PROJECT: MM Pinnacle 300 (previously Ugly Duckling)

[Kibbler]

Hmm wish i thought about that before i powdercoated my case. The stock clear ress holders are so fragile. Broke 1 already.

I hear you. I don't like the clear ones because they feel insecure and fragile. And the black ones (with latch) are too bulky for the amount of space I have. I like the AL satin finish, too

[Lagaaja]

Nice one with that res holder Looking forward to see the final build getting shape!

[joshd]

This is looking really awesome so far, good job!

[Kibbler]

Teaser

Pretty obvious what these are. Mosfet sinks will be paired with EK backplates.


I'm as happy as a pig in poo that these Lamptron anodized AL handles fit the same holes I drilled earlier for temporary handles (IKEA drawer handles).


And I got a free t-shirt. One that would fit 3 sumo wrestlers.


Minor mods to the front panel. Who knows maybe it'll fit a triple..... And maybe there will be a 120.2 in the FS/FT section soon......


Comments/to-do:
-Don't use fitted sheets as backdrop.
-Iron sheets.
-Buy new sheets.
-Wait for last packages to arrive...

[whe3ls]

nice mod. i really like your nippers

[Kibbler]

Teaser2

There's a lot of sleeving in my near future (not shown: 2 big bags of cable management p-clips).


New aluminum bracket for 120x3 rads, to be drilled for ST/BI spacing. Basically the same idea as the PA120.2 mount shown previously, but I decided to go for broke and go with a triple rad instead. MCR230 is on the way from Gary.


I like how this piece turned out after powder coating.


Problem is, guess my instructions to the powder coaters were not specific enough. A few panels were only coated on 1 side, and some of the pieces were the wrong color (black instead of orange). The HDD cage above was supposed to be black, too, but the orange looks interesting so I'll keep it as-is.

However, the finish on the coating is fantastic. Very smooth.

Sigh...need to make another trip to finish up the rest of the panels, who knows when I'll have time.

[Extigy]

I noticed you were having troubles with the cable wrap fraying. little tip. cut the cable wrap with a heat knife, or something similar (heat up scissors). This will prevent the ends from freying! with the ends sorted, they should fit into a compression fitting with some encouragement!

Hope this helps!

Love the orange powdercoating with the grey plastic mounts. Very nice.

[Kibbler]

I noticed you were having troubles with the cable wrap fraying. little tip. cut the cable wrap with a heat knife, or something similar (heat up scissors). This will prevent the ends from freying! with the ends sorted, they should fit into a compression fitting with some encouragement!

Hope this helps!

Love the orange powdercoating with the grey plastic mounts. Very nice.

Thanks, I'll try that. However the problem wasn't just the fraying, it's that with tygon+sleeve it was physically too thick to screw down the compression collar. Virtualrain got his to work with shiny (mylar?) sleeve, which I think is thinner. Thanks for your comment, too.

***

After some irritating setbacks (powder coating, problems with the bezel, etc.), I am very pleased that the triple rad mount is coming along nicely. Here it is test-mounted to the front panel:


And here's the other side (s-flex ftw). Almost looks stock, doesn't it?


Measure 3x, drill 1x ftw.

The fans are attached with machine screws and nuts, to be replaced with whatever appropriate screws when my MCR320 arrives. The whole assembly is attached to the front panel with the same screws/nuts. I was planning to use rivets, but might go with this method instead. It'll be nice to be able to remove the entire rad + fans + mount assembly for cleaning in the future.

I just pray that my Swifty rad will have 15mm spacing...

[oily_17]

Very nice build you have going here.
Love the amount of detail you are giving on each step,keep up the good work.

If you don't mind me asking, what is the name of orange powdercoat you used for the drive cage -



I am going to start an orange and blue themed build and really like the orange colour you used.Also the finish looks amazing on it,hope I can find a local powdercoater who is as good as that.

EDIT: Do you have a pic of it beside the orange PET sleeving for comparison,as I will be using that sleeving in my build as well.Would appreciate it if you could post a pic please.

[Kibbler]

EDIT: Do you have a pic of it beside the orange PET sleeving for comparison,as I will be using that sleeving in my build as well.Would appreciate it if you could post a pic please.

Thanks for the comments This is a very slow build (waiting for parts, not enough time, laziness and indecision on my part) so if it wasn't so detailed I'd have nothing to post!

I'll take and upload some pics when I get out of work for comparison's sake, but it won't be helpful to you I'm afraid. I went to the powder coating place with black and orange in mind and expected them to let me choose out of a palette, but when I got there I saw a piece of bus/subway/metro handrail they had done in the perfect orange, so I just said "I want that"

Best bring a piece of orange PET along when you go to the painters and ask them what comes closest.

btw firefox theme build?

[oily_17]

I'll take and upload some pics when I get out of work for comparison's sake, but it won't be helpful to you I'm afraid. I went to the powder coating place with black and orange in mind and expected them to let me choose out of a palette, but when I got there I saw a piece of bus/subway/metro handrail they had done in the perfect orange, so I just said "I want that"

Best bring a piece of orange PET along when you go to the painters and ask them what comes closest.

No problem mate,think I will take some of the sleeving with me when I go.I know what you mean when you just saw the colour and bang: 'thats the one I want', I keep checking everything orange at the moment for the perfect colour.

btw firefox theme build?

Nah, but not a bad guess, it's just two of the colours I think look good together and I agree the Firefox orange and blue go very well together..you never know I might just use them... hmmm

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

thank you so much for showing the metal brake technique !! i was wondering how i was going to make a shroud in my next build and you just solved my issue


how thick was the alu strip you bent for the holder?

[Kibbler]

thank you so much for showing the metal brake technique !! i was wondering how i was going to make a shroud in my next build and you just solved my issue

how thick was the alu strip you bent for the holder?

You're most welcome. I think mine is about 1mm thick, very thin and flimsy by itself, need angles to give it rigidity. 1/16" might work, too. I'm guessing you want to make a shroud by forming a rectangle from 1 long strip? Good idea.

PS My gf just informed me I got *another* package. Let's hope its the triple rad, and let's hope it fits

[Kibbler]

Part 12: Big, black, and beautiful

QP-K is here, with Bitspower NPSM-G1/4 adapters. The glossy paint job is fantastic, much better than I imagined so I probably won't paint it. Fins are evenly spaced, too. But wait, whats it sitting on?


S-Flex army! Here's the whole rad + fans + mounting assembly. I'm apply the same "modular" philosophy to the rest of the build eg. hard drive cage, res, so that individual parts can be removed without disturbing others. Rad fits great with the included long screws, thanks Gabe! (are you still looking for MCR320 mounting photos?)


Here it is attached to the front panel.


And attached to the front bezel (minus mesh grill, which is not painted yet).


Oily_17: If the 2 colors look close, that's because my camera is not that great. In reality the powder coat is slightly more dull.


Hope you enjoyed it!

[eXa]

The rad\fan mount is covering the fans a little, planning on doing something about that?

[oily_17]

Like how the front end has turned out,seems almost factory fit,which is what I like about the mod.
Maybe trim the sides of the mount up a little in a ) shape so that they do not overhang the fans as eXA said.
Looks good so far,keep up with the good work and pics.

In reality the powder coat is slightly more dull.

Cheers!! Yeah that's a great shot,I can see the difference in the two quite clearly.In fact I think I like the duller colour better,the PET sleeving colour might be a bit too much ::Bling:: when doing the inside with it.I will have to look around some more for my perfect colour.

[Kibbler]

The rad\fan mount is covering the fans a little, planning on doing something about that?

Yeah, noticed that. I have an idea in mind on how to open it up cleanly, but the aluminum angles I used are pretty thin. I have to keep structural integrity in mind.

[Pub_Randy**]

i want ur wallpaper lol

[Arni]

i want ur wallpaper lol

paint it ;D

Kibbler check pw plzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Kibbler]

Arni: Got your PM, thanks. Not sure exactly what you're asking, but maybe you can check the pics in post#54, that will show you how much to cut away.

[Arni]

ok now i see it ,I think i buy thius case too

[Kibbler]

The rad\fan mount is covering the fans a little, planning on doing something about that?

I used a grill and a piece of aluminum scrap to test my idea, looks ok.


Marked the cutout areas using the grill as a template.


Cut out most of the material with the good old nibbler.


Couple hours and 4~5 sanding drums later, looks good


The MCR320 is too big, and I won't have any open drive bays. So what about my dvds? I got this, a slim drive enclosure, all aluminum. Took a long f-king time to find it, too. Newegg was the cheapest but they don't ship overseas, and other websites charge an arm and leg for shipping. Finally bought it off someone from Arstechnica for $15. Firewire version, too! The enclosure will be fixed to the case. Here it is, with the ATAPI interface PCB on top. It won't be used tho...


...because I will be using a new Sony/Optiarc slimline sata drive. I wanted to spring for Blu-ray but ~$300 is a lot of money.


Cheers!

[skinnee]

I am really liking this build log! Its inspiring me to design and build my own case.

keep up the good work!

[Arni]

I love this project dvd-r on radiator?

[Kibbler]

Part 13: Antec Cosmos IKEA Edition

How to make a cheap COSMOS wannabe:

Buy pull handles from IKEA (I bought a few variations to try out, they're cheap).


Make measurements on the top panel. Measure 3x, drill 1x. Side note: I f-king suck at drilling. Ok after using a hammer and punch the bit stays put and doesn't walk. But the resulting hole is ALWAYS burr-y and sharp. What am I doing wrong? I'm using average HSS drill bits, is that ok for steel?


Test fit, looks nice! At this point I found that the included screws are meant for drawer/cabinet doors, so they're too long for just a sheet of metal and 2 washers. Need new screws.


Another angle. You see there's a larger off-center hole there. That's no (moon) fillport, that's cable routing for...


...for the mounted external slimline drive.


Another angle. Still some minor details to clean up and a coat of paint to go, but that's the general idea. Oh, the bottom of the slimline enclosure will not be there, I was just too lazy to take it apart again.


Enjoy!