Scratch-built aluminium and brass case

[Mr Evil]

Here's a new thing that I made. Let's start with a photo of the chassis:

With some bits attached it looks more like a case:

Skip a few steps and now it's done:

The panels are all aluminium, which I had laser-cut. The brass stuck to the outside was also laser-cut.

One of the things I wanted to achieve with this case was to make the rear of the motherboard more accessible, since the last case I made didn't have a cutout behind the CPU in the motherboard tray, so I couldn't install heatsinks with custom backplates unless I removed the motherboard. This case allows greater access by not having a whole motherboard tray at all, like this:

If motherboards start putting M.2 slots on the back then hopefully I will be able to access those too, but I suspect not.

And here's a photo of it with a PC inside, consisting of whatever parts I could scrounge up:

I must confess that I don't really need another case - I just wanted to make something, and to make some improvements over the last one I made. Also, I don't like the way any modern case looks, nor do I like that aluminium cases have all but died out.

There are a few more photos and some waffling on my website.

 

[randal]

That's amazing, well done! Credit to you, and your website makes me want rhubarb and custard sweets.

Got some real Waynio vibes reading through that, he loved making his own cases out of metal. Sadly he passed away some years back (geez, nearly a decade ago). Not sure if he was an inspiration or not, but well worth reading through some of his posts on here and across the Internet if you have a moment.

 

[SPARC]

I like your site. Now you have a pc case which matches your bike

 

[rare]

Brilliant work well done!

 

[hornetstinger]

built hosted at ImgBB

Image built hosted in ImgBB

ibb.co

 

[Mr Evil]

your website makes me want rhubarb and custard sweets.

Normally it's only bots visiting my website. Now I get not only some real humans, but one who reads tooltips!

Got some real Waynio vibes reading through that, he loved making his own cases out of metal. Sadly he passed away some years back (geez, nearly a decade ago). Not sure if he was an inspiration or not, but well worth reading through some of his posts on here and across the Internet if you have a moment.

That's not a name I recognize. I searched around and see he did good stuff though.

I like your site. Now you have a pc case which matches your bike

I have a thing for bare metal.

 

[RevBillyG]

Really nice looking work there.

Just checked out your site. Nice to see another Unreal Tournament mapper

 

[Fluffybob]

Cracking build and a really nice bike too

 

[R4z0r]

That looks great, fantastic work. Really enjoyed browsing through your website too

 

[deviation]

This looks nuts! Fair play!

 

[Bossman]

Very nice. It's good to see this is something people are still doing. Fair play.

 

[TBirdUK]

Nice wrok, well done

 

[BeeP]

Really tidy looking case, will you be letting it age or is it coated with anything?

 

[Mr Evil]

will you be letting it age or is it coated with anything?

It's naked, so it will pick up a natural patina of dust and greasy fingerprints after a few years. I expect it will look ok, though I'm slightly worried that the parts covered with glue will end up a different colour, since I made a bit of a mess of that and quite a bit squeezed out around the edges of the brass.

 

[BeeP]

It's naked, so it will pick up a natural patina of dust and greasy fingerprints after a few years. I expect it will look ok, though I'm slightly worried that the parts covered with glue will end up a different colour, since I made a bit of a mess of that and quite a bit squeezed out around the edges of the brass.

Yeah they will age differently if one is covered, I’ve done highly polished aluminium in the past using autosol which can almost make it look chromed, after that I used some clear coat lacquer to seal it, still looks shiny years later.
I do like the patena way too though, would be pretty cool to watch it age and pick up some life.

 

[doggles]

Amazing case.

 

[Undesirable]

I'm genuinely impressed by your creativity, but I hope you don't mind me saying—without meaning to be rude—that the finished product looks like something you'd find in a high-end club's restroom, complete with "Armitage Shanks" branding. It may possibly have something to do with those brass push-button flushes on the side, or whatever they are. That said, I really like the chonky edges; they almost resemble roll cage bars. In fact, I think you should emphasise them massively using full-blown aluminium tubes, so they stand out and can double as handles for carrying the case around.

 

[Mr Evil]

I'm genuinely impressed by your creativity, but I hope you don't mind me saying—without meaning to be rude—that the finished product looks like something you'd find in a high-end club's restroom, complete with "Armitage Shanks" branding. It may possibly have something to do with those brass push-button flushes on the side, or whatever they are.

I think I see what you mean, though you must go to some fancy clubs if they have toilets that look like that rather than the befouled plain porcelain that I expect.

I really like the chonky edges; they almost resemble roll cage bars. In fact, I think you should emphasise them massively using full-blown aluminium tubes, so they stand out and can double as handles for carrying the case around.

I've seen a case like that before. A bit of searching finds the In-Win D-Frame 2 which looks very much like a roll cage, though I don't think it was the one I remember. I'd certainly consider making something like that if I had the equipment for welding aluminium - mostly I design things around what I'm best able to fabricate.