Case Mod - In Progress Project: Mission

Better photo of the moss slate...

 

Looks decent, but IMO these printed fabrics make the whole thing look a bit cheap.

 

Not fabric. Not real slate either. It is vinyl flooring tile.

 

I like the almond slate the best so far, although i would really like to see what a lighter timber insert would look like. And darker too i spose. I like contrast

mod an LCD in there so you can display whatever pattern you like?

 

Almond is pretty neat. But I still think the scarlet is win cheesecake.

 

almond and moss look best.

 

Im going with scarlet on this one . I suppose what you can figure out from this debate is:
you are going to have to choose which one you like, cause we all like diff ones.

 

Any way you could get real slate? I reckon that would look awesome!

 

LOL I'll have BT's front page as my side panel design.

Thanks for the opinions guys! For the scarlet fans....is it the scarlet or just a bright solid colour thingy?

Sure, anything is possible but I don't want to spend big money just to test ideas out. Those "slate" tiles cost me $2.00 each and they told me that stone might be a good choice. Thanks for the feedback.




Sanded the project back down again using 100-grit sandpaper. Shown on top is my homemade leveling tool.






I took a known flat piece of wood and clamped some sandpaper to it. It knocks down any high spots on the tabletop by drawing it back and forth across the surface like rowing a boat.






It's test fit time after installing the computer equipment into the case. Any excuse really.





Opportunity to review the equipment list.

Intel E7400 C2D
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L motherboard
Palit GeForce GTX 280
4GB Crucial DDR2 1066
Silverstone Nitrogon NT06 HSF
Silverstone 600W Strider PSU
Seagate 400GB HDD
Sony Blu-Ray optical drive






The backside shows the HDMI adapter that I use to connect the GTX 280 to my HDTV. Also shown is my new Linksys PCI wireless adapter...well, the antenna anyway.







The main purpose of this test fit is to size up the optical drive hole in the front brzel. I've been dragging my feet because of the high probability of fail for this operation.






Rough cut the hole with my trusty Japanese razor knife.






Size it up again to look for fail. It is lurking nearby I'm sure.






The 60-grit sandpaper I was using on the top edge got caught in the grain and tore out a piece bigger than I wanted. I evened the edge out but it left a wider than planned gap between it and the top of the drive.






Not a complete fail. I knew all along that compromises would have to be made. Clearances around the optical drive were going to have to be "liberal" in order to easily slide the case in and out of the shell. I could tighten up the gaps with moulding and then trim it for insertion ease but that could end up right where I'm at now. I'll have to ponder.

Thanks for looking!

 

He calls that fail

For me it's definitely the scarlet.

 

Fits like a glove .

 

He is the woodsmaster, we cannot comprehend how his mind functions....

anyway, its not the solid color, its the scarlet that is just great with the wood!

but does it play crysis??
Yes it does!! Hurrah! win on all fronts!

 

Stay tuned. I've got some more red coming soon.

Maybe a loose fitting glove that's easy to get off and on.

LOL Crysis guy will have to find someone else to annoy. Wooden computers in flames-guy probably stroked out on this project. (Inside joke for Ingraham thread readers)



I fixed my CD drive gap problem by gluing down a 1/64" (0.40mm) piece of 3-ply aircraft plywood to the front section of the shell floor. This bumps up the face of the case to even out the drive's upper and lower gaps. The added plywood will get painted when I give the project a final coat of flat black.






After sanding much of the sealer off with 100-grit sandpaper I went over it again with 220-grit. I brushed on a coat of clear satin-finish brushing-lacquer and let dry for two hours. I finished up this stage with another coat of lacquer and set it asisde to dry.





Starting to get a reflection off the top.

Next up is to go over it with fairly course steel wool to remove any glopped up pools of dried lacquer. Follow that with a 400/600/1000-grit sanding depending on how crazy I want to get. I'm using satin finish lacquer so there won't be any big push to go high-gloss but I do like the feel of a finely sanded surface.

Thanks for looking!

 

Really is a sensational piece of work .

 

Thanks!

Here's some new red...

 

Is it the light or is that duller red? Still looks hawt

 

It's a different red but I'm also having soom lighting problems. Another try...

 

Still with red

 

How about a creamy beige colour? So it kinda sorta looks like one of those Japanese rice paper doors? I just think the red is to bold, draws your attention away from the craftsmanship.

 

I agree maybe a pastel colour in contrast to the wood. Although if you do still go with the red it'll still be v.eye catching

Depends on what it's going next to i s'pose. Excellent woodwork tho