Modular.

[ALXAndy]

I can't have anything like that sadly. So no drill press either.

To put it in perspective? I am currently modding out of a 2.5x3m room. With a bed in, 150cm desk, pedestal with a huge A3 printer on, dresser, etc.

Sadly I have 15 bikes in the loft, and it is not a walking loft. So I can't put anything else up there lol. Well, unless I want it in here.

At home? I have a very small flat, and it is visited by a care worker every week. So making a mess there isn't an option either.

 

[ALXAndy]

Update ten - I nearly broke something.

Any way, before we get to that let's go back to last night. Last night I fitted the fan hub and left the power wire hanging out the back for the new socket I will be fitting.



And wired it in.





Our test subject.



Today the spoil board and vacuum thing finally came. Though I was a bit concerned about running it with the dust shoe on being first cut. For some reason at first I could not get the spindle motor to start in Easel, and I accidentally started which dragged the bit along the perspex making a sickening sound. Thankfully I chose to use a crap bit that came with it (big old fat bugger) and so it didn't snap.

I then cut it.



And it worked perfectly. The only bugger? it left tabs on there and I don't know if you can remove them. I did not know it was going to do that, so in my haste I cracked the piece trying to break it out.



Though thankfully because of what it is? it doesn't matter any. I will have to take those off, though, which is annoying as they are about 2mm thick.

The only other thing? it's really, REALLY loud. Like it totally surprised me just how sodding loud it was. I am going to have to try and do something about that. Get something under it to stop it making the floor vibrate.

EDIT. OK so I found out how you remove the tabs. Cool. That will save a lot of headaches going forwards.

 

[ALXAndy]

OK quick go on the file and our first CNC part is in place. Fits amazing, too.

 

[ALXAndy]

That tape is strong. Like, really, really strong. I don't need the tabs tbh, at all. It also didn't foul up the bit so I will deffo just be taping everything down.

 

[ALXAndy]

Update 11 - "I'm not perfect, but I'm perfect for you".

OK. So after yesterday's attempt I was feeling really down. Mostly because I am a noisy bugger and I don't mind noise. Problem is the machine was beyond noisy. And I mean, so loud I did not want to operate it. Which left me feeling gutted, and almost had me ditch the project. Even at home that would have been worse than my 15" sub.

I figured I would give something a try. So, I grabbed the enormous rubber desk mat that came with my desk (bit too young for me) folded it up and put the machine on that. Bliss. Seriously, I ended up turning off the hoover because it was twice as loud as the machine.

So, with my confidence restored a little I designed the IO for the water cooling unit.



OK, so what is going on there? well, there is a 25mm carve. Like, 2mm deep. I wouldn't have done that and it made the cut take 30 mins, but the through fittings are not deep enough to be able to be done up on 5mm acryl. So, I got fancy, and carved them in 2mm.

I have also changed the settings. Instead of trying to go all the way through and continually hitting the spoil board (which DOES make noise because its on an alu bed) I cut at 4.8mm deep.

I did have a serious issue. For some reason the software doesn't understand my dust shoe, and it was refusing to go anywhere near the acrylic. In future I am just going to tell it I don't have one. So I did mess up at first and wrecked a 20mm square in the bottom right corner. That's OK, as I just jogged the machine over past it, and it probably would have ended up as waste any way, being so small.



So, that is a 1.4mm burr in action. Might be a burr, but holy crap it's doing amazingly well !

After 30 mins.





Success. I just need to crack out my Dremel sanding barrel bit as I am afraid of cracking the 3mm area. Will do that in a bit, and possibly get that fitted into the cooling box a bit later.

Oh BTW. I think what I cut last night was extruded, 'cause it didn't look like sherbet to me !

 

[ALXAndy]

11.5. "Very Nice 'Arry, wossit for?"

 

[ALXAndy]

The burr should cut the acrylic but you can see the melting you're getting around it. Looks like it cleans up ok in this case but with a proper endmill you shouldn't get that - or if you do, your feeds (too low) and speeds (too high) are wrong.
And result looks good and that's the main thing.

Feed rate. I only ran it at 250mm. It took 30 mins to do that, but the holes were pockets. But yeah, baby steps. It's OK wrecking the corner of one piece but not a whole sheet. Next up I need the socket for the back (another very small piece). Which gives me more time to learn.

BTW are you sure that is melting and not the wrap on the acrylic?

 

[ALXAndy]

Update 12 - "Hmm, I am pretty sure it's not supposed to do that !"

OK so today's task was to finish drawing the reservoir and pump mounting brackets. Be nice, I am new to this. Besides, these are functional items not meant to be pretty.

I cut the reservoir one with no issues. I had increased the feed rate and cut depth though. Problem is the bed is not level (I don't even have a level, let alone a level surface) and it shows. When it goes to the right it cuts deeper. This, combined with my faster feed rate *and* deeper cut depth *and* the fact I should have used more tape to stick it down resulted in an all out failure on the pump mount.

Basically it cut the four holes for mounting, then went to the square in the centre. It cut that out completely, then it flipped up and got stuck on the spindle where there are no cutting teeth. When I freed it? it obviously lost its bearings and just started yamming through the acrylic willy nilly so I hit the stop button.

Reverted back to previous settings, but reduced the cut depth too much and thus when I snapped it out it left the edges a little ragged. TBH by this stage I was done caring, I just wanted my mounts.



A short while later.

 

[ALXAndy]

Ideally what I need is something softer than MDF to go on top of the spoil board. That way when the bit goes through it will just eat through it and not damage the bit. Will need to think about that before I cut the rear panel, which will be the hardest part to do (it will also take about 1.5 hours). I am also sure that if the bit was not a burr that wouldn't be so much of an issue, and IDGAF about the spoil board. But the "bit" I have on there *really* doesn't like going through MDF. It also makes a really horrible racket !

TBH dude this thing really is my dream toy. I've been waiting 15 years for it. I will also get the larger bed too (it's £50) because that will enable me to go from ITX to MATX lol. One tiny piece left to do, then some plumbing, and the cooling box will be complete. I fitted the pump and res earlier so yeah...

 

[ALXAndy]

Thanks boys. Might look for a cereal box or something later. Level is not really the issue, as I want to go all the way through. I just don't want it hitting the MDF. The noise, gawd.

Was also thinking like, neoprene. But I am not sure if it would gum up the bit.

G - stop being a pervert, sheesh

 

[ALXAndy]

Loving the mill work here! We've had a laser cutter for a few years (partner makes acrylic jewellery) so I had to learn 2D design. Like you, 3D eludes me but I can do technical drawing and vectors on paper, so adapting to Inkscape wasn't too painful.

I was eyeing up one of these little CNC mills after trying to make distro plates and reservoirs on the laser. No way to do blind channels for o-rings consistently. And gluing clear acrylic so it's water tight, is almost impossible to get pretty.

Looking forward to seeing the finished box

I almost went for the laser module. Problem is it stinks right? yeah, I would totally gas myself in here Good thing with this machine is you can buy a module or spindle motor.

 

[ALXAndy]

Yep, we've got a proper enclosure and extraction fan etc (laser's quite a big/pro-ish model) and it still smells. Especially on certain colours - I THINK darker colours smell worse?

For levelling the bed, have you thought about sticking it on another layer of scrap acrylic? At least you know how it sounds!

Yeah I could do that tbh. 3mm maybe... I would imagine there are stronger dyes in the dark stuff? Even cutting it with the diamond blade makes a unique whiff tbh. I would hate to know what it smells like burning

Had a talk with mum yesterday and I am going to put up one of those metal sheds next spring. That will help no end. I can deffo look into lasers then !

Edit. Sorry dude I forgot to say.. Minor digress... My uncle is dying (terminal cancer) and my brain is all over the place.

In the end the PNG thing did not work. It was importing them, but they were coming in the totally wrong size. Which if you start putting multiple pieces down getting it the correct size would be a nightmare. This has all been drawn in 3D. I used the line tool on the brackets, hence why it's a bit skew whiff and the corners are all sharp.

 

[ALXAndy]

Amazing. Yeah, at some point I think I will have no choice, but at least I am learning a lot from Easel and how it all works at a basic level.

Moving forward.

Not doing any machining today. To all forums, I decided to buy an A4 069 opal (same as what I am milling in 5mm) in 3mm to put under the cut pieces. The bit absolutely adores turning acrylic into sherbet, but not hitting the MDF. It hates that, and has burn marks on it. So I can and will cut the power socket for the cooling box, but will then wait until the A4 comes in to line the spoil board with.

I also finished up the design of the rear panel.



And ordered some supplies. Lots of M2 buttons in gold.



I am going to be using plastic weld for the inner structure, but I want the front and sides to be removable. This way if I end up with a longer GPU in there (hint, I won't, but never say never....) I can take the front off and possibly extend the front. What I don't have is an M2 tap, so I will have to get one. That is all for the future though, and the only place to get them is China, so yeah. That could have to wait until after Xmas. I also got this. This should be UK, and I will need this sooner for the front panel.



I checked my stash and they are all either latching, or ano red. I think gold goes with white perfectly. Oh and these are arriving in a hour or so from Amazon, too.



Will need those.

 

[ALXAndy]

Hit up UK Drills on le fleabay. I get all my drill bits and taps from them, really good stuff for the money. No need to faff with China.

Cool. It's the nuts I ordered from China.

 

[ALXAndy]

Update 13 - "Unlucky for me".

So this evening I figured I would plumb the cooling box. "Easy, ten minute job!". Not.

It was an absolute nightmare. Mostly because it was completely unorthodox and I have never done a loop that needs to be open before. Ten minutes turned into three hours, and having to take that annoying hex res apart five times to keep changing the outlets. I also had to reposition the pump because it was so close to the "out" plate on the rear that there was no way I could get a tube on it.

Got there eventually, but have used nearly all of my fittings. Oh well, that gives me an excuse to buy all new ones for the modular box.



And yes, it is extremely convoluted. Sadly that was just how it had to be. Thankfully even though the res to pump goes uphill I can prime the pump by sucking the out tube on the back.



Now that would have been a milestone achieved. Sadly the fans run into the ridiculously large pump top. So, I need to mill some spacers out of some 5mm scrap before I can put those back. Will do that tomorrow.

 

[ALXAndy]

The other pump is going in the other box dude. So it will need water before it can pump anything. I need to be able to pump water out of the cooling box and into that first.

Ross - I am saving that stuff for later. This is not my dream build. I have always wanted to do one based on a Radiohead song, my fave song of all time, and it will be extreme. Like, tree shaped distros and all that stuff. But for now I want to get this done, then the modular box will be replaced over time. There are no LEDs in the cooling box, no windows and bugger all else. IE, I have done more than I should on that already tbh.

Also..

Well that is a relief. I just did a count of what is left, not enough.

For a while I thought I would have to buy all new fittings in a larger size. Thing is? the whole build has been designed with small clearances in mind. IE, not for big fittings and big hoses. I was extremely relieved to find 10 of these.



They are Bitspower, same as what I have now. They were on sale for £3.70 each, which saves me a lot. Mostly because I don't have to buy all new hose (I love the black hose and I have tons) and, I was going to try and strip the red off for the modular box. Now I don't need to. If I need any more fittings (like elbows, 90s etc) I can order them in chrome to match. Phew.

 

[ALXAndy]

Gotta love Royal Fail. Two weeks late this was what I got in an email earlier.



Public road. So there is a 99% chance that won't be there waiting for me when I get home FFS.

 

[ALXAndy]

Update 14 - "Unforeseen Circumstances"

Tonight I made my first somewhat major mistake. I came up with a really good idea for the spoil board. IE, cover it in double sided masking tape, then put on a cardboard sheet, then put on more tape.

This was the best idea I have had yet. Also, because this tape is so incredible when I messed up it saved me. Sort of, it saved me another 30 mins and a crap load more tape.

OK, so for tonight's hi jinx I decided to go balls out and cut the hardest part of all. The back. It is the hardest because it is the only piece that is dimension critical. It is also pushing the bed to the limit. And that was why I made a mistake. Any way, what I was cutting and milling.



Now this is where I went wrong. For some reason I got blinded by the measurements on the board (spoil board) and thought I should start where the numbers start. DON'T. This had the whole piece 1cm too high and of course the bed can't cut that far. So, what you see in the next picture is a whole hour wasted, then another 1 hour and 20 mins (I reduced the depth of the lettering as it was taking the longest.



If you look up top you can see where I went wrong. It got to the top of the writing, maxed out before even starting the hole for the IO which then messed up everything after. Thankfully I realised my error and stopped the machine before I wasted any more time and materials. I wasted 1/4 of a sheet, £2. I was far more miffed about the time I wasted.

It doesn't look fantastic yet as I am not removing the peel off protection yet. I still have to cut it to the correct height, so that is staying on for now. But it is done.

I also snapped my first bit. I changed it to a 1.2mm bit before I began and when I started round 2 (with the material in the correct position on the bed) I got annoyed and impatient setting the depth. It was too deep, and it quickly snapped becoming lodged in the acrylic. IO tried to pull it out and it snapped twice more, so I drilled it out. Because I switched to a larger bit it then removed all of that damage.

But note to self, 1.2mm bits are really too thin. I would have used the 1.4, but I was paranoid about it being dull after being dragged through MDF. So, I used a 1.6mm which was perfect any way.

I also forgot to say I ordered these.



I've used them before. They are anodized billet spacers people use for drift racing (on the bonnet, or hood to our colonial cousins). The great part is they are cheap AF (about $5) and come with all of the hardware you need whilst looking fantastic.

 

[ALXAndy]

Update 14.5 "That sucks".

Firstly the PSU tray I modelled was completely wrong. One hole lined up, so I had to work it to make the PSU fit.

It then dawned on me that I don't have the bed height to cut what I was wanting to, and that is why the IO is 5mm too low.



I am going to have to cut that bigger and try and cover it up.

Bed upgrade needed....

Actually no, bed upgrade not needed. I needed to leave 1cm sticking out of the bottom of the bed. So that is my fault.

Ugh. Might redo it tomorrow, we'll see.

 

[ALXAndy]

3mm will be too big to do any lettering.

TBH the pocket carves yes, take ages, but they are the quietest thing it does tbh.