2 cathods. the acrylic for the sides is proving a real pain to cut as i dont have the proper tools and the jigsaw just causes it to shatter no mater how carful one is Next update late tomorrow i think. i'm working tomorrow so i'll just need to see.
what ^^ he said . i'll probabily need the inverters in 2 different places due to the positioning. I was plannin on having an acrylic sheet on the base with a blue cathod underneith to make a nice edge glow effect. Will see how it goes. Once i get back from work i plan on 1. finish cuttin the side sheets of acrylic down to size and drill them. mount them 2. patch up the wood assumin i have woodfiller stuff handy. if not then i'll start building the HDD mount and the mount for the dvd/cdrw drives.
Sorry for the delay... had a bit of an issue.... cut the acrtylic sides... started drilling and CRACK!!! . Cut by hand then the stupid drill shatters it. GRR is all i can say to that Mod on! is what i say to that anyway more pics Right Side Panel Cut and Attached to the Frame Left Side Panel Cut and Attached to the Frame Down the Center View... you can make out both sides Where i plan on placing 1x 120MM akasa fan Working on ideas to mount it. Prob a bar accross the scre holes on both sides . I'll get fan guard things from maplins soon for the outside... assumin i can find something reasonable and maybe look for a filter 2... dunno how easy it would be to work into the design mind. Thats all for now. Its hard work cuttin acrylic by hand i'm guessin the next update will be weekend time sometime
Sorry for the lack of updates... been busy of late.. got quite a bit done though Time for pics. New name 2 that sounds alittle better. Opps... maybe a long Nvidia 5700Ultra may not fit 2 well in there , aw well i might consider working something out for this. Back view. Not cutout the backplate fully yet as u will see later View from front Top View / big mess currently. Testing it partially works back panel with psu cutout Top view and part of cathode. not mounted yet Some stuff hmm, it still works All light up.... well partially the top on, looks horrible with maskin tape and protective cover... to come off soon Need to do some of the following soon: TIDY IT ALL UP Get a new HDD for it. Work something out for the graphics card or maybe just use the onboard graphics... its a server so it doesnt really need the grunt of a 5700U build mounting for HDD build mounting for DVD/CDRW etc. Get the white face plate painted black. 2nd spary coat the frame find a way of makin the cables fit nice and tidly. get the horrible stuff of the acrylic!!!. Figure out how to fix the mistake relating to the base and the motherboard being mounted 2 far back , shoud not have done that first!!!!, i might have to junk the base and build supports for the motherboard and somehow mount them to the frame. when i get time i'll post more picys of progess. I aint gonna say when cause no doubt i'll be busy but i think its safe to say soon
