Scratch Build – In Progress Waterwerks ICON V1

"NOT square" force is strong in this modder.


@Cheapskate

 

Indeed

 

Didn't say certain design choices were only acceptable, I was just making some late night rambling about creating something different than what's normally out there. No wrong choices if you like it.

 

Once you leave 90 degrees, a whole world of crazy options open up.
...and your machinist charges double.

 

Ya I wish I had my own machine..would definitely make things easier. It's tough when you get narrowed down with design choices because you don't have access to the right tools..unless you pay thru the roof for it to be produced. Like right now on small distro sections I have to put all the screw heads on one side because most places can't do the machining tolerances to do double sided on small parts. (unless I want to pay like $500 for each part). I'd like to put all the screws from the back so that the front plate doesn't have any holes in it but there's no way around it with the parts in it.

My day job is on a news helicopter and with the protests going on I've been working 15 hour days so I haven't had much time to work on this. I'll post a couple teaser screenshots of where I'm at

 

Work in progress

 

sneak peak of the bottom section..yes there is at least 4 layers of acrylic in this build. I still need to add led channels and mounting hardware holes. One thing to note..not all of this is visible..
More to come!

 

Even if those templates sounds chinese for me, sure that will looks awesome

 

cable management channel pass over

 

Awesome

 

You can cut back on some of the screws in busier areas and let the thickness of the material hold things down. ^Agreed, though. This will be awesome. DON'T flame polish either. Heat damage shows itself after a year or so. -Especially in areas with clamping force. I have a few drill holes in manifolds that got hot, and they started crazing.

 

I like where this is going

 

I second this.
Any heated areas of acrylic are notorious for crazing over time, especially if stressed. Same with areas that have been exposed to solvents. I've made no end of acrylic parts that end up crazing after 6 months in areas around joints bonded with 1 or 2 part acrylic glue.
For anyone who's struggled with this, slightly watered down washing up liquid makes a good barrier around where your gluing so the fumes don't affect the surrounding acrylic as badly.

For such a large plate stack I'd personally use softer silicone o-rings rather than Natural rubber or Nitrile so you can reduce the clamping force required for a seal. With a larger softer o-ring you can get away with using the natural cast surface of the acrylic to seal on so you won't need to polish any large faces.
The only downside is cast surfaces can vary by ~0.5mm from one area of sheet to another so you end up with larger gaps between plates. The o-rings will seal this but coolant running in the larger gap will be more visible than in a stack that's had its mating faces machined.

TLDR:
Don't flame polish.
Machined Sheet = More work to polish, tighter gaps means coolant sitting between sheets is less visible. Low potential for leaks due to even o-ring compression (subject to design).
Virgin Sheet = Easier, Better surface finish, Larger gaps where coolant can sit and look messy. Higher potential for leaks due to variable o-ring compression (subject to design).
Cheapskate = Fabrication & Machining Oracle
Hotel = Trivago

 

Toru uses laser cut silicone sheet instead of O-ring. It's a clever option that counters the plate variance.
-You might have noticed we like to throw advise around.

 

Thanks for the info, ya definitely not heat treating, I saw hans peder sahls video https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Q0rRuA8Qn/ about sanding and polishing so I'll prob go that route to get it as clear as possible. I reached out to optimus since they've got the proper diamond tools to cut without needing finishing techniques, but they never got back to me . Their crystal clear machining would be perfect for this build. I do have a really cool glass desk pc idea that i'd love to work with them and impatia (https://www.instagram.com/impatia_italy/) but that's probably a bit of lofty dreaming.

The top layers really need to be clear as its acting as the front case window to best describe it to the build. each layer is 15mm..so it's going to be thick.

singularity is cutting it and they are doing the laser cut gaskets as well.

Currently waiting for the chipset block to get back from cnc so it and the vrm block can be electroless nickel plated. Then fingers crossed my engineering is correct and it will pass pressure testing, then the main sheets can start to be manufactured. The interesting twist is going to be the 3000 series cards and if I wait and re-engineer or produce it now and just redo the gpu sections at a later date. Likely going with the latter.

 

I've hit a snag and need a recommendation on a cnc machinist that can do single layer double sided machining.
https://forums.bit-tech.net/index.php?threads/cnc-machinist-recommendations.378166/

 

Well unfortunately I've hit a wall finding a manufacturer, if anyone has a recommendation on a high end cnc machinist with experience in acrylic, I would really appreciate it.

 

I can make something for you if you need. I have a machine shop in Nevada.

 

If all you need to do on the back side is countersink/counterbore, you could do it with a drill press and a sink/bore bit.
I usually do that with a little water to keep it cool.

 

It is a German website, but if you send him an email he may be able to help you.
He makes custom distro plates: https://stealkeycustoms.de/shop/