Project: Transparent Tower 95% DONE UPDATE

Ok, i see where you are coming from now. How did you get the bend there aswell. DId you heat it, and then bend it over a right angle edge.

 

No, there isn't anything that I can see holding the blue plastic part onto or into the switch. It's in there. I'll mess with it at another time and see what I can come up with.

The bottom and top "wings" on the drive cage are solvent welded to the vertical drive holders. They are not one solid piece.

 

Ok everyone, I got the memory card reader mounted into the drive cage last night. I also had to cut and polish the little pieces of acrylic that the card reader mounts to. Then I got the whole thing mounted into the drive cage. I think it will look really good once the front panel is on. Tonight I should be able to mount the front audio/usb ports and then that'll be it for the drive cage. Here's a couple of pics to show the card reader.





It seems the vertical on the left side of the drive cage wants to bend in a little, but that will be fixed when the cage is mounted in the case.

 

with all the case internals visible, would it make more "thematic sense" to have the drives "nude"? The hammertone does look sweet tho.

The window in the top optical drive looks uber sweet. Keep it up.

 

Back again everyone with a couple more updates. That to-do list is finally starting to get shorter and shorter. I feel like I got a pretty good amount accomplished yesterday and last night. I got the audio/usb inputs for the front mounted into the drive cage, the mobo tray mounted to the inside of the case panel, the cuts out done on the front panel for the audio/usb inputs, bulgin switch, and got the switch mounted as well. So the front panel is done except for sanding and smoothing of edges. Here is a pic of it.



Here is a pic of the mobo tray mounted to the inside of the case panel. Oh, I also cut the rear I/O panel hole cut out.



That's all for now. I don't know if I'll get anything done tonight as we have a party to go to, but I'll keep everyone informed. It is starting to feel like the project is finally starting to come together now.

 

I had thought about that constructacon, but decided against doing it since I am doing the hammered metal finish on most of the inside components.

 

Where'd you get the plastic from?

Looking good btw

 

That case is going to be big And because you're building full plexi case, make sure that you do good job whit wires and you should shine those CD-drives

 

I got the plastic from Home Depot. A 3' x 6' with 1/4" thickness for $72.00. Cheapest I found anywhere. Thanks for the compliment.

 

For the i/o pannel, are you going to use one of them little metal plates supplied with the mobo, make a perspex one, or cut the pannel out of the case. Its coming together very nicely now. How heavey is this likely to weigh.

 

I am kind of doing 2 of the things you mentioned. I have cut a hole in the back panel of the case for the I/O inputs, then I am going to cut a plate with the individual holes and mount to the inside of the case. I am not sure of the weight but it won't be light.

 

Looks amazing so far.

 

lookin' good... can't wait to see the tower completed...

 

Howdy everyone. I have gotten a pretty good amount done and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have the bottom compartment pretty much done except for putting the door on. The front and back panels are done. The hole for the power supply in the back of the top compartment is done. I sleeved all the wires from the usb drives and memory card reader and switch this weekend. I'll have some images up this evening to show everyone.

 

cant wait to see them

 

yep... keep them coming

 

Looks great! But, can I ask you something. Im planing to trade the bezel of a slot-load-drive with a new plexi one, and since you clearly are experienced with plexi: How did you make the opening for the floppydrive in the front?

 

How are you going to do the back part where the cards are plugged in and the connectors show out of the back?

By the way what sized screws did you use to mount the CD rom? Because i was just at home depot and bought a couple of 6-32 socket head cap screws but there were to big for my cd rom (they did fit the floppy though). Will you only be using glue to hold the thing together?

Its almost amazing how much we think alike (dont worry this is not my introduction to how i will have an excuse to copy your work). I had a very similar design sketched out a couple of month ago, but because of my primitive skills with tools i had to settle with something more simple. I hope you realize your design because it looks TIGHT.

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'll have to get back to you on the screws for the cdrom. I think they are M3, but I tapped them to accept 6-32 I think, but I'll check on it for you. Ok, here's another update...probably my biggest one yet. I know I'm not very good at taking photographs because I just get wrapped up in working on this thing and don't take time to stop and shoot a few pics. Anyway, here is the lower horizontal of the upper compartment showing the tube connecting the 2 compartments being solvent welded onto the flat piece.



In this pic, you can see the sleeving I did on the wires coming out of the drive cage from my usb/audio inputs and the memory card reader. I really like the black.



Ok, here's the best part. The bottom compartment is now complete except for the door. Today I solvent welded the vertical pieces together and now the base and large lower compartment are being welded as we speak. These next shots show it. The upper pieces that are sitting on top are not going there, I just have them on top for a little extra weight.







As for your questions, yes, the whole thing is held together by the solvent welding, which is very strong. It basically makes the plastic like it is one piece, like welding.

In some of these pics you can see how I did the rear pci card slots. I just did them like a regular case and they will be held down with a screw like normal. Oh, in these shots you can also see how the upper compartment that is sitting on top has the space cut out of the back for the PSU.

Next I have to do some rewiring of the psu wires. I am adding a little junctionbox at the back of the power supply to hide some of my splices etc. I think I am about at the end. I can definitely see the light. Hope everyone likes the updates.

One other thing, all the white crap you see on the plexi is the powder/sludge left over from wet sanding. Don't worry, that will be cleaned off.

 

wow that whole idea with the clamps its awesome, i never thought of adding a wooden seperator. How do you finish the edges that you are gluing (like what grit sandpaper). I use IPS weldon 4, but even though eveyone says it makes a solid continuous piece of plexi, i can break mine apart way too easily. I am thinking about having to add screws which would be a MAJOR pain. What astonishes me is that you can cut a piece of plexi which obviously will have slight irregularities, but then how do you sand it so that it becomes perfectly straight without any wobbles. I have problems doing that.