Thread notes
This project has been going on for almost a year now I think, including the time I took to make the original design. Originally, it was a high school graduation project, but was interrupted when I was injured and unable to work on it. So now I'm back at it, with a new design and a new battle plan, so take a look through the work I've done so far and check the new design at the bottom of the post. My new metal is being picked up tomorrow, so I can start retrofitting the case to the new design.
I was posting this on Gideontech, Bit-tech, and HardForum, but I've been lurking here for a long time so I figured I'd bring the log over. I'm working on cleaning it up and making it one coherrant post instead of 25+ separate ones.
The Design
Design Notes
I forgot to include the dimensions and whatnot, but Oracle will be a 16 inch cube constructed out of 1/12th inch aluminum. The finish will either be a very nice automotive gloss black paint, or powder coated something nice and shiny.
The water tank will be constructed out of 1/4 inch acrylic, and will be lit by white LED's embedded in the plexi. I've got an air pump that will pump bubbles into the tank and hopefully create a very pleasing effect. Check out my inspiration over at Metku Mods.
I dont have the side panels designed because that depends a lot on the internal layout which seems to be changing constantly, but it will involve lots of mesh.
At this moment I'm planning on having most of the fans pushing air in, and let the heat float out of the mesh top. However, should that not work I will build a bracket of some sort holding 2+ 120mm fans to pull air out.
Cooling
-CPU: Dangerden TDX
-GPU: Whatever waterblock fits on a 7900GS
-Chipset: Something passive
-Pump: Aquaxtreme AQX-50Z-DC12
-RAD: Black Ice Pro III
Prep
The work area: (yes, I cleaned up after I took these)
The Tools:
My home made metal break:
My dad picked this up off lease for $120. It looked brand new when we leased it, so we figured it was better than spending $250 for a new one. Cuts aluminum like butter.
Stage One: The Exterior
I started out getting all the pieces I'd need for the exterior of the cube sheared down to size by Carlson Steel in Bellingham. Anyone needing some metalwork done in Whatcom County should look them up, they're a good group of guys.
The base:
The back on:
The top strapped in place:
The front riveted in:
The cube from the back:
That last picture shows quite a few things: the Lian Li motherboard tray I'll be using, the sheet of tinted acrylic, and the door to the paintbooth where the parts will get painted
The top cut (the mesh is just sitting there at this point):
The front and back cut:
The current internal layout, with the finished PSU mount in place. Note that the hard drive rack is just sitting there, I haven't decided how I want to mount it yet.
How I built the first piece of the bracket. Next I added a piece of aluminum bent to 90* that runs parallel to the bottom of the bracket. Note that the bracket pictured below was a prototype, the two I have in my case are more squared and dont have the slope on the top and bottom.
Once the whole thing gets painted you wont see any of those scratches or the pen marks, so all in all much cleaner. I still need to drill and tap the mounting holes to secure the bracket to the case, but that's for another day.
I've made some other progress, but I dont have current photos. I've been running up the ol' credit card picking up some parts.
From performance-pcs:
I will never buy from these guys again if I can help it, everything that's showed up from them has either been in terrible shape or missing pieces. Nothing major enough to warrant a return, but still annoying as all get out. They do, however, have a lot of parts that no one else carries, so sometimes you just have to grin and bear it. Another thing, I ordered the racks out of a PC-7 HERE, but they called and said they didn't have those, but instead the racks out of a PC-65. Considering the design is identical, I figured what the hey and had them ship my order out. This was not what I expected, however, due to the time constraints I'm working under, these will have to work.
All the fans and the fan grills came from SVC, which I still think is the greatest web shop ever for this sorta thing.
More toys, again from performance pcs:
-------------------------------------------------------
DESIGN NOTES
-------------------------------------------------------
I have decided to drop the optical drive in favor of a more developed fan control system. This makes the most sense for me since I've only used my optical drive maybe 3 times on my main rig since I installed windows and I can just pick up an external enclosure anyway.
Next up on the to do list is to get the motherboard tray cleaned up and mounted, as well as finally build the water tank and get it tied into the case. After that comes the fan controller, the fan mounts, and then I'm just about done, save making the mount for the hard drive rack.
Got a little work done over the last couple of days, but with midterms coming up (i.e. tommorrow :grr: ) I wont have anything new for a couple days. I've also found that I'm not big on "in progress" pictures since I have trouble stopping to take them. However, when I break the whole thing down for paint you'll get to see how it all went together.
Started with this hunk of metal, it was actually meant for the optical drive rack, but since I sacked that plan I figured I'd put it to use.
Bent it, drilled it, mounted a piece of aluminum to the side and came up with this:
That being one half of the motherboard rack, I obviously needed another. This one I decided to connect to the front of the case for two reasons: chassis rigidity, and additional support for the board.
I made a mock up of my tank just to make sure I can get the desired effect and whatnot. Its very rough and I got adhesive all over the thing, the next model will be cut with a router (vs a tablesaw) and have sanded edges and whatnot.
This was also my first experience with plexi glue, so that was interesting to say the least. However, all in all it turned out how I wanted it, and when I lit it up and added bubbles it was :jawdrop: worthy. I had to set it in the case just to see what it's going to look like, and I must say I'm rather pleased. Once I build the new one and get the case painted its going to look just like I wanted.
I rough cut the pieces I would need and got the templates sized, only to find that my router had busted a bolt so I sicked my dad on the problem, he wont have time till this weekend to check it out.
------------------------------------------------
Design Notes
------------------------------------------------
Not too much, had to change my motherboard rails from channel to this current design. I still need to add some round stock in the middle of each bracket to add some support.
In other news, I got myself a mini fridge and stocked it nicely:
Got a bit done today.
Mounted the radiator, though I seem to be missing the shots I took of it all tied into the case, so I'll have to snap some when I get out to the shop later.
I dont really like how this turned out, so I think I'm going to spring for a quality 117mm hole saw ($30 :sigh: ) and redo the mount.
I cut the panels for the new tank and started to sand them down, but didn't have the time start gluing them together.
Tomorrow I should get the tank built and mounted, and reinforce some of the brackets with some round stock I picked up.
Got the plexi cut for the new tank. The process wasn't that difficult, but it was messy. Basically I rip the sheet down with a table saw, making sure that they end up being slightly larger than intended. Then I clamp it down on a particle board form and run the router around it. Little filing and some sanding later, and I end up with some very nicely cut plexi pieces.
I got the first part of the tank built. I'm waiting on building the rest until I can drill and tap all the holes that need to be drilled and tapped.
This is everything that's going to be attached to the tank. That's two fittings for the water intake and out take into the watercooling loop, and two fittings for the air pump.
Three things I love about having a former mechanic (and generally very handy guy) for a father. The first is the air lines plumbed in all over the shop and connected to a very nice air compressor, the second, I say "hey dad, you happen to have a tap set?" and he pulls this out:
and then says "I have the rest at work," so I'm all set in that regard. Then the other day when I was cutting the rad mount out, he pulled this out:
The diamond bit works wonders. I used it in cunjunction with files and sandpaper to get the finish I wanted and the general shape.
My smaller workbench is a mess at the moment :o My next project may be cleaning it up.
This modders occasional drink of choice:
And for anyone who forgot what I'm cooling this with:
The Plexi cutting process:
Rough rip, clamp, route, file, sand.
Building the tank:
The result of the cutting process:
The finish is decent, but occasionally the router bucks, resulting in those wonderful white imperfections.
The tanks upside down, the end with the two fittings are near the bottom of the tank. Once I glued the top on, I realized I forgot to drill and tap the fill port, so I haven't glued the bottom on yet. I'm letting the whole thing dry before I drill the top to keep any plastic chips from sticking to tacky glue.
Dropped the tank into the case, just to see how it would look, I'm debating painting the outside back of the tank black to help it blend into the rest of the case.
Been working on the feet:
Sometimes you just need a bigger drill :naughty: or I just needed a drill with a half inch chuck and the 18v Dewalt wasn't home.
Slapped the pieces into the drill press to shape and sand them:
The finished piece sans lighting. Credit goes to zapwizard for the basic design. This one is the small foot that will fit next to the radiator in the back corner.
Got the feet mounted, they still need to be tweaked and tightened, but all in all I think they look pretty good. I've got a special plan for the little one, but you'll have to wait for that. They also need to be lit. I'm debating between having a couple LED's in each foot, or having one larger circle in the center with 10 or 20 LED's, thoughts?
Last coat of paint I put on freaking orange peeled on me. :wallbash: So I might just let it be, or it'll get sanded down and prettied up. Just FYI, this is take version 2, velcro mounts and CCFL lights. V3 will happen after the rest of the case is tied together and powder coated, and will have metal brackets for mounts and a small pile of LED's to light the bugger.
Picked this up from a friend, its got a blown PSU, but is otherwise fine. Should make a nice little box to play with linux on and whatnot. Plus, its a micro ATX board, which just might make it into my next project...Oracle II anyone?
Specs:
1Ghz Duron
256MB RAM
20GB 7200RPM
Geforce 2 Something or other
Painting the res black was the right choice I think. I think I'm going to have the fittings powdercoated black as well so they blend in better.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Couple things here: you can see the strip I left unpainted on the res for my light bars (Cold cathodes will be there temporarily, LED strips will take their place), and the motherboard tray support bars are in place. They serve two purposes, to level the motherboard tray out, and to provide support. All they need are some small washers to shore them up and I'll be good.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update on the watercooling system:
Talking to the cooltechina support guys, they told me not to restrict the intake, so I slapped a new 1/2inch fitting straight into the side of the res. The extra plug and cool elbow on the back will run to a drain line for all my bleeding needs.
I'm going to pretty up the adaption setup on the outtake, I just haven't figured out how yet.
Assuming all goes well with my ethics test tomorrow, I'll screw the pump in and get the loop installed, plus I should get the side panels mapped and cut. I'm hoping to have everything wrapped and off to be powdercoated by Wednesday, Friday at the latest.
Small problem eh? Looks like the motherboard tray support was off line and is tugging the case. The side panels correct that little issue, so life is grand once again.
One side panel mounted. I haven't cut anything out yet, but this panel is going to remain largely intact as I want to shield the sound of the two pumps as much as possible.
I decided to go with a solid piece of angle instead of tabs like I did with the rest of the cube to provide the top with a little more rigidity. I haven't cleaned these pieces up, so I'll round the edges and do a couple more things next time I'm in the shop.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------
I've decided to paint the case instead of powdercoat it for a couple reasons. 1. I've decided to go with a multi tone color scheme. I'm thinking black on the outer shell, grey mesh, and something insane for the interior (Red? Yellow? Green?). 2. I wanted to cover up some of the mistakes/ gashes on the metal. According to my powdercoating place you cant really do that with their process.
I need to decide if I want to include the 120mm brackets to move air over the motherboard, as well as throw a couple 92mm fans to the bottom level to add some airflow over the pumps and hard drives. Thoughts? Add the fans or not? What colors should I paint the thing?
I haven't built the fanbus or any of the lighting elements, those may have to wait until after I've gotten the majority of the case done, painted, and assembled.
Got the side panels on:
Really a very basic design, a little angle aluminum, some screws, and a couple rivets.
I added the tabs to counteract a little bit of squatting the case has been exhibiting, they basically pull in the front and back panels, squaring the whole thing up. I've also been noticing that things haven't been fitting together as well as they were initially, so I'm probably going to have to remake some brackets to compensate.
Long story short, I decided to tear the case down so I could begin cleaning up pen marks, sanding out some scratches, and getting the whole thing ready to paint.
Things to note: 92mm blowhole in the back panel, 92mm blowhole in the motherboard tray, and mesh covered intake in the right side panel by the hard drive rack and pumps.
So lets review: I tore the entire case down to each seperate piece. The whole thing was all laid out, all nice and pretty. All in all took me about an hour to drill all the rivets and unscrewing all the bolts. I dont know if I've mentioned this, but this is a school project, its required for me to graduate high school. I'm in the closing stages, where I have to get final approval from my "advisory panel" so that I can present my project. One of my panel members contacted me the morning after I had torn down Oracle and asked me to bring it in. Apperantly he didn't read the part about it being torn down. He's a nice guy though, very easy to get along with, so I wont hold it against him.
Basically I had to put the whole thing together again, took me a good hour, maybe a little more. Used a little double sided tape to attach the mesh, and you've got a pretty good representation of the final product, minus the paint and lighting. As one of my best friends said "Damn, that som' bitc' looks like a mean motherf:baby:
er" He's an odd one, a redneck who's pretty damn good with computers.
So painting has been put off for a bit, since I've got a few more things to do before I get there.
Things to do:
- Custom PSU (details later)
- Internal Lighting
- External Lighting (Powerswitch plate & Feet)
- Paint (Colors still undecided)
Work Updates:
Built a power switch plate.
Some pictures of the tank in action. Pictures really dont convey how nice it looks. I took a couple quick videos with my digital camera, so the quality isn't the best. Both videos are around 9 megs and can be found HERE.
Okay folks, this is just a real rough sketch of what I'm thinking. The water pump is positioned in between the tank and the rad, and the hard drive rack will be next to the air pump and behind the tank. I'm not going to be using velcro this time to hold the tank in, so I've added an extra piece that will allow me to use bolts to hold the tank in place. The fans are inside the shroud. The final build will probably involve the fans between the mount and the rad, but I haven't decided on whether I want to do a push or a pull configuration. The PSU's intake is from the bottom of the case, I forgot to label it.
I'm also planning on adding lots of plexi accents, I'll post more details about that later.
EDIT: One more thing, I'm switching from the AC loop to a Dangerden based high flow setup.
So more sketchup fun! Yeah! You would not believe how long it took to make that stuipd air pump, and the 50Z wasn't fun either.
Anyway, the only things that this sketch is missing are feet, the PSU mount, and the absurd amounts of mesh that will be involved here. There are also some plexi pieces that I haven't drawn up yet, so its not entirely complete. However, 90% of the structure is there.
I know I know, more sketchup and no real work. I'm sorry, really I am!
Anyway, on with the updated sketches:
Notice the placement of the PSU, the inclusion of fans on the radiator, the orientation of the hard drive rack, the PSU mount, the feet, and the change in the air pump placement.
The element I'm still wrestling with is how to get some airflow over the hard drive rack. I've got a couple ideas, but I have no idea how I'm going to shoe horn it in.
Worked on the hard drive airflow situation, think I got it figured out. I use Coolermaster 120mm white LED fans, they're absurdly quiet and move enough air to be effective in this situation.
There are only two things that I dont like about this design. The first is I have to remove the motherboard try to remove the harddrive rack, and the second is going to be my need for rather long SATA cables unless the ports are really close to the edge of the motherboard. Its also a pretty tight fit, so I'll have to be absurdly accurate to make it all fit right.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by NickS
. It shouldn't make much of a differance once its painted, save making the case a bit heavier in the back end.
, so I had to make a little supply run 
Bookmarks