Project Stealthlow

[Dea924]

cant believe ive never read this thread til now.. absolutely stunning, well done on everything you've done so far EPIC = You

 

[arnoldma]

this is a sick thread, just read it all! love the case so far, cant wait to see it finished. good work!

 

[waynio]

cant believe ive never read this thread til now.. absolutely stunning, well done on everything you've done so far EPIC = You

Hehe Cheers Dea924.

this is a sick thread, just read it all! love the case so far, cant wait to see it finished. good work!

Thanks arnoldma .

Been working on a video slideshow for when it's finished, a quick fix project log I've got timed to the beat should be nice .

 

[waynio]

Oh yeah this will do me, at freaking last hehe .

Window cut to size & vents & top mounting holes added

Top little curve beginning, it was soooo difficult setting up this curving procedure with it just being me, but if I'd have been able to get a hand off someone it could have been done a lot easier, instead I had an ultra fiddly time & often had to use my head or chin to tighten the clamps lol.

Setting up for the big curve.

Crazy clampage .

It didn't take a solid form of what I was aiming for but once mounted to the bottom mounts & a few added tabs in key spots it should be good.

And I wrapped it up for the day since it hit midnight lol.

Still though I'll need to make some 3mm alu tabs inside & out to hold it flush to the bars & with the top mounting holes being so close to the edge I'd be wise to use washers too & I have done better top curves but this one isn't too bad but if it bothers me enough I might do what some have suggested & combine 2 winning pieces & do something to hide the fact it's 2 separate parts .

 

[oliver2601]

looks great

 

[Poodmund]

Those clamps look like there's some kind of vertebrate thing going on. lol

Anyway, looks like its coming on well. Glad to see you've finally got it sorted.

 

[gary996]

Looking damn fine waynio. How much longer do you think till completion?

 

[waynio]

looks great

Thanks oliver2601 .

Those clamps look like there's some kind of vertebrate thing going on. lol

Anyway, looks like its coming on well. Glad to see you've finally got it sorted.

Thanks Poodmund .

Looking damn fine waynio. How much longer do you think till completion?

Cheers gary996 the window isn't 100% done yet but once it is I think I only have to mount a power button somewhere & make openings to lead fan wires underneath the hdd cages, then I can decide what I'll do for the finish.

If I do go & get it anodised it'll need the steel helicoils removing from any parts to be done & I'd have to drill out the brass thread inserts out of the motherboard tray, the helicoils I'll be able to replace once anodised, the motherboard mounting holes I'll have to prep so they are ready for taking nut rivets.
I think I have the colours of choice in my mind, blue for the internals & a dark colour (probably black) for the externals.

Also diy powder coating could be an option especially since I found out about clear powder coating & candy colour powder coating.

Other finishing option is paint, clear primer, then candy paint, then clear lacquer.

Whatever finish I go for I want to keep the brushed alu visible underneath, anodising would be my favourite of the lot but whether I can be bothered arranging & leaving parts in a companies hands I'm not sure .
So yeah, once I have the window completed it should be very close to the finish of this .

 

[gary996]

Look forward to what you decide to do.

 

[Diggsy]

Looking pretty good. With regards the window curve, are you sure you are getting the acrylic hot enough to properly manipulate it? Do you know the ideal temperature?

EDIT - this might be of use... http://website.lineone.net/~mike.bissett/advice.htm

 

[Sgt Tackleberry]

looking good man....

 

[waynio]

Look forward to what you decide to do.

Hehe I missed 1 other bit that still needs making the front bottom panel , yeah that needs the optical stealthing & a grill for the hdd cage fans.

Looking pretty good. With regards the window curve, are you sure you are getting the acrylic hot enough to properly manipulate it? Do you know the ideal temperature?

EDIT - this might be of use... http://website.lineone.net/~mike.bissett/advice.htm

To be honest Diggsy I think this is as good as it's gonna get with 1 heat gun lol , I do know tight curves or bends hold form very well but big loose curves don't seem to & have some flex especially with it only being 3mm thick acrylic, at least with just 1 heat gun anyway, I expect with 2 heat guns 1 at either end would do a slightly better job but would still have some flex.

looking good man....

Thanks Tackleberry .

Ok I've decided what I'll do about the tabs, whichever I do will require the tab sized slots filed out of the edge of the motherboard tray so they can be mounted properly on both sides, it's a pity it has to be uglied up a little but to make it work right it has to be done.

I was thinking of using an acrylic adhesive & sticking tabs to the acrylic so it slots onto the bars but scrapped that idea with the possibility of them sliding around & making a mess while it sets so I've narrowed it down to needing 4 tabs on each side & possibly a 5th 1 if needed & I'll be making them out of 3mm aluminium so the top piece will be countersunk the curved bar will be drilled & the internal tab will be tapped & have helicoils in so they can be properly tightened & to be honest they might not look entirely bad once brushed then the acrylic piece slots in place with the needed support in the right spots.

I just have to dedicate to making them & once I do I expect it to be a few hours of making it right, although if I want them to look really nice then maybe a bit longer .

 

[waynio]

I've had a good relax after that & been thinking about how to make the tabs look like a good feature of the mod & other bits of the mod & I've blown the rest of the money from the motherboard switchover refund, could be a few weeks before I get to assemble it all, could be sooner, depends on how things go, I'm going to start getting quotes for anodising tomorrow but have no idea on how to enquire about it to be honest with there being many different pieces, sizes, thicknesses & a couple of different spec of alu, I still need to remove the steel helicoils & brass inserts but I'm not worried about that, it'll get done soon enough & I'll have an alternative ready for once it's been anodised, also gonna have to get the case feet anodised but don't know if they already are or not.

I've ordered some copper so I'll be changing from doing anodised blue internals to anodised copper internals to keep with the colours, was semi split between polished alu or polished copper & copper won as copper & black just looks awesome together , got it with the refund from the replacement b3 revision motherboard, I was gonna use the money for a few upcoming games but to be honest I doubt I'd play them until this mod is done so put it into the mod & I'll buy the games once I get this up & running, was gonna get the witcher 2, fable 3 & possibly brink but I think I'll get to see how they do in the reviews now.

The real copper I'm adding is.

DIY mesh for the vents on the window to fill the shape of the big vents I made.

10mm copper tabs that go 15mm over the acrylic & 15mm over the alu bars above & under & nicely rounded & about every 90mm along the full length of the case, even to the bottom so it looks right. Where the vents on the window are they will possibly get full length tabs, all the tabs will be polished & given a protective coat.

And the bottom front alu panel 1mm thick exterior panel brushed anodised black with some cut out details with a 2mm thick copper panel with diy mesh & the optical stealthed with 3mm copper piece, sure that isn't exactly stealthed but it should look good .

And since I ended up using body filler on the internal fan bars I'm redoing them in copper with properly aligned mounting holes so that's my refund gone .

--------


Parts getting anodised black
Side panels, curve bars, back panel, external bottom front panel, Bottom panel, a few pieces on the hdd platform.

Parts getting anodised copper colour
Mobo tray, 2nd level, hdd cages.

Parts getting painted either copper or black
Fixing bars, pci/io piece, optical drive.

Parts that will actually be copper
All front meshes, all the holding tabs & all the fan bars.

 

[Plec]

Again, Waynio, I’ve got to say I’m really enjoying the comprehensive, step by step guide that you’re running parallel to this build.

Your unflappable approach is very refreshing too - you’ve had moments during the build that I would have been tempted to beat the case senseless with the nearest suitably weighted power tool.

Copper’s really expensive, in fact most of the materials used in the build aren’t that cheap – and when adding all the additional tools you’ve had to buy, or worn out, the costs must be getting pretty ‘eye watering’?

If you don’t mind me asking what’s the ball park figure for the build so far – just materials? (If you added in man hours I suspect it would be in the £1000s)

Don’t feel obliged to answer the above as you may be deliberately ignoring costs – but I have to say, that what ever the cost, the experience and the end result has got to be worth it!

Good luck with the remaining build - and if it's any consolation i think the slight hiccup with the acrylic is making for a more interesting design.

 

[waynio]

Again, Waynio, I’ve got to say I’m really enjoying the comprehensive, step by step guide that you’re running parallel to this build.

Your unflappable approach is very refreshing too - you’ve had moments during the build that I would have been tempted to beat the case senseless with the nearest suitably weighted power tool.

Copper’s really expensive, in fact most of the materials used in the build aren’t that cheap – and when adding all the additional tools you’ve had to buy, or worn out, the costs must be getting pretty ‘eye watering’?

If you don’t mind me asking what’s the ball park figure for the build so far – just materials? (If you added in man hours I suspect it would be in the £1000s)

Don’t feel obliged to answer the above as you may be deliberately ignoring costs – but I have to say, that what ever the cost, the experience and the end result has got to be worth it!

Good luck with the remaining build - and if it's any consolation i think the slight hiccup with the acrylic is making for a more interesting design.

Thanks Plec I got over the wanting to smash projects up a while ago when I knew little of fabrication I just take it as it is now & learn from hiccups & just keep going at it until I get something to work.
The only tool that has been a hassle while modding has been the dremel as I made 5 die from overheating on past mods, they just aren't built for lengthy work & they aint cheap when adding up the cost of 5, for that I could have bought a very good quality power fretsaw & done way more intricate cuts & in thick materials too.

Ok the bit you & maybe others are curious about, the cost .

The tools are worth it though as if looked after will last a long time, wasted a couple of aluminium panels & a load of acrylic but I chopped off the bent acrylic & kept the straight stuff for scrap & same with the aluminium so I have a decent reserve of scrap & excess materials now, I've got enough to do a premium ITX build with scrap alone , maybe a few.

Yeah the copper round & flat bars & 2 small sheets cost £70, if I'd have stuck with the alu fan bars the copper bill would have been £38 less.

Alu bars are cheap like £1 to £4 for 2 metre lengths but the chunky solid square bar is a little more expensive at about £10 for 2 metres, the 1000mm x 500mm x 3mm sheets are £22 on ebay which is way cheaper than the shop I used to buy alu from & they do a superior service.

The case alone without mistakes would cost.

Aluminium
1000x500x4 £38
1000x1000x3 £43
1000x500x3 £22
500x500x1 £7
Bars £34
£144

Acrylic
1000x500x5 £23
500x500x5 £12
3 1000x500x3 £14 each = £42
2 500x500x3 £7 each = £14
£91

Copper
2 12x600 round bars £19 each = £38
30x3x600 flat bar £14
2 3x150x100 £4.50 each = £9
1 2x200x200 £9
£70

Bolts
about £15 to £20

Helicoils
about £10

Case feet would have been £30 but I got sponsored by Bill Owen of MNPCtech

Holy sheeeeet £330 lol but would be £70 lighter if I didn't add copper.

And this is without postage costs, good grief I really went to town on this one lol , the original budget was around the price of a corsair 800D, well after this gets anodised it'll probably cost double lol deary me.

With 3 Enermax Apollish fans £40 --- 6 Enermax UCTB12 T.B. Silence fans £43 = £83 on fans
£413

Anodising on top which I'm waiting for the quote of that omg thanks for making me depressed , I'll get over it though & soon be enjoying an awesome case plus it kept the winter blues away , I'd dread to know what price tag manufacturers would put on a case like this probably about £2000 since that most expensive one on here is not much change of £500 & to me it really doesn't look £476 worth but each to their own .

I wouldn't want to know the damage with the mistakes or "learning process" as I like to call it but it can be like this when learning a new technique, better, cheaper & quicker than a college course though .

I'm pretty sure if I was to make another I could do it a heck of a lot faster & without any wasted material other than the cutoffs & to be honest I could easily trim down the material costs by using mesh instead of acrylic, I think I'd keep the aluminium the same though & instead of copper, polished aluminium anodised, believe I could trim cost while keeping quality high to about £200 & whatever the anodising costs on top so still a premium case but at a sane price, in fact I could get my own powder coating kit & do the finish myself for very little like less than £5.

I've not been wasting any money on games or anything so had the money there to get through this just about, I really never set out to be so dedicated to make an uber premium air cooled case but it's ended up as one sheesh.

And lets say I put 10 solid days of work into this since December which would be 2400 hours times by £5.60 would be £1344, wowzers but again I doubt I'd need anywhere near this many hours going into it if I made one I already made, once you have something mastered you can quickly do it the next time as you know exactly what your getting into .

Currently waiting for a price quote on the anodising, I chose a local place so hopefully I can do business with them & drop it off & pick it up.

 

[Plec]

>snip<

Thanks for the comprehensive reply - and I couldn’t agree more with your ethos with regard to learning/experience compared to cost.

And lets say I put 10 solid days of work into this since December which would be 2400 hours times by £5.60 would be £1344, wowzers

I think you do yourself a disservice with your hourly rate. If you were to include the designing aspect of the project and combine it with your engineering talents and power tool skills – I would be inclined to quadruple that figure.

I'm pretty sure if I was to make another I could do it a heck of a lot faster & without any wasted material other than the cutoffs & to be honest I could easily trim down the material costs

With the above quote in mind, you could have quite the ‘cottage industry’ if you were able to fine tune your skills and quarter your build times through experience. I expect there may be quite a steady market for a case of that quality through these forums. I know I would have been interested 3 years ago - infact i would be sorely tempted now...

Best of luck!

 

[OCD-OC]

MY god dude... you're still going strong ?

I took a break just after you start this .. come back and it's looking Fiiiine !

Grats and keep up good work .. makes me want to put down the Dremel and get me some CLAMPS !!!

 

[Diggsy]

Not to nitpick on your postings, but your labour total is missing a zero at the end

 

[waynio]

Thanks for the comprehensive reply - and I couldn’t agree more with your ethos with regard to learning/experience compared to cost.



I think you do yourself a disservice with your hourly rate. If you were to include the designing aspect of the project and combine it with your engineering talents and power tool skills – I would be inclined to quadruple that figure.



With the above quote in mind, you could have quite the ‘cottage industry’ if you were able to fine tune your skills and quarter your build times through experience. I expect there may be quite a steady market for a case of that quality through these forums. I know I would have been interested 3 years ago - infact i would be sorely tempted now...

Best of luck!

Cheers mate, I'd have to keep getting the practice in & skills up to be anywhere near CNC production levels in fact it's a very silly idea to even try , CNC really whoops my rear in absolute precision & speed of work but I'll be able to do a few neat things once I get a router & master using it, make a selection of important jigs to make the most regular parts of a mod done easier, better & quicker.
But putting a price tag on a diy case is difficult, price of the materials would be minimal compared to the hours gone into it so even at min wage it could cost a lot, I mean I look at the current premium retail cases & nearly spat coffee at my screen from the shock lol so a grand & upwards seems insane unless it's to people with a lot of money & want a unique case without the effort & time needed to do it, maybe freelance design would be the way to go, then a client could get the parts made professionally.

MY god dude... you're still going strong ?

I took a break just after you start this .. come back and it's looking Fiiiine !

Grats and keep up good work .. makes me want to put down the Dremel and get me some CLAMPS !!!

Thanks OCD-OC .

Not to nitpick on your postings, but your labour total is missing a zero at the end

Ahh lols typo on the hours holy sheet imagine that 2400 hours , no it's 240 hours, this is a very rough guess btw but lol 2400 hours would indeed need another 0 .

 

[waynio]

Sanded the pci/io piece & primed it, I bought some copper paint to cover it - Toyota Copper metallic & Vauxhall Bright Copper metallic so hopefully between the 2 I can make it look somewhere near the look of copper, was either this or black & since the back panel is going to be black I'd have a go at copper paint, how I left it last night I really wasn't sure about it but I think it turned out pretty good .

The copper came yesterday & wow it weighs a lot compared to aluminium (never worked with it before), on the sheet copper though the place sent correct sizes for 2 of the pieces but what should have been a 200x200x2 piece was the same as the other 150x100 sheets so just ordered another sheet & sorted it with the ebayer to refund the difference with free postage.

Printed out the layout for the cut-outs & drill marks & cut the patterns out & stuck them on with cello tape lol it worked though I also pre drilled the curve bars, I'll still need to file slots out of the motherboard tray to take the underside tabs.

Here is all the tabs & the optical tray cover to a basic cut done on the power fretsaw I got it out & messed around with it & wow, wish I did sooner lol it will change the way I mod quite a bit in future mods .

Test fit of the 2 full length tabs.

All of them with perfectly flat edges & rounded corners.

And a finishing shot for this session of the copper pieces with the pci/io piece , for the tabs I still need to do the underside ones in aluminium & polish the copper & aluminium then the tabs are done, also got to make the copper vents where the vents in the acrylic is, might be tricky as they'll have to be a very good fit & perfect faint curve but it's copper & it's easy to shape when hot as I accidentally found out .

I didn't get around to phoning the anodising place but will do on Monday.