Project Stealthlow

[waynio]

Dunno.. but what's the point of showing off how neat your cables look like
..and being picky I can't resist to mention that the curvature of the windows doesn't match the curve of the case as you progress to the back/bottom

Keep up the good work! can't wait to see it with hardware inside now

Hmm what's the point, well I looked at some of the best examples of awesome cable work on MDPC & thought why go to all that effort making it look badass & not show it off when the case is closed .
Also the curves are 100% spot on, I used the side panel as a drawing guide & marked where it needs to be placed on a big sheet of foam board moving it 45mm to the side & 45mm down & same but 10mm for the thin bars it was a PITA to mark it & align it & mark the curves correctly took a solid hour, did it wrong so did it again so spent 2 solid hours getting it right, already mentioned this but I'll make a picture update dedicated to that aspect so I don't have to hear it's wrong or wonky lol .
Thanks qbazdz neither can I mate & still as excited about doing this case as before I started .

 

[waynio]

loooooking good pet.

lol thanks .

Got some supports added for the mobo tray, still needs securing to the curve bars & I think I'll wait until it's anodised to do those as rather than adding more holes to the curves I'll use a super strong metal adhesive & bolt the mobo tray & side panels into the pieces I stick in.

 

[waynio]

How stiff is the tray? was that 3mm thick alu?

Very & will be solid once I add connectors to the curves, the base floor & mobo tray is 4mm aluminium, everywhere else is 3mm .
The psu cover will be made from 1mm sheet, a mix of 1mm & 2mm sheet will be for the pci/io piece along with 10mm of acrylic made from 2x 5mm & a 2mm sheet.
The build is coming to the fine essential details part now so I'll take my time to get them perfect .

 

[waynio]

Aluminium is usually chosen for less weight isn't it? Can't see this being particularly light though... Granted it will be significantly lighter than a mild steel version, but still not the sort of thing you want to take to lan parties is it lol

Hehe true but can still carry it fine with 1 arm but yep I know it will be a 2 arm moving job once all the hardware is inside , but if I ever got into lan parties I would make a powerful SFF case , Just the windows being cut out of the side panels dramatically reduced the weight .

 

[waynio]

I started really late today but luckily I seem to be able to do the more technical mounting stuff better & faster late in the day & it's all quiet work so I took another step forward by getting the angle bars mounted for the side panels.

Also I've been looking for alternative ways to colour aluminium without painting or anodising & found alcohol ink, anyone ever tried it, I've ordered 1 bottle of black & 1 blue to test out on some scrap, apparently it comes off if handled regular but to prevent this you can brush a sealer onto it so ordered some matt sealer too, can't wait to try it out, also it is dirt cheap so if it turns out ok then that's a heck of a break through when it comes to finishing for me, reason I'm looking for alternative colouring is I'm having great difficulty finding info on how to mask the mounting holes for if I get everything anodised as the helicoils would be damaged without masking but I suppose I could change all the bolt sizes to m3.5 or m4 if I have no luck in finding out how to properly mask the holes.

 

[waynio]

When it's immersed for anodising could you not put bolts in all the threads you wan to keep non anodised?

Awesome build by the way, you have a real talent, subbed

Thought about something along those lines but I think if I want it all anodised I'll need to take all of the helicoils out, anyway I'll have a mess around with the alcohol ink & see what happens , thanks buttkinz .

 

[waynio]

Looking very slick and well-crafted. What grade of aluminium are you using btw? Are you using mixed grades of aluminium?.... I'm looking to see how they anodise before I get mine done! At the blistering pace you're going you'll be anodising before me...

Thanks Monkey , the bars are grade 6063T6 & the sheets are 1050AH14.

Found what I'll need for masking the helicoiled holes, they are like ear plugs but made from silicone specially designed for the job .

Been going at a good pace but I think I'll pass on making a physical update today & let my energy build back up , I got the replacement sheet of aluminium ready & waiting but I ordered some better jigsaw blades so hoping they come tomorrow, if not then I might just get started on the final side panels, I should be starting with the fretsaw really to get the pci/io piece made but I'll probably get around to that in less than a week .

I have however thought up a much better looking & way of mounting the fans around the mobo, was going to keep it secret though until I've managed to make at least 1 of them, it's a sweet idea in my head so hopefully it'll work as I imagine it would , ordered 3/16 inch round bar for these.

Also the aluminium case feet I ordered & planned on modding them, I've scrapped that idea because they take m8 bolts & I got some m8 countersunk bolts & they are way too big & blompy so decided to order some 2 inch round bar & I'm going to make them myself sorry Bill for using a rough design of yours hope your ok with that :worried: I do plan on adding some forms of detail on it too so it's not just plain, I have a plan of using the drill press like a lathe with long full threaded bolt & nuts lol should be interesting, I have my doubts about this one but it's worth giving a try .

 

[waynio]

wow this looks great cant wait to see it finished!

Thanks Xerco .

I love the fan mounting idea

Nice isn't it much more simple than the other I was going to do too .

Looking awesome mate, still no word on the colour?

Thanks Evil^, won't be long before I go looking for a local anodiser .

Ugh, my energy & concentration levels peak at the wrong time of day, think it stems back to when I excercised every single day for a few years late in the evening so naturally the best time for modding is evening onwards which is bad if I have any noisy stuff to do so I'm finding it very difficult to progress at the moment, don't want to be going at this with my head not being 100% else I'd probably muck up.

I tested the alcohol ink out though, had trouble applying it nicely with cotton wool, so tried a brush, then tried a sponge but I think some kind of feather would apply it pretty well, but I have an airbrush which I think I should try out with this stuff as I wasn't able to get consistent application, anyway the below pics show the ink applied with sponge & the final 2 pictures show it with a fresh spray of clear lacquer so I'll see what it looks like tomorrow, there are loads of bits on the surface though so it's far from optimal lol.

 

[waynio]

That blue and copper thing I surprisingly like...

Not sure how good it would be on a massive scale, but maybe like brass/copper the small details - screws etc..?

kd

Someone else said it looked brown lol it's supposed to be black , anyway the black turned out pretty naff, 1 of the blues turned out half decent though but I'll stick to the anodising with the case , even tried the ink out in my air brush, it gave a much better finish but I'd need quite a bit of the ink to do the whole case so figure a nice solid protective anodising job would be best.

Here they are once the clear had dried.

Not got my tripod handy.

 

[waynio]

So I want to make the case feet now since I got the 2 inch round bar, I really should have got it cut to size as it took me from 8pm to 1:30am just to get them to size, flat & square wow that was sooo tough & thought I'd never get them simply to size & square lol, was all nice & quiet work though so didn't matter .

Here is the case feet choices I've set for myself & still think the ones modelled on mnpctech look the best lol but I might get a last minute idea like with the fan mounts, suppose I could keep them as they are & add simple grooves into them .

Here is the 2 inch bar next to a 3/4 inch square bar & the daunting task ahead of cutting it straight & to required size, it's by far the thickest stuff I've ever cut through.

Would have used the mitre saw but I find it difficult to clamp in place properly if it's a short length like this 125mm piece which is only just enough for 4 feet .

So I took it to the vice, with it being so thick I put a mark about every 15mm & just used the hacksaw to get the saw line twisting the bar around bit by bit & carrying on until I cut all the way through, if I'd have gone straight though from 1 angle it would have been way off & the end result of the first 1 was spot on, however one of the others came out at 23mm instead of 25mm so had to file them all down to the same length, oh how I wish I had a chop saw lol would have been done in a few minutes, anyway got them all to the required same size & square flatness.

Woooooo almost ready for the drill press lathe trick, just need to drill the bolt hole for mounting it in the drill press.

Sooo just hope I don't balls the next stages up .

 

[waynio]

Feet option 1 or 2 look best imo. Not option 4 - looks too much like door knobs for a chest of drawers.

Yeah option 1 is a blatant copy of MNPCTech's feet which are awesome but I'd like to keep things original if poss but yeah it's difficult doing better than that design might even go all freestyle on them but I have 1 shot at getting them how I want them.

Btw, what's the bench drill lathe trick?

I'll show detailed pics when I get around to it but I'll explain a little, for each of the case feet I'll drill a hole all the way through the middle, then use a bolt that fits the hole perfect, then use nuts to get it in correct place, then put in drill press like a drill bit, make sure it's secure & spinning straight, then form it with a file or what not the trick is to do it very gentle else the drill could get knackered, not done this before but seen someone else do it ages ago & it stayed in my memory.

I like option 4 for the feet, look a lot like the alloy suspension bushes I bought for my Audi

they were fairly quick designs, think I'll ponder for a bit on which I go with .

 

[waynio]

He's just making a lathe from a bench drill and a file lol

Why you really want so disgusting feet? Will ruin the effect. I would keep to nice round ones with extra detail, line or sthing.

Disgusting feet lol .

Designed another alternative, it's simple but neat but might save doing the feet until fully decided.

 

[waynio]

Better I still think one slot (bottom) will be better. But this is your case

Tried that out & it does look better than the dual groove , also done a new one .

Option 1 definately looks the best, to keep it orginal why not just throw in some personel detail ? (like one of the ingraved circles from option 4)

Could do that .

Also just used my new jigsaw blades & wow they cut miles faster, got the new side panel cut & filed to size in about half an hour, was easier than cutting cardboard with scissors lol .

 

[waynio]

Sorry about all the feet talk lol but just designed another but with an inclusion of LED's.

This is the last concept for the feet, up next more actual progress .

 

[waynio]

The 3rd one in the row at the bottom looks pretty good

Thanks Greavesy but after all the hype I doubt I'll be able to make my own without a lathe .

Ugh marked the feet very precisely to get the center & done the spot drills but when I was drilling with the 2.5mm bit it snapped & the bit that is in is unreachable & it's truly peeing in the wind to try drilling it out, so only got 3 feet now , soo I think I'll leave making my own case feet until I get a lathe which would be over a year away, I know the lines don't look right in my marking but they were just a rough guide of an inch, I used my digital calipers to mark the center, anyway the feet I'll forget about for now & get to work on the rest of it.

There is possibly some news on feet but I'll leave it for now .

So I turned my attention to cutting out the windows for the side panels, would have got all the jigsaw work done today but on the last 2 windows the blade kept falling out as soon as it touched the aluminium, it fell out about 40 times before it even got to cut 1mm, was driving me mad especially with it just being 2 small windows so called it a day lol .

 

[waynio]

Heres the news I left out earlier, I can't see how this could be against forum rules as it's purely a modding supply store .

The one & only Bill Owen of MNPCTech mod supply store & youtube tutorials living legend offered me sponsorship for some feet after me asking if it's ok if I make 1 of his designs so seems like diy feet weren't supposed to happen with this case at this point in time, this is hugely awesome news for me as I learnt a lot about modding from his tutorial videos & this would be my first sponsor, honestly can't think of a better sponsor for a first, I's a happy chappy .


http://modmenshow.com/

 

[waynio]

Grats! You must be doing a good job than well done!

Thanks qbazdz .

Nice sponsor, was about to offer condolences for the issues with the feet, but seems like we should be celebrating instead!

kd

Thank kd yeah celebration time , I got a sudden depression when the drill bit snapped off & was unreachable but super Bill saved the day .

 

[waynio]

Got the rest of the windows cut out & mounted the side panels to the bottom corner bars today (they both still need to be filed smooth & to the guide lines) but on 1 side the helicoils aren't working as they should so before things get anodised I'll need to fix this by either drilling the helicoils out all the way through the corner bars & then putting longer helicoils in or drilling holes for m4 helicoils & bolts, the side panels are essential to function spot on, sure I could relocate them but then there will be un-needed holes & I don't want that similar thing happened with my first scratch build & won't let that happen again , I'll try longer helicoils first but I won't be able to buy them until next week.

 

[waynio]

Was up early so got started on filing the left side panel & wow was I seriously wrong about it being a half hour to an hour task started at 6:30 am had the filing done by 10:30 am, only had a 5 minute break, the satinising mops came the other day & thought I'd clean up the freshly filed panel with the coarse grit one & wow I really like it, possibly even enough to not get it anodised but thats my initial reaction to how good it looks anyway , also used the satinising mop on the curve bars.

Fixed the 2 iffy helicoils on the right side, managed to remove them & tap it again & put new ones in & it's good now .

Did what I planned on doing by doing the brush flow the same as the shape .

Currently taking a little break to post this update, then I'll watch a show then get back to doing the right panel, need a good hour break after all that filing.

So here is the coarse satinising mop on my drill & a scrap piece for testing.

Heres the another test piece after the brush.

Heres the left panel after all the filing.

After the satinising.

Closer look.

Back on the case with both curve bars brushed too.

Hopefully if I can stand it I'll get the other panel done today .

 

[waynio]

I like how its looking too. The brush has done a lovely job

Thanks Gary .

OK don't know what driven me but I filed the other panel & brushed it so that must have been about 8 or 9 hours today filing so have sore finger tips lol, still needs a good bit of work like sanding the edges so they are perfectly smooth looking & need to get rid of some scratches which the alu already had when I received it but it's going well, also I thought I fixed the right side panels helicoils but no they are still iffy so best thing to do is remove the helicoils & use m4 helicoils & bolts, shame as the left sides helicoils are perfectly fine.

OK a bunch of pics of the finished pieces for today, couldn't help myself & took quite a few .