Home made case

Thanks guys.

I am quite pleased with progress so far. The front panel should be interesting to make, cant decide wether I should go solid aluminium or mesh???

Wanna try and incorporate subtle lighting effects, I've got a few ideas about that but will concentrate on that when I get to it. :)

Thanks again guys.
 
Got a few bits in the post this-morning. 120mm fan, guard and aluminium bar (i'll use this as a part of the structure).

Any luck should be able to test fit the fan a little later today.

Did a little cutting out aswell of the unwanted part of the i/o panel. Started cleaning up the metal ready for me to weld a couple of strips back in place taken from the bit I cut off. If I am lucky I might have this all done aswell a little later on.

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Managed to get the fan mounted and tack in place the strips to the rear i/o panel. Will clean it up and finish welding it later but managed to get the shape almost right, close enough anyway.

The T/take thunderblade is way to noisy at 12v's for my liking so will be modding that one come the time. Does kick out a seriously healthy air flow though!! Knocked 12degC off my mobo temp!!

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Nothing better to do again this-morning so grabbed a few tools and tried tidying up the tray. Finished welding and smoothed as good as I could with the grinder, which was a little awkward being as it was a 9inch grinder I use on my car.

You can probably make out from this photo the bit that has warped, got a little carried away with the welder. Bent it back ok with the pliers after and the IO plate fits nice and snug as it should. :)

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One problem I had once I had finsihed with welding was the amount of heavy penetration which went through into an awkward spot, which I found difficult to tidy. My solution, car body filler!! :D

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Almost there, but still not perfect.

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I'm now debating wether to keep or ditch the steel mobo tray in favour of an aluminium one keeping everything the same light material. AAAAGGGGHH!!!

Its getting all the individual expansion holes cut identical every time thats the only thing putting me off.
 
So now I'm in even more confusion. :confused:

Do I keep the steel tray, change for a aluminium that I would have to make to suit or Spray the whole thing black and be done with it....Thanks!! ;)

Mind you reckon if I could get a super high gloss finish by spraying it black that could look sweet! :D Use a High quality car paint or something.

So much for this case project being done on the cheap. :rolleyes:

I'll have a think about it...
 
The tray I have at the moment is from an A-open full tower. I've modded it to suit the project case, just started thinking how nice an ally tray would look aswell and debating on making one up. The homemade look is cureable without loosing the aluminium finish, Thats not really a problem I dont think.

Money wise about £55!!! Depends really on the outcome. Would hate to think I've spent that only to find its all been a waste!!! Not to mention I could have gone and got myself a good quality Lian-li for that almost. :rolleyes:
 
Main idea was to keep the internals polished aluminium then have the exterior high gloss black front and sides.

Thinking similar sort of finish to the P180 looking at the pics on that case.
 
Decided on a having the whole thing complete black with the exception of an aluminium support brace and a couple of other structural parts that hold every chassis panel together. Aiming to make a high gloss black which is as close to mirror finish as possible.

Trying out my idea for ridding the chassis of sharp edges. Afterall Dont want the "coke can" reputation for this case. :)

Heres a pic, hope it stays put when I remove the tape tomorrow!!

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Gutted I wont be having a nice brushed aluminium look but I was having trouble getting a good finish, so I'm going to paint up the chassis. This is the rear panel pretty much as it will be for the finished case bar a couple of screw holes and perhaps some w/cooling holes, but I dont yet know how I will be mounting the rad etc!! Cant wait to get the thing sprayed up black!!

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Cheers!!

I am driving myself mad trying to sort out some kind of finish for the chassis on this case. I was'nt 100% happy with spraying the chassis completely black so thought sod it i'm gonna try and get a half decent finish on the ally. I had tried already and failed but it turns out a little persistance was all thats needed. :) I'm still going gloss black for the sides and front though. :cool:

Quite pleased with the hardwork which paid off this time, not quite lian-li but It'll do. :D
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Mirror finish would be nice. I do have some polishing mops/wax that bring it up pretty close to mirror finish but its No swearing! hard work!!

Grill sits well, you'll see I've used washers under the fan grill. This was to coverup a slight offset in my original screwholes. :D They are stuck down solid using arraldite so really you would never know.

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PinkFloyd said:
I'd keep it as it is for the clean look you have so far.
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That is pretty much my way of thinking with this.

I doubt I will even bother with a side window. Not made my mind up 100% on that one though yet. :)
 
Quick update.

Experimented with the rear panel, trying to get a mirror like finish. The ally polish kit I have did work well, just very hard work. I only tried on a small section just to see that it goes the way i want it to. What ya think?

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Some riveting just to get the skeleton of the case up so I can get a better Idea on a layout, hopfully. Will use countersunk screws in some areas eventually where a flush finish is needed.

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Next, I managed to get some chrome feet of an old knackered tape deck I had lying around and tbh they look like they came off a silverstone.lol

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Comments please, good or bad. Any tips you can share about anything build wise would be very appreciated. :)
 
Slightly better pic to show the finish. Its not perfect as you can probably see the surface was'nt 100% smooth before polish. Very light grazing from the 1200 w'n'dry. I wanna try and rid that if I can. :)

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cheers again guys. :)

Noni said:
Are you going to have metal support bars going down and across?

Whats the design on the front?
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Yes, I have some solid aluminium bars to run down the side, with the mobo tray fixed secure ontop.

I should be getting 1 x aluminium h/drive cage with 120mm fan for this case aswell.

As for the front design, I am still not sure. One thing I do know, it will be inspired by the v1000+ .:) Providing I can work the mesh the way I want it.
 
Mark A said:
On a side note is it any good the rivet gun you got from ebay?, I'm thinking of getting one myself for a project I'm working on.

Mark
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Its ok, you can tell it's "much cheapness" from the handles that keep falling off but It seems to work fine though which is the main thing. :)
 
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