Case Mod - In Progress Project S - Suspended Indefinitely

Just a brief introduction - I'm currently a junior Civil and Environmental Engineering major at Rowan University and am starting my first case mod.

As of yet there isn't much of a theme to this project though there will be a prominent 'S' design on the left side panel due to it being the first letter of my last name (which is what I go by). I'm looking to build a sleek case that isn't too gaudy and isn't over my head in terms of feasibility (it's my first mod, after all).

My main criteria in selecting a case was as follows:

• Plain side panels - no windows, grills, etc.
• Tooless entry
• "Open" interior
• Motherboard tray

I didn't need a full tower since I'm not going to watercool the system so a mid-size was fine for me. A lot of modders look for watercooling to add to the case and while it can look nice, it wasn't practical for me. I'm not an avid gamer. I have no desire to overclock. This is my first full mod, one thing at a time, here.

That being said, I did some browsing around and came across the Lian Li PC-61. It was a sleek design that fit all of my criteria and wasn't too expensive. Unfortunately the grill in the left side panel was implemented before I placed my order. That was fixed by ordering a replacement panel off of Performance-PCs. A bit of a set back but the mesh grill had to go.

At the time of this writing, the left side panel has already been designed and is in the process of being constructed (see next post). Some ideas that are being tossed around include blue LEDs for ambient internal light. In addition to this, I'd like to sleeve the wires that I don't stealth in clear tubing that I will lightly sand so that it will diffuse light a little better. A white LED will be inserted at each end to illuminate these sleeves. Hopefully the effect works out such that rods of white light are seen in a blue lighted case. With luck the case will have the appearance of being watercooled without actually being so.

The case exterior will remain black but I'm undecided as to whether to paint the interior white or black.

As far as fans go, I'm more than likely replacing all the stock 80 mm fans with these. Does anybody have any experience with the brand? Everybody seems to think that the larger the fan the better but I disagree. I feel that any fan is good if it has a high CFM to dB/A value. Lian-Li felt that four 80 mm fans suited this case just fine so who am I to argue?

I'm thinking of constructing a little stripboard terminal to help with controlling/wiring the LEDs/case fans. Ideally there will be three control switches on the exterior of the case - blue light, white light, and fan speed. The specifics of this have yet to be worked out but I have a fairly good idea as to how I plan to go about it. Besides, it'll be one of the later tasks on this project, I'm more worried about the design of the case itself right now.

Any ideas and suggestions are more than appreciated.

 

I've never bothered to sit down and teach myself SketchUp despite the testimonies of others. Two dimensional work in AutoCAD 2007 will be my medium of choice.

Here's a short list of few case mods that have inspired me throughout the ongoing design process.
Cold Fusion by Max Erlandsson, aka SleepStreamer
Silent ContexYZ by Mr. Kholl
Der_Meister by Jokkos
Hpres - Server by Defyant

Anyway, onto the actual design.

Left Side Panel
The left side panel is usually the panel in which the internal components are showcased. While they might be tried and true, I'm not a fan of the now cliché rectangular windows.

This panel was the first that I really focused on. It took several months to come up with a design that I was finally satisfied with on paper. All told, 32 designs were made in the process until finally settling on the following one.

One interesting note is that all of the lines in this design are or were made from circles. All of them. I'll save you the trouble and tell you that there are 176 arcs or circles in the following design.


The way to read this design is as follows:
Black - The side panel.
Gray - An aluminum shield.
Light Blue - A sheet of polycarbonate placed between the panel and the shield.
White - Areas in which the inside of the case can be seen. The polycarbonate sheet covers these holes, I just made it white in the design to help differentiate.

This design can be broken up into three main components.

1. Case Cuts

This design was not the first to come. I didn't settle on this pattern of case cuts until around revision 25 or so. I didn't want to take out too much so that the shape of the S was lost. However, I do like the effect that the eye sometimes has trouble focusing on what was cut out and what was left.

2. The Shield

Again, I was worried that by taking out too much would render the S shape useless. However, taking out too little would hinder one's view into the case. In order to affix the shield and polycarbonate to the case, bolts will be placed through the two triangle-looking shapes (located approximately on the horizontal centerline).

The final change on this shield design was the removal of the four circles of the same size. I may cut another with those circles left and decide which I like when I have them mounted. This optional shield design can be seen here and its final look can be seen here.

3. The Polycarbonate

This is just a sheet of polycarbonate (or acrylic) of a to be determined color and thickness. However, it will more than likely either be clear or smoked blue and have a thickness in the range of 0.25 in.

 

I received a couple packages today, one of which was from Performance-PCs. The main thing I was awaiting was the replacement side panel since the stock one had a mesh grill that would interfere with the design.

I set right to work by printing out the layout for the cuts being made in the left side panel. In the past I've found that cutting out a design on sheet metal with a Dremel tool yielded better looking results on the side reverse of the cutting surface. Not only are the cuts cleaner but if I happen to slip with the Dremel, the damage is usually confined to the inside of the case. Since I'm cutting from the inside face of the panel, the design needed to be mirrored horizontally.

Here you can see the layout lined up and taped to the panel.

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Both front and back sides of the panel are given the masking tape treatment (single and double layer, respectively). This is in order to prevent scratches from a loss of control of the Dremel and the rough surface I'm working on (an old workbench).

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The next set of images illustrates the progression of the cuts. It's usually best to cut your design from the center and work your way out. Small tabs are kept to hold the panel together. These will be cut last. Keep in mind that these pictures are from the front and I'm cutting from the back. The lines don't look this smooth on the other side.

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Now that all the cuts have been made, the tabs will be cut and the pieces punched out.

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The tape is removed and some minor cleanup on the hard to reach curves is done.

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The obligatory "Let's see how it looks on the case" pictures.

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The cut itself took approximately 7 hours to complete, not including the time to tape up the panel and strip it down. I'm pretty spent so I'll smooth out the edges and clean it up a bit tomorrow.

 

hey, good start!

I'm honored to have inspired you

Oh, and I have worked with Noiseblocker fans for a couple of years now, I hardly use anything else. Good stuff.

 

looking good so far, nice work, i like your choice of drink as well

 

COOOL , MAN I have 1 request ! can I take This letter S and Put it on my project because this my first letter from my name First letter from my name SO can I have it . Please

Thanks CK

 

NICE, nice name, lol.

hell of a good cuts you got there, nice job!

colour scheme? keep it uo

Kyle

 

well that's some very nice dremel work, keep it up

 

wow you have got some serious dremel skills going on, i lkie the design of your window not just "the usual"
good luck!

 

Thanks for the comments, everybody. This is only my second time working with a Dremel on sheet metal. My first was a test piece done last summer which can be found here. I'm still learning as I go.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I made the decision to go with them off of a recommendation that you gave in a separate thread to someone else.

Thanks. The bottle of JD had been empty for some time. It's just hanging out there in a little holder. No idea why it's in my shop, to be honest.

My material isn't copyrighted, feel free to use it.

See my first post.

 

I spent a few hours today filing down the burrs that were left from the Dremeling as well as smoothing out the curves as best I could. There's not much to show from the process so I'll just jump straight to the end result.


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Upon close inspection, small scuff and scratch marks can be seen. Apparently I wasn't all that careful with my file, hence the scratches. The scuff marks (four in total) are from the setup I had holding the S in place while I filed. Since the S is only held on by two strips each about 0.20-in wide, I had to ensure they didn't break when filing. I'm not all that concerned about these minor scuffs and scratches since the whole case will eventually be sanded and repainted.

I estimate that the shield would take about 30 to 40 hours to Dremel out plus an additional 8 to 10 hours to file down. That's provided I don't screw things up and slip. The majority of the metal on the shield is 0.20-in wide and I'm liable to break it. A friend of mine agreed awhile ago that he would donate some time and use our school's water jet to cut out what I wanted. I'm going to get in contact with him and see what he can do.

As for the polycarbonate (or acrylic) that's to sit between the shield and the left side panel, any ideas as to how to cut it? I'm told that acrylic isn't best cut with a Dremel and I'm going to want accurate cuts which rules out a lot of other options. I might resort to getting a rough cut going by means of a jigsaw and then filing it down from there.

Over the next few days I hope to bang out some preliminary designs for the right, top, and front panels. I'd like to get as much Dremeling done before I head back to school on the 14th. We'll see how that goes.

 

Thanks man for your kind Keep going this thing Pro !!! you Know what you do ! GOOD LUCK

Bye + Thanks . CK

 

I don't think your intro mentions this, but why an "S"? It looks psychadelic...or maybe that's just having been up for 20 hours talking

Mod on, keep up the excellent work

 

Seems that I left that part out, sorry. It's the first letter of my last name which is what I go by. I edited it into my first post.

 

Nice sweet heller good cuts you made, perfect! very nice tho well done!

 

it's pretty hard with a dremel...
I used a jigsaw with special saw-blades for plastics. This is important to get nice cuts. Then filed it down. This is pretty time-consuming, filing the acrylic is a lot slower than filing aluminium.

 

Jigsaws work great, provided (as jokkos pointed out) you use the right blade. If you have access to a scrollsaw they work even better.

 

Wow that sidepanel looks really really cool

 

I'm working with both a jigsaw and the dremel, and the dremel is much harder to work with, it can quite easily slip, as you saw by yourself. well, keep up the great work

 

Original cut-out and a very beautiful one too imho. I'm looking forward to seeing it assembled with shield and polycarbonate.