Project Dianoga

Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on.



Pop round the back



Tape.



Mark



OK now what I also did whilst I was there was take a ball point pen and mark out the stand off holes. Obviously if it can't go over those it won't fit. So I marked them out and then drilled them firstly with a 2mm HSS bit and then a 6mm Bradpoint.



So it now fits and theoretically I can fit a mobo over it.



I then took it back out and marked out where I wanted my grommets to go. I need to lop a piece out (the squirly bit) and I also want the PSU to pass straight out into the back panel. Then I need a fat one for the 24 pin and given the rig is only using a 6 pin GPU I decided to fit a smaller one under it.



OK, so the next step is to cut out the straight parts of the holes using a diamond tipped cutter. Here you can see I have my holes started and the sanding part I use to finish the holes with.



And here you can see them finished.



Now remember I am working from the back side, so I need to keep flipping it to make sure it looks good on the "show" side.



Quick note. The protective layer on it is white, so it kinda makes it look like pastel green. I assure you it really isn't. OK, so basically I am not fitting the light board and so on back into the build. It's not electronic and you have to set the light colours with a DIP switch. I have only ever had the lights in green and purple (as none of the other colours matched the build in there) and I prefer green and obs purple would look stupid now. So that means i can just fit 5mm green LEDs and remove the entire "brain" giving me more space. So I need a cable management hole for the USB, Firewire, case headers ETC. Here you can see it marked. and a bit I will be using to cut it.



Just remember whenever you are drilling acrylic always put it on a thick sheet of wood. Otherwise you will blow out the back side and probably crack/split it.

Next part doesn't take much explaining. Drill the two holes, then bridge the straight gaps with the dremel.



And done.



Fit the grommets.



Cut out anything that stops it going in completely flat against the case panel.



And then fit again.



And.



NB. As it is 3mm acrylic the light shines through all of the openings in the case. This won't be a problem once the side panel goes back on, 'cause obs that will stop the light shining through but I have used the spare acrylic for now.

Any one for lime sherbet?



And on the menu for tomorrow (I was up til midnight last night doing these !)

 
ALXAndy said:
Let's Marvin Gaye and get it on.
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No, no, NO! Wrong song, wrong genre! People don't you understand?! :p

ALXAndy said:
...mark out the stand off holes. Obviously if it can't go over those it won't fit.
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I'd assumed you would have melted the stand-off threads directly into the acrylic. Nothing wrong with 'through' as long as they're long enough....but you can always buy longer ones off the bay. Like these lovely 20mm brass pillars that I'll be installing under my Aquaero once the black washers turn up...no point doing it twice...although, I nearly did. :D

Think I'll pass on the lime sherbet....just a good job my son isn't there. Stuff that looks like sweets but isn't doesn't compute at 4. Bad enough when the bottle of Isopropyl turned up in the post with a label for me to stick on myself (which I did). "Is that water Daddy?" :eek: :rolleyes:
 
If I melted the stand offs in they would have been 3mm too high :p

Think about it man. You do that and everything is then 3mm higher. Nothing would fit :D
 
Cenedd said:
You Sir....have a VERY good point! :D
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I tell you what dude it's crap like that that always catches you out when modding. I guess it doesn't help that I'm not an engineer because I've had to make late changes to practically everything I have made so far. I designed the res bay to carry the hoses in between the top of the res and the top plate that bolts to the case. However, I designed it wrong and got lazy when it came to welding it in and so the hoses did not fit.

One thing I did completely by eye with only the bare measurements was that bay and I regret it. Saying that though it would have taken me ten times longer if I had got all anal about it. Thankfully I managed to get the dremel in there, crisis avoided.

Literally the first thing I did when I took the motherboard out was remove a brass post and get the hex part into my vernier calipers to see how much room I had to play with. IIRC they are 8mm, leaving me with about 5mm.

That is where nearly all of the LEDs will go. I want them completely out of sight and hidden (they look pony any way).

But yeah man, any time I get an idea I think ahead as much as I can. I bet I will be removing the whole back board and modding it a few more times before I'm done.
 
BluD said:
It would have been funny to watch though :)
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I suspect it would have been an education in colourful language! :D

ALXAndy said:
any time I get an idea I think ahead as much as I can....Saying that though it would have taken me ten times longer if I had got all anal about it.
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I tend to flip-flop between getting massively bogged down in planning every detail (see SketchUp modelling for example!) or just winging it. I'm a bizarre combination: the lazy perfectionist. They're contradictory, and yet oddly self-balancing :D
 
It's OK if you bodge something, just so long as you started out intending it to be perfect :D At least you tried :D

I had an idea earlier for what to do with the four mounting 'mounds' on the floor of the case. It should be interesting any way..

Also forgot why I went to the trouble of getting out the green paint..



The PSU is blue. So I am going to attempt to remove that blue mesh and paint it green, and then make some sort of decal for the side. I'm not terribly worried as you won't see most of it any way.

I also made up a molex - SATA braided in the rig colours. I know it doesn't sound like much but I hate braiding SATA connectors more than anything else in modding so I am glad I got it out of the way.
 
pfft, who needs to get anal and measure things? Do it all by eye, hack it up and smash it in! I'm rebuilding two-thirds a case and christ knows if it's all gonna fit :D

Loving this log dude, great progress.
 
Thank you !

OK so tonight's work.. I can't get actual photos because it's pitch black in here and even with light it's still dark. Plus the parts are setting so look stupid..

OK, so two nights ago I had a good dig through the bag for the CPU block and checked everything was there (such is the mind of a modder, cutting it up and taking it apart before even checking the contents :D ) and had a look at how it mounts. It comes with these.



OK so I guess it's fair. Cheap block cheap looking fittings. I wanted something green to contrast with the black and silver in the rig. However, after many hours of searching I could not find any anodized green thumb nuts *anywhere*. I even ran it through that search engine and still came up empty handed :(

So all of a sudden I had a brain wave. Dust caps. Like car dust caps. They're cheap and you can pretty much get them in any colour look and finish you like. Plus because they are unrelated to PCs they are as cheap as chips. After some measuring I realised that the thumb nuts that came with the CPU block were about 8mm, give or take a few tenths of a mm. I got the size for dust caps and realised they were too small inside, but I figured I could use a grinder in the rotary tool and mill them out somehow.

So this is them here. £2.99 delivered.



I figured it would not take long to shave out the inside a bit so that I could glue them to the thumb nuts. And you'd never guess what? I was wrong as usual. I started to grind them out but all that was happening was me creating pink dust. It was just as bad as trying to make the power button hole bigger in the stereo project. I lost my cool and decided that as soon as they passed the lip of the dust cap I would smack them in with a hammer. Of course that didn't work and they went in urine style and were completely lop sided. And now, worse still, they were stuck fast :(

So in the end I had a brain wave (thank god) and found a long M3 bolt. I gripped the dust cap with pliers (in a rag of course) and managed to press them out. Phew !

Thing is I still had no way to mill them out. Then as I was starting to lose hope (and thinking of throwing them in the bin, I found this.



I'd never used it before. God knows what tool it came with (I've killed two so far and I'm on my third) but hey, it mills aluminium really bloody well :D

So now they are glued and setting. I will get a pic tomorrow. Couple of tiny chips but I have ordered a green Sharpie for a pound and will touch them up with that :)

Modding is like an RPG. You start out with the best intentions sticking to the main quest and then you start to find side quests. And before you know it you are totally side tracked doing nothing but side quests - ALXAndy 2016 :D
 
You can get a lovely set of tungsten carbide burrs for a Dremel off Amazon from China. All sorts of shapes, single cut, double cut. Surprisingly good quality. Can email you a link if interested.
 
Cenedd said:
You can get a lovely set of tungsten carbide burrs for a Dremel off Amazon from China. All sorts of shapes, single cut, double cut. Surprisingly good quality. Can email you a link if interested.
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I should be OK dude tbh. As I say, side quest and it's done now :)

I've got your email though so if I change my mind I'll give you a prod :D

I forgot to mention, these will not be under any pressure as I have some black disk ones I am going to fit first, so these are simply to dress up.
 
Cenedd said:
Clearly needs bigger tubing; those fittings aren't quite toppling it over yet! ;)
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haha I don't think you can get bigger tubing can you? I'm clearly too good at balancing things is what it is :D

OK so here's what I got up to today. First after lots of measuring and a bit of cutting I lopped this off of the remaining sheet. Quick note - the sheet is a little warped. I didn't notice it until this morning. So if it looks like it isn't straight? it isn't. I need to fit a couple of solid blocks to keep it straight once it is final fitted.



I then had to bolt in the res bay. What a nightmare. After trying all sorts of hand gymnastics it then dawned on me that when I drilled the holes it was firmly taped to the roof. After about ten minutes and lots of swearing I realised that I needed three hands to do it. Or, you can just tape the bolts down, turn the case upside down and then slot the res bay over the bolts.

So I put on some double sided tape.



And then stuck the panel to it. I then removed all of the res bay bolts and went to take it out and it fell apart. Turns out there was a rivet stopping it pushing down all the way so I cut out a notch. Then I had to perform the same and annoying ritual again before getting this.



Which then allowed me to turn it over like this.



Remember I am cutting back to front on any dress up panels. The reason is that the rotary tool has a screw that holds the cutting disc on. This often burns along the edges of the piece. I have tried double masking and even duct tape but it still goes through. Obviously the other side is fine, so I have had to mirror mark everything which is pretty tricky.

I then marked it out (using the res bay as a template, hence why I needed them stuck together) and cut it out.



Then covered in masking and marked out some drill holes, then drilled 2mm pilots.



And, well, you know the drill on this bit (well actually soldering iron).



And in.



And this one is for you, Cenedd. I title this "3mm fail". :D

 
ALXAndy said:
haha I don't think you can get bigger tubing can you?
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Well, that sounds like a challenge....shame I'm busy but....drainpipe? It's hardline :D

ALXAndy said:
And this one is for you, Cenedd. I title this "3mm fail". :D
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Yep. That's how the holes for my flow meter turned out....despite drawing a template and making sure it would line up with the screw holes. Still no idea how I managed it. Dremel with a double-cut tungsten carbide burr for the win! ....and lots of tiny metal shavings that fortunately were caught by a combination of a hoover (It's Vax, it's nearly indestructible - it's done masonary rubble before now!) and masking tape. I know I should have taken everything out of the case before creating such a shorting hazard....but let's face it, that was never going to happen :D

Edit: Looks nice by the way. Lines up well....just like mine did *cough*
 
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lmao drain pipe :D that would be, as we called it in Brixton "Chucking a sausage down Regent St". Obviously we weren't referring to drain pipes though :D

I was cracking up laughing yesterday. I realised that if I laid the rig flat on the floor so the mobo panel was at the top and applied just about the right amount of pressure that it would create a lovely deep bassy note that reverberated around the kitchen.

Obviously the funniest part was the stain that lives downstairs. Must admit I totally steamed up my glasses laughing with a mask on lol.

At least I couldn't hear him yelling and screaming at his ever suffering wife.
 
Interesting. M.2 but not NVME?
Could you hide it behind the motherboard - perhaps by taking a rectangle out of the acrylic? Would you want to? It could be accessible from the rear of the motherboard tray perhaps.
 
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