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

[Vinas]

So, it's about mid May... We're 7 months into the build... Are you still sticking to the end of May dead line?

talk to us... we might be able to help, or a least some moral support. It would be a shame to see the project stall out when it's so close. Sleeving is a PITA but once done hopefully you'll be happy with the results. If you're stuck on the sleeving maybe a sleeve extension from frozen CPU would be in order? I know it is expensive, but well worth saving the life of a PSU IMHO. Oh and your fingers!!

[Aphellyon]

Status report?

[Xion X2]

Hello, XS.

I just wanted to provide a status update since I've been away for a while.

There's no "pretty" way to put this, so I'll just say it.

First off, refleXion is still in progress. I am not delaying or discontinuing the build, although it's become clear that my timeframe of end of May isn't going to happen. It's looking more like end of June or possibly July.

With that said, the reason things have been delayed is because I've ran into some financial difficulties that have caused me to change the path of the build a bit by downgrading some parts. I'll be documenting what's been changed as soon as the new parts come in.

Let me just say that the core theme of refleXion hasn't changed, and I truly feel that after it's complete (and it WILL be completed, eventually) that this change won't detract from the identity of the build at all. In fact, my belief is that this change will actually improve the overall aesthetics (I will be explaining how when the new parts get here) by quite a bit. This, however, was not the sole motivation for the change in parts.

Will the build be a little less 'epic' after this change in relation to hardware? Probably. But sometimes, sacrifices must be made based on real life circumstances, and I simply don't have the budget at this time to keep dumping as much money into refleXion as I have for the past 4, 5, 6 months.

Lastly, this "change" in hardware is only going to delay things by a week or so beyond the original timeline, so there won't be a waiting game that seems to extend on forever. I'm hoping that everything will go off to paint by end of June.

I'm headed to the beach over the weekend and so I won't have time to work on the build much. Because of this, I'm going to share my last update which was never posted since there's been a famine of updates lately. The update doesn't show as much progress as I would like, but it will clue you guys into some of the latest work that's been done. I'll try to have this on here tonight. If not, some time tomorrow.

-Michael

[Xion X2]

Ok, I have a whooole lot of pictures.

As many may recall, the shelving tactic I've decided to go with for the Zero-G chamber (custom SSD drive and water pump mounting bay) will be constructed with dovetailed Lexan.

To cut the dovetails, I use a combination of a handheld router and template guide. But before starting, I needed to set the depth of the cut at the router bit. I can't remember the exact depth of the cut that I decided to go with for these shelves, but it seems like it was around 4mm (?) It was very shallow, as the Lexan is strong enough that you don't need that deep a groove for a strong bond.

Measuring the depth of the groove cut or "dado" cut as is the correct technical term for it:



And then setting the router bit depth:





That depth will be for cutting the groove or "dado" for the lip or "tenon" of the shelf to slide in.

Cutting some Lexan on the table saw:



And I'll slide the unsanded shelf into my dovetail jig:



You can see how rough the edges are after the saw. These have to be sanded out with my Black & Decker power sander.



The power sander is good for getting the teeth marks out of the Lexan, as you can see. I use a rough 120, 220 on the power sander and then jump up to 400 grit on the sanding block and then wet sand the rest of the way home.







As you can see, the jig really comes in handy by allowing me to clamp the shelf in a vertical position while I sand and polish the edge. A belt sander would work better, but they're quite expensive when compared with other seemingly more complex tools, and so I haven't dropped the cash down for one yet.

After some wet sanding all the way to 3000-grit, this is what you get:





This stuff right here doesn't hurt, either. It seems to layer a gloss over the wet sanded edge to give it just a little more 'shine':




Next, it was time to mark the drill holes for the shelves. To do this, I'll use the same method that I used with the shelf brackets before by placing wooden blocks underneath to level small increments at a time, only this time I'm not using brackets. I'll be drilling and tapping directly into the shelves.

For this procedure, 'Lil', my microscopic little leveling pal, makes another cameo appearance.







(You can never have enough Irwin clamps. I have 8 of them and STILL run out occasionally...)




After this, I did something stupid. Instead of clamping the shelves down and drilling straight into them from the outside shell, I decided to mark them with a sharpie. Although this seemed like a good idea at the time, it would cost me later.

Anyway, I marked the drill holes once I had the shelves level and began to drill them:



This wasn't as easy as it could've been. My press didn't sit high enough for me to use the attached base as a platform since the shelf had to be sitting vertical to drill into the sides, so I had to move it to the side and just use a vice clamp and several spring clamps to hold the vice clamp down as a drilling platform:





"Lil" makes another appearance as he helps me level the shelf so that I'm drilling down at an exact 90-degree angle. This way, when I screw into the shelf from the outside shell, the screw and screwhole will align (theoretically, anyway..)



A few scuffs that I'll have to sand back out. This stuff scratches sooo easily.



Then I began to tap the holes. I'd never done this before and was expecting it to be a pain. But it was actually very easy.



And I'm using MDPC black oxide screws into the shelves. I can't remember the exact size of these.. 6/32, perhaps?



And here, the bottom shelf, is how these look when mounted inside the chamber shell. Look better without brackets, I think.



The top shelf was still sitting on the installed bracket from before. I think the bottom looks much better.




I haven't figured out a way to hide the screw threads yet. I thought about using an overlaying bracket, but then that would seem to defeat the purpose of not using brackets in the first place.

I could try drilling shorter on the shelf as I went too far with this one. Could probably back it off by 1/8" or so.

One more thing that some of you may notice is that the pumps now line up with the windows perfectly while resting on top of the shelves (no recess cut needed, as before.) This will clean up the look a bit as I wasn't really crazy about having to recess the shelves for the pumps.



That's it for now. Thanks for looking.. and for your patience as I know that things have been progressing slower than usual. Hope to have more soon.

[Church]

I somehow don't like the look of bolts in see through panel :/
Or at least they would look better if thread part would look clearly black, instead of whiteish thread in acryl panel with black bolt mixup. I wonder if something can change that gray thread effect, eg. some liquid ..

Maybe using glue for attachment would bring better visual results?

P.S.
No antivibration pads under pump planned?

[vistageek92]

Hello, XS.

I just wanted to provide a status update since I've been away for a while.

There's no "pretty" way to put this, so I'll just say it.

First off, refleXion is still in progress. I am not delaying or discontinuing the build, although it's become clear that my timeframe of end of May isn't going to happen. It's looking more like end of June or possibly July.

With that said, the reason things have been delayed is because I've ran into some financial difficulties that have caused me to change the path of the build a bit by downgrading some parts. I'll be documenting what's been changed as soon as the new parts come in.

Let me just say that the core theme of refleXion hasn't changed, and I truly feel that after it's complete (and it WILL be completed, eventually) that this change won't detract from the identity of the build at all. In fact, my belief is that this change will actually improve the overall aesthetics (I will be explaining how when the new parts get here) by quite a bit. This, however, was not the sole motivation for the change in parts.

Will the build be a little less 'epic' after this change in relation to hardware? Probably. But sometimes, sacrifices must be made based on real life circumstances, and I simply don't have the budget at this time to keep dumping as much money into refleXion as I have for the past 4, 5, 6 months.

Lastly, this "change" in hardware is only going to delay things by a week or so beyond the original timeline, so there won't be a waiting game that seems to extend on forever. I'm hoping that everything will go off to paint by end of June.

I'm headed to the beach over the weekend and so I won't have time to work on the build much. Because of this, I'm going to share my last update which was never posted since there's been a famine of updates lately. The update doesn't show as much progress as I would like, but it will clue you guys into some of the latest work that's been done. I'll try to have this on here tonight. If not, some time tomorrow.

-Michael

ohh riight, now we see why he downgraded.

Man, i totally understand you. And i have no doubt that reflexion will be better off with those parts, and still be the jaw dropping computer we have awaited so many months for.

As always XS supports you man.

[Linuxfan]

Its understandable if have to cut a few parts.
Your build is so amazing and your modding skills that it wouldn't matter whether you had dual 5970s or dual 7900GTXs, its an epic build.
Thanks for the update, looking forward to future updates as always!

[callen_1]

Hey, Michael. Nice update, It's definitely been a while!

If you'd like the holes you tapped to be clear, i found using a tapping fluid helps a LOT. Look into Tapmatic natural oil if you like, i think it's good. also, on the tapping subject, are you using a real tap or just a screw?? It doesnt appear to have the grooves down the side like a regular tap, but I'm probably just blind?

Anyway, great work, mate

[Xion X2]

I somehow don't like the look of bolts in see through panel :/
Or at least they would look better if thread part would look clearly black, instead of whiteish thread in acryl panel with black bolt mixup. I wonder if something can change that gray thread effect, eg. some liquid ..

Maybe using glue for attachment would bring better visual results?

P.S.
No antivibration pads under pump planned?

I'll be using anti-vibration foam cut to the exact size of the pump's base, but it will be very thin.

As far as the threading, I've thought the same thing in that I may try to use some black paint inside the screwholes. Seeing as the entire chamber piece will be painted black both inside and out, this should help it to blend in.

ohh riight, now we see why he downgraded.

Man, i totally understand you. And i have no doubt that reflexion will be better off with those parts, and still be the jaw dropping computer we have awaited so many months for.

As always XS supports you man.

lol, no. My parents have a place down there, so I won't have to spend too much.

Thanks as always, Paul.

Its understandable if have to cut a few parts.
Your build is so amazing and your modding skills that it wouldn't matter whether you had dual 5970s or dual 7900GTXs, its an epic build.
Thanks for the update, looking forward to future updates as always!

Thanks, Linuxfan. Much appreciated, bud.

Hey, Michael. Nice update, It's definitely been a while!

If you'd like the holes you tapped to be clear, i found using a tapping fluid helps a LOT. Look into Tapmatic natural oil if you like, i think it's good. also, on the tapping subject, are you using a real tap or just a screw?? It doesnt appear to have the grooves down the side like a regular tap, but I'm probably just blind?

Anyway, great work, mate

Hey, callen. Good to see you, pal.

You know, I can't remember whether I tried a lubricant when tapping the holes or not. I did use something when I drilled them which helped a little. This stuff just seems to fray very easily which is when it becomes opaque. I'll try tapping them again with a lubricant to see if it helps.

It's a real tap and has the grooves down the side. You just don't see it because of the angle the photo was taken.

[voigts]

At least its nice to know that I'm not the only one who doesn't have bottomless pockets. Nice update. I have yet to find a way to make screw holes in acrylic clear. I normally use silicone spray when tapping acrylic which helps a lot.

[Red-5]

Hey Xion X2. Good to see you back at it. I must agree with Linuxfan and vistageek92 too, it's your modding skills that count and not really your choice of hardware. I think it will be a stunning build when finished. Keep up the fantastic work mate.

[Vinas]

It's June 1st, any news?

[ShArKo]

Hi Xion X2 what´s news do you have??? I was looking for see more finish work here :p ejjejeje

Show us more

[Bill Owen]

Everything is coming along very nicely. This log should be published as book!

[Vinas]

If it becomes reality it should. I'm a little skeptical at this point... so many people start epic build logs only to give up once the bills roll in...

[DarthBeavis]

Give him time. I am still trying to finish up a project started over a year ago. I am very proud of him!

[Wezly]

If it becomes reality it should. I'm a little skeptical at this point... so many people start epic build logs only to give up once the bills roll in...

Dude, have you seen what he's done so far? I don't think he's giving up, haha.

Give him time. I am still trying to finish up a project started over a year ago. I am very proud of him!

I'm in the same boat. I finished it, then something leaked, another thing broke, a fire was started, and depression sunk in

Hope you're doing well Xion!

[Vinas]

Well, I probably came off a bit harsh. That can be a problem on these forums... What I want is for Xion to make reflexion what it could be., I've been following this build for over 7 months BTW. I love it.

[Wezly]

Well, I probably came off a bit harsh. That can be a problem on these forums... What I want is for Xion to make reflexion what it could be., I've been following this build for over 7 months BTW. I love it.

And I too apologize. I was trying to make that as friendly as it was intended to be (which is a lot).

I just meant that considering how much he's already purchased and built and rebuilt and been frustrated and then satisfied with, I don't think he's going to stop. This is just a longer pause than normal.

[nigelke]

Xion,
take your time
I love your build like many other people around

And this is one of the few builds i have a look at to get inspired (that and the one of Tomcatt but he is just insane ^^)

[Xion X2]

Thanks for all the kind words, guys.

I'm still moving forward with the build although progress has been slow as of late. I've invested too much money in this project to just drop it, and like many have said, I'd like to see it become a reality in its final form.

Just a short update for now.

Some time last year, I had discussions with Nils at MDPC about a purple sleeving. Purple is one of the original color themes of refleXion although it's been used very little to this point. The original intent was to have the inside of refleXion sort of simulate what a galaxy looks like, and galaxies are often made up of purplish-like vapors.

Nils informed me at the time that MDPC didn't carry this color, but that he would possibly look into it. After about six months of development, I'm happy to say that purple is now a reality and can be purchased in the MDPC-X store.

Now before I show it, a disclaimer. This color is very difficult to accurately capture on camera as it changes a LOT based on the intensity and type of light that it is under. In some cases, it can come off looking a little 'pinkish' instead of purple, but when viewed in person it's a very nice shade of purple. I've not yet perfected how to shoot it, but I've decided to share some early shots with you guys, anyway. At this time, I'm thinking that most of the cables will be sleeved in black, and there will be traces of purple lined throughout various parts of the build to give it some color like shown in the second shot below.

So I now introduce MDPC purple which I'm told only two individuals in the world currently have:





I'm not yet sleeving the PSU until I have a few more components installed. The reason is because I'm being very picky with the color scheme and want to have the right colored cables going to the right places. In the coming days, I hope to have the Zero G Chamber and all other components installed which at that point I can have an idea of which cables that I want to sleeve what color. I'm also waiting on my new GPU blocks to come in from DangerDen within the next week. DangerDen's support on this project continues to be outstanding, and I thank them for working with my budget.

[InCredible]

definitely looks pinkish in the pics but i think it looks great like that honestly..cant wait til this is finished or at least more pics up to be jealous over

[Linuxfan]

Purple sleeving is cool and MDPC is the best.
Maybe take darker pictures without flash and you'll get more of the purple color?

[dreamaxx]

Awesome, MDPC-X purple!!!!!!!

[Wezly]

That's fantastic my friend!
Exclusive exquisite colors are more than deserved for you and this build.

Your efforts (and those of our dear friend Nils) have brought quality to a neglected end of the color palette, and made sure every ounce of this build is to the highest standards; your own.

Well done. By the way, deadlines are for suckers