Project Stealthlow

[waynio]

It's looking awesome

All I can say is WOW!!.
I am rubbish at any diy.I must say,the attention to detail is immense.
Awesome build.

this case reminds of of a special Lian Li Case

always admired people working on cases from scratch

Cheers guys , just got the countersink & counterbore bits but the counterbore wasn't what I was expecting (the pilot was the size I needed but the cutting bit was way too big so that won't be used & the countersink bit is garbage & might need to remake the back panel the sink it made is nowhere near as smooth as the ones I did with my other bit so need to get same type of countersink as my last which means sometime next week before more progress just hope I can get away with not needing to do a new back panel.

 

[waynio]

Was going to leave the project alone for a few days after finding my new countersink bit was crap & knew I needed a new one, ordered the same type as my last & decided to do the slots for the expansion cards on the mobo tray.

I also have a solution for the badly done countersinks on the back, not massively ideal but it'll work .

The upside down hdd cage, but since found a source for left angle sata cables but I'll just have to hope that 600mm is long enough, should be .

Marked, drilled & started using a manual fretsaw to make the expansion slots.

Just needs filing.

Filed & brushed both sides of the mobo panel as it was looking pretty shabby & put back in the case.

 

[waynio]

Motherboard tray looks 1000 times better, that brushing sure does a good job, was wondering what you were going to do about them marks. And once it is powdercoated/ anodized it's going to look amazing!

Cheers Gundog48 I would seriously love to get all this anodised but it's doubtful after I whacked those brass thread inserts into the mobo tray oh well if I can find a clear primer I can always use candy paint to keep the brush look , just got to find the right clear primer.

To fix the rear io piece bad countersinks I ordered these black anodised countersunk washers, problem is I might have to do all the rear bolts with these so it all looks uniform, d'oh .

 

[waynio]

Sounds like fun... Don't ya wish you'd used them in the first place? (or not bought a crap countersink bit)

I've seen other modders use the same type of countersink bit but they got an ok result from it, really should have tested it out on some scrap before putting it to the case, d'oh but not to worry it's fixable, just requires a little more work .

 

[waynio]

Had a real lazy day & just tested the pci expansion cards line up correct & phew they do .

Now just need to make some kind of easy maintenance clamping piece for holding cards in place.

 

[waynio]

Here is my first idea for holding the expansion cards in place, it would be made from solid aluminium bar with brass inserts that are screwed in from the rear panel, a hefty amount of filing again though lol but the theory works for me & might even look ok .

 

[waynio]

LOL Tried that clamping block idea but couldn't seem to get the needed pressure on it while clamping, kind of a 3 or 4 handed job so then I tried using 6mm flat bars a piece above & below the expansion slots with a theaded insert in the ends which I have to admit is doable but might not look so good & it would still require a fiddly install which goes against the ease of use, so I ordered a lian-li part hehe, one of those toolless pci clamp things but thats just going in the spares box now but I might study it & make my own some time .

The reason I didn't want to add the usual threaded holes is a 5 stack of alu wasn't the original plan so there could be issues with expanding & loss of form, maybe it would be possible to drill & tap it if held in a vice but I'm not sure it's a good idea.

I'd heartily recomend not making your own pci/io piece based on a standard one after this lol, at least I know this for sure now :hehe: but then again this was my first time, making something fairly complex & the first time is always a bit of a nightmare when you only have a rough idea of what to do so if you do have a go at making your own be prepared for muckups .

Anyway I thought why the heck not just have a try at holding firm in the vice with a clamp, drilling, tapping, helicoils, now things didn't go correct with the pci/io mobo standoffs, I'd say I'm about 2mm away from where it should be but it all still works as it should so everythings ok .

Nice technical markings ready & spot drilled lol .

Tapping

Helicoils in & done .

Ohhhhhh Shheeeeeeet but will be fixed up when I get around to doing the body filling .

Works awesome but yeah some body filler work to get this piece spot on .

And this shot shows how it's probably 2mm away from where it should be, oh well at least it all works as it should .

 

[waynio]

Got all the fan mount bars to the same sizes & made the notches so they are all the same & match up correct, spot drilled the mounting end, drilled, tapped, helicoiled. tried out, just need to add the fan mounting holes & countersinks as I intend to use regular black fan screws but still waiting for the countersink bit.

I'll get the mounting holes ready for when the countersink bit gets here.

 

[waynio]

Nice

Looks like the airflow through there will be pretty clean and unhindered - should get some great temps on the go there

Planning on any exhaust above the I/O panel?

Thanks mate I tried out the enermax tb fans the other day & they move much more air than I was expecting & they are very quiet, not silent but it will be heaps quieter than the air cube with the akasa apaches.

Yep still need to cut out bits on the back panel but I'm leaving it until everything is ready to be cut so I can get it all done at once so I only have to take it apart for the cuts & then for the finishing, same goes for the 2nd levels psu vent & cable passes.

The drilling which should have been simple went wrong so I've body filled the holes & I'll smooth it off so it's a perfect blend, then paint the fan bars & use scotch mounting tape for the fans, really wanted to avoid stuff like body filler on this but if I can hide the hiccup really well I won't mind since it was quite a mission making the fan bars .

 

[waynio]

not sure about the design IMO

I am , it's going to be very strong build, good performer, very very quiet, good temperatures & good looking IMO , make sure you check it out once it's done & you might like it .

Cons:
Can't put things on top of it & maybe too heavy if lacking strength .

 

[waynio]

That's usually the way isn't it - I think it's called 'sods law' lol

Hehe yep that's the one .

I love the fan mounts! Also, the aluminium looks so sick brushed

Thanks Guitarman0 they are much better & simpler than the ones I originally designed, & yeah I love satinising mops, they use up pretty fast but definitely worth it & all that is needed to use them is a power drill & a polishing mop spindle .

Ok so as I said I some how miss drilled the front fan mount bars so had to fill them with body filler, done 1 filling a good thick cover then filed & sanded down, then done another light layer to get a perfect fill & sanded to 600 grit so is ready for painting, then installed them back in the case, put thin strips of scotch mounting tape on the corners of the fans & stuck on & took a bunch more pics, & there is 320mm space for expansion cards & my tripod needs fixing up as it's getting wonky lol.

Whats up next, who knows that acrylic has to be done at some point & the psu vents & wire management holes need putting in but have no idea what I'll do next .

 

[waynio]

Rather than drilling those fan mounts, how about you get/make some wire clips (like the ones used to hold the fans to the Ultra120) but with a full circle at the bar end so that they hook right around the bar...

No need to drill the bars and one less thing to risk ****ing up

Yeah I already scrapped the idea of drilling mounting holes for the fans & instead will be staying with the mounting tape, it's definately strong enough to keep them up + it will act as a bit of a anti vibration mount, they are quite low speed fans so should be fine .

 

[waynio]

Ah I think it may be the right time to work out where to put wire pass through holes & a guide for how to lay the cables out, I'm not doing a load of single wire pass throughs as seen in some other neat cable jobs I'll instead make big enough holes for the connectors to get through & make a good fitting cover that untightens a little so I can lift it up whenever I need to change things, I also want to include a way to have a wire mess hidden but accessible & functional under the hdd cages as there is some space for extras there.

Is it possible to make diy sata cables or open them up to extend them, anyone know about this? I found left angle sata cables but might need to mod the length to get it just perfect.

 

[waynio]

Anything is possible if you have the required tools and skills (which I have no doubt you have )... http://metku.net/index.html?path=mods/baby-sata/index_eng

Ooh thats a nicer guide than the one someone else pointed out to me, thanks Diggsy appreciated .

Take one SATA data cable, remove connector. Take another and do the same. Join the two long lengths together by carefully soldering and then covering the whole length with a nice length of heatshrink or braid and shrink. Might get a bulge though as you'd need to isolate each conductor.

You could also buy longer cables.

It's left angle sata cables & only know of 1 place that does them & they only go up to 600mm but I might actually get away with that length but it's always good to have a plan b in place thanks for helping Tealc .

I measured the furthest hdd position to the furthest sata port in the layout I want to do & it comes to 615mm so I should be fine with the left angle sata cables I ordered .

Got all the filling work done on the pci piece which has presented yet another new thing, rounded edges where I done the filling lol so yep that means I'll have to dedicate a bit more time to making the rounded edges consistant for the slots, anyway it took 3 layers of filling before I got a finish I can live with so just need to round the edges & paint then this piece is completed.

Showing it with the lian-li black vented pci brackets I bought & I feel this is going to look sweet once finished.

 

[waynio]

Just followed through this from start to finish,

Just wish I had the skill and motovation to pull something like this off myself

Amazing job your doing here waynio can't wait to see it finished!

Cheers Baplad , I wouldn't have got this good if I never kept pushing on, don't know if you seen my first couple of cases but they were packed with flaws & far from perfect design, build strength & work, air cube had a few iffy cuts too but with not taking much of a break since air cube the skills have stayed fresher & let you get better so the word is practice, trial & error or learn by doing if I can anyone can if they can be arsed .

No probs mate, enjoying the progress thus far. Can't believe you've resorted to filler though

Cheers again Diggsy & neither can I believe I resorted to filler, oh well .

I still need to figure out if I'm going to add a regular rear fan as I remember slightly regretting adding one to the air cube with the cpu cooler being in push/pull config so I have a tough decision on whether I should add a fan or cut out a spawling grill from the pci area to the spot where there is usually a fan, tough call but there is always the fan just above the io spot which would probably do the job fine, I'll take a bit more time to decide .

Pulling away to make the rounded edge I accidentally put in consistent.

Cut a little piece of wood to use as a sanding block to make the task much better & easier.

Made the edges 100% square & gave the edges that show a smoothed rounded edge, so now thank goodness this piece is ready for painting at last .

I was thinking of body filling all the lines where the plates connect to each other but don't feel the need to be honest because a: it will consume another day & b: it might end up a mess but I suppose I could use a filler primer which would be much easier & probably better.

And apologies for posting updates the minute I finish for the day even with fairly insignificant updates, hope it's not boring or irritating anyone .

 

[waynio]

I'll skip filling the lines, I think I came out with the boring comment because the pci piece took so long to complete & was starting to bore me lol .

New jigsaw in action & the LED light helps big time, much smoother jigsaw than any I used before & didn't even need to clamp up heavily like usual, yep it's a gooden for £30 .

PCI/IO cutout done.

PCI piece Attached.

Working on the 2nd level, never took any pics of the way I figured where the sata cables need to go through, this circle cutter scares the bleep outa me so I hide behind a big board in case it flys off .

Took ages to cut it out but got there.

Smoothed everything off & brushed both sides.

Wire management holes & need to file a small section away from the optical angle bar.

Only cut out the pci/io area on the back panel as I'm gonna ponda on what to do with the rest of it.

Very hard to see it but the hole is in perfect alignment with the psu fan & will catch the excess air flow from the hdd fans.

 

[waynio]

looking amazing!

Thanks GJS1 .

 

[waynio]

Been following this from the start, really impressed!

Thanks Josh .

Are you introducing any anti-vibration solutions? cause I can see the power supply giving you that with the current setup...

The thickness of the materials used & the solid connections is my anti vibration solution , also the corsair fan only spins up when it's under load .

As I mentioned before I've been looking for a clear primer & I've found one but damn it's expensive compared to other normal primers, £10 is the cheapest I've found for a 400ml can but also found vht clear adhesion promoter for £7 so I think I'll go with that, get some candy paint & then get looking for a good matt clear lacquer as I want to avoid a gloss finish.

 

[waynio]

Been watching this come along

Really coming together nicely now matey

Looks stunning

Cheers Dubs .

 

[waynio]

Here is how I aligned the mounting holes for the psu, cotton bud sticks cut off ends, pressed into the mounting holes, put a blob of paint on & press against the back panel & pull away, spot drill, drill then countersink.

There was 2 unwanted holes back from when I tried a clamping system for the pci cards so I used a custom circle hex graph to try & align it correct but failed on that & then failed on not using a small drill bit at first & instead used 1 that was a tad too big so silly me went & drilled big holes to remove the botched area then took a break cursing like a gooden & generally feeling down thinking I'd have to order a new sheet or an iffy repair lol, even considered cutting out the entire bad area & trying to fit another cut to precise size & fitting inside the bad area & filling the edge.

Took a few hours to spot drill all these.

Anyway similar thing happened when I was doing the back panel mesh on the air cube so thought screw it I'll give it a shot & the following was 100% freestyle but is to be continued tomorrow as it was getting a bit late.

If after tomorrow I can't make it good I'll give in & get a new sheet.