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02-19-2010, 02:52 PM
Wezly

*the usual*

:up:

You need to polish the caps on the GPUs too!
02-19-2010, 03:41 PM
Civilian

It took a couple of days but I made it through the whole thread.
Absolutely Amazing!
Amazing Concept.
Amazing Rendering.
Amazing Salesmanship.
Amazing Descriptions.
Amazing Craftsmanship.
Did I miss anything?:D
I would suggest checking your lighting ideas for the Zero-G Chamber as the perplex is quite reflective and later changes might be hard.
02-19-2010, 09:12 PM
Xion X2

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigelke

really sweet stuf you got there :D

Also love the photography skills ;)

Thanks, nigelke! I'm glad that you guys are enjoying the pictures as I enjoy taking them. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dingdong555

Superb as always... I'm running out of words here.

Much appreciated, ding. Little by little we're getting there. Hopefully it'll happen before you run out of words. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by illidan

beautiful
what else to say :)

Thanks, illidan! And thanks for experimenting with the caps. I plan to try the same thing as it may be easier than polishing down to the aluminum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShArKo

Wow men, nice shot you got there!!!! It´s going to be great when you finish the work.

PS: Do you recive my PM?

Thanks, Sharko. I replied. :up:

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaByBoI

amazing! cant wait! :D

Thanks, Mabyboi! Your continued support is much appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shazza

Very nice!

Thanks, Shazza!

Quote:

Originally Posted by pingpong1455

please stop the pictures :p: i almost drooled on the school computer

Hehe. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red-5

Your new EVGA motherboard certainly fits in with your planned colour scheme. The clear CPU block and your new full cover chipset block will look great together. Looking forward to seeing them all on and tubing fitted. I take it you are going to polish the caps on your new board too. Looking great as always :yepp:

Thanks, Red! I agree.. this board really looks as if it were made for my components. The color scheme matches beautifully. :)

And yes, I'll most likely be polishing the caps on this one as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liderc

Love the new board, definitely liking it with this build much more than the Foxconn.

Yeah, no more red. The red clashed terribly. :shakes:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wezly

*the usual*

:up:

You need to polish the caps on the GPUs too!

Wezly... :rofl:

These 5970s are the cost of about 7 of these eVGA motherboards. Although polished caps would look beautiful on the 5970s, I'm not sure I'm willing to risk that one since it voids the warranty. I have to draw the line somewhere. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by p0Pe

you, sir are a wonder with a camera! and the stuff on the pictures is siiick:D the zero gravity chamber is going to be wicked awsome! i want more assembly shots:P

Thanks, mate! More assembly shots.. gotcha. I should have some of those over the weekend as I'll be heading to my new workshop tomorrow to do some fab work. :up:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Civilian

It took a couple of days but I made it through the whole thread.
Absolutely Amazing!
Amazing Concept.
Amazing Rendering.
Amazing Salesmanship.
Amazing Descriptions.
Amazing Craftsmanship.
Did I miss anything?:D
I would suggest checking your lighting ideas for the Zero-G Chamber as the perplex is quite reflective and later changes might be hard.

Civilian: :up:

Thank you very much for the wonderful compliments. They are much appreciated.

The chamber will be well illuminated from the inside in a way that it should rid the perspex of reflections such as shown in the photos above. Reflections show on the perspex most when it's sitting at an angle, and the Zero Gravity Chamber is constructed in a way that you won't see the perspex at an angle too easily since it's framed by the windows. :)

Thank you for all the support, everyone. It inspires me to keep moving forward. The case frame will get a lot of work this weekend. I plan to tie up some loose ends like:

- Resolving that side panel latch problem (for those of you following since
the beginning when I pointed it out)
- Cutting a new floor and roof for the frame (I don't want any unnecessary
vents showing)
- Creating corner supports for the Zero-G chamber half of the case since
the drive cage/supports were removed
- Cutting/drilling the motherboard mount for cable management

Some other tasks that lie ahead before things are ready to go off to painting:

- Designing custom radboxes for both top and bottom MCR220s.
- Drilling the tube routing and cable routing holes into the Zero G Chamber

A lot of this is work that I haven't been able to do in my limited workspace. So now that I have a workshop, things should begin progressing quicker as we reach the home stretch of the build.

Before long, refleXion will become reality. :)
02-19-2010, 09:57 PM
Wezly

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xion X2

Wezly... :rofl:

Anytime, sir.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xion X2

These 5970s are the cost of about 7 of these eVGA motherboards. Although polished caps would look beautiful on the 5970s, I'm not sure I'm willing to risk that one since it voids the warranty. I have to draw the line somewhere. :D

Fair enough; slacker :shakes:

I kid, I kid. I didn't expect you to, but I thought I'd propose the idea since no one else brought it up...
02-21-2010, 08:18 AM
kgtiger

Keep up the good work mate, it's looking good.
02-21-2010, 08:29 AM
shawnoen

Just read through everything. I have the same motherboard (EVGA x58 LE) and am really liking the nickel and clear acrylic.

Wondering if you had contacted EK to have them make a LE full coverage block in nickel and clear acrylic?
02-21-2010, 09:13 AM
Xion X2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wezly

Anytime, sir.

Fair enough; slacker :shakes:

I kid, I kid. I didn't expect you to, but I thought I'd propose the idea since no one else brought it up...

It's cool, Wezly. With as Xtreme as this build is, you just know that I'd thought about that already. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgtiger

Keep up the good work mate, it's looking good.

Thanks, KG! Good to see you around again, bud.. seems like it's been a while. How are things progressing with the new build? Still mapping out everything?

Quote:

Originally Posted by shawnoen

Just read through everything. I have the same motherboard (EVGA x58 LE) and am really liking the nickel and clear acrylic.

Wondering if you had contacted EK to have them make a LE full coverage block in nickel and clear acrylic?

Nope, I didn't contact EK about that. I'm not sure if he'd be willing to do that for the LE or not as this doesn't seem to be a best-seller board yet (although I do like it a lot.)

I'm headed over to my workshop now, so I hope to provide some more updates by tonight. Thanks, all!
02-21-2010, 06:26 PM
Xion X2

Project Update: 2/21 -- Framework

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/8...c124200011.jpg

Made a lot of progress on the build today. :)

So today was my first day in my new workshop! Yeah, yeah.. it's nothing really that special. Concrete walls, a single light bulb with a string attached hanging from the ceiling (that's why I bought that new double-head 1000w Halogen monster that you see in the above picture there.) Probably rats scurrying somewhere about behind the concrete walls.

But hey, it's 10x20 ft, gives me plenty of room, and I have a heavy metal garage band just a few doors down from me so I never have to wear headphones. :lol:

But seriously, today was great. For the first time since I began refleXion--which is now about 4 months ago--I had both the space and privacy I need to really push this thing ahead and into the home stretch. I've fallen so behind on my fab work, and now it's time to bring all that up to speed so refleXion can go off to paint and start looking a little sexier than the scratched up aluminum it's wearing now.

So, we begin by taking a look at the motherboard tray. As you can see here below, in its current state it looks quite ugly. It has a bent side and is overlaying part of the pump windows on the Zero Gravity Chamber. Two big no-nos for this build. I want that back side looking clean even though it won't be seen a lot of the time.

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/6379/dsc12040001.jpg

Yuck, right? It gets even worse. You can see here that not only is it covering part of the pump windows, but it's angled in and pushing the Zero-G Chamber lop-sided.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/6686/dsc120500011.jpg

So, this thing is getting hacked today. If you look at where my fingers are resting, this is where we'll cut--right along that bend.
http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/629/dsc12060001.jpg

If you look just to the right of my fingers in that above picture, you'll see a threaded screwhole. Not the ones for standoffs but to the left of them. There are three of these running vertical along the Zero-G Chamber. Perfect. After we cut this piece, we'll drill matching holes into the Zero Gravity Chamber to mount it to. This will both look clean and provide more stability for that motherboard tray.

This isn't a flat piece, so finding the right tool to cut on it was tricky. A jig won't work, because the edge guide has nothing flat to sit on. Neither will a circular saw.

Well, I've been waiting to put this dremel of mine to good use (other than polishing nickel as before) so it looks as if it's time for it to sweat a little.

Here you'll see that I'm lining it up along that bend. We'll cut this piece lengthwise along that bend to give us a smooth, flush fit against the Zero G Chamber.

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/7364/dsc12070001.jpg

To cut, I'm using the heavy duty quick fit metal grinding wheel. Such a big name for something so small (actually, I just made that up.. I think. I don't remember what it's called, exactly.)

Here we go.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/1...c120800011.jpg

It's doing a great job so far. This began kicking up some metal dust, so I strapped on my 3M multi-purpose respirator. Don't wanna be breathing this stuff. Sorry, I don't have a pic of it, and you're probably better off not seeing it on me. My face is scary enough without a bio mask.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/3271/dsc12090001.jpg

Still doing a great job but that grinding wheel is vanishing right before my eyes. I have a feeling that most of the dust I'm seeing around me is this thing practically vaporizing before my very eyes.

And here, off we go.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/4...c121100011.jpg

This actually worked better than I thought it would. It was the perfect tool for the job since this was thin aluminum that I was working with.

To get this nice and smooth, though, we'll hit it with a file.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/1271/dsc12120001.jpg

And.. after about 15 minutes of filing this is how it looks afterward. A nice even cut.

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2544/dsc12140001.jpg

Running my fingers along it, it still felt a little rough and sharp--even after 15 minutes of filing. So I broke out my new toy, a Black and Decker multi-purpose sander.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/6...c121900011.jpg

This thing is slick. It has 4 quick attachments for different uses. An orbital, a mouse, a flat belt and... well, the other escapes me at the moment. Trust me though, it's cool.

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3937/dsc12160001.jpg

I slapped the orbital attachment on it, and this really got the edges nice and smooth.

So, let's fit her and see how she looks.

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/4...c122200011.jpg

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/5691/dsc12230001.jpg

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/1069/dsc12240001.jpg

I'm liking that a lot. Looks much better.

(To be continued.)
02-21-2010, 06:58 PM
.:R32

I was looking for something in your build log to prove your just gifted beyond the average joe, and now I've got it. It's near impossible to make such a straight cut with a dremel, you sir are amazing:up:
02-21-2010, 06:59 PM
Mabyboi

ooooooh looking good, great to hear you got your own little work center now.. i used to work out of my garage and that was a massive pain. (my excuse for my choppy cuts) but your doing a beautiful job. NOW HURRY UP! :D
02-21-2010, 07:15 PM
Xion X2

Project Update: 2/21 -- Framework (Part II)

Framework - Part II

Next item on the agenda was to tackle those corner supports.

To provide some history, the drive cages were removed from the Cosmos so as to make room for the Zero Gravity Chamber. However, when doing so, the corner supports for the frame were lost in the process.

So then I was faced with the task of either making some from scratch or modifying the drive cage. And.. you guessed it. I've never passed up the chance to rip up some metal.

Here in this pic you'll see the right side of the drive cage that was removed. You can see how there's no room for it in the frame, and I wouldn't want it in there, anyway. I removed it because I hated how it looked in there to begin with. But it served an important job which was to provide support for the corners of the frame.

http://img28.imageshack.us/img28/613/dsc12270001.jpg

So.. don't panic when you see this below, but one night when I was bored and sitting in my small apartment and stewing about not having any workspace, I took a pair of aluminum sheers to one side of the drive cage--more out of frustration than anything else.

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/5...c122800011.jpg

So.. yeah.. now it's obviously time to clean this piece up...

And we're back to Date with a Dremel, the sequel.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/448/dsc12290001.jpg

And my poor metal wheel grinder has just about had it.

She's going...

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3271/dsc123000011.jpg

Going...

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/4...c123100011.jpg

And then gone (see, you don't even see it. I think it went up in a cloud of dust around me.)

Good thing I'm restocked.

http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/128/dsc12320001.jpg

Now we've finished cutting that corner off the drive cage that'll be used for the corner support on one side.

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/743/dsc12350001.jpg

And here I am fitting it on the frame, to illustrate.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/892/dsc12380001.jpg

Another thing these pieces do is hold part of the front case facing in place. You can see all the notches/clips that fit together.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/9139/dsc12400001.jpg

So, it was important to save this piece. It would've been a pain to build it from scratch again.

Now the other side. This side had yet to be demolished by the aluminum shears.

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/6854/dsc12440001.jpg

And, we'll go ahead and prepare for the inevitable...

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5620/dsc12450001.jpg

And, off she goes.

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/5334/dsc12460001.jpg

Here's a nice shot of the piece that we're keeping for the corner support.

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/2013/dsc12480001.jpg

And here are both corner supports fitted back onto the frame.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/3536/dsc125100011.jpg
http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/2253/dsc12550001.jpg

More to come in the next few days. :wave:
02-21-2010, 07:30 PM
callen_1

Great fab work mate, your ploughing through those dremel blades!
02-21-2010, 07:43 PM
Xion X2

Quote:

Originally Posted by .:R32

I was looking for something in your build log to prove your just gifted beyond the average joe, and now I've got it. It's near impossible to make such a straight cut with a dremel, you sir are amazing:up:

Thanks, R32; I appreciate the kind words. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaByBoI

ooooooh looking good, great to hear you got your own little work center now.. i used to work out of my garage and that was a massive pain. (my excuse for my choppy cuts) but your doing a beautiful job. NOW HURRY UP! :D

Thanks, bud. I love my workspace. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by callen_1

Great fab work mate, your ploughing through those dremel blades!

Thanks, callen. They go fast, but they get the job done. :up:

I need to check out your project as I saw that you posted another massive update.
02-21-2010, 07:43 PM
Liderc

Love the dremel work, I'm a big fan of chopping things together, it's a lot of fun and makes me feel like my case is one of a kind, like yours is turning out to be.
02-21-2010, 07:45 PM
Xion X2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liderc

Love the dremel work, I'm a big fan of chopping things together, it's a lot of fun and makes me feel like my case is one of a kind, like yours is turning out to be.

Thanks, Liderc. It is starting to take on its own identity and feel exactly like that. :up:
02-21-2010, 10:31 PM
Wezly

Once the first power tool came out I stopped reading and just looked at pictures; they're informative enough.

Loving the way it's picking up speed again. I can see it reaching the event horizon before swirling inevitably into a singularity of class, style, and shininess.

:up:
02-22-2010, 01:43 AM
aka_GK

Glad that you obtained good place to work in! :up: But I guess lighting is a bit insufficient to take good pictures
02-22-2010, 04:29 AM
dingdong555

Speechless... Amazing work mate.
02-22-2010, 08:18 AM
vistageek92

Looks like you found yourself a nice work area. Only sad thing is pictures now have a yellow tint, because of those pictures being taken in that yellow light. Are you planning on setting up your studio in there?
02-22-2010, 09:21 AM
kgtiger

Excellent work mate. :up:
I am glad you have found a place to play, it's always nice to be able to stretch out abit, hay.
You should look at getting some fluorecent lights, even 70-100 watts would be heaps and they are a heap cooler. Plus the 1000w Halogen will chew through the power.
I know it's winter and they might be nice and warm, just be careful with them as you can easily burn your self on the outer shrouds as they get damm hot.

As for my build I am waiting for the mobo I want, to be released and I have a few thing that I need to do around home first, like make a desk, but I will get there. :yepp:

Keep up the excellent work mate. :up:
02-22-2010, 10:06 AM
nigelke

Great work :up::up:

and nice work with the dremel :up: doing a straight line is not everyone can do ^^

just great to see how this build is going :)
02-22-2010, 11:44 AM
Mabyboi

I wish i could have the same skill with a dremel.... i just kinda hold it and close my eyes and swing... almost lost a thumb :D
02-22-2010, 12:19 PM
Xion X2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wezly

Once the first power tool came out I stopped reading and just looked at pictures; they're informative enough.

Loving the way it's picking up speed again. I can see it reaching the event horizon before swirling inevitably into a singularity of class, style, and shininess.

:up:

Love the "singularity" reference, Wez. Thanks. :up:

Quote:

Originally Posted by aka_GK

Glad that you obtained good place to work in! :up: But I guess lighting is a bit insufficient to take good pictures

Thanks, GK.

And.. uh-oh.. I've shot myself into a corner with the studio pics and now have a standard to live up to.

:p:

It took a lot of color balancing just to get them to the level they're at as the halogen light just drowns the entire room in yellow. The pictures look terribly jaundiced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dingdong555

Speechless... Amazing work mate.

Thanks, ding! How is the Hulk doing these days? Are you still making fine-tuned adjustments or is it complete?

Awesome build, again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by vistageek92

Looks like you found yourself a nice work area. Only sad thing is pictures now have a yellow tint, because of those pictures being taken in that yellow light. Are you planning on setting up your studio in there?

Not planning on using this space as a studio mid-project since my tools are all over the place, but after the build is complete, I'll certainly think about it. There's plenty of room; I'll just have to bring my backdrops and lights over. The project "build" video, which will hopefully be completed within the next week (been delayed due to certain parts which are on the way), will probably be shot at this location since it's more opened up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgtiger

Excellent work mate. :up:
I am glad you have found a place to play, it's always nice to be able to stretch out abit, hay.
You should look at getting some fluorecent lights, even 70-100 watts would be heaps and they are a heap cooler. Plus the 1000w Halogen will chew through the power.
I know it's winter and they might be nice and warm, just be careful with them as you can easily burn your self on the outer shrouds as they get damm hot.

As for my build I am waiting for the mobo I want, to be released and I have a few thing that I need to do around home first, like make a desk, but I will get there. :yepp:

Keep up the excellent work mate. :up:

Thanks, KG. :up:

I hear you on the flourescents. I'll look into getting some tonight as I'm now getting a lot of complaints about the photos. :p

I could probably use a little more light in the work area, anyway.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigelke

Great work :up::up:

and nice work with the dremel :up: doing a straight line is not everyone can do ^^

just great to see how this build is going :)

Appreciate the props on the dremel work, nigelke! Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaByBoI

I wish i could have the same skill with a dremel.... i just kinda hold it and close my eyes and swing... almost lost a thumb :D

Alright, no one let MaByBoI near a dremel. Or attach a rubber wheel on the end of it when he isn't looking. :p

As for updates, tonight I'm headed back to the workshop again to experiment with the top and bottom panels for the frame. I plan to overlay these to cover the ugly vents that are currently showing in both the floor and roof of the case. The new vents will be cut to fit the actual components that are going in.

Eh, I'll explain it all later...
02-22-2010, 12:47 PM
Mabyboi

i think you should leave the outside of the case metalic and buffer and shine it like you did your caps :D

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