--- r e f l e X i o n ---

[nigelke]

sweet i just love it keep going ^^

[Kibbler]

Very awesome precise work Xion!

I'm a bit concerned about the pump recesses, would the pumps get too warm in there? Do you have anything in mind on how to get some air movement in the zero-g chamber?

[Xion X2]

If you use the 1000, 1500, 2000 Wet & Dry "wet" (with water) you will find that to works much better and will start to polish the perspex as it cuts it back.
Just have a small container of water near by to soak and rinse the Wet & Dry in.

Thanks, kg. I'll try that.

sweet i just love it keep going ^^

Thanks, man.

Very awesome precise work Xion!

I'm a bit concerned about the pump recesses, would the pumps get too warm in there? Do you have anything in mind on how to get some air movement in the zero-g chamber?

Thanks, Kibbler.

Warm because of the PSU, you mean? The recess cut is only 1/8", and I don't think that these pumps generate too much heat since they're small. The SSDs run very cool as well, unlike standard HDDs.

The PSU will be vented out the front of the case to keep the chamber cool. The HX1000's intake fan is a 140mm and is located on the bottom of the PSU. So I'll be cutting a vent into the bottom of the Cosmos where it mounts (the Cosmos sits on legs off the floor, so this will work well to intake from the floor of the case) for an intake and will be cutting a vent into the front panel to exhaust the hot air.

A crude illustration--

PSU shown below:

[]--------[] >
[]--------[] > exhaust through front panel
[]--------[] >
^^^^^^^
intake air


I hope that makes better sense of it. I realize it may be a bit confusing since this is an unorthodox design, but it'll all make sense soon.

The Corsair HX1000 is the PSU that I'm using. The only real difference from a standard mount for this PSU will be that I'm mounting it backwards and on the opposite end of the case. It's made to exhaust air out the back to the left, like most PSUs do, and I'm exhausting to the right and out the front of the case, instead of the back.

[Wezly]

I didn't know if you were going to bolt the pumps together with the plexi, because I wasn't sure if the screws would reach through to the threads in the res-top.

But I guess you are haha.

[Xion X2]

I didn't know if you were going to bolt the pumps together with the plexi, because I wasn't sure if the screws would reach through to the threads in the res-top.

But I guess you are haha.

Yeah, the bolts are plenty long. They actually screw in about a full inch into the acrylic res tops. I also plan to paint them black so that they'll blend in with the base of the pumps, which are also black. And I'll likely countersink the holes.

Did you notice that I also removed those two mounting tabs off the pump base? Took those off with the dremel and metal cutting disc.

[Wezly]

Yeah I saw that, and that's why I was asking. Helps if I mention my observations, doesn't it?

[Xion X2]

*Phew*. I'm tired.

Been spending a lot of hours in the shop lately.

First, some more fun with the unibits. I have a few different ones, and they all seem to cut different into this plexi. The fatter one has a better cut and gives me edges that are as smooth as a baby's behind. The skinnier ones with more depth leave a little roughness behind to sand away.






I'll have some pictures of the actual Zero Gravity shelves drilled with these in the next update.

Pieces laid out for cutting. I'll be cutting two 22.5 x 8" panels, one for the roof of the case and one for the floor.



Out comes the trusty (?) jigsaw.






So the jig cuts came out "ok" as they always do and were filed down. And one of these pieces served for the new floor in my case to cover those ugly vents. Remember this?



Now, with the improved look.





And into the Zero-G Chamber.



I'll be cutting vents in this new floor only where they are needed.


*Takes a breather and a swig of bottled water*

Ok.. then I went to work on the roof of the case.




Ugly mesh vents.. and more than are needed...



Out you come, ugly mesh vents. Mr. Dremel, get to work.




That's looking better. And since I hate jigsaws (I guess hate would be a strong word, but I dislike them for their inaccurate nature) I will clear these out with the routing table, instead.



Important safety tip: Whenever placing your piece on your routing table, always make sure that you are holding it securely as above before flipping the switch. That bit will grab into it easily and fling it across your table if you don't.

And at all times, if not using a miter guide, make sure you are holding the piece securely with both hands to minimize kickback and keep your hands and fingers as far away from the bit as possible.



Clearing out the right side.



A very clean cut, even before filing.



Now for the other side.



And the short sides.




And then we have the completed piece.








The new piece for the roof will overlay from the inside. Since the Cosmos has a shell, you won't be able to see the top/outside roof of the frame, but I wanted it to look nice, anyway.

Both the floor and roof will have to be cut in certain places for the shell to fit back on properly. But.. let's save that one for another day, shall we!?

Well I think that's about enough for now. Thanks again for following the making of refleXion.

[Wezly]

I greatly enjoy this.

[Nirvash]

*Phew*. I'm tired.


New package arrived. My Mastercraft 10" table saw blades made for aluminum cutting. I couldn't wait to try these out.



Perhaps you're like me and get easily frustrated with a jigsaw. You can cut with them 100 times, and no matter how careful you are there are always those times when she walks on you and then your cut is all crooked. They're fun when they work, and they'll make you cuss when they don't. So the hope was to minimize the risk and use these blades on my table saw to make square cuts easier with aluminum.




Never has such a small part caused me such a headache. I guess this is just one of those hard lessons that you learn.

So after breathing a huge sigh of relief, I swapped in the new blade and was ready to go.



I had my cuts all laid out on a 2x4 sheet of aluminum (1/16"). With this, I'm cutting two panels 22.5 x 8.25". One will go on the roof of the case and one on the floor of the case. I'll show later how I plan to use these, but for now, let's throw this piece on the saw and get to cutting.

voigts, good luck, bud. I think, for now, that I'll have to stick with a jigsaw until I can afford a metal shear. Maybe you'll have better luck than me, but this definitely doesn't work for the thickness of metal that I'm working with (1/16").

So after about 20-30 minutes of filing, I finally had that piece looking respectable and laid it out for cutting the next piece.

It is most likely nothing but the aluminum blade you have turns counter clockwise, but the teeth on the blade that was in the saw looks like it should turn clockwise.

Old
New

[aka_GK]

router is something magical, it always leaves rounded corners behind
Nice update man

[nlancaster]

It is most likely nothing but the aluminum blade you have turns counter clockwise, but the teeth on the blade that was in the saw looks like it should turn clockwise.

Old
New

Yes, that looks like the answer right there. That new blade is set to cut in the oposite spin as your old blade.

(thats someone slaping me by the way)

I had this long paragraph on what was wrong, and even checked my tools out in the shop. You installed that aluminum cutting blade backwards. flip it around so the teath point towards you.

[Hannibal Lecter]

Beautiful build and great craftmanship

However, having the pumps rest on the acrylic shelves is a bad idea for two reasons:

1) Vibrations. Pumps vibrate a lot and although the acrylic will somewhat dampen vibrations they'll still propagate to the aluminium walls and I doubt you'll be happy with the result. So you may want to decouple them.

2) Heat. These pumps can get pretty hot, and counter-intuitively they get hotter with less restriction in the loop. They risk overheating if rested on the shelves.

You may get away with some venting holes where the pumps are resting as it won't show. Getting rid invisibly of the vibrations will be more challenging, maybe have the pumps rest on rubber or silicon

Unfortunately since the pumps need to be primed to run, it won't be easy to test the best (i.g. most silent) decoupling method.

Anyway good luck and again congratulations on a beautiful build.

[Xion X2]

I greatly enjoy this.

It is most likely nothing but the aluminum blade you have turns counter clockwise, but the teeth on the blade that was in the saw looks like it should turn clockwise.

The saw spins clockwise.

router is something magical, it always leaves rounded corners behind
Nice update man

Thanks, bud.

Yes, that looks like the answer right there. That new blade is set to cut in the oposite spin as your old blade.

(thats someone slaping me by the way)

I had this long paragraph on what was wrong, and even checked my tools out in the shop. You installed that aluminum cutting blade backwards. flip it around so the teath point towards you.

Are you absolutely sure about this? All the blades that I've seen so far have the print on the side that faces left against the arbor nut. Why would this one be backwards?

Will definitely be researching this one more.

Beautiful build and great craftmanship

However, having the pumps rest on the acrylic shelves is a bad idea for two reasons:

Thanks, Hannibal. See my replies in red below.

1) Vibrations. Pumps vibrate a lot and although the acrylic will somewhat dampen vibrations they'll still propagate to the aluminium walls and I doubt you'll be happy with the result. So you may want to decouple them.

The pumps will have foam pads placed underneath them. The shelves will be bolted down in all four corners through aluminum brackets which will keep them from vibrating much, and they will also have a thin rubber lining between the edge of the shelf and the chamber housing.

2) Heat. These pumps can get pretty hot, and counter-intuitively they get hotter with less restriction in the loop. They risk overheating if rested on the shelves.

I don't understand what you mean here, because pumps are always resting on something, be it shelves, the floor of a case, the drive bay or whatever. Why would these shelves be any different?

You may get away with some venting holes where the pumps are resting as it won't show. Getting rid invisibly of the vibrations will be more challenging, maybe have the pumps rest on rubber or silicon

Yes, as I mentioned before, the pumps will have a foam pad cut to the size of the base inserted beneath them.

[voigts]

It looks like you did mount the new blade backwards. It doesn't mount according to which side the print is on. The cutting blades should be putting force downward onto the cutting edge. This is to keep the piece being cut from being kicked upwards by the blade. You mounted the blade so that it is cutting upwards on the alu and hence the ripping effect. It shouldn't do that if mounted correctly.

Exactly what router bit are you using to make those cuts?

I've never used unibits. Are they better than conventional bits?

[noeru]

*Phew*. I'm tired.


... edit: for the rest of the pics - see Post No. 888 ...

Hi Xion X2

Very careful work great!
・ ・ ・ Great tool and envy

[Mabyboi]

Hi Xion X2

Very careful work great!
・ ・ ・ Great tool and envy

please dont quote the entire update

but great job Xion! we need more!!

[shazza]

Nice update, Xion

(I edited the full image quotes out of noeru's post to save our scrolling fingers)

[sheaga]

yes this is a GREAT build. Also you did install the saw blade backwards.

[Hannibal Lecter]

Of course pumps need to rest on something but the bottom part of the pump heats up quite a lot, there need to be some space or vent holes below the pump. In fact you should also think about some (even light) airflow in the cage if you haven't already.

You could do something like this:





Keep up the great work

[Xion X2]

Ok guys, what you're saying makes sense. I did see the AL being forced up a little at the blade. What's strange is that I had no kickback at all from the blade installed like that although it was a very rough cut. I'll flip it around and try it again.

Awkward n00b moment. Guess I figured there was some sort of standard for all blades to have the printed side to the left of the arbor nut. OK, no more excuses, but I've removed that part from my log so I won't get any more questions/comments about it since the issue's now resolved.

Exactly what router bit are you using to make those cuts?

I've never used unibits. Are they better than conventional bits?

For the router, I'm using a Bosch upspiral carbide tip w/ a 1/4" shank made for milling. It's the same one that I used in my earlier updates with the RotoZip. Works great for both aluminum and plexi.

Unibits are great for smooth radial cuts, and they're handy because they allow you to drill to a variety of sizes in one bit. You can step-drill quite easily with them so that you remove material gradually making for an easier drill.

Hi Xion X2

Very careful work great!
・ ・ ・ Great tool and envy

Thank you very much, noeru. I appreciate your continued interest and feedback!

but great job Xion! we need more!!

Thanks, Mabyboi!

Nice update, Xion

(I edited the full image quotes out of noeru's post to save our scrolling fingers)

Thank you, Shazza.

yes this is a GREAT build.

Thanks, sheaga! I don't believe that I've seen you here until now, so if you're new, welcome to the project.

Of course pumps need to rest on something but the bottom part of the pump heats up quite a lot, there need to be some space or vent holes below the pump. In fact you should also think about some (even light) airflow in the cage if you haven't already.

You could do something like this:





Keep up the great work

Thanks, Hannibal. I appreciate the advice, but I have to say that I'm not yet convinced that I need to clear the shelf out from under the pumps. These pumps come with two mounting tabs to the base (I've actually shaved these off) for mounting them to a flat surface. So I'm not sure why mounting them to shelves would pose an unusual problem? The chamber will be vented so that all the hot air doesn't just hover around the pumps.

This is an unorthodoxed build/design, but I sincerely believe that all the design choices will begin to make sense soon. Thanks for your feedback.

I'll keep your suggestion in mind though and may do some further research into this before the shelf design is complete.

[millertime359]

I got tied up with school work, and what not. This is really coming along nice. Looking forward to more updates.

[callen_1]

Hi xion. I'm sure you've worked it all out now, but the blades have arrows around the hole in the centre which state the way the blade
should spin. And seeing as the shaft in the table saw only spins 1 way, there really is only 1 way to mount them. You can see the arrows in
one of the first pics on the last page.

On a separate note, and again i'm sure you've worked this out, the pumps generally do need some sort of airflow underneath (that's part of
the reason the tabs on the base raise the pumps slightly when mounted with the rubber. The other reason obviously being vibration). If the
acrylic could conduct heat you'd be good to go but unfortunately it's more of an insulator.

Your a smart guy though so i have faith in your decisions. I look forward to seeing more of your work

[Xion X2]

I got tied up with school work, and what not. This is really coming along nice. Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks, bud. Hope school is going well for you.

Hi xion. I'm sure you've worked it all out now, but the blades have arrows around the hole in the centre which state the way the blade
should spin. And seeing as the shaft in the table saw only spins 1 way, there really is only 1 way to mount them. You can see the arrows in
one of the first pics on the last page.

On a separate note, and again i'm sure you've worked this out, the pumps generally do need some sort of airflow underneath (that's part of
the reason the tabs on the base raise the pumps slightly when mounted with the rubber. The other reason obviously being vibration). If the
acrylic could conduct heat you'd be good to go but unfortunately it's more of an insulator.

Your a smart guy though so i have faith in your decisions. I look forward to seeing more of your work

Callen, I'm not as smart as I wish I was, because somehow (don't ask me how) I clearly missed the rotation arrows around the center. I had to go back and look at the picture you reference, because I swear that I even looked for them before I installed the blade, but I was obviously just in a hurry after struggling to get the arbor nut off for 45 minutes. And since the print was on the same side as the blade I was taking out, I went ahead and installed it the same way.

I guess this would be one of those "screw-up" times that kg mentioned to me before where something would inevitably go wrong. Good thing I didn't have my gloves on when using the saw.

As for the pumps, you guys still have me scratching my head, because Swiftech shows that the pump can mount sitting square on its base on a neoprene pad (which is just what I had planned to do or with some sort of foam padding.)

The MCP350™ can either be installed with the built-in neoprene pad featuring a peel-off adhesive back, or permanently with thru-bolts as shown below.

That sounds to me like the pump can mount squarely on its base on something. How is this different than what I intend to do? Perhaps I misled some of you, unintentionally, with the shots of the pumps sitting directly on the shelf as I've planned all along to insert some padding underneath them. But since I wasn't permanently mounting the pumps in those pictures I didn't use any.

I need to double check to see if I have some of those neoprene pads as they would keep me from having to drill the shelves to mount the pumps on.

[Kibbler]

Whether or not you're convinced the other guys are right. It's also generally not advised to mount them on the sticky neoprene pad (if for no reason other than they leave a terrible mess). Look for Naekuh's sorta-monthly post on his DDC sink, and how UN Designs brackets leave the bottom of the pump open. There's a reason these things are made.

[nlancaster]

I have been running DDC 18w pumps in two different machines for years. I have never once found that the pump is hot to the touch, in any location. It is true that the bottom of the DDC 18w pumps do get warm, but they are just slightly warm, you can hold your finger on the bottom indeffinatly on both of my pumps with no issues. One of those pumps has the neoprene pad stuck to the bottom of it. Recieved it that way from a great modder named Darthbeavis. That pump stays on for 8-16 hours every single day with no issues and no overheating.

Xion, do it the way you want and just check them. It is not like you could not change the parts at a later date. Some trouble to make those changes of course but always doable.