The B00Mbox, my watercooled cube project, Warning! Lots of p

[dryadsoul]

Man, those look awesome! :thumb:
Anything else you can tell me, like size, depth, etc would sure be helpful.

Looking at this picture, lean your head to the right to bring the
unit into a proper vertical standing perspective. Got it? Okay,
now that we got your head right :laugh:
From this view you should note the largest center cross as being overall maximum hieght & width of this unit; with line 3 being full height of the bezel head; leaving the southern cross self explanatory as the H & W of the thread shaft. Hence the measurements are as follows:

Uber-Cross = Line 1 @ 12/16-25/32
Line 2 @ 9/16

Vertical Line 3 @ 5/16

Southern
Cross = Line 1 @ 4/16
Line 2 @ 5/16

Leaving thread width @ 4/26-9/32

Keep in mind the inferior tools i had to work with can only allow me to state my accuaracy within 1/64 or so. And the smaller units in the original pic are basically 1/16 less in overall size.

Boy Howdy, am i ever glad for this 21' Dual monitor for pic referance:D

[Wordbiker]

Well, those look awesome Dryad, and if you'd be willing to part with one, I'd be proud to include it in this project.
I was hoping to have some pics of some plastic to show you, but some dreaded real work got in the way. I did make progress, but nothing is pretty enough to peel the protective paper off yet. I was also distracted a bit by finding the fittings I needed to put together this:

[Wordbiker]

And I just got this done. It's rough and it may not look like much, but I had to shave down that knurled knob for thickness. I also unsoldered that tiny momentary switch from an old CD drive, soldered new leads made from IDE cable, and hotglued it into position. I have a 1/2" plastic half-dome that will glue over it as a button for the DVD drive tray. Getting it all aligned and glued together was the tough part. Now for some sanding, gluing it between the "lenses" and more vinyl dye.

[Wordbiker]

And after a little cleanup and a test coat of vinyl dye:

[Wordbiker]

Getting pretty close now :D
You can't see it from these pictures, but light bleeds from around the hinge. A little more glue seepage and another coat of vinyl dye oughta cover it. I'm just glad the fans still work!

[Mista K6]

OMG! :drool: :wow: :thumb: and :D . That is some awesome work man, some real talent you have :thumb: . : peace2: Mista K6

[amd_man2005]

:thumb: :thumb: Thats awesome! Can't wait to see the rest

[Wordbiker]

You should see them at night...;)

[minibubba]

awsome work as usually :thumb:

[Wordbiker]

So ya don't think they're gonna look goofy sticking out of the front of the case like they do? Naw, me neither ;)
I still have to make the front bezel for these to fit into. It's gonna take a bit of work, as I have to make everything line up correctly, or it'll show bigtime. I have all my pieces cut for the explosion, just need to lay some EL wire into it and bond it together. I got some superior tools compared to what I used on the first grenade from a plastics place that's only a few hours away. Hopefully with what I learned last time, this one will come out more as I want it to.
:cheers:

[Wordbiker]

After thinking about the watercooling system for a while, I realized that there will have to be some provisions made for maintaining it. The main one is bleeding it, which includes changing out the water every 4 months or so. I've been studying several different ways of accomplishing this, one being the Swiftech fill and bleed "system". I've been looking at plastic parts for some time now, and although I know their system would work, it's bulky (It's supposed to fit in an "extra" 5 1/2" bay, which I don't have), and I can buy the exact parts for less than they're selling the kit for. Basically, all the bleeding system consists of is two "T" fittings with couplers to connect an inlet and an outlet for flushing the old water out. There is a valve between them that when open, allows the regular circuit flow of water through, when closed, allows the external connections to pass fresh water in and the old coolant out into a container. The Swiftech system also requires you to open up the case to access the external connectors. My plan is to add a pair of bulkhead fittings drilled through the top of the case for the external connections, and add a plastic tubing clamp instead of a valve to save space and simplify things. I can readily buy bulkhead fittings and caps, but I wasn't sure how it'd look. I saw the picture below and thought that the hinge system for the cap was pretty slick. The cap is encircled by the wire, allowing it to spin off, and the hinge keeps it just off to the side so it can't be misplaced, or stolen by practical jokesters. Unlike a chain retention device, the cap folds to the same place every time, so I could incorporate some sort of protection for the soft acrylic top. All this is well and good, but I can't seem to find anything like it anywhere. :cry: I am willing to make one if necessary, as I think the looks would match the theme well, and the function couldn't be beat. If anyone has any leads to where I might find something like that, I'd be extremely grateful. It doesn't have to be any exact size, as I can use it as a cover for a smaller internal fitting for the hoses, but I'd prefer it wasn't much larger than 1 1/2" or so.

[Wordbiker]

After searching and searching for the above caps with not much luck, I started going at this from the perspective of "what valves/fittings would work?" For flushing purposes, the diameter of the tubing doesn't have to be that large, so I got the idea to use air valve fittings much like those on a car or bicycle. The connecting fittings are readily available, the valve has an automatic shutoff already built in, and it's so common that the parts are cheap. I found the pictured valve caps and thought they'd go perfect with the mod theme, and will also be utilized for the thumbscrews on the back of the case. I may even make the linkage myself using the aircraft cable ferrule shown and some stainless steel wire, though it's probably not necessary.

[DaemonLee]

Could you cut off the top of a .223 Shell and Thread it...That'd be a nice one, considering your kindof going with the 'War Theme'. Btw, .223 shells are fairly big. So you may have to go with the .45 Shell. But that was usually for Uzis...

[Wordbiker]

Could you cut off the top of a .223 Shell and Thread it...That'd be a nice one, considering your kindof going with the 'War Theme'. Btw, .223 shells are fairly big. So you may have to go with the .45 Shell. But that was usually for Uzis...

Yes, that's entirely possible to do, but it probably would be to tall. I like the gold full cartridge and bullet for its simplicity (no mistaking what it is) and the shorter height. This is a LAN box, and I plan to transport it, so I will forego authenticity for practical convenience. I'm also putting enough work into this as it is....no need to add more.
BTW, UZIs are 9mm parabellum, you may be thinking of the Ingram SMG that came in a .45 ACP as well as .380. The M1911.45 ACP was/is a classic military sidearm, and these are pretty similar to that round. I may include some different rounds in a grill I will make for the rear crossflow fan.

[Wordbiker]

I've been a bit busy with work and LAN organization, but I actually have been putting time in on this mod. There's a lot of work done, but it's a lot of prep and layout for each stage. Here's a pic of the front bezel with a dummy CD drive.