Early Season Blues

OJ46 · 17 May 2018 at 09:41

Email from the guys at Parvum yesterday afternoon and thankfully it looks like the rest of the case will be shipped Monday, so hopefully next week the issues can be pushed to the back of my head and it will be time to crack on with this build.

Excuse the extreme bodge on this (I can edit photos fine, but I'm truly awful at this kind of work!) but thoughts on this for the 80mm fan guard? Running through similar ideas for the 120mm fan but need the case here to see if my attempt to make things smoooooth is going to work... Hopefully be able to try it next week!

LuckyBenski · 17 May 2018 at 11:15

That's a lot better than I could do! The next challenge is to make it into a line drawing so the vector data can be passed to a CNC device. I'd check out the width of the lines where the arrows meet the oval, make sure it will be strong enough.

That is, assuming you were working on a laser design!

OJ46 · 17 May 2018 at 11:44

Was just a quick bodge up to see how it would look really, will have to learn how to use Inkscape properly now so I can do a proper version... This should be fun and not at all swear word inducing! :eek:

OJ46 · 17 May 2018 at 15:42

Still have zero idea what I'm doing, but through trial, error and swearing I've ended up with this... Am I right in thinking this could now be cut with a laser cutter? Sorry for the stupid questions but as I said, I have zero knowledge when it comes to Inkscape / laser cutters etc

LuckyBenski · 17 May 2018 at 20:37

OJ46 said:
Still have zero idea what I'm doing, but through trial, error and swearing I've ended up with this... Am I right in thinking this could now be cut with a laser cutter? Sorry for the stupid questions but as I said, I have zero knowledge when it comes to Inkscape / laser cutters etc

Looks amazing! So, if you change the line thickness to 0.01mm you can export this to the laser cut software. Then colour code it, and assign each colour an order. Cut holes and internal shapes first, cut the outside outline last so it doesn't fall off the bed and spoil other cuts. Looks like you're well on the way

A rule of thumb is not to leave any material thinner than the thickness of sheet you're cutting i.e. don't leave a 2mm thin strip if cutting 3mm sheet. Make sense?

OJ46 · 18 May 2018 at 07:50

Think that makes sense, might be easier to start over and do it all in the correct thickness to start with so I'll give it a go Sunday if I get time. Thanks for all your help LuckyBenski, much appreciated

EDIT: Had a go at tracing over it in the correct thickness, hope this is OK!

LuckyBenski · 18 May 2018 at 12:58

T

OJ46 said:
Think that makes sense, might be easier to start over and do it all in the correct thickness to start with so I'll give it a go Sunday if I get time. Thanks for all your help LuckyBenski, much appreciated

EDIT: Had a go at tracing over it in the correct thickness, hope this is OK!

Pleasure

That looks brill. I usually just select all then change line width, but I draw quite simple shapes like squares and circles! Reckon you'll give this a go then? Will it play nice with the Parvum's parts?

OJ46 · 18 May 2018 at 13:32

Definitely going to try it, just going to wait until the case arrives so I can see how much spare room I have around the fans as I have another idea in mind that could mean extending this guard by a few mm. I'll use exactly the same acrylic the guys at Parvum use, so the colour would be a perfect match for the inside of the case

If I send you a link to the correct acrylic once I've finalised the design(s) would you be able to order & cut it for me? I'll obviously pay you for the materials, postage and your time

LuckyBenski · 19 May 2018 at 11:49

OJ46 said:
Definitely going to try it, just going to wait until the case arrives so I can see how much spare room I have around the fans as I have another idea in mind that could mean extending this guard by a few mm. I'll use exactly the same acrylic the guys at Parvum use, so the colour would be a perfect match for the inside of the case

If I send you a link to the correct acrylic once I've finalised the design(s) would you be able to order & cut it for me? I'll obviously pay you for the materials, postage and your time

Absolutely, I'll drop you a PM with details

But don't stop updating us on here!

OJ46 · 20 May 2018 at 08:14

Cheers mate, will get back to you via email as soon as the case arrives and I've finalised the design

OJ46 · 24 May 2018 at 19:01

So the case still hasn't arrived as Parvum are still having issues with the supplier, but just had an email now and they've found somebody else stocking the correct acrylic who is thankfully based nearby, so all should be sorted tomorrow... Hopefully next week the build will finally start taking shape and I'll be able to get any other bits measured up ready for designing & cutting

OJ46 · 7 Jun 2018 at 18:32

Soooooo, a parcel arrived! Yes, the Navy Blue has finally been sourced so it's time to crack on and actually build something

This bit was supposed to be light blue (as was the rear internal panel, but that isn't going to show anyway...)

So vinyl to the rescue!

Not going to have much free time over the next couple days and need it to be in working order for tomorrow, so bodged things together for now...

...And it lives!

A very 'temporarily thrown together' look and feel but at least now I can see the potential

So the light at the end of the tunnel is no longer a train and progress is being made, and hopefully I'll be able to get a tiny bit more done tomorrow morning then crack on with it properly next week.

OJ46 · 8 Jun 2018 at 19:23

Sorry for the awful photos, not a lot of light in Wales today but hey, photos mean progress so it's all good!

Got the fans in

Installed the Farbwerk...

...And the Aquaero

Started wishing I'd bought a bigger case but squeezed the SSD in

Yeah, gonna need to tidy this!

GPU in

Case together just in time to start using for Speedway streaming

Now debating whether to put mesh under this so it matches the front vent...

Either way, quite happy with that for a days work! Hopefully crack on with a bit more at some point next week

Just need to make the guard for the rear fans, sort the lighting out, design something for the front fan, cut some vinyl for interior details, tidy all the cables and make the front logo light up... Should keep me busy for a while!

orbitalwalsh · 9 Jun 2018 at 08:13

Looks good mate ! Finally given me the drive to ask for my window panel 1.3 years over due haha

OJ46 · 10 Jun 2018 at 08:27

Cheers mate, really happy with how it's progressing so far

Got to be worth chasing them up on it, especially as you've already paid for it!

mods1965 · 10 Jun 2018 at 21:07

Looks great!

OJ46 · 11 Jun 2018 at 13:30

Cheers mods

Only a tiny bit more progress for now, but I've mounted the LED strip properly with a diffuser.

I was originally going to mount it to the roof using strong double-sided tape, but then I noticed something... Yep, if you screw a bolt into each block it fits perfectly into the cavity on the ends of the strip, and holds it perfectly flat against the side and roof panels

Didn't get time to set the lighting up properly (Speedway was on again!) but set it to blue and gave it a quick try.

Still loving the Halos

And I think this has made my mind up... Going to leave it open.

Only had a spare few minutes today between jobs but found time to fit this.

A few mm further over and this could have been an issue, but luckily it fitted perfectly

Even if it did mean even more wires around this side!

Getting a bit cramped now...

Also found the perfect tool for cutting acrylic accurately: This little beauty made by Tamiya for modifying plastic models

Once it's dark I'll test the EL Panel and have a play with the lighting (needs to be very subtle as it'll be under the TV and don't want it to be distracting), then it's headache time again as I try and figure out what to do with the front fan. Laters

OJ46 · 12 Jun 2018 at 08:28

Tested the EL Panel last night at 5v so it's properly dim (none of the lighting is anything like as bright IRL as it looks in the picture) but still had this happening:

BALLS. Was hoping the light wouldn't shine through the white plastic but once it's properly dark in the room it shows through. Now the easy / common sense solution would be to cut the EL Panel to the exact size needed, but unfortunately due to the positioning of the wire and the cube holding the top of the case to the mid-wall that can't be done, so on to plan B: Cover the rear of the front panel in black acrylic, leaving only the badge + fan vent clear. Hopefully this will stop the light getting through but guess we'll find out later, if not will try it with some reflective tape instead.

faheemrazzaq · 12 Jun 2018 at 15:03

It really comes to life with LED's on.

Smffy · 13 Jun 2018 at 07:46

What fan filter mesh is that? Plastic or metal?

Good to see another several month parvum wait for you

you don’t learn do you?