ThaTyger
09-22-2008, 11:05 AM
So here we are, new to the forums and my first post is a pretty ambitious project. Let's hope I'm not pressing my luck to much here :p:
Well let's get this thing going, a few month back I bought a new pc (stats soon to be in my avatar) and I figured it would be a waste to just throw the old hardware away. Selling it wasn't much of an option either as the prices of pretty awesome gear are very, very, low these day's. The old beast was still able to run Half-Life 2 at max detail and decent resolution so I figured I might as well keep it. It so happens I had an old case laying arround so I just assembled the lot and bought a KVM-switch and there we go.
So there you are in a room full of black gear and you have an old, crappy looking / no brand, pc case standing next to you desk. No, that's not how we roll down here :P
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/2b6d24b2.jpg
So that's the "thing" as it is nicknamed now. (photobucket has issue's flipping the image, sorry)
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/ba5e95b3.jpg
Inside needs a bit of a clean-up as well. I replaced all the old fans with lownoise models. I also replaced the stock 90mm Zalman CPU fan with a 120mm model. The noise has reduced about 50% with no influence on the temperature. The VGA cooler is pretty noise, but I'm not sure if I want to waste money by replacing it.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/06cbc2b5.jpg
Allready done some work on the side panels. The wierd "I want to be apple" logo is going to be filled with epoxy (it's a bit hard to see it on these photo's).
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/c0b6e144.jpg
Work in progress on the sidepanel. Had to cut the first one out with a jigsaw xD Lot of grinding went in to that to make it a smooth curve. I have now obtained a Dremel Saw and some skill to use it. Saves a hell lot of time really :yepp:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/444f5311.jpg
Here is some mesh that is going to be fitted behind the hole. I will use the same mesh for the front of the case. I will stay the original metal color.
All pretty basic so far, let's get to the intresting part. I'm planning to make a new front panel for my case using epoxy and fiberglass reinforcement cloth(stuff, don't know the english name :confused:) Made a little render of what it "should" look like when done:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/25b61bbe.jpg
Pretty straight forward, flat front beveled sides, design. Behind the grill will be two 80mm intake fans mounted side to side against the outside of the metal case with a layer of rubber to dampen the vibrations.
Now here's the catch. I have very little experience using epoxy :shocked: So any tips here would be VERY VERY much appreciated. Here's how I figured I would be able to make it (have read quite some sites on the topic):
- Use rubber foam (used google on this one... not sure if that's the real name) to make a mold. It's probably best to make a slightly smaller version of the real front and epoxy over that?
- Cover the mold with a layer of way
- Cover the wax with a layer of epoxy
- Cover the epoxy with glass-fiber cloth
- Cover the glass-fiber cloth with epoxy (might need more then one layer)
- Wait for it to harden and then grind/sandpaper to a smooth finish
God I make it sound easy don't I? :up: So has anyone ever attempted this before? Or maybe at a smaller scale. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome!
Here's the foam I'm planning to use. It is pretty sturdy, easy to model to the desired shape, and it only has very tine air bubbles in it so that shouldn't cause to much issues I assume.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/a397d743.jpg
Front panel controller in the Floppydrive bay (something I have done before) will have 2 flip-switches to turn the HDD + Power led off and a fan or two for "stealth" mode. It will also contain two fan-speed control knobs to silence the system but still keep some airflow. It will be modular, meaning I will make a metal casing for all the components with connectors in the back so you can remove it just like you would with a floppy-drive or dvd-rom player (I'm working on that with my current pc as well).
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/8523e5b1.jpg
Just your everyday switch :D I will paint it light-gray / white-ish like on the render. Think that will make a nice contrast. Pc case will be painted matt black.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/a5117f96.jpg
I also have a backpanel USB connector laying arround. Planning to extend the cable and incorporate it in the front. Maybe in a 5.25 bay or something, alongside a firewire connector.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/917401ed.jpg
And last (but not least) I'm planning to use an old VU meter I have wandering arround to backlight the grill in the frontpanel. I will give a kind of "lightning" effect I guess when I place the led's in random order, not sure if that idea will be used but I might add to the overall look.
This allready makes a pretty large "to-do" list, and I haven't mentioned moding the disk-drives and painting them, or any of the interior work (cable management, sound insulation, moding the support structure so the revamped sidepanels will fit). Good thing is that it won't have any complex CCFL or led lights, nor will it have a side window so that will save a hell lot of time. I have had thoughts of making a fan in the "roof" of the case.
But I'm doubting it will add anything in words of airflow. So give me your thoughts on that.
I don't know how frequently I will be posting updates as I have to do some work for college, I'm working on my main case (when done it will be posted here as well. But progress is VERY slow so it's not worth blogging) and have a car that needs some attention. But I am going to work on the side panels to get those done asap. And when I get more intel on how to get started on the front panel I will keep you posted on progress.
Specs of the hardware (worth mentioning this setup has lasted 5 years before I had the urge to replace it):
- Asus A7V333 motherboard
- AMD Athlon XP +2200 (running underclocked as it only serves as fileserver atm)
- 1.5 Gig's of Kingston 333mhz ram
- Ati Radeon 9500Pro first edition (core flashed to 9700pro)
- 80 + 120 Gig maxtor harddisk drives (7200RPM, 8Mb cache)
- Soundblaster Live! 5.1
Well I'm off, cya all arround
- Tha Tyger
(ps. Reading all this I feel like a fool attempting it, hehe)
(pps. Some more models/renders will be posted soon(tm). Models are made with a combination of Autocad, Solidworks and 3DSMax)
Well let's get this thing going, a few month back I bought a new pc (stats soon to be in my avatar) and I figured it would be a waste to just throw the old hardware away. Selling it wasn't much of an option either as the prices of pretty awesome gear are very, very, low these day's. The old beast was still able to run Half-Life 2 at max detail and decent resolution so I figured I might as well keep it. It so happens I had an old case laying arround so I just assembled the lot and bought a KVM-switch and there we go.
So there you are in a room full of black gear and you have an old, crappy looking / no brand, pc case standing next to you desk. No, that's not how we roll down here :P
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/2b6d24b2.jpg
So that's the "thing" as it is nicknamed now. (photobucket has issue's flipping the image, sorry)
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/ba5e95b3.jpg
Inside needs a bit of a clean-up as well. I replaced all the old fans with lownoise models. I also replaced the stock 90mm Zalman CPU fan with a 120mm model. The noise has reduced about 50% with no influence on the temperature. The VGA cooler is pretty noise, but I'm not sure if I want to waste money by replacing it.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/06cbc2b5.jpg
Allready done some work on the side panels. The wierd "I want to be apple" logo is going to be filled with epoxy (it's a bit hard to see it on these photo's).
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/c0b6e144.jpg
Work in progress on the sidepanel. Had to cut the first one out with a jigsaw xD Lot of grinding went in to that to make it a smooth curve. I have now obtained a Dremel Saw and some skill to use it. Saves a hell lot of time really :yepp:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/444f5311.jpg
Here is some mesh that is going to be fitted behind the hole. I will use the same mesh for the front of the case. I will stay the original metal color.
All pretty basic so far, let's get to the intresting part. I'm planning to make a new front panel for my case using epoxy and fiberglass reinforcement cloth(stuff, don't know the english name :confused:) Made a little render of what it "should" look like when done:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/25b61bbe.jpg
Pretty straight forward, flat front beveled sides, design. Behind the grill will be two 80mm intake fans mounted side to side against the outside of the metal case with a layer of rubber to dampen the vibrations.
Now here's the catch. I have very little experience using epoxy :shocked: So any tips here would be VERY VERY much appreciated. Here's how I figured I would be able to make it (have read quite some sites on the topic):
- Use rubber foam (used google on this one... not sure if that's the real name) to make a mold. It's probably best to make a slightly smaller version of the real front and epoxy over that?
- Cover the mold with a layer of way
- Cover the wax with a layer of epoxy
- Cover the epoxy with glass-fiber cloth
- Cover the glass-fiber cloth with epoxy (might need more then one layer)
- Wait for it to harden and then grind/sandpaper to a smooth finish
God I make it sound easy don't I? :up: So has anyone ever attempted this before? Or maybe at a smaller scale. Any ideas and suggestions are welcome!
Here's the foam I'm planning to use. It is pretty sturdy, easy to model to the desired shape, and it only has very tine air bubbles in it so that shouldn't cause to much issues I assume.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/a397d743.jpg
Front panel controller in the Floppydrive bay (something I have done before) will have 2 flip-switches to turn the HDD + Power led off and a fan or two for "stealth" mode. It will also contain two fan-speed control knobs to silence the system but still keep some airflow. It will be modular, meaning I will make a metal casing for all the components with connectors in the back so you can remove it just like you would with a floppy-drive or dvd-rom player (I'm working on that with my current pc as well).
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/8523e5b1.jpg
Just your everyday switch :D I will paint it light-gray / white-ish like on the render. Think that will make a nice contrast. Pc case will be painted matt black.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/a5117f96.jpg
I also have a backpanel USB connector laying arround. Planning to extend the cable and incorporate it in the front. Maybe in a 5.25 bay or something, alongside a firewire connector.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a103/ThaTyger/917401ed.jpg
And last (but not least) I'm planning to use an old VU meter I have wandering arround to backlight the grill in the frontpanel. I will give a kind of "lightning" effect I guess when I place the led's in random order, not sure if that idea will be used but I might add to the overall look.
This allready makes a pretty large "to-do" list, and I haven't mentioned moding the disk-drives and painting them, or any of the interior work (cable management, sound insulation, moding the support structure so the revamped sidepanels will fit). Good thing is that it won't have any complex CCFL or led lights, nor will it have a side window so that will save a hell lot of time. I have had thoughts of making a fan in the "roof" of the case.
But I'm doubting it will add anything in words of airflow. So give me your thoughts on that.
I don't know how frequently I will be posting updates as I have to do some work for college, I'm working on my main case (when done it will be posted here as well. But progress is VERY slow so it's not worth blogging) and have a car that needs some attention. But I am going to work on the side panels to get those done asap. And when I get more intel on how to get started on the front panel I will keep you posted on progress.
Specs of the hardware (worth mentioning this setup has lasted 5 years before I had the urge to replace it):
- Asus A7V333 motherboard
- AMD Athlon XP +2200 (running underclocked as it only serves as fileserver atm)
- 1.5 Gig's of Kingston 333mhz ram
- Ati Radeon 9500Pro first edition (core flashed to 9700pro)
- 80 + 120 Gig maxtor harddisk drives (7200RPM, 8Mb cache)
- Soundblaster Live! 5.1
Well I'm off, cya all arround
- Tha Tyger
(ps. Reading all this I feel like a fool attempting it, hehe)
(pps. Some more models/renders will be posted soon(tm). Models are made with a combination of Autocad, Solidworks and 3DSMax)