Scratch Build – In Progress Project: (Hyper)Cube3, Updated 12th July (cutting of side panel)

(Hyper)Cube³

I finally got around to starting my first mod. Haven't really planned anything out so I don't know for sure what the finished product will look like but I have a rough idea of what out of it.
I picked up a black Chenbro SR-103 for $50 from my previous employer (sure am glad to be out of that place) for those that want to see here's the case at coolcases.com
http://www.coolcases.com/cases/sr103207_s_p1.html
The pictures I have taken for this post are pretty awful as they are taken on a Sony video camera but I should be able to get my hands on a 1/2 decent digital still camera for any future updates.

I started off by doing a quick mockup of the case in sketchup so that I could plan out the sidepanel.


I changed the design of the sidepanel slightly.


I then got a mate to print out a vinyl sticker for me to use as a cutting guide.
I started cutting by drilling and using a jigsaw with plans on just filing the rest down but this did not go well. Its a real thick sidepanel so filing was going to take too long and as I got further thru the cutting the panel was not rigid enough to use the jigsaw so I gave up on that idea.


I got myself a Dremel and went from there using the reinforced cutting discs. I went thru 6 or 7 of those to get thru only 1/5 of the cuts. I'll be ordering a few diamond cutting discs this week sometime so I can do the rest of the cuts.

The cuts aren't perfect by anymeans but for a first time Dremel user I think I did pretty well. Hopefully it'll be a bit easier going with the Diamond bits.

The inside of the case definately needs some prettying up.


I was thinking getting it all powdercoated black once ive got the case how I want it. Then some lighting and Plexi. the pole down the front of the mainboard side will be removed. Possibly install watercooling or something since theres plenty of room.

I will definately have to do some form of cable management as this is pretty messy. (4x 320GB 'cudas in RAID 5 using intel onboard RAID. Will look at getting a proper RAID card eventually since the onboard gives pretty slow performance.)


The front panel is in the too-hard basket for the time being but I'll most likely end up making a new one from scratch.

As for the back I dont think I will do a whole lot back there.

Looks pretty ugly but there is actually a black plastic shroud that tidies it up nicely.

As for the actual computer side of this I'm 1/2 way thru getting all the parts. I've got the Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3P GA-965P-DS3P , I've already got HDDs, I'm using a Pentium D 2.8 I had lying around (I'll probably buy a c2d 6600 or better later on in the year), I'm currently using RAM, video card and PSU borrowed from work till the rest of my order shows up. XFX8600GT 540MHz, Team Elite 4-4-4 PC2-5300 2GB DDR2 Kit (2x1024MB) DDR2-667MHz video card & RAM , Hiper Type R 580W Modular PSU PSU

Well thats all I've got for now. Will update when I get the sidepanel all cut out. Let me know what you all think of it so far and if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

 

Reminds me a lot of Japala's Embryo case mod: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=122579

 

Yeah, I had done the sketchup for the hexagonal holes and I saw Embryo Zero n I really liked the swirl thing so I decided to add it to my design, it breaks up the repetitive hex pattern really well.

I was originally going to have the cutouts as windows but after seeing this thread a while ago awesome plexi I'm thinking of getting a large sheet of rigid plexi to mask the outside of the panels so the case just looks like clean black plexi and put uv lights in the case so when they turn on the cutout pattern glows UV blue. I know the black n blue combo has been overdone but I like it and besides it goes with my G15 keyboard anyways.

 

Could've at least acknowledged it then. :/

PS. Sorry for the troll, mods. <3

 

I love the design of the side panel

 

Thanks

I'm currently doing up a sketchup of my design for the front panel and I will hopefully have that finished before the end of the week. (not alot of time to spend on it this week unfortunately.)

 

finally got around to buying the dremel diamond cutting wheel (found an online store based in South Melbourne for those in Australia looking for dremel accessories www.justtools.com.au)
i should get it sometime next week (hopefully)
Ive got the sketchup for the front panel close to complete.

heres the panel as it is now:


and heres the design so far - basically getting rid of the crappy doors and inserting a big mesh panel. not sure where to put the power and hdd leds yet - possibly integrated with the buttons or something. the bays and the button holes are not modified but there is originally 8x 5.25" bays down the right side so ive just left the top 2 inplace

 

One 5.25'' slot and one 3.5'' slot on each side, tbh. Symmetrical always looks better. If you're worried about where the buttons can go, they can go inline with the 3.5'' slots.

 

holy shiot! how did you do the front mesh in sketchup!??!?!?!?!??!? did you draw all of those!!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?

 

YESSSS yet another cube me love cubes enough said.....

 

http://scc.jazzle.co.uk/cat/1

mesh model link for sketchup, dont know if its the same one he used, but similar

 

@ Duste
Theres 2 of each on each side. Im not too worried about it being symmetrical as those slots are already in the right place for the case so its alot easier, although it probably would look a bit better. Ill keep it in mind incase I decide its worth the extra work, thanks for the tip.

@ Teyber
Yes, yes I did. there was alot of copy n paste but it still took about 3 hours. and then after I had finished I found the model on jazzle Oh well.

@ thermalnightmare47
Yeah I likes them too I did a bit of lookin around on the net when I first bought the case about 12 months ago and this one is the 'small' one in the series theres taller versions which would be cool - with a bit of modification you could fit 2 or more computers in the one case.
EDIT: heres the taller version SR101

@elbarto241
Thanks man, where were you when I started

 

It was just posted here by Japala. The actual mod is by Drakmin from Metku.net.

 

Not really an update modding wise but my video card+ram+psu order still hadnt shown so I called nintek today - apparently the order is waiting on the ram so I'm now getting this stuff...
Corsair 4-4-4 EPP PC2-6400 Twin2X XMS 2GB DDR2 Kit (2x1GB) DDR2-800, TWIN2X2048-6400C4 ...at a discounted price instead of the Team elite 667mhz stuff and my order should be getting shipped today (hoping i get it for the weekend coz ive got a mini lan happening and i dont want to have to use my toshiba p100 craptop to play games again.

Also the diamond dremel bit arrived today so i can get stuck into the cutting again. I plan on getting the rest of the sidepanel cut out and will hopefully have an update on friday.

 

UPDATE!!!!

All my parts finally arrived
shiny new psu:

and there was much gaming and drinks had by all - mostly drinking though

I rigged up a temporary ghetto front mount usb because the back of my computer is too hard to get to.

Lekky tape. If it can hold my car together this is no problem

The cutting is taking waaay longer than I expected. (Be warned if you plan on cutting a chenbro server case. The panels are made of structural steel ) I was going well with the diamond cutting bit and then I managed to break the head off the screw of all 3 of my cutting disc shaft thingys in quick succession


No money till the end of the month to buy replacements (stupid electricity bill) so I'm borrowing a pretty gutsy replacement from my housemate until I can get more bits.

This thing powered through the cutting as though the sidepanel was made of cardboard.


Unfortunately I made a mess of the surface of the panel but its all going to be sanded back and powdercoated when im finished anyway.


When I was packing everything away after my effort thisarvo I got a bit of an accidental preview of what the finished product will look like so I took a photo.


Well thats about it until I can get the replacement bits for the dremel to do all the small cuts left over and file it all down.

I'm also considering changing the name of the case. So if you have any suggestions let me know. Thanks

 

Nice case there m8 Iv got the slightly bigger one nice cuts.

 

It doesn't matter too much this time, since you're gonna be sanding it back anyway.
But those scratches a prime example of why you should always cut on/from the reverse side of the panel

Great job so far anyway I look forward to future updates

 

@ sirkillalot
thanks mate. I originally wanted the full size one but getting this one for $50 suited my budget alot better

@ hazardous
Yeah I will definately be doing cuts on the reverse side in the future. Thanks for the feedback.

 

i like the look on the side

 

i agree it is unique.
looks good, it will be sweet when it is done.