The BumblBuild-[Scratch Build]

Hello all

Here I am with my first build log!!

Now before I go into this I warn you;

I'm not the best photographer

I'm not the best with render settings

So bare with some of it, and I'm open to any and all advice.


This build will be a '2 part' build:

Firstly I will be building my case, and transporting my current PC into this case.

Secondly I will be adding all the pretty new hardware and polishing the whole build up.

Depending on money availability (damn you Christmas!!!) these parts may blend into one


The Case:

Here are a few renders of the case, I'm really not an artist so the settings are all fairly default




The case is an aluminium frame which holds the components and an acrylic shell that keeps it all looking pretty


The Hardware:
Current hardware that'll be moved in stage one is:
i7 920
XFX 290x
6Gb corsair Ram

The Stage 2 Hardware will be:
i7-4790K
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H-BK
XFX 290x
Avexir Golden Blitz 16GB
SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 850W Fully Modular- Black


The Cooling:
The watercooling I will be putting into this build is:

Fittings: Monsoon hardline and soft tubing (spattering of other fittings for drain port etc)
Pump: EK PWM D5, With EK top.
CPU: EK Supremacy Clear
GPU: EK original CQC 290x block (Which I will polish clear)
Rads: EK 240 PE
Res: Bitspower 170mm tube
Controller: Was going to be an EK Acendancy but email from EK today says it's shelved so Aquacomputer aquearo
Temp sensor: XSPC G1/4" Plug
Fans: currently have 4 Piranha's in their boxes. But I've bought EK Vardars instead

Now This project started for me a while ago and I've been motivating myself through it.
I thought I should share my progress as I'm starting to lose track of what I've done for writing up later

Progress So Far:
Metal arrived:




Tools too:




Case will be constructed of Aluminium angle screwed into 25mm square bar.

Cut all the angle down to size(Thanks Dremel):


Drill and Tap all the Square Bar:




DISASTER!!!
3 holes to go and I get a little too excited and:


Snap my tap......
So annoying, that tap end is in there tight, nothing I can do is getting that out with the tools I have. It gouged a chunk out of my pliers

Lucky the bar could be turned around and I drilled the other side and it went together fine. A bit of filing flattened out the tap bit.


Countersink the Angle so the acrylic can sit flush on top of it, I didn't have a drill slow enough, so I had to do these by hand turning the chuck


It FITS!!


Sides together:


Finish the rest up:



Work going well

I am currently in the position of having incorrectly drilled 12 holes (measure twice, always measure twice) so I have filled the holes and tonight am going to get them in the right place.
These holes will be for mounting the internal components and motherboard tray etc.

To Tide everyone over I will finish with my first attempt at taking component pictures (photographers should look away now! )

I love scratch builds and this looks stunning!

Subbed!

Looks great so far

snips86x said:

I love scratch builds and this looks stunning!

Subbed!

Click to expand...

Thanks, Not much to look at right now, but it's getting there

Mark This Day said:

Looks great so far

Click to expand...

Thanks


Mini update from last Night:

I went to get my prototype MoBo Tray cut and my file was not right
Some problem with the .dxf export.....I Dunno but a bit disappointing.

To console myself I finished off drilling and tapping the last mounting holes for the panels and countersunk the mounts for the Mobo tray and window.

Getting there

Looking good, will keep an eye on this!

This looks great from the renders!
Don't worry about the photos, they look great!

Good stuff mate.

Been mulling over doing a similar type of scratch build for a while now and this is pretty helpful

russell664 said:

Looking good, will keep an eye on this!

Click to expand...

Ucof said:

This looks great from the renders!
Don't worry about the photos, they look great!

Click to expand...

Uncle Petey said:

Good stuff mate.

Been mulling over doing a similar type of scratch build for a while now and this is pretty helpful

Click to expand...

Thanks

Photo's just need more time/practice,
A tripod would help, maybe a light box/tent.

@petey well I could let you know now, I kinda regret the Square bar.
Box section could have done fine and saved a lot of weight. either tapping the box or rivnut it.
But I have the metal now, who cares if the case weighs a ton

Yeah, I was looking at box section and rivnuts actually Solid Alu can't be too cheap either.
Oh, I've also found the little cubes that Parvum use for sale at a competitor. May not even go with a framework after all or at least cut down on the amount of it.

ED: Just had a look at alu bar and it's a lot less expensive than I thought.

Uncle Petey said:

Yeah, I was looking at box section and rivnuts actually Solid Alu can't be too cheap either.
Oh, I've also found the little cubes that Parvum use for sale at a competitor. May not even go with a framework after all or at least cut down on the amount of it.

ED: Just had a look at alu bar and it's a lot less expensive than I thought.

Click to expand...

It was fairly cheap, 56 for everything i got including delivery.

I wish they were around when I started building, but oh well, plough through.

BTW:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Parvum Systems Modding Cubes £9.95
Total : £13.86 (includes shipping : £3.26).

Oh, quality. Didn't know they had them here.
Saves me some postage

How are you going about getting the front grill cut btw?

Dammit, I've not been putting that banner up when I post....
that was kinda an idea I had....
Oh well, I'll keep it for posts that involve updates

Front grill has 2 options:
One: it gets cut by whoever I get the acrylic done by (I'm awaiting quotes)
Two: I do it... I have access to an A3 laser cutter, but the MoBo tray fiasco last night proved I'm incapable of getting filetypes right
so, Either me, or I pay for it.

If you contact uni's they tend to have laser cutters, but they shank you for using it

Nice work so far mate, looking forward to your updates.
Maybe it'll inspire me to pull my finger out and do some work on my pc!

novaenough said:

Nice work so far mate, looking forward to your updates.
Maybe it'll inspire me to pull my finger out and do some work on my pc!

Click to expand...

Thanks
It took me too long to pull my finger out. I started this project over a year ago hahaha.

It's Time for a Mini-Update, It's a:


At the weekend I wore out my last cutting disk for the dremel
I have other not Ideal ones, but they're slow going

I was trimming the metal that holds the Rads in place, allowing more airflow. I was also measuring up the holes to mount the Rads.

I am going to have another bash at getting this laser cutting done on my MoBo Tray. I have saved this DXF in just about every blooming way I can and if it doesn't work I'm at a loss really.
I'll have to bring my laptop down and plug myself INTO the cutter and make it while plugged in, and that's gonna eat into the cost of the rental

Also I will try and get some feet made for the case. cutting them out of a spare piece of Bar. I might try for some step by step shots, but it'll be on the phone not taking the dslr to the workshop

FINALLY (In this update with no fancy new pics)
I am debating with myself weather I should move my current PC or bite the bullet and just buy the new hardware sooner. What do people think?

Thanks

new hardware sooner! you know you want to.

Spuddy said:

new hardware sooner! you know you want to.

Click to expand...

ooooooh, you're a bad influence



So I'm here for an update
Sorry for the photos, potato phone

I've been to the workshop tonight, I got my files right on the laser cutter (yay!)
LASER(trust me, it's in there)


so now I have my first pass mobo tray:


It fits in:



I also drilled my rad mounting holes:


Now it's hard to see there, but I'm well happy with those holes, they line up freaking perfect

Last but not least I cut up some bar that will be filed down to make feet:



I will file these into hexagons to follow the 'bee' theme and either polish them up or paint them

I think they would look nice polished!!!

russell664 said:

I think they would look nice polished!!!

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Yeah, I'm getting the feeling they'd be nice accents to the dark case.



Update Time.

I have to say my enthusiasm is a bit dead today as the bank froze my Credit card and a bunch of payments didn't go through....
Silly bank, like I don't have a history of buying expensive electrical components online

Anyhoo, on-wards!

I drilled the rest of my Rad brackets, still need trimmed for increased airflow.
Need to file some bits down for neatness and evenness.

Speaking of filing:


FEET!!



3 hours of filing and they are all the same size and flat.

Need to get the corner's off, drill and polish and they'll be done

With regards to the Motherboard being purchased early....this is going to be tightly linked to funds:
I'll buy my son and partner their Christmas presents and then my family will have to wait and see if I love PC more than them

Until next time

Looking nice can't wait to see updates.

Sneblot said:

Looking nice can't wait to see updates.

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I think you got your comment in before I posted
Welcome aboard, I'll be filing more and the weekend. Might do some guide/log of sanding my GPU.
I'll most likely get the DSLR out for some sexy shots at the weekend.