Project - Air Cube v2

[waynio]

Thanks DG

There were slight overcuts in some areas, the edge joints were weak in the left and right grills, the middle grill was very good.

here is the back side, the mounting holes for the front panel did not align 100% and would have required drilling the case making it in to a mess if I flipped it round.

Simply too scuffed up for looking good after polishing.

When I started trimming the rough areas down, I thought I'm gonna pull this off and it was looking good and clean, But when I nearly completed filing 1 of them, 1 of the spokes broke off so I cut every other spoke off and shortly after figured they would not be strong enough to be polished so as gutted as I was I cut all of the grills out, filed and sanded the holes down to a smooth finish and that is that, just wish I chose the simple grill of lines.
I have enough spare mesh to cover all 3 holes so it is back to being basic now.

I don't drink but I think I'll have a few tonight to lighten up & refresh .

So next up will be to make the front optical extension.

 

[waynio]

Wow Mark that hiper logo looks very well done
Never again!, lol it is a bit too much effort really I know, it needs serious patience and ability to do a mind numbing task for ages while remaining focused on the goal .

After the nightmare with the grills I'm keeping everything else simple as possible except for the front extension, seems everything I have been doing since then has been a bit shabby, maybe I need a bit of a break from it, dunno.

The front extension
1st I made a paper version of what I wanted & cellotaped it together and lay it flat and taped it down and marked around it on some sheet alu so I could do it in 2 pieces rather than 4 for a nice clean look, but because I really should have designed it 1st in google sketchup so I could get accurate dimensions, it turned out wrong.

So for this case I will be doing the front extension in 4 pieces like my last case, I designed it on google sketchup this time to get accurate dimensions.

I have all the parts cut to size and bent properly, I'm currently working on the angle bar connetors for holding the 4 pieces together, its not going to be easy getting this part spot on, I have countersunk rivets so they won't stick out like my last case.

Pictured is the 2 piece version I badly made with the 4 piece version I'm working on, doing all the parts are pretty easy except for the mounting brackets, rather hard to mark correctly, the normal angle pieces are pretty easy it is the different angle pieces which are hard to get right.

The metal bender I have came with 1 full length steel slab for putting on top of the piece to be bent and only allows for simple bends, I tried using 1 of the flat bars cut to a perfect size to allow me to do tighter bends right next to each other but the only flat bar I have is 20mm deep so it leaves a print of a 20mm bar but bends my piece really well so when I get a 70mm deep bar and cut to size I will be able to do this spot on.

I would even be able to make my own pci/io back panel so I won't have to recycle or source another motherboard tray and back pci/io part again except for 1 to flatten out so I can use it as a template.

The countersunk rivets are very hit and miss if they connect good, the countersunk bit on the rivets are not as deep as the screws I have been using so some of them are not staying firm, this is my 3rd attempt and looks like I will have to re do the upper part and the sides on the extension again, either I got lucky when I did this first time round on my prototype or I'm just having a bad few days, the bottom piece is perfect so I can use that at least.

 

[waynio]

Hmm, that front pannel now looks like some kind of three-eyed alien duck. Are you sure you dont want to rename it the monster head case?

lol .

you should've got those panels laser cut my friend, it would've saved you so much hassle........

I know, in future anything really fancy I want doing on a panel I think I will do that .


New progress, seems a long time since I've been able to say this .

My dad told me about this stuff he had after my 3rd failed attempt on the front extension, so I gave it a try and left it over night, when I went back to it today I tried pulling it off by hand, it stayed completely secure so then I tried ripping it off with pliers and it is rock solid so I went and bought a fresh 1 today.

These are the angle bar pieces bent to correct angle in vice and filed flat.

Here are all 4 pieces dry fitted after I positioned and stuck the angle bar joints together with drives in.

Here it is after I stuck the pieces together, I just used whatever I could find to keep a bit of pressure on it while it sets, I'm leaving it until tomorrow and hopefully it will be strong and ready for mounting, if this fails for a 4th time I will try 1 more time before designing a different front extension.

Also, I have ordered the polish .

 

[waynio]

I'm not either, but I need a place to put the optical and I would have to sacrifice a hdd cage to keep it all internal, I know I could get laptop drives but they are much slower at reading.
But if this front extension is not up to a standard I like I may consider a laptop optical.
Countersunk black allen head screws from ebay
Countersink bit from diy store, it is a 2-5mm HSS bit.

 

[waynio]

Ordered the polish just before 3pm yesterday and recieved it the next morning and it came with a bonus microfibre cloth which I was not expecting .

I used an old soft rag to test this stuff out, this shot is what a minute of using the metal prep with a tiny blob did.

These shots is with using a tiny blob of the mirror finish, again with an old rag which is why there are fine scratches, of course I will be using quality soft new rags to apply this to the case.

1st impressions of this stuff are "ohhhh yeaaaah" especially since I used a poor quality well used rag and hardly spent any time on it, just a quick test.

When I ordered the switches a bit ago I bought black ones 1 with blue dot and 1 with blue ring, but with me now going for a mirror finish I decided to get silver switches 1 white dot and 1 white ring by lamptron and also got a lamptron white cathode set 1st impressions of it are it seems the best pc cathode I have seen, it has a knob on the inverter which is for sound activated sensitivity but can turn the sound sensitivity off and keep the light on, the wires are a bit short but I'll easily extend them if needed, also got 2 quad fan connectors for keeping all the fan cables together 1 for front and side fans and 1 for cpu and rear fans, the cables underneath the switches are pre made cables for the switches by lamptron so no messing about for me, I'm so glad they started doing these as I can't stand doing soldering and braiding .

And these are the parts I went window shopping for lol, wish I had the money for them to put in this case, one can dream .

 

[waynio]

Wow at last I got the front extension 99% perfect and mounted, the dvd drives fit so perfect the bezels are stopping the drives from going any further, I used the cotton bud trick for aligning, just need to put the holes for the power/reset switches in place and the front is done except for polishing, phew 4th attempt was worth it I'm happy to say and is detatchable whenever I want it to be without having to drill rivets out.

Been at it virtually everyday for close to a month now so if its sunny tomorrow I'm chilling in the sun , been cloudy all july and so far for august, reminds me of last year.

And all the rest of the photography will be done using a tripod, my hands just aren't catching the detail because of slight movement.

 

[waynio]

Thanks for comments m8s . I know, the tiny fan in the dvd haha . All the pc gear you are seeing in this worklog is quite old and being used just for a good idea of how everything is goling to be, the front extension is purely so I can have full size dvd drives in the case and space for up to 10 hdd's also. And yes Darg that probably was my prototype of this, main reason for redesigning it was to make it strong, this is the longest time I have spent on making a case, I'm hoping to have it complete within a week or 2.

Aluminium cost was £120 with delivery and still have quite a bit spare , its all the extras that pile up the cost like fans, switches, paint or polish, screws, nuts etc.

Ahh I seem to be picking up momentum again, another day another update and I caught a little sun woohoo

Now the front extension is out the way, I started working on the sides and top panel, as I said a load of updates ago I was unable to bend accurately with the cheap metal folder I have at 1.5mm so had to come up with an alternative, well here it is .

Sides joined up to the top panel so sides and top slide off together as 1 piece, it was flimsy and tricky to get it on at 1st, but I put another angle bar underneath on both sides to keep it square so it all goes on a lot easier now .

Also the mesh I made I put a little countersink in all the holes so it will be a little easier to polish because I'm put off sanding it and there was some rough bits that needed sorting from when the drill went a bit crazy.

I tend to start off really slow and start getting really productive the later it gets, I wrapped it up at 10:30pm

So all that is left to be done what I can think of right now is filing and sanding the top pointy corners, power/reset switch holes on the front, vents on the left side so the hdd fan can get fresh air, and a window or 3 and last but not least a lengthy polishing task.

I tried wet sanding a piece of scrap from 80 grit then 240 then 800 then 1200 then 2000 grit, it got ultra smooth but when I used the metal prep stuff it got quite messy leaving dark grey dust ground into the metal and took some really hard work to get it clear, probably spent an hour getting it semi clear so I'm not so sure I want to polish the exterior now unless I settle for a dulled mirror effect by not doing any sanding so would get a mirror effect like the 1st sample test I showed, but I know for cirtain I will be polishing the interior and the corner angle bars, that alone would look cool with windows so all the parts get reflected eh , so possibly going to be painting the exterior panels not 100% sure yet.

 

[waynio]

, Thanks VortX, here is another update as I'm still trying to get at least 1 thing done each day .

OK today I started using a tripod, wish I used it from the start, every picture is coming out nice and clear now.

Here it is just before I started today.

I got the the top bits that stick up filed and sanded smooth, got the switch holes made and caught more sun .

And found that I will need to make a mount for the dvd drives 7.2mm high

 

[waynio]

Thanks for feedback all .

Today I marked, cut, filed and sanded the left side panel, a basic window hole and a grill for the hdd fan.
I was thinking of having a window on both sides and the top but I remembered that I want a reflection thing going on through the main window so no need.

I started using my dremel and got 1 of the slots done and the dremel was toasty, so I put the dremel mandrel in my dads new rotary air tool and got the whole lot done and then done the curved bits with the dremel.

 

[waynio]

And the polishing of the frame begins .
1st time using the power buffer so had to practice a little and seem to have the hang of it now, it gets hot so I'm going to have to take regular breaks every 3 or 4 bars I do.
4 stage process, involving the green machine shown on 1st post, 1st sand any rough bits smooth, then use mop 1 and polish 1, then 2, then 3 and then I have a nice smooth decent polished frame, going to take a while to get done and will post an update once the whole frame is polished and not before.

Here is a few pics of the 1st bits done.

There is only 2 more structoral bits to make, a dual dvd drive holder for inside the case and case feet, I need to order a bit more aluminium thou for what I have in mind, but I can order a good sized flat bar while I'm at it for making custom sized bending pieces, the hdd cages are not going to be fixed to the case so I don't need to worry about them yet, they are going to sit on thick acoustic foam so no hdd vibes at all .

Also because the countersunk rivets are pretty garbage and the current bolts have a tendancy to lose the socket easily I decided to order some good quality High tensile countersunk bolts and going to add washer springs and have the dome nuts ordered for the top bolts that stick out.

 

[waynio]

Shiny shine shine lol

Got the base done.

I just love how it can all be taken apart with ease and can just take the bars off 1 by 1, so glad I chose to use nuts & bolts this time.

I did not polish every single piece, only the pieces that would be seen.

On this pic with the back panel on, I had wet sanded the panel to be ultra smooth using 600 grit, 1200 grit, 2000 grit then I used the metal prep and mirror finish polishes and well it is a very poor look I think.

So decided to do it properly with the power buffer, I will be lucky to get 1 panel done per day as it overheats regular this pic only got to stage 2 of 3 of buffing but already shows a glimpse of what to expect, shame I can't make a cooling mod for it, it has no vent holes so could only cool the case which I doubt would make a difference.

 

[waynio]

Thanks for comments.

The dremel cooler I made, I modified again by bending and riveting the scrap from the window cut out so it could be used on the grinder and just plonked a weight on it and was nice and firmly in place, kept it nice and cool all day, was able to get all the inside panels done today, I borrowed a full face respirator for doing the polishing and still got covered in dust, had a fred flintstone beard of dust so I dread to know what it would do to you without a good respirator, it doesn't wash off skin easy neither, I doubt I will do polishing again unless I get a very good respirator and overalls etc, it is just plain nasty what it covers you in.

The filter was white before this shot so it must have kept most of it out.

The lower area I did not do completely as it would not be seen, the back panel was easily the hardest to do and still did not get it quite to the finish I wanted but it will do.

 

[waynio]

Thanks for great comments m8s, appreciated

Changed the pics to naked metal .

Just a few more mid day pics, these will be the last pics and update before I paint the exterior panels, I was going to do them white but I would not mind doing a camo paint job, difficult to decide desert, forrest, snow or urban, forrest camo would go well with the fans, desert I'm not to sure about, but overall I think urban or snow camo would look awesome with the polish.

 

[waynio]

you can only go so far with Ally, it'll always have a slight ``foggy`` finish, it's too soft, only S.STEEL will give you a true mirror.

this ``foggy`` effect will not show indoors and yours looks perfect.

Thanks m8
Decided on an urban camo paint job for the exterior panels .

 

[waynio]

I wish you'd gone for snow camo... to keep the components cooler

LOL

Baplad you got that up fast that actually looks quite good, I can definately see that being a good one and the fans will look in place too, dirty camo similar to desert camo but better, a new nominee thanks m8.

Yes Mal X polished exterior would be a pain months down the road which is why I'm painting it, could have kept the grills afterall, gutted, I won't mind taking panels off to buff up the interiors twice a year while I clean it, pc's need a good dust out about that often anyway unless you don't use fans or you use great filters like what razer1978 mentioned about earlier in the thread.

 

[waynio]

That candy apple does looks very nice, but way over my budget at the moment, and those flip paints are stupidly expensive .
But yes misterPK is very right, I could easily remake the panels so I could switch them whenever, so glad I made this case modular, can change the design whenever.

I have changed my mind on the paint job quite a few times over the past few days and can't properly decide so I'm just going to clean the case up where needed and wait until I have enough money for an ok air brush and some good paint, I really shouldn't rush the finish after the effort I've put in so far, besides maybe if I get rid of the blemishes and scratches by sanding it could look pretty good without paint, I'll have to put something on the polished side so it doesn't get messed up while I sand it, not risking wet sanding as it wil surely mess the polish up.

I still have to make a dvd drive piece so they can be secured to the case at the proper height, I'll make that today and get the psu stand set. And I'll have a try at making my own dvd bezels to give the front extension a nice uniform finish.

 

[waynio]

I went to a paint store to weigh up how much it will cost me for a basic paint job using cans, I picked some primer, clear coat and a nice metallic Blue, the cans are only 150ml by hycote so would need quite a few of them, anyway the cost came up to about £68 so I'm going to just use it as is until I have enough for an ok spray gun and the paint tins, I would rather buy the good stuff for a little extra, so the finishing paint job would hopefully get done within the next month or 2. I just searched the net for paint and found a good site to buy any colour metalic or pearl 1 ltr and all the other parts needed, primer, laquer, thinners for £58 and for a quality candy finish about £100 for a full kit except the spray gun.

I tested out the noise level and air flow of all the akasa apache fans mounted inside the case and it will be great, air flow is much better too similar to antec tri speed on high whilst being quieter than the antec tri speeds on low, the apache fans are gonna keep all the components really nice and cool for sure , and you can't see the green blades when they are spinning.

Got the feet and the psu stand mounted today and placed mesh on the side vent and made a mesh panel for the front, I also tried the lamptron cathode set they are so bright I will only need 1 of them, 1 problem with the top panels seem it lets a hair line of light through so need to put an angle bar in place to keep the light where I want it, I'll update pics very soon.

For the window I'm going to have it made for me so it has drill holes along the edge so it can be properly mounted rather than glue it on, I'm no good at plexi work.

 

[waynio]

I sanded the panels ready for painting the other day and been deciding since which colour to paint it and got the feet made from a square tube cut to size and put them on the front and back so it goes along the width of the case, Nice and sturdy and it has a good gap between the surface and the case so I can easily pick it up now .

Damn yellow lights lol, makes pictures look awful, must get white lights.

I got 30mm allen head countersunk bolts for the fans and they fit with the mesh panel perfect .

There is a hairline beam of light coming through the top, the reason for the other hairline of light to the left is because I forgot to bolt up the top left one for the pics, I will be fixing an angle bar along the top to keep the top middle panel rigid for when I remove it and to block the hairline gap, I think I'll add a couple more bolts for the side panels too for extra rigidity for when I add and remove it, this is just with using 1 of the 2 cathodes they are sooo bright .

This final shot is with the light from my monitor

And these are the colours I have picked out for deciding which one, I think it will be either olympic gold metalic or matisse blue, I might flip a coin for which one to go for .

Next update will be the paint finish .

 

[waynio]

See all the different opinions , I decided for something somewhat less in your face and to be honest the very mild gold I think will look very well matched with the polish rather than a striking contrast.

Olympic gold is what I have gone for and will be painting it tomorrow after I make a hole for the cathode switch in the front panel.
The gent in the shop said he could do it with 1 can because of his 50 years experience, I believe him so I got 2 cans each of grey primer, olympic gold, clear coat and cost £26, he also told me of a good technique to really reduce wasted paint and some other good tips, most helpful knowledgeable clerk I have ever dealt with, if he was not helpful & more of a corp shop I would have bought way too much and got no tips .

 

[waynio]

1 of the gold paint tins was damaged, so I'm thinking of setting it up as is and get around to painting it at a later date when I have a spray gun and air brush gear, spray cans irritate me having to shake forever etc.