Scratch Build – In Progress Project Oh no! Not another one! [desk] - 01.12.2016 - Pedals done

I did get a good bit of work done since the last time; finishing off the backplate, cutting a few holes in the rear panel of the desk and a bit of sanding. Let’s have a look.

First I removed the rear panel and started marking out where to cut in order to accommodate the ATX backplate, the PSU connector and the radiator vent (which is not yet entirely finished as I haven’t fully decided on how I want it to look yet).



Then, after a bit of rough cutting and some filing we end up with this (please disregard the very rough fan holes - those are not finalised).



After filing down the ATX cutout to fit I set the backplate in place.









And then I screwed it down. The screws I've used here are not the ones I will be using in the end; I'm looking for some nice buttonhead screws.





I also installed the PSU connector, and again; these are not the screws I will be using.







By the way, I would love to find a PSU connector with a brass housing, so if anyone knows of one please let med know.

Then I took the panel back inside and remounted it to the desk to make sure everything still fits.





I also laid out some stand-in parts roughly where they will be going...





Then I placed my stand-in mobo with add-on cards to check alignments...



And I placed a stand-in mobo tray to get a feel for how it will look. Just imagine that aluminium plate being brass, slightly smaller and recessed into the plate. I hope to be able to get to my local vendor of metals during next week.



Earlier I also cut the slot for the DVDRW tray. This is still quite rough, but it will be touched up and hidden as I go along.



And I think I have found the reservoir for my second loop ... if I am able to cut the top and the bottom off of this jug that is:



And it will go somewhere around here...



That's it for now.
I had hoped to be able to start routing a bit, but the weather does not permit it unfortunately. So I might instead start doing some of the smaller brass details in order to keep me busy while I wait for better weather. Sadly my workshed is not yet finished, so it is not suited for work on a large scale (such as routing the desktop plate) yet.

 

It is moving along.
Optaining more brass proved more difficult than I imagined, but it is now on order. So, while I wait for the brass to be delivered I am working on the reservoir.
I hope to have finished the reservoir by sunday, so I may post an update then.

 

Sub'd for sure!

 

Thank you ... being sub'd by you is a great compliment (doesn't help with my performance anxiety though ;-) )

Unfortunately there will be no update today as yesterday the in-laws came by to spend the weekend, and today the missus has shanghai'd me to go see Prometheus. But, I'll be back at work tomorrow as I have got all the parts for the reservoir sorted. I also just received a bag full of brass dome-nuts for this build, which might hint at the theme I have in mind.

 

Finally I feel I can post a slight update.
Got a good bit of work done on the reservoir yesterday, and now it is almost finished.

You may remember this glass jug I expropriated from one of our kitchen cabinets;



I took the chance that I would be able to cut it using my rotary equipped with a dremel diamond cutting disk. So I promptly set about taping it, started the rotary and held my breath as I brought the disk into contact with the glass.



I did not need to worry.
The diamond disk cut the glass very easily, and the trick is not to use any pressure but let gravity and the rotary do the work. You're not cutting the glass so much as grinding it away, and a few passes later I had a nice groove all around the glass jug.



I kept going carefully whilst dreading the possible and unmistakable sound of glass cracking, and a little while later the bottom came off without any kind of drama.



Feeling more confident I promptly turned the glass jug - now a tube - around and proceeded to repeat the process with the top end of the former jug. A while later this too came off easily.





Now I had a nice glass tube of 95mm diameter, though with somewhat rough edges. So the next step was to smooth out the edges and make them as straight as I could. This was done with a diamond sanding drum, and this process went as easily as the cutting.

I bought that rotary you see in the picture above eight years ago, and it is still running as well as it ever has. When it eventually breaks I'll get a proper Dremel, but it has yet to show any signs of wearing out.

The next step was to make endcaps for the reservoir, and while I originally intended to make these out of brass I settled for a combination of oak and smoked acrylic - a decision I do not regret. As I mentioned at the start of this project I found pine to be an easy wood to work with, but this is not the case with oak. Oak is tough, and it is hard to cut, hard to shape and hard to route. So making the endcaps took the better portion of two nights, though I suspect I may have completed them quicker had my workshop been finished and I had proper benches to work on. That is a project for later this summer though.

Anyway, I drew the shapes on a piece of oak, routed them, cut the shapes, sanded, filed and sanded some more. Then I drilled holes, sanded again, cut some threaded rod to length and fitted the whole thing together to test the fit.

I did not take any pictures of this process because I forgot about it, and because it was messy and quite work intensive. But, here are a couple of pictures of the nearly finished article, and while not yet fully done it gives a good idea as to what the finished reservoir will look like. While I did take a bunch of pictures of this, these two are unfortunately the best ones in the bunch. I'll get some new pictures done later, but for now these will have to do.





Those nuts on the end of the threaded rod will of course be swapped for brass dome nuts, but I have to shorten the rods a bit more so they will fit. Still to do on the reservoir is to clean up the edges some more, shorten those threaded rods a bit, fit dome nuts, drill holes for fittings, tap holes for fittings, get fittings and install fittings. I also need to seal it properly, but I can't do that until everything is done. Will need to register a rather large order with Bitspower next I think, unless anyone knows of some other company that does crystal link fittings...

Recently I've made a number of purchases online, and the first few of these have started to arrive.
First - cable sleeve:





The colours are: copper brown, vanilla sands and shade 19. Beautiful sleeves! I also ordered a length of copper brown SATA sleeve, some ready cut heatshrink, and a pin tool.

Now for the mandatory Nils drawing:



I also bought a good number of brass dome nuts on ebay as I couldn't find any in my local shops:



They're lovely, and I will have to order more!

And finally, as my son is obsessed with excavators these days I went to Toys-R-Us and got him a mini-excavator (it was a huge hit):



Until next time; take care and ta-ta.

 

I'm impressed with your work on the glass

 

Thank you.
I was a bit anxious about the whole process, but it all worked out splendidly.
There will be a good bit of glass in this build - something I'll come back to as the project goes along (and the glass bits that I've ordered is delivered).

 

Slick work on the glass cutting. I've eyed a few fancy vases around the house that tempted me to tile saw in the past.
Those glass partition blocks that students love to make shelves with are tempting too.

 

Tie a piece of alcohol soaked twine/string around the glass and light it.

 

Thank you.
Well then; get your tool out and have at it.
Trust me - the wench didn't notice the jug was gone until I informed her of it (after the deed obviously).

Yes, I did read about that trick, and I did watch a few YouTube videos demonstrating it, but in the end I felt the rotary would give me more control over the process.


Now then, on to today's mini-update.

I didn't get the time to do as much work as I would have liked yesterday, but I did get to put some finishing touches on the reservoir and clean it up a bit more. I still cannot finalize it until the fittings come in. And I can't mount the fittings until I figure out how to protect the wood from the coolant. I'm thinking I'll have to use something like this, and then screw the fittings to that. We'll see.

In the meantime here are a few more, and better, pictures of the reservoir with a few more finishing touches added (the brass tubes will be polished eventually).









After that was done I started doing some other decorative pieces, which are also made from oak - making it a laborious process. Hopefully it will be worth it, and I do need them as one of them will house a hidden control panel for lighting, fans and the rather quite special thermometers I will be building and installing as soon as they arrive.

Still no sign of more brass though, but my supplyer assured me that I should have it some time late next week. Then finally I may be able to finish the motherboard tray.

Until next time; take care and thank you for watching.

 

Big thanks to Noctua who has agreed to support my project by providing me with some fans at a generous discount.



We shall have a close look at those fans as soon as they arrive. Thank you Noctua for supporting the community.

Edit: And apparently there are three packages waiting for me to collect them at the post office after work today. Excellent start to the weekend!

 

No update on the progress of the work today, but here's what the postman brought for me:

Six of these 40cm 3.5mm brass bars...


A roll of LED strip, amber:


And 17 of these 35cm 12mm laboratory grade borosilicate glass tubes:

 

fantastic work! i love the wood! the wood reservoir are quite unusual! ithink the threaded insert is a very good idea, for the threading part the oak would be hard enought but then there's the little thing called water that's going to run throught it and then it need protection!

 

Thank you.
I have found the fitting I will use to protect the oak from the coolant; this. It has about the perfect length, and is designed to be used in a similar manner. Today I'll pop into a local plumber's store and see if they carry anything like that with G1/4" threads, and if they don't I will order the Alphacool ones.

 

Could you please share that template again? Seems like the link expired after a few days.

You could use www.filefactory.com for instance. Thank you very much!

 

I can do that, but as I am at work currently I'll upload it when I get home from work.

 

Due to popular demand I have uploaded the template here.

 

Pyrex SLI tubing. -You clever bugger. You should try to do your cutting of that stuff wet. Glass dust is lethal, and it prevents surprise heat cracking.
If you could find someone to resin impregnate the oak, you could treat it like plastic. Too crazy?

 

did you have any luck with the plumber store? they should have it..

 

Thank you very much! Now enough of the distraction, keep on modding.