Tweet
There's an inner ring holding the fan grill in place. I made that by cutting a 1/4" piece of the same acrylic tube with the chopsaw, split the ring and cut and sanded til it pressure-fit in there. I'll be able to remove the grills later for cleaning or painting a design on them. The edges came out nice as I used the smallest roundover bit I could find, 1/8" radius, and set up a miniature router table to run the inside and outside edges, plus the inside edge of the retaining ring. I even did the inner stop-ring as I thought it might help airflow. I protected the tubing with some polyurethane tape so that the bearing surface of the bit wouldn't mar the surface. Some hand sanding on the edges, acrylic glue on the fan and some hotglue to fix the fan LEDs in place and then I was ready for vinyl dye. The back of the fan isn't so pretty, but that will be hidden behind the front bezel.
-
-
OMFG! thats figgin awesome!!!!! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:Comment
-
Wow, thanks Kane! :D :D :oOriginally posted by kane2g
I'm pretty happy with it so far myself. There's still much to do, and I'm still waiting on the last couple fittings that will allow the watercooling to be tested. They had some sort of problem with my order, and I called, but the person with the clue had left and took it with them. (Doesn't that always seem to happen?) Looks like it won't ship out til monday. I'm working out all the stuff I'm going to fit on the bezel in the meantime. That includes: LED display, Electroluminescent pump indicator, 2 USB 2.0, headphone/mic jacks, power button, reset button, light switch (Yeah, all those lights can get distracting), and maybe a mode switch for the EL tracer (There are 32 different modes!). The side with the grenade is pretty easy to draw, but the video card side is a bit more complex. I've drawn a few designs but the waterblock and tubing will determine to some extent the final design, as I have to accommodate them for interior space. It's a freeform explosion, so I'm sure I can come up with something that looks nice, just have to do a careful layout of the positions of things.Comment
-
-
I play a lot of military games now (even though I suck at them :P) because of my involvement with the LANs, and the binoculars seem to be in every game, so I thought it went well for the overall theme of a LAN box. My son actually came up with the idea of making the dial more than an ornament. I'm so proud...:DOriginally posted by AndyComment
-
Lookin' good so far but I can't wait to see the finished article. :thumb:Comment
-
To quote kane2g, OMFG! That is awesome!!! :woot:
:cheers: Really good job. That's gonna be one "helluva" nice case ! :thumb:SPAM Special OpsComment
-
Oh man!
I really appreciate all the positive comments guys. I wish I had more to show ya. I've been working on the side panel and the bezel layout still. Cutting plastic with the scrollsaw is new to me, as is polishing the edges, so it's taken a bit of experimenting before I committed to any cuts. I did cut out the side design today, and with a little bit more polishing it should be ready for laminating, and then some sanding and more polishing. It's a bit tricky as if I put too much glue on, it will ooze to the inside and you'll be able to see it. It's also a very fragile peice, and has taken a good deal of hand sanding. I've tried gluing a few scraps and tomorrow there may be more to see than just the design drawing. This is cut from green UV plastic:Comment
-
Change of plan:
I had originally intended to use the previous layout for the inner lines as a path for the EL wire. After a bit of experimenting today, I'm going to router a channel in the underlying plastic frame for the EL wire and laminate it inbetween the pieces. I think it will frame it better, and leaves the center open as a window. Using a similar technique, I'll run red and yellow EL wire inbetween the laminations for the explosion side of the case. This will be done in UV orange and yellow acrylic. Here's the basic layout:Comment
-
Damn man! lookin good so far!
Take your time tho, as much as I want to see more pics, Id rather wait and see some good quality stuff. *btw the gogles look amazing, as in commercial quality good! :thumb:
Thats the kinda work I enjoy seeing.
Not the usual 2or 4 CCFLs glued to a sidepanel :rolleyes2Comment
-
Awwww man....:(Originally posted by kane2g
*tears up his plans for the side and throws away the 4 CCFL lamps and duct tape
:laugh:
Thanks Kane, especially for the appreciation that this project will take some time. I'm using techniques I've never used before and it takes a bit of experimenting and trial and error to find ways to accomplish results I'm satisfied with. There is so little margin of error on such a small case...if I miss by an inch, that's as good as a mile. I've been posting my drawings to show that a considerable amount of research, thought and layout has gone/is going into this project. I'm very glad too, as I just found something I hadn't considered in one of my drawings, and it was easily fixed now. Later, if I'd made the cuts I'd drawn, there would be no going back.
Comment
-
INCH? thats like 10% of the case isnt it.if I miss by an inch, that's as good as a mile.
in you mess up by 1/16th it would show!!!
:laugh:
as bob villa always says "measure twice, cut once" :thumb:Comment
-
Yeah, to both of you guys, I am working in millimeters. It's much easier that way as fans and just about everything else (excepting tubing sizes, strangely) is all in metric. An inch is as good as a mile is just an old expression :p The radiator fits by scant millimeters...as does nearly everything else. I may have some more pics to show you a bit later today. ;)
Edit P.S.: Bob Vila is an idiot. Typical contractor...does none of the work, and takes all the credit...
Comment
-
haha, im glad some one else noticed that he doesnt actually work :DComment
-
OK, this is a TEST pic....I mean, T E S T ! I'm not actually all that happy with the results. :(
I used straight acetone to make my glue, and just today I found out that MEK, or Methyl Ethyl Ketone is a better glue solvent, as it doesn't dry as fast as acetone. There are bubbles and gaps where I glued the pieces together, and I'm not sure I want to spend the time to do the finishing work on the edges and have it still look crappy. Here it is:Comment
Comment