Project Stealthlow

waynio · 15 Apr 2011 at 00:06

Curunen said:
Wow, this is some nice work!

Thanks Curunen

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Tealc said:
That's some serious dedication if you buy stuff from B&Q.

lol been meaning to go & get these clamps for a while now

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This is what the rods are for, something solid to bend the acrylic against

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Made a start, mounted, drilled & tapped an angle bar for the acrylic to attach to for the bottom end, if I get chance tomorrow I'll finish off placing the cut down rods, cut a long thin strip of acrylic, bend it against it to find out precisely how long it needs to be & to see how good a curve I can do, then cut the acrylic piece & get it fixed on

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Now I'd better switch over the motherboards

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EniGmA1981 · 15 Apr 2011 at 07:27

will the acrylic bend that much without shattering? or will you be heating it to get the shape you want?

Plec · 15 Apr 2011 at 15:39

Stunning effort and attention to detail, waynio - kudos!

waynio · 17 Apr 2011 at 03:06

EniGmA1981 said:
will the acrylic bend that much without shattering? or will you be heating it to get the shape you want?

Heat gun

could be bent without but it would spring back in shape & if bent too much would snap/shatter.

Plec said:
Stunning effort and attention to detail, waynio - kudos!

Thank you Plec

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Laying the case down was the easiest way to place the rods but needed a bit of weight to stop it falling off the work top.

Took hours to get it so I could use the clamps.

First time I some how introduced a couple of cracks to the sheet while cutting so used it as a practice piece to see what I've gotten myself into lol.

Second time all was going ok but was just another learning bit lol.

Third & last time as I don't have any more of this length acrylic to try again went well kind of lol so I'm going to try & use the majority of the window & I think I'll have to come up with a different solution, maybe a mix of window & little part of my backup plan, if I didn't add the extra lip curve I'd have done it easily but man that extra curve lip made it really really difficult lol.

To be continued

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To be honest I'm kinda happy I went wrong lol allows me to come up with an addition to make it better than just a window

, now I need to brew up a nice addition, already got an idea storm whirling together in my head hehe

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waynio · 17 Apr 2011 at 05:43

Came to the conclusion I can still do the window but to keep it in place all along the curve I'll have to use 1mm sheet alu overlapping the seams & vent areas I'll do my mesh thing on 3mm pieces of alu & an internal piece that lets the outside 1mm sheet fix so the acrylic & meshes are fixed in place nicely, this allows for some nice features that are hard to do to a high standard so the low standard will be hidden

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Here is a seriously rough idea of what I'll do

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I might think up something better, we'll see.

waynio · 19 Apr 2011 at 01:10

OK so while waiting for the new materials & me having 2 msi p67a-gd65's at hand because of the switcharoo I was able to mark up precisely where the sata holes should be, also to my horror the 24 pin was way further down than my other mobo lol so had to extend the hole, I will definitely need to make the 24 pin pass through hole tidiers now lol.

Used a 7mm drill bit to poke holes through all the sata passthroughs & got busy filing, took ages as I had to use tiny files which take ages to get through normal thickness, the mobo panel is 4mm thick lol, the file jumped out now & again & I heavily scratched the surface, I then sanded all the inside edges, then used satinising mops

was able to get rid of the scratches & re brush both sides of the panel & this time I put masking tape on both sides since this panel is complete now to preserve the nice finish for when it all gets put back together

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Actually I might need to put an extra hole in this panel for the power button cable & might decide to add an extra power cable pass hole so it isn't too cramped to get wires through

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hyperst · 19 Apr 2011 at 03:29

Coming on nicely, did you apply any heat to the acrylic to get it to bend?
edit, have spotted you did use heat, would have thought you could have got that top lip with enough heat

PhillyDee · 19 Apr 2011 at 03:33

Ooh, I likey!

Just an offer - I have recently bought a laser cutter which has a working area of A4. It is only suitable for cutting and engraving plastics and wood, and can engrave glass and slate (apparently anyway!) so if there are any custom things you need doing, or want to think of doing, give me a shout!

qbazdz · 19 Apr 2011 at 09:49

Lol... so you did forget that different mobos have different arrangements for cables

Why not make the case to fit any mobo with extra hole here and there? when do you plan to upgrade next?

Anyway, looking impressive all the way!

waynio · 19 Apr 2011 at 10:16

hyperst said:
Coming on nicely, did you apply any heat to the acrylic to get it to bend?
edit, have spotted you did use heat, would have thought you could have got that top lip with enough heat

Thanks hyperst, think I know what to do to make the perfect multi curve window now, start off at the top while it's mounted to the top without the support rods in place & do the first curve freehand, then take the partially done window off, put the support rods in place & put the window back on, heat up & let gravity do the rest for a perfect fit

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PhillyDee said:
Ooh, I likey!

Just an offer - I have recently bought a laser cutter which has a working area of A4. It is only suitable for cutting and engraving plastics and wood, and can engrave glass and slate (apparently anyway!) so if there are any custom things you need doing, or want to think of doing, give me a shout!

Thanks PhillyDee

& big thanks for the offer but no need for this project, thanks though mate :cool:

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qbazdz said:
Lol... so you did forget that different mobos have different arrangements for cables
Why not make the case to fit any mobo with extra hole here and there? when do you plan to upgrade next?

Anyway, looking impressive all the way!

Lol sort of

well it will now other than a possible variable of the sata cable holes but I mod so could easily tweak things if or when the time comes

thanks qbazdz

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Anxiously awaiting the new materials so I can get started back up

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EniGmA1981 · 19 Apr 2011 at 10:38

**** off! All your SATA cables have their own individual holes!?!?!?! That's just ****ing awesome!!!!

Are you going to be fitting the routing grommets in those holes? If you are, let us know where you got em

waynio · 19 Apr 2011 at 10:55

EniGmA1981 said:
**** off! All your SATA cables have their own individual holes!?!?!?! That's just ****ing awesome!!!!

Are you going to be fitting the routing grommets in those holes? If you are, let us know where you got em

LMAO

thanks EniGmA1981, no grommets I just filed to a nice finish I then went up to 600 grit wet/dry paper so no roughness

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mast3r · 19 Apr 2011 at 14:22

Waynioe baby, where did you find that antec PSU tester? i have a dozen of the none digital ones that do a poor job, would you be so kind as to borrow it to me, i have braided all my PSU for the new RIG, rather than testing each cable individually that would do the trick i think.

Ill collect it from you and return it

waynio · 19 Apr 2011 at 17:05

mast3r said:
Waynioe baby, where did you find that antec PSU tester? i have a dozen of the none digital ones that do a poor job, would you be so kind as to borrow it to me, i have braided all my PSU for the new RIG, rather than testing each cable individually that would do the trick i think.

Ill collect it from you and return it

Sorry mate would do if I knew you even a little but don't so just google "antec psu tester" without the quotes

cost me £28.08 with free delivery, wasn't speedy delivery but had it within a week so wasn't too bad.
£28 is expensive for a tester but it does give out the readings nice & easy saving a bit of messing.

waynio · 22 Apr 2011 at 23:03

Seven attempts at doing the double curve piece & this was the best out of the lot but is not to the standard I wanted I have enough acrylic for 2 more attempts but struggling to see the point in trying again so I'm taking a break from the project to see if I can think up a good alterative, best way to get this double curve piece done would be to have it thermo formed but I don't know how to get the precise curve line accross to a place that does this & even then I'd need to add the mounting holes & knowing my luck I'd shatter it lol.

So it's time out while I come up with a good alternative, could be overnight, could be a week or more.

chuck990 · 22 Apr 2011 at 23:44

dont stop

could it not just be bent the rest of the way? just hold it in tension?

waynio · 23 Apr 2011 at 00:08

chuck990 said:
dont stop

could it not just be bent the rest of the way? just hold it in tension?

The actual curve is fairly ok & in parts near perfect but has warpage, if I make a proper jig I should be able to get the same curve but without any warpage or high/low points.

Still have enough acrylic for 2 more attempts so I'm thinking of getting a load of mdf sheet so I can layer up to make a jig where I can bolt it down like in the case blitz it with heat strapping it down bit by bit letting it cool down before moving on along the way to the bottom, should have a similar effect to perfect thermo forming.

waynio · 23 Apr 2011 at 02:20

It's not terrible but wanted it to be much better, there are some areas that are risen & sunk & some warpage, I have 2 more attempts left & after a tip from someone else I was going to get some mdf & make a solid jig to do this on but someone else also suggested using thin alu sheet so I have a bunch of spare 0.7mm sheet left over from my last case so I'll be able to form it to the curve bars & something someone else said a while ago heat that up so it's like a hot plate & it will also be a solid base to get the curves without any warpage, 2 lives left so hopefully I'll get it done properly tomorrow

I really can't afford to be getting new materials so if I fail again I'll have to do an alternative.

hyperst · 23 Apr 2011 at 03:22

What about a vented piece of aluminium in the front instead of the acrylic, would be much easier and easy clean

Diggsy · 23 Apr 2011 at 18:33

Waynio, could you remake the front curved aluminium bars so that the acrylic sits behind them? Reckon it would be much easier. You could screw them in at the top, then heat and bend the acrylic as you go, screwing the bars in when ready.

Also, if there are any bits that aren't quite perfect, you can either glue it from the inside, or use small screws etc to hold it flush.

I think you're really going to struggle just having it fit in the middle.

EDIT - if this is likely to work, you could even do a similar recess like on the side panels so that it still sits flush with the front.

EDIT 2 - if you don't have the material to remake the bars, then how about thinner material on top of them?