Custom Cube Case (Scratch Build)

[zuess]

With a case width of 20", there's enough room to mount an inverted
motherboard on the right hand side and still have enough room to tuck
cables in between them.




I seen this Aquacomputer Aquatube for a tube reservior and really liked it.
It's kinda Nautical which correlate's to water cooling.
But I couldn't find it here in the great white north as they say.



So I got a Micro-Res, and designed my own mount for it.
Hope you like it.





Used the same 6 hole pattern as the Aquatube and drilled a 2 1/4" hole for the round window using a holesaw.



Now for a lot of filing work as you can see.



Here's a test fit, think it will work OK.



Made a top and bottom plate that attaches using cap screws which will be hidden from the front.
It will have to be mounted from behind, but I can live with that.

Couple of pic's showing the reservior attached.





I used a 4mm piece of acrylic, secured that with 6 screws to the face plate.
So I now have to attach the 4mm acrylic to the micro-res and i couldn't use any kind of fastener I could think of, so i used 4 small triangular pieces of double-sided mounting tape made by 3M.

You can barely see the triangular pieces in the lower left and right side.



That's all for now, will post an update tomorrow.

zuess

[Kibbler]

I'm usually wary of tapes and glues but that is a really really neat idea, never seen a mcres done up like that. Do you think the tape is strong enough? Would it loosen or detach over time?

[shabranigdo]

Man that is great work. I love the jig you made for cutting the fan holes, brilliant. I never thought you could get that clean a hole with a hand saw. When I first saw the case I though you used a drill hole saw to make them. Very creative looking forward to seeing more. I also like your mount for the MCRES interesting idea.

[zuess]

I'm usually wary of tapes and glues but that is a really really neat idea, never seen a mcres done up like that. Do you think the tape is strong enough? Would it loosen or detach over time?

I was very wary to but after i went to 3M's website and seen that they had a Heavy Duty mounting tape that was clear i thought i would give it a try.
I used the tape to attach the plate to my jigsaw, and after all the holes were done i tried to remove it, and couldn't no matter how i tried.
I assure you that whatever you stick this tape to is there forever.

Here's a pic of the tape

Man that is great work. I love the jig you made for cutting the fan holes, brilliant. I never thought you could get that clean a hole with a hand saw. When I first saw the case I though you used a drill hole saw to make them. Very creative looking forward to seeing more. I also like your mount for the MCRES interesting idea.

Thanks, the jig for cutting the fan holes took me quite a while to come up with, so i don't know about brilliant.

The fan hole jig is only as accurate as the connection used to secure the plate to the base of the jigsaw, you dont want any movement.
The 3M tape works so good I cant believe it myself.

That res sure is neat, but I'm also bit worried about that tape's strength.

Thanks, but this tape is, TAPE OF THE GODS.

I'll be updating the worklog tomorrow, see you then.

[Bun-Bun]

But I couldn't find it here in the great white north as they say.


So I got a Micro-Res, and designed my own mount for it.

DuDe...

I didn't read the rest of the thread or read much of it at all but this caught my eye... that is simply genius.

You can see mine here which is a alphacool cape bullseye because they didnt have the aquatube in alluminum back when I did the build and I made a custom front plate for it out of a scap lian li side panel to match the case. But I hate that res... does nothing cool and is a pain to bleed.

You have inspired me.

another note. Dremels and Routers work ALOT better with circle jigs for making holes then a jigsaw. And yes local CNC shops are expensive for hobby stuff like this. A plate I made for a rad mount/grill cost me ~$200 to make including laser cutting, brushing, anodizing. After the fact I found a shop that would have done it all for ~$80 but yeah...

EDIT: Nice choice of bolts