Scratch Project: Veritas

[NFC]

Also, I don't know if any of you noticed from the above picture, but the sandwitch works like: aluminum--acrylic--aluminum--acrylic---aluminum. The lines of acrylic that go along the borders of the case will be illuminated =)

[Geezer]

I can tell there's lots of work going into the case. The last picture you posted almost makes me want to play Tetris.

Almost...

Are you using edge-lit acrylic or just relying on the properties of standard acrylic for the illumination?

[anachlores]

OI! NFC if you start loosing fingers now, I wont get aymore all natural, fresh squeezed goodness.
Really shiny pieces though

[NFC]

I can tell there's lots of work going into the case. The last picture you posted almost makes me want to play Tetris.

Almost...

Are you using edge-lit acrylic or just relying on the properties of standard acrylic for the illumination?

The fluorescent acrylic works really well for what you are talking about, but I didn't have any to use for this project so this is standard, clear, cell-cast acrylic.

OI! NFC if you start loosing fingers now, I wont get aymore all natural, fresh squeezed goodness.
Really shiny pieces though

Yes, but if I do lose my fingers I'll be sure to include the pulp =D

[Geezer]

Yes, but if I do lose my fingers I'll be sure to include the pulp =D

The only thing that makes a custom case better is when it comes with free finger sausage...

Errr...

[NFC]

I meant to do some more updates earlier, but losing my big post to IE made me sad face.




Moving forward onto the last main piece to the chassis frame...

This normally would be the backside of a case, but in this mod it is an invisible piece--there is no backside to my case as any side could be the front. If I follow a pattern I like to make all sides of my mods interesting and unique (also include the angel theme...duh..)

I cut a slab 'o luminum to the appropriate size and measured the hole for the I/O Shield:



Cut said hole:



Drilled holes...IN YOUR MOM. Oh wait no, for the power plug, then I sawed out some of the remaining material:



Then I filed it. Surprise surprise:




Then I test fitted it and secured the L-angle on the opposing frame:



(its not done yet--which is why it still looks ugly. Note the notch for the pump cord)



I test-fitted the I/O shield and the power plug:




I was getting tired of filing and decided to sleeve the grounding cable:



I fixed some of the areas that needed a heavy filing (everything will be sanded and polished before it is done) and bolted it in place to make sure everything was lining up good:



Oh, in the above picture, that short L-angle that is bolted to the piece that hosts the I/O shield will hold several LEDs that will illuminate the side panel.

I had to drill through the acrylic to the backpanel so I could screw them together, and while I was at it I drilled the holes for the motherboard:





I tapped the threads for the Lian Li standoffs, but I also superglued them in:



By the way, I highly recommend that control gel from Loctite--it doesn't cloud up as bad as other glues which can really ruin your acrylic. Plus, as it states it is a thick gel which applies very easily with no run.

With the frame assembled (still needs to be sanded and polished) it was time to take a break and move onto something more tedious and frustrating: the reservoir!

Normally a reservoir holds liquid, and while mine does hold more than normal tubes, its main purpose is for filling and draining the loop. I wasn't sure about the design, but I went with it anyways and it actually worked really great:



Photoshop was exciting and easy, drilling was dull and difficult--also it took about two hours:



I used a water/alchohol mix for coolant, and had to go very slow for a centimeter at a time and then stop, clean everything out, then re-align the setup for the next centimeter. It sucked.

One hole down (I will refrain from your mom comments):



Two holes ( getting harder....):



Three (...can't....stand...it....):



For this setup to work I needed to merge the big holes on both ends, which is what I was doing in this picture:



Then I flame polished the insides of the holes:








Ok more later (in a timely fashion) Also, I apologize for the dullness of this thread, but I am trying to speed through because I have many more worklogs I need to get up on here and this computer isn't really worth the time.

[Geezer]

Nice job drilling the acrylic for the reservoir. That's one of those things that could have gone either very well or very, very badly ;D

[NFC]

Nice job drilling the acrylic for the reservoir. That's one of those things that could have gone either very well or very, very badly ;D

Thank you for your comments, Geezer. It makes this place a 'lil more lively.

As the computer nears completion, it gets more interesting. I want to finish the log across two more sessions.

Using a toothbrush and Novus 2 and 3 I polished the inside of the reservoir some more:



Back in the house I was leaktesting the hardware...and perhaps testing the UV paint out a little bit too


I was a bit disappointed in the paint--I thought it was supposed to be pink UV as the cap was pink (using the clearneon stuff). Instead it was more of a white (though it looks blue in the pictures).

After the frame was completely riveted together it looked terrible and was not flush:



Using power tools was not an option, so I did what you might expect:


This was the most amount of filing I had to do for the whole project all in one sitting...




After it was flush and looking presentable I made a new LED holder and riveted it on:



This part was more than a bit tricky--drilling the holes for the posts and magnets. I couldn't drill through, obviously, and I needed them to match precisely on the side panel:



This is the stage where I actually drilled in the armor plating and countersunk them:



Here is what it looked like with the pins and magnets on one side:


Everything lined up on the first shot, and the side panel came on and off how I planned, which was a blessing and frankly was not expecting.



At this point in the worklog I am missing about 1/3 of my overall picture set. This includes alot of my hand etching (which I did with this) and some fabrication. What I was most proud of was my hardcore modification of my tap chuck I bought from Harbor Freight. I found this awesome heavy-duty drill chuck (which you will see in pictures coming up) that was just a TAD bit to small for my BSP19 tap. Using a rotozip and a bench grinder I was able to modify it to accept the tap. I had some sweet pictures of this process with tons of awesome sparks, but I can't find them. >< If I am missing something you are confused about let me know and I will explain it with words.

[NFC]

Here is a picture of me test-fitting the top cover I made. It just had come off the table saw so the edges are still rough and not polished:



The victim for the armor plating pieces =)



I bent this with my tableclamp:



This is a VERY rough cut, but you can see where it is headed before filing and positioning:



Here is the etched insert with the two 65x10mm fans. These fans are high pressure high flow and while they aren't quiet, they don't have a annoying whine. These will directly mate with the custom heatsink for the 9800GT:



I found out that I needed to extend the power button so it wouldn't interfere with a capacitor on the GPU. I decided to so something that looked interesting and I could illuminate. Here is a picture of it about halfway done:



Using these absolutely terrible bi-metal blades from Harbor Frieght I literally ruined my drill press. They vibrated and popped out and misalligned the chuck. I don't know the names of drill press parts, but basically its not even and I can't drill precise holes or use the nice hole saws that arrived in the mail a bit later. =( This is the kinda thing you don't purchase at Harbor Freight and I learned my lesson.

http://a.imageshack.us/img830/7729/img4176.jpg

I had to end up drilling lots of small holes and using a hacksaw to cut out the piece. Soooooo much filing was needed to get the hole looking nice:



For such thin metal, it did file nicely and I got some pretty accurate holes:



The other armor pieces I tried every tool I had trying to find the fastest way, which ended up being the roto-zip to score the marks, then a dremel and file for the separation and cleanup.

Back to the "front" -- you can see the finished power button extension and how the insert...um...inserted?



Two pictures of the front--notice the little plastic piece with the three drill marks? Those will hold the two UV and one red led, which make an awesome hot pink color:




Here is a picture of the armor plating test fitted on the front. They still need to be filed more, and polished:



Here is another angle. The fans are coated in the UV paint btw:

[NFC]

Here is a picture of the armor plating for the back side scored by the rotozip, ready to be broken apart:



Here is a picture of my awesome tap and chuck which I am so very proud of (this is a picture of a test fitted nozzle)


Next I had to thread the "up" hole with the tubing, and tap the other holes:



I didn't have time to hand etch the insert for the backside, so I had it lasered. I didn't end up using it in the case, but here is a picture of it just the same:



The top panel was completed and everything was test fitted so I could drill for the last run of light-pipes:




Ok, more later--which involves the final assembly and the final shots!

[NFC]

I just noticed that I left out two really important pictures up there regarding filing the frame straight so I fixed it...

[Geezer]

Shame to hear about the drill press. Try here.

[anachlores]

Did you hand etch the light pipes/circuit design?

And i'm growing to love your cyborg angel logo. It looks great on that block.

[NFC]

Shame to hear about the drill press. Try here.

Thanks for the link, I will be sure to shop there to get this thing back in order

Did you hand etch the light pipes/circuit design?

Dremel etcher for the win! I really am P.O. that I am missing so many pictures of the process. It's one of the reasons I'm rushing through this log so I can start on my next....

And i'm growing to love your cyborg angel logo. It looks great on that block.

I'm not an artist. I wish I was, though I was happy with how that angel turned out on the block.

[NFC]

Last stretch.


Two fans but only one motherboard header:





Here is a picture of the "backside", it still has some sticky residue on it from the contact paper stencil I had made, if you can forgive that:



This is what it looks like in the dark under UV:



It was supposed to be pink, like the rest of the case theme...but oh well. I know for next time. (Not that I will ever do pink again =P)

I had very little space in the system and nowhere near enough 4 pin connectors on my modded PSU, so I had to wire the fan controller for the deltas directly to the PSU:




since everything was designed to fit to the milimeter (my projects that came after this I planned for some extra slack) I had some trouble getting all the parts in. The sleeving and wires for the PSU were measured and cut in such a way that they would make a nice bend without extra material getting in the way, so the sleeving in this picture looks like it is coming undone a little, but it will all get pushed back in:



More fitting parts and making measurements for various braces:


Most of the wiring was run in channels under and next to the motherboard:



Some of the wires for the fan controller and 12 LEDs in the bottom had to make this ugly cross under the CPU though:


Since the reservoir had to fit in the aluminum socket I made and the tubing lengths had to be precise, it was a bit of trouble getting it in:


Everything finally made it in. I should mention this assembly took place in the final hours (after being up for 40 hours) before my plane left for Washington. I was feeling a bit rushed at this point. =)



The drives were incredibly difficult to get in because of the space constraints. They had to share a 5"x2" space with my LED board, tons of LED wires, and the wiring for the GPU. Yes, the sleeving came undone as I battled them in. Yes, I fixed it after they were in, as you shall see:



I needed someplace to run some additional LED wires--this cut was made much earlier of course:


SSDs, led board, GPU, and wires all stuffed in the small little space:



Getting the stupid power switch in was also annoying:



It's a blurry picture, but it finally made it in there, LEDs and all:


This is what it looked like before I rushed to the airport, where I would assemble the last pieces during my layover:

[NFC]

These final shots were taken on my cell phone, so they are not very good to say the least. The system was not very popular at PDX either, which I understand considering how different it is, and that it does not have the polish as my other pieces. I wanted to do a log here though because the design was unique and is not something you normally see on XS.

You can view these and a few more on my website. I'm glad this ones over, I have cooler stuff to post here next.

[Geezer]

You don't see too many custom jobs that make use of texture as part of the design. Nicely done

[Church]

Nice result except one thing. Purple lightning imho seems out of place.

[Havis]

Great job
I think violet lightning will be a bit better, but thats just my own personal opinion.

[Aedubber]

Holy man lol you honeslty are an enthusiast with true skill . That just looks pure ill. Wow is all
I got to say , out of all custom builds , hands down you are the most creative and beat IMO .

[NFC]

Thanks for all your comments, guys (and thanks Aedubber). It's a case mod, so you don't have to like it--and honestly I like to hear it when y'all don't. Personally I don't like many things about this mod. I wanted to do something original (pink lighting included, which did not show up well on my droid's camera), not because all those high-class TJ07's are bad (they are amazing, and I am particularly in love with Polarity at the moment) but because I didn't want to get stuck in a groove of just doing stuff like that.

Some highlights for me about this project was fitting a decent-performing cooling solution into the size of my first blue-ray player, and working with different layers of aluminum and acrylic with hand tools. I do like how the cords are not exposed, and the layout of the components. Overall in monochrome I like the design.

Some of the things I don't like (besides my terrible pictures) was the lack of synergy between the colors. I think the materials worked well together, but the polished aluminum, purple screws, and pink lighting approach more into the circus realm than aesthetic art. I also don't like how I rushed at the end and left some edges and wiring pretty rough. It could be much much better, but I learned quite a bit from this project, and the goal of it was an exercise for me I feel like it was a success.

[anachlores]

Hey NFC, Despite the rather strident clash between the purple screws, I think it turned out great. One thing I really admire about your works is that even though you usually work in the standard upright rectangular formfactor, you aren't constrained by it. Those fancy murdermods are pretty and all, but I don't think a couple of OTS laser cut panels and sleeving are all there is to a great build.

I can see some spots where your usual standard of work feels rushed, but even so, it looks amazing and if it wen't for the fact that shiny metal means endless cleaning and polishing, I'd be honored to have a piece like it on my desk. Those people at PDX are just silly. xD

And the etchings are spotless as usual. Cyborg hands give unfair advantages.

[bluc]

4 words to descibe it, amazing I love it!!

[fl0w3n]

Wow, this is an incredibly impressive display of ambition as well as craftsmanship. I really admire your work.