Case Mods - New custom acrylic case -- Worklog to come

[radodrill]

I'm usually not a fan of acryllic cases but as the gentleman said above, this is a work of art and one can see the love that went into it..
Excellent work and a great read following this.

Thanks man; I sure put a lot of time into this and I'm trying to get the details as perfect as I can.

[Movieman]

Thanks man; I sure put a lot of time into this and I'm trying to get the details as perfect as I can.

Beleive me, it shows. I'm a pretty decent cabinetmaker and I can see the work..

[it_burns_when_i_pee]

you've but alot of patients and thought into it. even if its your first you can see your methodical approach is paying off.

i'm keeping an eye on this thread .... and im serious about offering your services out. could be a nice little side earner for you. cases over here sell upwards of £200 which is well over 400 dollors. for that kind of money i would want a custom case to my needs instead of all this empty room i wouldnt want.

[radodrill]

you've but alot of patients and thought into it. even if its your first you can see your methodical approach is paying off.

i'm keeping an eye on this thread .... and im serious about offering your services out. could be a nice little side earner for you. cases over here sell upwards of £200 which is well over 400 dollors. for that kind of money i would want a custom case to my needs instead of all this empty room i wouldnt want.

I was chewing on ideas for a few months; then spent a few weeks modeling it in Pro/E before I even made a single cut.

I wanted such a big case so that it could easily handle H2O cooling and the latest super-long GFX cards while still giving me good access to the hardware. in my old case it's hard to swap a HDD without first removing the GFX card; and I find that unacceptable.

[mike8913]

I absolutely love your build. Everything you've done has been so precise that it boggles the mind. The only gripe i can think of is that I would have preferred the HDD cage to have been reverse mounted to the back panel. So that you would have slid them into position on the connectors at the back panel and be viewing the "butt" of the HDD's from the side view.

just my personal preference, to each his own.

[radodrill]

I absolutely love your build. Everything you've done has been so precise that it boggles the mind. The only gripe i can think of is that I would have preferred the HDD cage to have been reverse mounted to the back panel. So that you would have slid them into position on the connectors at the back panel and be viewing the "butt" of the HDD's from the side view.

just my personal preference, to each his own.

I thought about that; but I think it looks better with all the retention screws on the same side of the drive bays.

[radodrill]

Now for installing the case feet;

Marked the location of the 8 holes


Drilled the holes


Inserted the feet; nice snug fit so no glue necessary


Started the wiring for the LED illumination of the feet


Finished wiring the LEDs


Mounted the fan controller


Now a gallery of the (almost) finished case












I still have to install the CCFLs and H2O items as well as do the custom length wiring (and sleeving) of the fans. Once I get all the hardware into the case I'll do some tidying of the cabling. The one front panel that currently isn't hooked up will be used as eject/activity indicator for the CD drive.

Sponsors:

[Alik4041]

Looks good. Can't wait to see it all lit up

[radodrill]

Looks good. Can't wait to see it all lit up

Thanks; Once I get the lighting installed I'll get some good pics.

[radodrill]

W00T I received a sponsorship package from DangerDen Today.

Here are the goodies:


2x Black Ice X-Flow Xtreme III radiators with 1/2" barbs


2x 8800 GTX/ULTRA waterblocks with stubby SLI barb and single-slot bracket


2x Brass Fill-ports, 24x Plastic snap hose clamps, and 20' 1/2" ID Tygon tubing


LGA775 TDX CPU block, i875 Maze4 chipset block, Maze4 Chipset block, Lucite 680i top for Maze4 blocks (not exactly sure which top is best for the southbridge of the DFI 680i; so DD was nice enough to send both tops so I can use what fits best)


Finally the variable speed D5 pump


I'll have more progress updates soon; Just wanted to share pics of the new gear.

Sponsors:

[radodrill]

Installed the Radiators






Soon to be custom pump mounting bracket


Bent to shape


Added pump mounting holes


Finished bracket


Bracket attached to the pump


Pump and 1 fan installed in the case (also sleeved the wiring for them)


Sponsors:

[Alik4041]

[B]W00T I received a sponsorship package from DangerDen Today.

Here are the goodies:

You deserve it, Nice job! BTW, that pictures looks to die for I wish I canwake up one day and have all that stuff at my door step

[radodrill]

You deserve it, Nice job! BTW, that pictures looks to die for I wish I canwake up one day and have all that stuff at my door step

Thanks a lot; hopefully I can get some hardware sponsors as well.

[it_burns_when_i_pee]

still looking really promising

i remember seeing this acrylic case a while back and the guy had watercooling fitted, so airflow not being a real essential he put loads of shower hoses - you know the metal ringed ones - throughout and illuminated green. reminded me of matrix somehow. anyway was a nice touch. perhaps you could do something like that?

also seen one where this guy painted all of his motherboard and video card with a clear uv reactive paint. it was on that overclockers.com website a good while back. that was nice too.

[radodrill]

Mounted and sleeved the fans for the front RAD


Installed some of the tubing


Re-installed the drive bays; decided to go with frosted sides on the drive bays


Shot from the front to better show the run of tubing


Also tidied up the cabling for the front panel switches


2 shots to give an idea how some of the lighting will look




Sponsors:

[radodrill]

After testing the PWM fan controller with the Blackfire fans I realized that at low speeds the fans were "growling." By means of trial & error I discovered that if I replace the 0.1uF timing capacitor with a 100pF capacitor (raising the PWM frequency from 30Hz to 30KHz) the symptoms are resolved.

Here's the Baseboard after a few more coats of paint, sanding, and steel wool treatment.


Finished installing the rest of the fans


Here are some gallery shots of the case; not that I've also installed a fill-port reservoir












Sponsors:

[iNF3rN0]

omg... amazing... at first i was like "he doesnt need all that space" but then i see this and im like "k the extra space is going to good use" lol

sooo jealous right now... u dont even know...

Im gonna start my case mode soon. ive got th design down... but not the material usage yet. I wanna go stainless steel and acrylic... And the fact that im a Laser CNC operator is definatly gonna help me cause i suck with dremel lol

[radodrill]

omg... amazing... at first i was like "he doesnt need all that space" but then i see this and im like "k the extra space is going to good use" lol

sooo jealous right now... u dont even know...

Im gonna start my case mode soon. ive got th design down... but not the material usage yet. I wanna go stainless steel and acrylic... And the fact that im a Laser CNC operator is definatly gonna help me cause i suck with dremel lol

Thanks a lot

I wish I had access to CNC tools (for that matter a full machine shop)

[radodrill]

Started installing the CCFL Lighting

What will become mounting plates for the CCFL inverters


Drilled Screwholes


Rounded the ends


Polished them up


Drilled & tapped screwholes in the MB Panel


Secured the inverters


Mounted the 4 CCFLs on the right side


Secured the right-hand panel


Lighting on; dim ambient lighting


An assortment of shots in the dark
















I'm planning on having the case and hardware wrapped up by the end of the upcoming weekend; finishing up the baseboard may take a little longer though.

Sponsors:

[it_burns_when_i_pee]

man, still looking good

only you need a better camera or learn to use the macro function. sort the focus, we cant see it's full glory

[Alik4041]

Very nice. And congratulations
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2007...th_sept_2007/4

[radodrill]

Very nice. And congratulations
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2007...th_sept_2007/4

Thanks; didn't realize I was up for MOTM at Bit-Tech

[radodrill]

Thanks Bit-Tech for putting me in the running for the Mod of the Month competition for September 2007; I'm very honored.

Thanks to the community here (and the other forums where this log is posted) for your support

Also, Thanks to DangerDen, A.C.Ryan, and Petra's Tech Shop for their help and sponsorship

[radodrill]

man, still looking good

only you need a better camera or learn to use the macro function. sort the focus, we cant see it's full glory

It's a Sony DSC-F828; maybe the shutter speed is a bit slow for handheld use; for the final shots I'll be using a tripod

[Cpl Ledanek]

It's a Sony DSC-F828; maybe the shutter speed is a bit slow for handheld use; for the final shots I'll be using a tripod

...just a suggestion: set your camera to Macro + play with ISO 400-600 without flash (if there is enough ambient light), set timer to 10 sec on tripod or bag of coffee beans or green peas (conforms better to whatever angle you want)
...looking forward to next pics