Lean and Green - modular dual PC scratch build

[waynio]

Well I have been following this thread with my mouth wide open from shock that someone can do stuff like that, the talent behind this build is astonishing, looks like lot of effort has gone to finishing touches, great work.

Ade

Thank you ade appreciated, seeing other modders always raising the bar really motivates me to catch up to similar quality level, this is my 5th scratch build now since I think 2008, I think most people prefer sleek & minimal looks though but I went with OTT detailing for this from every single angle along with nice functions.

This is awesome work, wish I had such craftsmanship

Thanks RoXoRz I was wishing the same not long ago mate but I just got into making things with what I had, enjoyed it so invested more in extra tools & bits, been a fun obsession.

such talent. really liking this build log

Thanks ReekiTiki

Such awesome work

Thanks Joe, glad it's being enjoyed.

42 days left if including today, need to push harder.

Micro update but it's an update.

I cut 4 little pieces of the same aluminium I used for the hdd trays to make spacers for while I stick them together, the adhesive does it's initial setting fairly quick so I managed OK with just 4 pieces to do the spacing, would have been easier with 6 more but I didn't fancy cutting more, I need a new band saw blade, current ones are well past useful & was not nice at all to cut with.

Upper & lower hdd slide rack.

Fan perch stuck together, weighted down & is almost 20mm thick, I'll cut the shape, slim it down to 19mm & on next session get these parts mounted.

42 days sounds like a fair bit of time but it soon comes & goes especially if you goof off playing games & have some AFK to slow you down.

Tweaked my camera sharpness & contrast settings a little too & picked up some good photography tips from Paul Tan but none of the lighting tips will be used until I'm past the main workshop stuff.

 

[waynio]

Looking good, i love this build.

Thanks Mike

40 days left since it's just crept past midnight.

OK the HDD slide panels have cured for a while, you can see here the holes that need completing.

Completing the holes.

Then I had to dismantle some of the HTPC to get to the level on top of the optical section for adding a few mounting holes.

Was tricky to align this template spot on, new holes & the ones the drill bit is pointing at was tapped, all the rest was countersunk.

Back to the acrylic & placed brass inserts in the holes.

Pressed in with soldering iron.

Reassembled & had to take about 2mm off the width of all the HDD trays so they would fit in, I also mounted spare HDD's & an SSD to them to see how it looks.

Full.

I'll do more today after a sleep & some food.

 

[waynio]

This really looks a true labour of love. Subbed to read all later (only read first and last page so far!)

Thanks Tattysnuc, hope you enjoy it when you do, think I started putting every bit of effort I can into my builds starting with my last one, it's all a progression though, think I'll be extremely hard pushed to out do his one though but I think that with every new one I do lol.

HTPC Fan perch 20mm 4 5mm layers glued together.

Basic first cuts.

Used the modded band saw blade but it was causing it to melt when doing the smaller curve cuts, the blade got completely stuck in there.
Had to saw to the blade & file to the blade to free it, those curves are ones that will be visible too so I had a big drum sanding session to clean them up, was a PITA.

Used a sturdy fret saw blade for doing the bigger curve & did it very slow going forward 3 millimetres & going back about 6 over & over & it prevented it from melting, also did that on half speed instead of the slowest, worked a lot better.

Installed brass inserts to the fan perch.

Filed the optical plate to represent where I need to round the corners.

Used the hack saw to cut down 7mm so its down to 3mm.

Put it in the cross vice & set it up to drill down so 3mm would be left to make filing a little easier.

My arms got Popeyed ugugugugug.

Aluminium shortbread.

I filed down far enough to let me finish it off with a mill bit in the drill press & cross vice, it worked quite nicely really.

Smoothed things off more with a file.

Cut the optical tray out.

Installed.

Optical plate & fan perch installed.

That turned out to be a big session but was one of those where I just wouldn't call it a day until I got what I intended to do done, I'll make my next session a small one to balance things out again.

 

[waynio]

Wow. I've just spent the last hours reading through your log from start to finish - I'd no idea how long you've been building this for - seeing how it's come together it's no wonder this has taken as long as it has.

First of all, I'd like to congratulate you on the job done to date.

When I first looked at this, I thought the the design is not to my taste, but after reading, I'm absolutely blown away with the detail - that it what has won me over.

Your dogged determination and perseverance is just amazing, as are your use of tools in this build. You've not got one of those "new yankee" style workshops, but a few important tools, and my god you know how to use them, and have the patience to get the finish you are seeking, from them.

Love the Spinner thingy, and the write up of the Zalman failed smooth base. A lesson learned for the community...

For once, I'm not actually that interested in the hardware inside the box.

One of the best builds I've ever had the privilege to follow.

Subbed, and thank you for sharing - You must have spent half the build time documenting this for us!

Thank you very much Tattysnuc, appreciated mate I have been told by some I should invest in some rendering software to represent my designs better but ouch, they are expensive would make things look a lot more pro but I kinda like the cartoony effect the sketchups have because when the real piece is made it looks a lot better if done well some do amazing rendering & really bad modding, glad I've got things the right way around, I don't really need them personally but yeah for showing others how I see the designs closer to how they would look in reality, the scetchup raw models don't cut it for most I think, but I'd sooner buy new tools than software I don't really need & I think it would spoil the surrprise of how it looks in the end.

All the teeth marks or most of them at least & surface finishing I'll be sanding smooth so the looks will shoot up again when I do that just before I send everything to be anodised.


Had to do some extra planning the past few days gearing up for a mega hectic November of none stop modding.

Pedestal
Pricing of MDF & plywood at local DIY stores is a bad joke unfortunately.

18mmx1220x2440mm MDF £18 or plywood £29 but I'd need a big van to transport it, this 1 piece covers what I need so this is an annoyance plus I'd rather use 25mm thick but they don't offer it.

6x 18mmx1220x606 £93 in MDF at £15.50 each & £221 in plywood at £36.82 each, plywood at half the size near £8 more expensive LMAO yeah that makes sense.

Veneer on top about £25 for each flavour so between £150 & £300 so too flipping much, so wood work is officially an insane choice of material for me.

So now I know I should just make an all aluminium version would be far cheaper & lighter weight too, flipping heck the amount of aluminium I could order for the cost of that basic wood LMAO, it's an absolute no brainer.

Bars & sheets of aluminium simply making the aluminium order a little bigger, biggest challenge will be making it not resonate any vibes but yeah it will be a lot cheaper than using sheet wood & veneer & instead of nice looking woods I'll just make it nice some other way, plus making it as a frame & covers it will be very highly moddable in the future, think it might actually be nicer too.

So I'll just work the design change to see what material I will need, add them to the order I was going to do for extra materials I need to complete Lean & green, get it ordered with some spare bits to hopefully cover extra bits I do making it up as I go so I won't have any delays running up to the deadline & get extremely busy, gonna need a new screw order too, there will be many used on the pedestal & it has to be as strong or stronger than the one I designed but it will be lighter.



Lean & green, main current topic.
Worked out a design to make the joining cover nice & sturdy between the 3 pieces, it's a mix of 15mm acrylic & 3mm & 5mm aluminium rods, the curve & bend panel won't be fully fixed on until it's been anodised though because it's fixing on permanently with JB weld but the cover piece will be removable, just the cover will be stuck to the frame support.

Ordered & received 5 shades of silver metallic, black metallic & green metallic, white plastic primer, white primer, 2 cans of clear & worked out the paint job I'll do on the plastic fan blades, the blades on the akasa venom are quite different to the ones pictured in the model & will be a bit of a challenge to do this nicely but very much worth the effort.

2 of the shades of silver seem really similar so I'll have to do a faint quick haze of the darker ones for 2 of them so they work as intended together.

I had to do this bit of extra planning ahead to make sure the materials are here & ready for when I get to later stages else I wouldn't have a chance of making the deadline, November is all out gogogogo, fun times, but don't worry about it being rushed & compromised, it won't be, just the volume knob of dedication is going to crank up to maximum, big difference between rushing things & just applying yourself properly.

 

[waynio]

Might I suggest talking to a local bespoke joinery / cabinet shop? Baltic birch void-less 13 ply plywood 19mm should be about £50 or less lfor a 1220 x 2440mm sheet and they will probably cut sheets into 4x pieces for little or nothing. Haven't bought any in over a year so not sure of exact cost. You would have 2 extra pieces out of 2 sheets. Can be had in 3mm to 30mm thicknesses.

Birch plywood product guide:
http://www.lathamtimber.co.uk/icmed...Literature/Latham Brochures/Birch Plywood.pdf

Thanks doyll, but the problem with getting a large sheet cut up is it would clash with the layout I made to cut back on waste material, had it so it intertwines so cutting into smaller sections would have made me need more, the size of some DIY stores they could offer a small workshop to let customers do rough cuts to make it more manageable for regular people to take home.

Already changed the design to aluminium now anyway.

This is absolutely unbelievable! Cannot wait to see this finished!

Thank you jakspyder, still hoping for completion before 5th December, it's going to be a serious mission to manage that.

The level of thought & detail that's gone into this project is astonishing, I applaud your dedication

Definitely subscribing to see this progress!

Thank you Darkans appreciated, I know this has limited appeal because of too much detail for some but that's the type of look I like, could do more minimal & sensible but it lacks fun for me.

Sorted the design change to support all aluminium instead of wood stacking so now have a lot of hollow space so more difficult to make strong & get nice curves & bends, took me all day yesterday & thought what the heck can I do to make it work & then light bulbs started flickering.

Old vs new

Internal support & I might add an extra support near the front, I'll also make a few rod drilling jigs to speed up perfect rod drilling because only the top & bottom ones will be using countersunk screws, the rest will be grub screws.

Couple more shots.

Figured what I need to complete this & bit the bullet ordering the aluminium last night, I'm broke again lol, received the aluminium rods today which I ordered on Monday though so I can complete the HTPC & fans now but because I was at the computer until I passed out last night I need a bit more rest lying down for a few hours to recover.

But I'll be constantly pushing forward at it as soon as I recover from the natural hangover.

It's hard to believe but I still have some bits to design when I get to further stages of the gaming rig.

 

[waynio]

Can't wait to see final product, should be awesome, don't forget to tell us the finished products specs? How did you think of the design? what was your inspiration?

Thanks Awesome
I'll add specs to first post when it's done

How did I think of the design, hmmm I start my designs off by just floating typical components into a layout that would be good for whatever method of cooling I intend to use, air in this case, then I build up from there making sure it's strong & trying to cram in good functions for easier maintenance as I go forward & then over to the other side of design, the looks, the looks is the part that makes people like it or dislike it especially if you don't aim to do something that would have a high chance of people liking it or not by not basing it on anything out there aka original but it's also this part that takes the longest to do.

Inspiration, other modders striving for out right awesomeness but also modders who have their method of fabrication & pushing the method to it's limits & beyond, it looks very much to me like the only limits are imagination, I say it all the time but it's so true that Attila aka oldnewb really did highlight how you can do fabrication as good as industrial state of the art machines but with normal tools in your back yard & that heavily inspired me to catch up, he's not the only modder who inspires me though, loads do.

If I played it a bit safer by basing elements on things that already have something awesome about them I think more people would have liked this but instead I'll be it's biggest fan lol & maybe others will like it also but even if the looks aren't liked much I just hope people appreciate the main design & are able to look past the skin but yeah I like the skin, something interesting to look at instead of a blank panel.

Once it's polished & anodised I do think it might amaze many to be honest when they see the contrasts.



Tiny update time.

This update will seem feeble I know but I've not been slacking, just not been in the workshop much.

Got the extra rods & cut them to size & made a template for placing them correctly in the front corners but with the rods being 3mm & not 2mm I had to change design a touch again else it just wouldn't work so instead of 4 2mm rods I changed it to 2 3mm rods, the rest is the same, think I prefer it with just 2 rods instead anyway.

Now with 2 3mm rods instead of 4 2mm rods.

Thought I'd see how junior hacksaw blades do on the scroll saw because they are a cheap alternative to band saw blades, snipping the ends off with the metal shears which only seem to get used for things like this, the hacksaw blades do the job of cutting 10mm aluminium but they are more prone to snapping if you push them hard unlike the band saw blades, none of those snapped so must be made of a better material or processed better but as long as I stick to the limit before they do snap they will be good, they do a cleaner cut though with being a finer TPI count.

Made a drilling jig for rods using a bit of scrap 10mm plate & bit of a 3mm flat bar, just place the rod to be drilled in the drill vice, plonk this on top, line up & just drill & get perfect results, my favorite DIY tool & it works brilliantly, all these drilling ideas spawned from AngelOD saying how to do nice straight tapping, I just seen more potential from the idea but I probably wouldn't have thought of this without him saying about it, I'll make it compatible for square bars too, will save me heaps of time on precision drilling.

Also while doing extra design time I accidentally seen it upside down & I like it, looks so crazy lol.

I could make this happen but the fan controller would be upside down & it has digital readings so ugh nah it won't happen now.

If it weren't for that though I could, I'd need to add more strength to the gamer rig & a few more supports inside the HTPC because the HTPC will far out weigh the weight of the gaming rig, I feel it's a mistake showing this but it looks more right & I do remember voigts saying to flip the stand upside down in the early stages of this project & heat rising would usually be a problem but everything is covered by a good flow of air.

I'll be sure to post some upside down pictures of the completed rig instead lol.

Now I will resume progress & found out I now have until 9th December which makes up for the extra design days I just spent.

 

[waynio]

The front gaming fan mount is 4 5mm sheets stuck together designed to hug the custom fan, it needs some love to stop it from shaking also had to make all the fans 1mm deeper, the cover support is 3x 3 layers of 5mm sheets stuck together & 3 3mm rods will keep them aligned together & screwed in place on the flat bar that keeps the stand extra rigid.

Not much to show but I can assure I haven't been slacking 1 bit the past week but I have been mostly sat on my bum lol.

Also the akasa venom fans I was disappointed to find out you can't pop the blades off like you can on the apache fans so that makes painting them a bit trickier but still doable so might just keep the stem that hides the wire instead of all 4 & might even get rid of that 1 just keeping the circular bit.

But for now I have many pieces to make & once it's all made I have an epic amount of edge & surface sanding & polishing to do, like the title currently says November is get busy time & I'll kick it off by modding all evening, night & all day tomorrow & update in the evening.

 

[waynio]

It looks far more stable when inverted. Aren't you worried that it'll be top heavy when on top of the cabinet?

It's bigger size but shouldn't be heavy & it plugs onto the stand & the HTPC weighs quite a lot & will weigh even more when loaded with hardware, so no I'm not worried, plus the weight is distributed nicely.

I know it looks like it should be easy to topple but no it'll be nice & solid.


Instead of sleeping last night I did this.

Figured out a nice solution to the blade heating up & melting the acrylic when cutting thicker stuff, good old copper flat bar with a tiny slit in the bar, enough to touch both sides & the back of the blade, works brilliant but they can overheat still so I made an extra & found that wasn't enough so made 3 in total so I could cut none stop, awesome.

This is part of the gaming rig front fan mount & is 20mm thick without 8mm round bar.

With 8mm round bar.

The support pieces for the cover join piece.

Loose fit.

Back to the fan mount & got that mill bit out again to mill the slot for the 10mm square bar it mounts to & it went pretty damn nicely, seems to handle acrylic a lot better.

This fan mount piece is complete but I think I went a bit overkill by using 3 brass inserts.

Now I had to mark & file down 3 15mm sections for the support piece in the stands front flat bar, then drill & countersink mount holes & because the right side of the flat bar dips down an extra 1mm I had to file that side down to make it work right.

Turned out perfect, I added brass thread inserts into the acrylic pieces & these are now solid with a nice 1mm space all along where I need it to stick the bent & curved panel there.

I took a break at this point.

 

[waynio]

Joining cover piece.

Bends are the right angles but they aren't sharp enough for how I want them & I think it may have been impossible to do the curves so I'm going to use the bend & curve lines from the design & use a hack saw blade & sharp thin file to thin out the bend & curve points to make it more doable.

4 hours doing this but figured what I need to do to get it right so not a complete waste, reason it took so long is the opposing bends & me needing to figure out an alternative way to do the 2nd bend.

This was a fail update lol.

 

[waynio]

Looking great mate, some serious craftsmanship going into that!

Thanks coolamasta.

You got mad skills bro. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Thanks racerboy59, still hoping to be done for 9th December, gotta believe it's doable.

PITA piece take 2.
Freshly cut & flattened external edges, scored the lines with scalpel.

Snipped a piece of hack saw blade off, clamped a steel ruler along all the lines & shuffled until they were decently thinned, I went deeper for the actual bends.

Took a 30 min break from the tedious session hehe.

Time to bend & yes indeedy the workshop is a heck of a mess & no, DOF couldn’t do anything about this shot unfortunately, lets focus on hitting that deadline instead lol.

2nd bend & with it being so close to the other one & it being an opposing bend I had to use the bender unconventionally, clamping the piece on the wrong side & then flipping it upside down on the floor & carefully pressing something flat against it.

Main 2 bends done & this is the result I was after, sharp defined bends.

Now the fun part, faint curves, tried many silly ways at first but realised I just couldn't do it in a good way due to the bends, here is 1 of the silly ways I tried.

So I straightened out 1 of the bends & did faint bends on the lines & then re bent the last bend point & the faint bends made too much of a curve so had to tweak them as good as I could, this took far longer than I anticipated but knew it wouldn’t be an easy part.

I'll use button head screws so I can be sure of it fitting how I want it to, I'll just paint the screw heads to match the anodise colour, need more brass inserts though, only got 1 left so I'll leave doing updates until I have something good to show which I hope will be tomorrow & every day after leading up to the 9th of December.

 

[waynio]

Mid session update since I got interrupted, this must be why I prefer modding through the night, can just go at it none stop.

The HDD level covers before bending.

Using that awesome rod centre drilling tool & oh yes it's awesome makes very quick work of precision rod drilling & with using a drill press it should last a long time.

Tapping takes as long as it always has though lol.

Threw some parts together for the fan but still have 2 1mm pieces & the hoop to make & to file some edge off all 4 rod pieces but I got to say it feels nice & solid like this & it slots on the perch perfectly, very happy with it.

HDD cover loose fit but I didn't like how the bending went for the mounting tabs so I'll remake them without the tabs & just make them a perfect height so they hold in on their own when tightening the screws for the level above.

29 Days left arrrrrrrgh lol.

Having fun though now I'm really seeing it coming together more & I have 2 brass inserts which is enough to fix 1 side of the stand cover in place, that's a sweet fit too, loving how this is going & should have another update later on, going to fix the front corner rods in place & remake the HDD cover, that will probably take a fair bunch of hours so I don't know if I'll get to complete the fan today but the HTPC & stand is sooooo close to complete on the initial fabrication side.

 

[waynio]

1mm Aluminium for the last 2 fan pieces & the new HDD cover, old one wasn't too great with the tabs not working out well.

All panels made for the HTPC 140mm fan, cut the new HDD covers & put them aside for when I do the front corner rods & also cut the 5 140mm & 2 120mm fan ring pieces, to shape them perfect I'll look for a hard round object about 20mm smaller diameter of the needed ring to get that bit of needed over curve, a bit of spring back will be good for it.

Still need to file the inside edges of the rods so they are level to the 2mm panels before I can add the fan motor with blades, I'll just do a loose fit for seeing how the fan looks with the motor & blades in because the fan is going to be JB welded to the anodised piece.

How it currently looks, not bad progress & keep in mind all the scruffiness on edges & surfaces will be cleaned up but later in the project.

I'll have to take apart stealthlow real soon & install the noctua cooler to get hardware measurements so I can design the triple fan mount in case I need to make the fans with extra mount points & possibly design a shroud for the motherboard & maybe the GPU & sound card too, we'll see but I will sure be cutting it fine for completing in time, feels a bit like a mission impossible but I'm giving it a good go.

 

[waynio]

Massive undertaking... and if you fail we will disavow any knowledge of you or this project.

It is, still quite a bit to do but in a short time, trying to keep a cool head & not rush it.

This is a piece of art. Looks amazing from the design down to the precise implementation.

Super impressed with your creativity and knowledge, and even now it looks fantastic.

I wish you the best of luck with this project, keep going!

Thanks IncognitoX appreciated.

The most impressive part is what you do with a very limited amount of equipment! Your accomplishments with a scroll saw, drill press and hand tools is better than what many fully equipped machine shops put out.

Very good work!

Appreciated doyll
I'm sure if there was any enthusiasts who work in a pro shop they could do some marvels seen some that fit that bill on bit-tech, awesome when people push the limits & beyond of what they can do.

Went to do a session but figured I should design the spindicator electronics case, it's not quite a simple box but it will help to clean up the mass of wires to do with it & will prevent it from having an accidental short & it only just fits into the space by the PSU.

I'll make a start on it along with getting the rods installed, 10mm plates rounded, HDD covers installed, fan completed & get the stand cover installed so I'll be modding all night with an update or 2 tomorrow some time.

 

[waynio]

I'll check it out when I get up tomorrow.

Well I got a little done lol.

OK I was a little bit too ambitious about what I said I'll do on my previous update but I made some progress.

Got a start on the spindicator electronics casing 3 5mm acrylic sheets.

Stuck together.

Both aluminium covers.

Then made a start on the fan by filing the rods.

1 of them went nicely because I took care doing it, the others I got careless, they work nicely but don't cling to the hoop because of taking too much off so with this one being on full show I'll likely make new ones & use these ones for fans that aren't on full show.

Making the hoop, used whatever I could to get a basic hoop, the strip was too long so had to grind ?mm off bit by bit until...

It finally clicked in place.

Then you align the 2mm panel & work the hoop into it until it sits flush.

Then you put your fan in there or as I done mount the front 1mm panel.

I bent the 2nd set of HDD covers, they are good but making them join to the rod & look good how I designed it is really difficult to do, I tried using the mill bit to flatten a length of the bar so the cover would sit flush but I screwed up, I'll work out a way, an idea has already formed while writing this out & it's a good one but does require a 3rd fabrication of the covers.

But yeah, I couldn't resist chopping up 1 of the aluminium fans to put it in there lol, snipped all the LEDs off it & cut the outer frame off & the fan & 4 plastic legs slid in perfectly.

So I got 1 bit done & 2 other bits semi done, really can't wait to complete the HTPC so I can move over to the gaming rig.

Loving the custom fans, you have to wrestle the hoops into place but when they click in it's just an awesome satisfying moment.

 

[waynio]

Just finished my first cup of coffee.

The fan looks fantastic!

Another example of your great skills proving again it the skills and not the tools that make the difference.

Thanks doyll but really it's a mix of both, you can do quite a bit with very basic tools but you can do better with better ones, I just can't believe I only recently discovered scroll saws, they are awesome for modding & creating things & they don't have to be as expensive as the one I went for, you can pick up budget ones for less than a dremel 2nd hand.

I made today an easier day because I was starting to get worn out lol.

Resumed the spindicator electronics casing by first flattening the edges of the acrylic stack & then some drill milling but I took my time doing it to not strain the press.

After that I countersunk all the mounting holes & then plugged brass inserts with the soldering iron into the middle of the 15mm stack so it could be shared by 2 8mm countersunk screws on both sides.

Then cut the internal piece out. using the copper cooling trick on the blade.

Acrylic piece done.

Then had to countersink a tiny bit more to make them nicely flush fitting screws on the 1mm outer panels, turned out nice.

The electronics this case is for.

I used vinyl on the underside for the electronics in the hope that will be good enough to prevent short circuit, if it isn't though I can paint the solder points with liquid electrical tape or put a layer of electrical tape down.

The Molex plug slots in place really nice, I intentionally left some space around the PCB.

Top cover on & this little case is done.

For the rest of the wires going from this to the spindicator I will make a quick channel case from acrylic & aluminium scraps that keeps all the wires safe from snags & cleans the looks up even though it will only ever be seen during building up but will be nice to know there isn't chance of wire snags.

I might get this HTPC completed some time lol.

 

[waynio]

Had a huge session starting yesterday & finished up at noon today, was well in the mod zone to go on all day but had to go supermarket, it broke my flow, came back ate some food, was just about to get stuck back into this but after setting things up to continue my senses must have dulled rapidly, yawning my head off with sloppy hand eye coordination, made a coffee & a tea for my dad I knocked the full fresh hot cup of tea on my crotch lol, I took it as a clear sign to not continue modding today or I would screw something up badly, luckily I was wearing thick jeans & it stopped me from getting burnt but it looked like I peed myself, oh well.


Getting the rods to exact tight fit, took a while.

Then started taking it all apart to add the mounting holes for the rods & to take some material out so the revised HDD cage covers look better by not showing the ends of the bent covers.

Then a hefty load of drilling & tapping, showing the 5mm rod I drilled & tapped for m3 screws here, this shows how awesome that rod drill helper is being able to do this, pretty amazing DIY tool I think but drilling the longer rods was more difficult, had to use my square to make sure I was drilling square.

Other bits I did but didn't take pictures along the way, was focusing on progressing more.

Rounded the edges of all the 10mm plates, removed the teeth marks on the power switch piece using the new detail sander, took apart the power switch piece a few times to shorten the width so it would fit in with the rods.

The 3mm rods I couldn't do where I did the mounting holes so I'll have to carefully move the 3mm holes forward a touch or buy 2mm rod but it comes on coils so would have to make it perfectly straight so I'm going to try moving the holes forward 0.5mm, as long as I do it with extreme care it should work nicely still.

The rounded edges, 5mm & 10mm rods installed using countersunk screws & grub screws for the level change, good & solid.

I am aiming to get the HTPC done this weekend though & when I say done I mean the main structure completed, not the finishing touches like cable management holes, edge & surface finishing, I'll likely wake up during the night & get back onto it & try to have it done by the end of Sunday so I can start on the gaming rig on Monday.

 

[waynio]

Hey everyone

Would have continued pressing on at superman levels but I got demoted on bit-tech, the place I was making the extra effort for so thought screw it, back to a normal human pace now, why bother if that's what they do for you when you really give it some eh.

 

[waynio]

Sorry about that.

But you haven't been demoted here.

Cheers doyll.

I didn't quit just because of the rating, that would have been silly, they have competitions that are manipulatable so you lose no matter what you make without manipulating the outcome of votes, competitions are highly unbalanced also with makeshift workshops vs industrial factory methods & then people with top end systems without having to buy it all themselves with being highly sponsored but I managed to accept all that so my thread being demoted there on top of that I just couldn't tolerate any more so I quit the place else it would make me very unhappy posting there, I doubt I'll ever go back there, things need to improve a bit there if I ever do.

I opted out of the competition but got PM from an organiser to make sure I wanted out so I chose to be back in but with the knowledge I still wouldn't do well, so the rating was 1 jab too many before I told them no more.

I'll continue posting everywhere else including here though with this project & future projects.

Updates will continue soon.

 

[waynio]

I know what you mean. See it many places. It's to bad but guess it is what it is.

Look forward to seeing your posts.

Is a shame, would have been happy to continue posting if it wasn't so bad, even people having jabs at front page articles modders do unpaid, that really contributed to me leaving.

But like you say it is what it is, I'll be modding on starting tomorrow.

 

[waynio]

Shame about Bit-Tech (can see your point though and did post earlier) glad your still updating here though - great build.

Thanks wissel I think some debating going on there might help, most recognise how the rating system isn't working right with people abusing it there, it worked OK until this year & it just kept getting worse.

Read abaout this on the other site, really glad your still here as well!!

Don't let the ******* get you down, you know who the best modder is!

Thanks redfist, it's really tough to define who is the best modder really, so many different approaches at play on there & pro factory vs makeshift workshop, case mods mixed with scratch builds, highly sponsored vs tight budgets, it is very unballenced for competition so that provokes people to gather external support to have a better chance & some treat it like marketing.
Knowing how unballenced the competitions are in modding I just accept it but I'm going to opt right out of any modding competitions because they are even too difficult for me to judge with being able to appreciate all approaches, people who don't look far into it they just see the end result & vote on that, it's just a messy competition really.

love the design waiting for an update

Thanks Mark, got 1 now.

Thank you for sharing this project with us...



I don't understand what's gone wrong - would you mind explaining in words of one syllable exactly what cheesed you off with Bit-Tech?

I do understand that this is a project that you have conceived and toiled long and hard over, pouring all of your time into, and for sharing that creative moment with us, I am particularly grateful for.

/non-constructive rant deleted/

1 Syllable, I guess it would be cowards.
Trolls who are too cowardly to troll people up front because they lack logical thinking so they been going all over BT knocking the ratings down on many excellent projects, they happened to do it to me when I was making a big effort to make it in time for the mod of the year deadline so it annoyed me breaking my focus.

Where are you finding negative comments?

I have not noticed any disrespect of waynio here. Maybe I've missed them but if there are any they are few and far between.

@daynio
Patiently waiting for your next update of project.

I should have popped back in here sooner, sorry.

Negatives are over on Bit-tech...

It is a small minority on there, maybe even a tiny minority, I think it will pass.

Then why are you giving us a lecture about negative comment here??

We are not the guilty parties and have done nothing wrong.

So don't lecture us! Go lecture Bit-tech!

Wheres the fire extinguisher lol.

My opening question was " would you mind explaining in words of one syllable exactly what cheesed you off with Bit-Tech?"

I've scrubbed everything after that. Sorry if this caused offence.

I'm sorry for not getting back here sooner to you & doyll & anyone else.

Sorry I barked at you.

Just think the problems on Bit-Tech should stay there. We don't need them over here.

We have a nice build thread going here.

Maybe just contact waynio using Trust button and find out in provate.

True, reason I mentioned it was it made need for a little timeout while I cool off.

Looks like the discussion about the stars rating system is very much in progress and going strong...

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=250884

For the record, I voted it a 5* mod, after I realised that there was even a star rating system.

I do hope that you are still working on this beautiful project, and that your commitment hasn't been wavered by some nay-sayers...

Shame they might have to dump something that worked OK until this year as it progressed further it got worse & it could all just be 1 person with multiple accounts, there have been some on there doing stuff like that, things people do when they get bored lol.

one day i`ll try doing something like that

I look forward to it fizban do research if serious though, I went into scratch building kinda blind it's only my last 3 attempts I've been getting much better, first 2 were a bit rough especially my first.


I have an update at last it's a small one but it's an update.

Deadline is canned now for me & I'm continuing to post on BT still, even got a really late message from coolermaster saying to hurry lol, I figured they didn't accept my application.
This project needs quite a lot doing still anyway & will take time to do it all nicely, I don't think I'll bother with any modding competitions anymore though, I'm happy just modding on really.

Where it was since last session but now with the 3rd revision of the HDD covers & they fit in there nicely, I also had to drill the 3mm holes a bit closer to the edge so the rods could fit in.

The 5mm & 10mm rods with grub screws in for the tapped rods above.

View from underneath where they are countersunk screwed in & the 3mm holes I drilled straight through & extended them more outwards so they'll fit in.

How it is now with all the rods in place, this all needs a heck of a cleaning up by light filing & sanding to make it look a lot nicer, it'll get there.

Right here I noticed how the light caught the dual layer side panels creating a sweet contrast so thought I'd take a shot, bit like a preview of the intended look of what the contrasts will look like when everything gets anodised but not this colour.

I'm still wishing I put all the mounting points in on the design phase before I got on with making this but once I'm past this HTPC & stand everything else should be far more straight forward.

Some more shots.

Other news.
Been wanting to make my dad a nice xbmc for quite a while & was browsing around fleabay for a cheap mini-ITX mobo & seen an Asus E35M1-I Deluxe same as the one I'm using on mine but 2nd hand for £68, owner had it since August, took the memory out of my current rig & put it in, tested & it's all good, then I finally installed the Samsung memory I bought a bit ago from here into my current rig, it's 10mm lower than normal low profile memory, low voltage & highly overclockable, no heat sink & a black PCB, got it running at 2133mhz 10,10,10,28 @1.45v, really nice memory & will be nicer still when I take the stickers off.

More soon & woo hoo for Christmas smilies.