Scratch Build – Complete Puddidium235 - Feb 2023 Complete +Final pics

I have been in the middle of assembly fitting. It's all kinds of... wonky?

-I have a few crooked things here and there. I left the port holes so I could just screw a fitting in, trace it, and cut the hole to fit. That's one of the few parts I did that deliberately. The rest is just memory farts.

-I got the round side panel slats done.

-Oof. I'm not sure what happened with the fit there.

-Here I'm fusing slats to turn a bunch of brackets into a panel part. The packing cellophane came out to protect the other bits.

-You wonder how I damaged my press before? I have it tipped here so I can drum sand out a spot.

-I forgot to leave space for the fitting, thus the sanding. -Note the mess of notes.

-Here's some more test fitting. I finally have enough together to put it right-side up, but I'm wondering about how sturdy the base will be now.

-There was a little confusion at this point trying to get the front ring to fit. Surely I wouldn't do something crazy like flush fit the two curved surfaces to each other?

-EGAD! I did! So I had to grind the edges down to fit. You can see some blue marker was used to make the edges easier to see.
So that's where I'm at now. See you in a month... maybe. Thanks for coming by.

 

I am still lost in the design.
Can't wait to see it all finally coming together...

 

I seem to confuse a lot of people. I've had quite a few calls from MNPCTech's machinist. -Although in one case it was because Bill had told me he had a 5 axis machine, (he doesn't,) and I'd designed to take advantage of one.

-Hell, I'm scratching my head at times on this one. I'm suspecting I left myself way too little clearance around the motherboard already.

 

OK, That went a lot faster than expected.

-Thanks to the tabs and a lot of scotch tape, I got the barrel part of the side fused up.

-It was about time to test the MNPCTech LED strips. -Holy cr*p! that's a strong UV reaction.

-Now I need to talk about how little space I left myself when designing. For starters, there's only a narrow space between the top manifold and the motherboard. You would think after BLOO I would have learned my lesson. I think I was drawing with the impression that two sheets of this plastic wasn't enough. I'm almost done, and I still have a full 2'x4' sheet. Here you can see the tubing that runs behind the motherboard. I probably figured I could make a custom low-profile backplate, but what about back-mounted M2 slots? -Pretty sure they didn't exist when I drew this.

-It gets worse. This doesn't pass over the form factor clearance box, and the barb will hit anything built up on that side like with a high-end board. I see some modifications coming.

-And again. This is the spot I had to cut part of the framing for to clear the barb. I'm pretty sure I looked up the CAD for the 12mm fitting instead of the 5/8"-16mm fitting. I'm not good with serial numbers. You will note it's right up against the motherboard and doesn't leave much room for wires...or airflow.

-Anyway, I got the top half of the side panel added as well. Yes, that's glitter in the window. The curve made the slat part remarkably rigid. I feared it would be floppy being made of thin strips.

-Whoops. This little guy was just kind of floating in space in the model. I'll work on it.
It's about time I did this too:

Bill is setting me up with parts in exchange for drawing designs. I think that counts as sponsorship. Thanks, man! I know you put up with a lot of sh*t from me.

Thanks again for looking.

 

I am totally in-love with your acryllic work!

 

Thanks.

 

Yes and yes.

 

SKIIIIP!

 

Was just thinking about the good old days. Glad to see a familiar avatar.

 

Whilst admiring the complicated convolutions of every little part , I imagine the amount of time consumed with 3d conception and milling sessions , a nightmare to give birth to a dream mod

 

@Skip - Pretty much what I was thinking.
@kim - It's fun unless you screw up, which I've done constantly.

 

Getting lost in Cheap's creations is part of fun! ....btw, Check Your Email, we have a new project and I need your input before drawing it up.

 

I need to get the update up before getting stuck in the new ^thing. -Luckily, most of the pics are blurry.

-I drilled little marks to make sure I could put the tank back on in the right position later, then sanded all the layers even...and re-drilled the nearly obliterated marks.

-There was some sanding, some polishing, and later a lot of swearing when I had to fit the O-rings.

-Some of the results of all that swearing: The curved needle was used to coax some wayward seals back into their grooves. I swiped a fancy nail clipper to trim excess silicone glue from the joins.

-The silicone is freaking invisible, so it makes for some unsettling moments if you don't know it's there.

-Some high-class upgrades of my mill for @dan297 to enjoy. Yes, that's a coax cable grounding bracket. It turns out, they are a perfect fit for 92mm fans.

-A problem I ran into: Bitspower don't make the low-profile push-fit fittings anymore, so the radiator here can't be fully mounted. -No sweat, I can fix it.

-Although, as soon as I started cutting on this, I remembered I didn't pack something in the ports to block trash from getting in...

-Better! Now I just need to figure out how to get in there to mark the port positions.

-So Bill sent me a thing...I don't know where he found one, but I REALLY appreciate it! The amazing part is it passed the test fit.

-The other thing he sent sort-of passed the test fit. I could squeeze a fitting in there, but I plan on modifying the side ports anyway.

-There was a partial leak test. The real test will be when I can get this thing together as a full loop. 2+ liters of water will have a lot of potential pressure.

-ONE channel sealed at least. It was the one with the too-deep O-ring grooves, thus the test.

-Hey, It wouldn't be an update without an "oops" right? LONG AGO I set up the res tube with two points that needed to be aligned. One point of each gear hub aligns with a screw hole. They were supposed to be lined up during gluing.
-No sweat, I can fix it.
Maybe.
Yeah.

 

Finally....the thing starts to make some sense (at least to me )


Well...that is a rather interesting addition to your mill.
Looks like you don't bother collecting dust...you just blow it away

And I like the misuse of the Makita hand router as a spindle.
This little bast§rd is a fine and sturdy piece of machinery...

 

Misuse? It's so common, they make a cnc bracket for them. Not everyone builds Godzilla.

 

I know, buddy.
And I think out of the possible choices (Bosch, Dewalt, etc...) you made the best
But then, I am a Makita fan boy anyway...

 

It was... The cheapest.

 

Cant wait to see this loop filled , loving the powercore/jet engine vibe

 

I love the marble acrylic. Reminds me of a bowling ball.

 

Thanks guys. I'm a little late replying.
Bit-tech, nay, the internet is dying, and I'm still updating. Perhaps if we had just been vapid and posted videos of ourselves dancing this wouldn't have happened...

-I shortened the rad ports, now I have this 1/8" wall tubing for just such an occasion. I used the fittings to mill them flat and smooth... Shortly after, I wondered how I would get them out.

-Oh, that'll do. 3/8" hole, 3/8" mill shank, and a little wiggling. -That sounds bad. I'll shut up now.
Anyway, I plan to use these to seat against O-rings. I hit the hardware store to find THE ONLY size on the wall of O-rings not fully stocked was the one I needed. I finally found a yellowed package with half the rings stolen.

-I marked the positions I needed with the old unfinished parts using tape and a curved needle, and made new parts. These will be put together with silicone sealant.

-And in place in their new home. I'm a little worried this setup is mashed down with two screws. I sense danger.

-While drawing I can run the machine. I have these an a new baseplate.

-I'd say the fan works.

-A little glue...

-One blown belt sander belt and a shortened finger later, I have this thing.

-Now it looks like- AHH! flash glare!

-There it is. I have a switch now. I just have to wire it up. Next I need to work out the water route to the video card.
...I may have extra plumbing that goes nowhere at this point. I spend a few minutes trying to work out what I'm doing each time I open the model.
Thanks for looking.