Project Stealthlow

[subbytna]

are you vibrating proofing the HD holder? If so what you using? Foam or something ?

 

[waynio]

are you vibrating proofing the HD holder? If so what you using? Foam or something ?

The thickness of the aluminium & solidness of the build should kill vibrations .

LOL I did a mock put together to remind myself it is progressing dispite the hold up on a couple of simple pieces , the corner square bars aren't to precise size just yet, was like making a tower of cards .

I'm hoping to make some real progress tomorrow to make up for the lack of it the past few days .

 

[Gepetto]

Your talent is disgusting!! I mean that in a good way of course. To be able to do what you are doing (and have done) is no mean feat.

Look up heli-coils for the thread issues. You tap a slightly larger thread in the alloy and then insert the Heli-coil spring, which now provides the substance of the thread. You'll find them much tougher than the alloy, which should do away with the problems created by the softer aluminium.

 

[waynio]

LOL Thanks Gepetto, looked heli coils up after you mentioning them, but unsure if they would be good to fit inside a depth of 3mm, want to get a hold of a good machine tap really, been looking at spiral flute taps.

Staying up all night & starting early about 4 or 5am & get bits done that are quiet to do, then at about 8am if I'm done on the quiet bits move over to the noisier bits, want to get a good chunk of progress done today to make up for the lack of progress the past few days so I'm in for a long day, but after it I should have a nice update & have my sleep pattern fixed .

 

[Gepetto]

LOL Thanks Gepetto, looked heli coils up after you mentioning them, but unsure if they would be good to fit inside a depth of 3mm.

Hmmm, yes, I see what you mean. I've seen them down to 5mm versions though. How about glueing/bonding another piece of ally to the relevant areas, giving you about 6mm to tap into. You could obviously make the strengthening piece decorative, or themed.

 

[waynio]

Wouldn't work as the bottom hdd screws in from the bottom mounts, anyway fixed them up good now & didn't have to touch no dirty adhesive .

OK I stayed up all night so I could make some progress & managed to make some woo hoo .

Filed a bevel on each of the fan holder pieces that come into contact with the fan blades because of having to slim the fan frames down by 0.5mm, these pieces still need a good bit of filing & sanding on them, then sticking together.

Then slimmed down all the bars to precise size & done another mock fit.

Then added the angle bars to the 2nd hdd cage so the hdd cages have turned out quite acceptable to be honest.

Marked up the bottom panel & 2nd panel for fixing the square bars to the 2nd panel, but first I tried doing the tapping with power drill thinking I've done it before & was ok, well the tap snapped first try lol, had to cut another piece & get it to precise size, switched to doing the tapping manual & very careful, did ok for 2 of them, then another one snapped, cheap taps, then another, then went to try a new tap & found it was the wrong pitch size so the screws didn't screw all the way in properly lol, so I'm left with a 2 legged panel until I can get a new tap which I just ordered a few, cheap taps again because they were the only ebay seller that offered express delivery, it's the only sure way to get deliveries on ebay at this time of year.

The ones I tapped successfully are very good, solid & perfectly in place wooooo .

So not much done but any progress is progress + I'll have my sleep pattern fixed after today even if it is temporary .

 

[waynio]

Just ordered a couple of milling bits, 1 for doing small cutouts & 1 so I can use nut rivets with a flange mounted flush no I don't have a mill, just a drill press, there was 1 more thing I was completely unsure about how to do, the bar slots for the fan mounts on the motherboard tray, so I'll be sure to get some practice in on doing what I want to do before actually doing it .
It's a far fetched idea milling on a drill press but it might work I guess people who do milling will probably say nooooo idiot but I enjoy a bit of trial & error .

 

[Monkey Puzzle]

Depends how clean it needs to look I guess - I recently found using the milling bit on a dremel was actually pretty effective!

 

[waynio]

Depends how clean it needs to look I guess - I recently found using the milling bit on a dremel was actually pretty effective!

Thanks for that info MP I'll experiment a bit to find the best way, it's for the motherboard fan mount bars, 3.2mm x 13mm. Ordered a 3mm milling bit & an 8mm milling bit, the 8mm is for making flanged nut rivets sit flush .

 

[waynio]

Got the fan holder pieces all stuck together & is a very very strong bond & since they are all together now I decided I'm going to make it so I can slip any standard 120mm fan in these holders as originally intended, none of this sanding down a fan frame nonsense, imagine the hassle of a simple fan change lol, also they all need a hefty sanding session to make them all blend together, unsure if I'll go for a polished finish or frosted finish.

Also I took over my desk fan to waft the nasty fumes well away from me this time, only problem with using a fan in below 0c temperatures is my hands were getting frozen lol, but thats way better than feeling awful from fumes .

I'm thinking enermax apolish fans would look amazing in these holders especially if I frost the edges & would also serve as the power light so if I use a vandal switch which is highly likely because I just really like them I could use the LED bit as hdd activity, not bothering with reset switches anymore & for power light I'll just use case lighting from now & onwards .

My bro would like some quiet case fans so I think I'll give him the 3 sanded fans for christmas hehe .

 

[Zairs]

Just ordered a couple of milling bits, 1 for doing small cutouts & 1 so I can use nut rivets with a flange mounted flush no I don't have a mill, just a drill press, there was 1 more thing I was completely unsure about how to do, the bar slots for the fan mounts on the motherboard tray, so I'll be sure to get some practice in on doing what I want to do before actually doing it .
It's a far fetched idea milling on a drill press but it might work I guess people who do milling will probably say nooooo idiot but I enjoy a bit of trial & error .

would be ok, but wont be anywhere near as accrate as a real mill

 

[Monkey Puzzle]

would be ok, but wont be anywhere near as accrate as a real mill

True, but if you clamped some aluminium angle as guide rails for the piece, set up the depth lock thingy and run it through slowly it may give reasonable results.

 

[waynio]

would be ok, but wont be anywhere near as accrate as a real mill

True, but if you clamped some aluminium angle as guide rails for the piece, set up the depth lock thingy and run it through slowly it may give reasonable results.

Yeah I'll have some experimenting & practice to do before I try it on the motherboard tray , not got the bits yet neither.

Awesome, the new taps came today & I didn't waste no time turning the 2 legged plate into the foundation base, so that's the first & second level fully attached & 2 of the square bars for the hdd platform, this is really starting to feel like good progress.

Done a couple of dummy fixes to show the hdd cages how they will be once fixed & with the front/top flat bars & front low piece loosely fitted, just couldn't be bothered doing more in the freeze today I'd end up naturally getting a cold .

Think I'll finish these off tomorrow.

 

[waynio]

Ahhh, got past a fiddly time consuming bit, the hdd cage mount clamps & still managing to avoid adhesives completely except for the acrylic adhesive, all the metal work so far has been countersunk bolts & tapping , finished this bit at 11pm & was a rather chilly -5c .

What you are seeing is 4mm sheet, then 19mm square bar, hdd cages inbetween a slim 3mm pieces & another 3mm piece on top that overlaps the hdd cage base & meets up with the angle bar of the cage, it's such a good fit that I might leave the extra clamp I was going to make for the front & back of the cages as it takes a little force to make the cages slide out.

 

[Zairs]

thats looking really good mate! keep up the good work

 

[waynio]

thats looking really good mate! keep up the good work

Thanks Zairs , I think I'll engrave codes underneath all pieces when I have them anodised or even if I paint them all myself just so I know how to put it all back together lol .

BTW it weighs a tiny bit short of 10 lbs so far lol.

 

[waynio]

I'm a bit down, the fan holders just aren't gonna happen, the thickness of the sheet was 4.9mm not 5mm & I never knew until after I made the holders that cast acrylic sheet varies in thickness, this made the slot for the fans shrink by 0.5mm I tried filing & finger sanding to make the gap bigger but failed making a dogs dinner out of it so no striped lit up parts now, I sure don't fancy spending another £50 to replace the acrylic & rebuild, I'd sooner put that towards a scroll saw so I'm gonna time out & think about an alternative, actually I'm really disappointed with acrylic now after finding this fact out the hard way, sure it's fine for single layered tasks but for layered stuff that requires absolute precision it really isn't good if you don't know about this lack of precision in the material, however if you know about the varying thickness & plan according to that fact then it's not all bad & workable so I'll know for the next encounter I have with acrylic, also I messed up by not making jigs for while I stuck the holders together so they became rather wonky & required heaps of sanding to blend them seamlessly, done the sanding on 1 of them but wasn't happy with the result, they were supposed to be perfect fit & like I said, dogs dinner lol, so it's time to forget about the first big hiccup & focus on an alternative .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPWaQKuqENU

I wrote this a few hours ago, was tired & hungry, since had a meal, awesome far better alternative ideas already brewing so there will be a surprise in this log after all , I might let the silly season pass through until I get started back up though & enjoy a bit of that GTX 580 goodness while it's still a beast , so over & out until January .

 

[Diggsy]

Thats bad news about the fan holders mate. What exactly did you want to achieve? Maybe some of the members on here could come up with suggestions.

 

[waynio]

Thats bad news about the fan holders mate. What exactly did you want to achieve? Maybe some of the members on here could come up with suggestions.

I'm glad you offered help, it gave me a kick up the bum to see if I could resolve it .

Was about to post a why I can't fix it splurge of text & thought damnit I aint quitting on it yet lol, just checked what 5mm acrylic I have left over & only just have enough to remake the 1 I really messed up, the other 2 only got a light mess up so I got the 2 ready made ones put them in a tuppa ware box perfect fit & poured boiling water on them & put a lid on it & left for 5 min & simply hoped it would loosen the adhesive a little & it did, had to use a very thin blade to slowly force them open & finally got all the pieces for the 2 holders seperated so I have a lucky 2nd chance to do these holders correct with jigs which I will definately make this time

Here is the redesigned fan holder which accounts for the 4.9mm pieces so with this they should work perfect.

Did a loose fit together with a side & back panel to see what it looks like for the overall height .

 

[Diggsy]

Wow that is going to be huuuge

Glad to see you figured out a solution, here's hoping you have no more snags. Still making decent progress though