Scratch Build – In Progress Project Quintessence - 29Jun-She's Live- CPU Magazine!

I went all drooly. It's looking great.

 

Damn! just outstanding work man

 

Thanks a lot Cheaps.

Thanks. BTW, your case turned out awesome. I'm sure it will be a MOTY contender.

 

Top Panel Front Sanded Flush and Base Cut and Mounted

I worked on the top a bit and put brass threaded inserts into the screw holes that attach the top to the frame so that I could use machine screws instead of wood screws to hold the top down. I also got the front of the top panel sanded flush with the front, and got the base cut out and mounted. I have to round the edges of the top panel, and I've got to tweak the base a bit as well as the top trim and a few other things.There are small gaps and such that I need to address. It is so easy to be just the tiniest bit off on joints and such. I then can cut out and start on the side panels. At least the scrollwork on the side panels should be a piece of cake cutting into and sanding 1/4” (6.35mm) oak plywood vs 1 1/2” (38mm) of solid oak.













Thanks for stopping by.

 

Looks great.

 

Beautiful

 

Thank you very much. I appreciate the kind comments.

 

Edges of Top Panel Routed & Various Adjustments

I got the edges of the top panel routed with a 1/8” roundover bit.





I spent several hours doing little bits and pieces adjustments that needed to be done in order for things to fit correctly. For instance, I sawed down the thickness of the base on the right side so that the bottom radiator will fit in the bottom. I also had to make several adjustments to the bottom of the metal frame and the separate radiator mounting piece to make sure the holes line up properly with the rad mount holes.



I was having an issue with the top panel where it did not quite want to sit flush against the top of the front panel. There was just a slight gap. I added a couple of pieces to the top panel to make it rest against the metal of the frame with a brass screw insert so that I can use a machine screw to secure the middle area of the front of the top panel to the top of the front panel to eliminate the small gap.





I also had a slight gap between the base sides and the base front. I made my own little mending brackets out of aluminum, and used a Dremel to hack out small grooves for them to sit in so that they don't protrude from the bottom. I wasn't too concerned with making the grooves really neat as they are on the bottom of the case and will be covered by felt cushion anyway.



I was having some issues with the edge trim on the top edges not being held down very securely. I used #4 x 1/4” flathead screws, but they just weren't holding well. I've found before that #2 x 1/4” screws hold better, and should have used them the first time. Using JB weld I filled in the countersunk holes in the case top, and drilled new holes using round head #2 x 1/4” screws. I am going to paint or powdercoat the metal part of the case anyway, so a bit of JB Weld is not a problem. The #2 screws really secure the edge mouldings much better.





I think next I will work on the power buttons, and then it should be on to the sides or either the reservoir depending on what strikes my fancy to get done next.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Really is gorgeous voigts liking the little fixes & the rounded edges, all bits of progress that'll make it a stunner .

 

I need to catch my drool in a bowl.

 

Thanks Wayne. We keep plugging away, don't we?

Thanks.

Come to think of it, that would actually be an interesting sight. Kinda gross, but interesting nonetheless.

 

Startin' to look a little like Frankenstein under the facade there.
-but then that's what it takes to force some materials to your will.

I'm hoping you start on the power buttons next.

 

Let's face it, anyone who spends hours and hours doing mods for a hobby just to show them online to people they've never even met is probably made up of a few weird pieces...

I saved the ends of the front that I cut off. I am planning on drilling out my holes in the front, and then using a cut end to cut out plugs the size of the holes with the same curvature as the material drilled out. Then I'll put a bit of dowel behind them with double sided tape stuck to the actual buttons mounted in the metal. This way you would just push a round spot in the front of the case for the power on and reset buttons.

 

Top Panel Brass Inserts

As I mentioned, I want the front panel to be removable if the need should arise. To keep the possibility of wood screw threads stripping out, I put #6-32 brass threaded inserts into the holes. This proves itself to be no piece of cake. I drilled the largest hole I can and still be able to thread in the inserts, and even at that, the screwdriver cut parts break off. It took me about an hour and about 8 inserts to successfully get the 4 inserts in.





Power and Reset Switches

I had to work a bit to figure out how to mount the power and reset switches. I decided to make a small mount piece to attach to the bottom of the case in which to mount the switches. I took the front piece off, and using my drill press, drilled two straight holes for the center of the switches.



To make sure I got the holes on the front to line up with the switches mount, I put back on the front and drilled through the front panel holes into the switches mount.



I wanted to try to match the grain of the front panel on the power/reset buttons. I took an end of the front piece that I cut off earlier when I trimmed it down to length, and measured and cut out two power buttons. This way the grain would match fairly well, and the curve of the buttons matches the front.





The buttons will set flush with the front when installed later.





Radiator Drain Screw

I think that the Swiftech MCR rads are the best bang for the buck around. One small beef I have with them is that I wish they had a drain screw on the end. I needed a drain at the bottom of my loop, and having one in the bottom rad is the best solution. So I decided to add one to my bottom MCR220 rad.

I sanded the paint off of the bottom, and drilled a 1/8” hole in the bottom. You have to be very careful here when the drill bit goes through the metal not to jab the drill bit into the internal radiator tubes.



I clamped the rad so that it wouldn't wander around on me.



Soldering anything like this is a bit tricky. If you heat up the rad too much, you risk messing up the solder joints on the rad. I took a #8 brass nut, rounded off the corners, and put plenty of flux on it and the rad around the hole I had drilled. I put a cold, damp washcloth around the solder joint on the end tank.



MAPP gas burns a lot hotter than plain butane, and this is all I will use anymore when soldering. It burns hot enough that you can heat up just the area to be soldered, and the wet cloth helps keep the surrounding area just below the temp where solder flows. Its a bit tricky. At first, the flux partially burned out of the area, and I had to quickly brush on a large gob of flux and solder some more to get the solder to flow around the nut. Thankfully it seems to have worked. This is right after soldering.



I used my Dremel and ground down the solder to make it look more even. I didnt want to grind too far and weaken the joint, but just enough to even up the solder as much as possible.



I cut off a #6-32 brass screw short to just thread through the now soldered on nut. I'm not sure the rubber washer is going to seal the drain screw well enough, so I plan on picking up an o-ring tomorrow for this. I still have to pressure test the rad to make sure all is well.

Reservoir Plans

I nailed down exactly how I'm going to make the reservoir, and made some alphabet and color coded Sketchup drawings so I hopefully don't make any stupid mistakes. Its amazing how you can get twisted up when you are in the heat of things sometimes. The idea with the res is the the water has to go from the inlet on the side up to the rear of the res, up the angled piece, and then down into the outlet on the bottom. My thought is that this will provide ample opportunity for air to work toward the top.







As usual, thanks for stopping by.

 

Radiator Leaktested

After soldering the drain on the radiator, I thought it wise to make sure nothing got messed up in the process internally that could cause a leak. I replaced the rubber washer on the drain screw with an o-ring as the washer wasn't tight enough. I hooked the radiator up to my gauge, pumped it up to 9psi, and watched. I'm very glad to say that there are no leaks.





Bottom Radiator Mount Remade

I started thinking more about airflow, and decided that I could have the bottom radiator push air from inside the case out the bottom. To do this, I would need to change the bottom rad mount. I wasn't really pleased with the bottom mount, so instead of modifying it, I decided to scrap it and make another one, this time out of 14 gauge aluminum instead of 16 gauge. I used the dual rad template from MNPCtech, and the bottom mount turned out much, much better than the first one had. This was a few hours worth of work.

Here is a shot of mount with just the radiator mounted.



Here is another with a couple of old fans mounted just to make sure everything is good.



I still need to make something to dress up the fans a bit.

Bottom Radiator Airflow Piece

In having the bottom radiator vent out of the bottom of the case, I needed some way to direct the air out of the back of the underside of the case without it getting sucked back into the case. I made this airflow piece to mount to the bottom of the case. This piece was bit of a pain as I couldn't use my metal bender to do all of the bends, and had to bend them over the edge of my table saw with a hammer. This piece took a couple of hours to get right. These little things can take so much time.





Front Panel Trim Template

I also printed out a template of the front panel trim piece, and glued it to a piece of 1/4” oak that I have that is cupped a bit, which will help with getting it to match the curve of the front panel. A friend of mine who does a lot of scrollsaw stuff gave me the idea of using blue painter's tape, putting it on the wood, then spray gluing the template to the tape. This way there is no sanding to get the glue off once the shape is cut out. I bought 2” wide blue painter's tape for this.



I also got most of the reservoir pieces cut out on the table saw today. Having new aluminum/acrylic saw blades is wonderful. The cuts come out so clean compared to using plywood blades. The reservoir and front trim piece are next on my list to be completed. I also have to figure exactly how I'm going to mount the USB port on the front part of the left side.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Making the Reservoir

Part of making custom cases with watercooling is that you run into situations where out-of-the-box reservoirs simply may not fit or work well. I personally do not like T-lines, and so stick with reservoirs. I designed this build to continue using my Aquastream XT Ultra, which has necessitated that I come up with a custom reservoir that will fit the case. I also find that being able to customize my own reservoirs allows me to route the loop how I want, not how a reservoir may dictate due to its limited options. That being said, making a cylindrical reservoir is far easier than making a rectangular one.

Tips for Making a Rectangular Acrylic Reservoir

I am by no means some kind of expert at working with acrylic, and there are others that do a lot more with acrylic than I ever hope to. I do however have some things I can share that I've figured out via trial and error that have helped me.

1. The type and thickness of acrylic are important for reservoirs. I would not even attempt this using extruded acrylic. Extruded acrylic is far too soft to machine well, and crazes far too easily (crazing is cracking that occurs when acrylic is stressed too much). I only use 1/4” cast acrylic. Cast acrylic is much harder, and machines very similarly to wood.​

2. A rectangular reservoir requires very precise, smooth cuts in order for the joints to weld properly. The ultimate here would be to have access to a laser cutter. Acrylic pieces cut with a laser are perfectly dimensioned, and have perfectly smooth, clean edges. I have a very good table saw with an aluminum/acrylic hollow ground blade. This blade makes very clean cuts that are smooth enough to solvent weld without any sanding. You can also cut pieces with a simple hand held miter box. Trying to use plywood saw blades on a table or miter saw scratches up the acrylic edges too much requiring sanding. It is hard to sand edges and not get them out of square. ​

3. When it comes to sanding edges, I do not machine sand any edge that I'm going to solvent weld. Sanding heats up acrylic a lot, and if edges that are machine sanded are later solvent welded, they tend to craze. I only hand sand any edges I have to, including any exterior edges that are not directly being welded.​

4. Weld-on #3, or Tap Plastics solvent (basically the same thing) are my weapons of choice. This solvent is like water, but when used, produces very strong joints. ​

5. Smooth, accurate edges produce strong, tight solvent welds. ​

6. Plan your reservoir around making mistakes. I know that anything I cut with my table saw is going to be very accurate, so any rectangular piece is going to be spot on. With this reservoir however, I had to cut a piece out of the rectangular sides to form a kind of L shape. I therefore made the L shaped sides as the outside most pieces so that if the part I cut out is a bit off, it doesn't matter. ​

7. When solvent welding joints, I use 3M painter's tape to hold the joints together. Don't use cheap tape here. The painter's tape holds the joint just the way you want, and it also keeps the solvent from running out of the joint. ​

8. You can use a tap and make G1/4” threaded holes for use with metal fittings. I'm using a G1/4” plug for the top of the res. This works OK as long as the metal fittings aren't tightened too much. Over-tightening will cause crazing in the acrylic. I prefer however to use plastic barbs/fittings as they put very little stress on the acrylic. I used 3/8”NPT threaded black plastic barbs sealed with silicone for this res. ​

With all of this said, on to the pics. I of course first cut out all of my pieces on my table saw. I used my scroll saw with the rpms turned down slow to cut out the sides into their L shape.

Before I put any pieces together, I drilled the necessary holes and tapped the threads I needed. This is a lot easier to do before you start putting pieces together. The shavings can also find their way into corners of the res where you don't want them if you tap the threads after putting together the res. I usually use silicone spray to lubricate the tap for acrylic.



Using a triangle square, I started solvent welding the pieces together.











The method of joining I am using here is called capillary solvent welding. This is yielding me some very smooth, strong joints. The little bit of bubbling you see is nothing to be concerned about. I like the 1/4” thickness of the acrylic as it is far more forgiving of minor flaws than say 1/8” would be.



Here is a shot with everything but the front and top on. I decided to glue the top on and then the front as this afforded me the easiest way to get solvent into the joints using the barb holes.



After everything was together, I clamped the res. This helps eliminate any air bubbles in the joints. You want to stick to clamping down the edges, and not clamping down too tightly. You don't want to tighten the clamps like a gorilla, particularly away from the edge, and craze the acrylic.



Here is the res mounted. I still need to clean it out in case you are wondering. Note that I'm using o-rings and a rubber washer on the mounting screws where they touch the acrylic to make sure I don't craze the acrylic. The two side screws go through the metal front into the wooden corner.



For the part of the res that is mounted to the PSU panel, instead of using a metal screw which doesn't hold that tightly in 16 gauge alu, I used this insert to go through both panels.



I am going to leaktest the res with air pressure to make sure everything is tight.

USB Port

I use a USB hub for everything, but I do like having at least one port that is plugged directly into the MB. I bought a panel mount USB cable. I made a little rectangular metal mounting piece for the port. I cut out the hole using a jig saw. I then used wood chisels to chisel out the recess for the USB mount.





I've been pondering whether I'm going to stick with my Aquastream XT, or buy a new MCP35x. The Aquastream is a very quiet pump, which is why I bought it, but the MCP35x is quite a bit smaller, and with the new PWM, the rpm is temp adjustable which should make it very quiet as well. I'm still chewing on this. If I do switch to an MCP35x, I may also make a different res, this time out of some 2” copper tubing (-decisions, decisions...).

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Am I to understand you did all the res gluing in one shat (-meant to type shot, but that works too-) and then set the res in clamps?
Seriously, That stuff sets up in 20 seconds here. I would never be able to clamp out the bubbles like you did.
-I wouldn't use a plexiglas triangle to square up a glue seam. I'm clumsy enough to make it permanent.

I'd like to see a copper res too. No reason you can't have 2 res's -Oh wait... space. I tried to get some 2" copper pipe before too, but they only sell it in 6' lengths here. I even hit up my plumber about it. Commercial buildings here use steel pipe, so where is something like 2" copper pipe used?

 

No, I didn't glue all of the seams at once. Even though the stuff sets pretty quickly, I've found that it can remain kind of squishy for several minutes. During that time, I've had bubbles creep in before when not clamped. I clamped the whole thing down mainly for the benefit of the last two pieces I put together, namely the front and top.

I just yesterday saw 2", 2 1/2", and 3" copper piping sold by the inch on Ebay. At work, they have a long piece of 2" copper pipe that has been sitting for who knows how long. I can grab a foot with no problem. Copper pipe is still used in commercial buildings here for I don't know what. Large ID copper pipe is apparently also used in making moonshine stills (found this out while searching online).

 

Nice work with the reservoir...

The acrylic work is too hard... i know...

 

Very nice work on the res voigts .