I'm totally due for an update, and actually have been holding on to this for a while.. So instead of getting two seperate updates with 10 photos each, you get one with nearly 25.
I decided dremeling the honeycomb on the back of the case would be a good first step. I started out coloring in what I wanted to remove.. I like having options, so I thought "Hey, maybe I'll just trim enough so I can still install an 80mm fan.."
Then I started thinking "...Why the hell would I even
want to install an 80mm fan there?"... So I masked off the outside area of where I was cutting (in case of slipping and causing a scuff) and went to work.
And yes, that is a garbage bag the case is sitting in. I don't have much room to work on my projects here, so I have to find something to catch the dust.
As most will tell you, always be sure to wear eye protection and some sort of mask. I couldn't find my beanie/mask thing, so I decided I would be a ninja. You can be a ninja too. Just follow
these easy steps.
As mentioned earlier, I debated on leaving room for an 80mm fan (with some of the grill left intact for the sides), so cutting out the honeycomb was a way of compromising between having 80mm as an option and full 120mm. I decided I'd go the full distance and make that fan hole exclusive for a 120mm fan.
Was trying to be careful with the dremel (which actually isn't a "Dremel" but rather a rotary tool by Kawasaki.. it does the job just fine), so I had to flip the case on it's side a few times.
Ahhh... That's the stuff. Honeycomb be gone! Now all that's left is cleaning it up a bit with some files. Something I saved for later, due to having only one crappy one in my posession.
Went on to do sanding for the main case side panel. Picked up a low power mouse sander for $15 clearance at my local hardware store.
Yeah, that's a lot of dust. At one point I thought the painted "Black & Decker" logo had worn off after about a half hour of sanding.
In reality, there was so much black dust from the paint that it only LOOKED like the logo had worn off. Wiped the logo with my thumb, and it was nice and clean again.. Haha...
Here I've got just over half the (easy) sanding done. Cool to see some nice progress.
And here it is, mostly complete. Just need to sand the edges and repair the bent steel on said edges.
Originally, this was the damage on one end of it. Kinda bent in and such.
Using a combination of the tools seen two images ago, I was able to flatten it out reasonably well.
As for the back edge... Well.. We don't talk about back edge.
Honestly that back edge did get repaired for the most part, but there's still a little bit of a pit there. It's small enough that a bit of primer could cover up no problem. This is the first coat of primer. Sometime I need to sand it and apply another coat. By the time the second coat is done, that little ding will probably be unnoticible.
Ripping off the head of the beast.
The two gears at the top are held in by two screws on the top, then DEEZ NUTS and washers. Fairly easy to remove.
On the other hand, the bottom side was REALLY annoying. See that little black peg near that green/white wire?.. Not only are there five screws holding the bottom piece in place, there's that peg too. There's another one just under the 120mm fan.
Since it felt rock solid stuck on there, I decided to take the drill to that peg and rip off half of it. It worked, and apparently it was just that bottom one that was a problem. I was able to pry the second one out using a chisel w/o damaging anything.
And now comes the part I had been putting off doing for a long while now.. Drilling out the rivets. This is the point of no return folks. Now that I've drilled out the rivets, I will NOT put this case back together until it's beautiful. I want to do a damn good job on this, and am a bit of a perfectionist... Just hoping the work ahead of me won't be too stressful.
Ahh.. Makes sense why this case is damaged in awkward places.. See those black pads? One of them wasnt installed on top there. I'll have to find a replacement.
As you can see, very minor mistakes can definitely mess with the integrity of the case itself. That bent piece there is another part I'm going to have to fix. That bent piece is probably why the front left corner of the case sticks up so much.
All rivets drilled out up to this point.. Working my way down a bit more and I'll be finished drillling.
Nice, now I have a pile of steel. I've been waiting my whole life for a pile of steel and now I finally have it.
Yeah that's totally a kiddie basketball hoop it's resting on. The top piece is resting on the hoop itself. Did I mention I have limited workspace?
Bleh, what a mess. Thankfully we have a pushbroom. Swept it up nicely, but I should have worn shoes while drilling and such.. Wore socks and got a few metal bits stuck in them. No holes, thankfully.
That's all I have now for you guys, but thank you very much for taking a look. Means a great deal to me.
If any of you have questions, comments or suggestions, do not hesitate to ask, criticize, or comment.
What do I want to do next? Well I'm going to have to do more sanding of course!
. As for the internal chunks of steel go, I've decided I'm going to paint them in chrome and spray translucent red over it... Blame soldam cases for the idea.
. First I'll have to repair the case parts, sand, then I can paint and piece everything together.
Now would also be a good time to plan out my designs for the windows. The main one will be your standard average case window using bronze acryllic (thanks to Syrillian for the tip), and the "art" window on the other side may either be just something small.. or it could be large. To elaborate a little more, it could even be small pieces formed into something large.. I guess I'll have to see what I can come up with
.
Rest assured, I'm going to be removing a lot of steel. That's one secondary goal I have for this project, because less steel is less weight.. And as you guys saw earlier up, I'm a small dood. I need to make this something I can carry without worry.
-timx
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