09/10 Project

[callen_1]

Hi people, I'm not much for words (hence the post count) but I check these forums religiously every day and thought it was about time i contributed something .

I've gathered plenty of knowledge over the last couple of years, looking at the water cooled case gallery and worklogs, and figured i may as well share my latest project.

I'd also like to point out that I've started this project back-to-front compared to most, starting with a case, then modding the hell out of it (lol), and lastly buying all the hardware (aside from some of the w/c gear which i purchased earlier to get an idea of certain dimensions and space factors).

So, i chose a Lian-Li PC-A10 as the chassis. This is mainly because i like the layout and size, and at the time i had one to take measurements and such from while the fresh one came in the post. I ordered the standard aluminum coloured case under the impression it hadn't already been anodized and I would be able to anodize certain panels black after it was water jet cut. i later found out that the case is actually still anodized, only it's clear, so i guess the whole thing's gonna get powder coated instead.
To make things worse, the case came 3 months late (friggen customs!) and came with handles bolted on as it was the last silver case ppc's had. So I've had to make some adjustments.

All the internals have been re-cut, bent and drilled as you'll see in the following pics. This was to allow more space behind the mobo tray and get rid of the holes in the centre divider. i also wanted to remove all unnecessary drive bays to make the case more roomy.

I'll also point out that i'll be using a simple point and shoot camera so there won't be any of these fancy pants crazy lighting shots, although i did use a tripod which helped.

Anyway, I'll be quiet now and show some pics -

This is the case (not my pics though)








These are the parts i had water jet cut -



Side Panels


Faceplate




Drive Cage Part 1


Drive Cage Part 2


Centre Divider
]

PSU Bracket


Mobo Tray


Backplate




I needed to cut a hole in the top for a res i'll build and another hole in the front for a faceplate -

Top:






Used this next (laminate trimmer + carbide bit) to give a nice, straight cut -




See -




Last step was the corners. This was done with a small flat file -

Left Corner


And Right Corner



Now the face -






I wanted the faceplate to be made of brushed aluminum and i would later anodize it black (Can you guess where i got the idea? A guy called charles comes to mind)

Anyway here's how I brushed it for anyone interested -






















While it's obveously not up to the same standard as charles work, it still fits and, in the very least, it's something different so i'm happy. It will also sit more flush once the brackets are made....hopefully.


I started on the internals next -

Mobo tray -




Now drilled, tapped and fitted with a test board (i don't have any action pics of this sorry). I kept the pci-card-holder-thingy from the case as there was no point trying to redesign it. Luckily everything fits -








Some small adjustments to help it fit inside -






Drive cage -












Next is the res -

This is a trial run. The real thing will be laser cut and some dimensions will change slightly but i needed to do this to find out how much room i had to play with.

I decided to build a routing tabletop for this job and mounted the laminate trimmer upside down under an aluminum plate i bought and shaped -









Res top -

I started with a piece of acrylic and cut it to size, after which i routed off 16.5mm from the side edges @ 1.5mm deep and, 14.15mm from the top and bottom edges also @ 1.5mm deep. The pics will help make sense of what i mean, and by doing this it will allow me to mount the res under the roof of the case while still being flush with the top of the case outside (if that makes sense ) -






One of the ends had to be routed and extra 1.5mm deep to allow for a reinforcement layer of aluminum at the back of the case which can't be removed -





Sides -










Watch your finger(s) -




After that little mishap i made some adjustments -











I think you get the gist.


The top and bottom ends were a little harder to get square... so i used a square -




In the end it worked out pretty well, only a out by 100th of a mm




I routed the corners too far with a 45 degree chamfer bit which was a bummer but it turned out ok in the end. Its a test anyway -




And, because of the 1.5mm routing around the edge of the top, the res now sits flush with the surface of the case top...or atleast it will once it's secured there -







So here's the project up to date -














Loads and loads of work left so please don't judge on first impressions


That's all for now, thanks a bunch for looking. It's going to be a while before i update this thread again as I'm trying to get some hi-temp metal putty shipped in before i proceed but I'm having a hell of a time getting it, so please, don't hold your breath .

Cya people,
Callen