repo_man

Sweet tips on the hot glue-heat gun, very awesome!

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mega_option101

Keep up the great work

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Warfarin88

Thanks for stoppin by Repo and Mega. The encouragement really helps.

Another micro update tonight. Stupid day jobs, they steal all the time away from the fun stuff.

I tacked another couple brackets onto my shroud this morning before work (the odd offset one there in front is to accommodate the off-center drive bays of the case):


Tonight, I decided to drill the holes in the case top. I quickly realized that despite my best efforts, everything was not quite square, so I couldn't effectively measure out where I needed to drill with any confidence. I didn't want to end up filing and enlarging the holes in the case top if I didn't have to, so I came up with a different method to mark my holes.

Finally, I ended up making a paper template of the base of the shroud, marking the screw postitions by pressing down on the paper. After test fitting the little screw holes I cut on the shroud itself, I taped it to my top to insure I had the holes where I needed them. The paper template's edges were traced from the shroud itself, so I could position it just right on the case top without worrying about the holes' themselves positions.

Once I got it where I wanted it, I tapped my marks with a center punch, and I dove in with the drill:


Presto! Perfect fit. It dropped right into place, out of square holes and all:


Thats all for tonight. I'm sorry for the small updates folks, but at least I'm getting all set up for a big weekend.

More to come.

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repo_man

That shroud looks great man, wow. I'm really impressed!

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tehpwnerofn00bs

Great work! I look forward to seeing more updates.

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Warfarin88

I have a little Saturday morning activity to share.

As soon as I had my shroud together, I knew what I was going to do with some of my new fan controllers, I just wasn't sure how exactly I was going to go about it.

I got that sorted this morning:


I decided I wanted to keep the knobs as low profile as I could, so I was going to need bigger holes than what would be needed for just the rheostat stalks. I also knew they were going to need to be drilled just right, or this was going to end up looking like poo.

I first made a test panel out of metal, and then used that to make a guide for myself out of wood. Quick test fit to make sure I was tracking:


And I was ready to rock:


About halfway through the second hole, I thought the vibrations were going to tear my poor shroud apart. I finally decided that the ancient bit set I found in my grandfather's basement about a 20 years ago probably wasn't going to cut it.

Quick trip to the hardware store (cue angelic orchestral score here):


Much much better! The rest of the holes went in with no incident. Time for a test fit:


I shouldn't have to worry about those getting too hot, not with two 120mm exhaust fans moving air directly over them. It's probably not a huge deal, but I like the idea that their heat is isolated from the rest of the case regardless.

That's the ticket:


The knobs look a touch crooked because I haven't fitted the L brackets inside to mount them properly. they're just sitting in there. When properly aligned however, they turn freely and the holes are sized perfectly.

I've got a bit more to do with the shroud assembly (sorting the wire routing and what not), but I hope to have it more or less complete by the end of the day.

Gotta clear the slate for more moddin' on tomorrow!

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Warfarin88

Here's a midmorning update. I'm making good progress, I might actually be ready to start ordering the good stuff (my hardware), sooner than I had thought.

I hole-sawed the bottom intake this morning, using my old guide plate from the top as a floating jig to help me steady the saw:


For once, something came out just like I planned:


I also got the last of the structural stuff done for the shroud assembly. The controllers are intended to be installed to the back of a trim bezel with supplied double sided tape. To get the recessed knob look, I just bent L brackets out of some scrap and J-B'd them into place:

Everything came out perfectly, but as you can see, my modder's mesh was a casualty. I'll swap in some new later.

I also snagged a 1.75 inch hole-saw bit this morning so I could play with some of the grommets I ordered from CyberDruid PC.
A little pre-wire management fun:

You can also see there that I decided to move my fans closer together. I just cut the whole mess out, and cut a piece of diamond plate to mount the fans on. The backside there is painted black... mostly just to cover up all my markings on it.

You can see pretty well in the above shot there what I'm working around with the offset drive cages. The holes line up plenty well enough though when the top is in place:


That's it for now folks. I should be almost ready to start re-assembly.

The short version to-do list:

• install a third 2-way fan controller at the rear of the case (don't think I'm going to "french" this one)

• wire the fan controllers and fans (sleeving time. ick! I'll also need to solder -- another first!)

• make fan grills out of some heavier stock diamond plate I ordered (it's on the way)

More to come...

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repo_man

Looking great bro! I wish my holesaw would work that great. Im sickened w/this cheap junk set I bought. Drf will shell out the money for a quality set this time. >_< update on mine is uploading now as well, drop by!

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MrQ

Dang man thats looks so awesome!! Keep up the good work. I need to do something like that for blow holes at the top of my Ultra Gladiator.

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prosser13

That case reminds me a lot of the Akasa Eclipse - in fact, I think it must be the same chassis...it's even got the mirrored motherboard tray.

And, I have to add, I have been in love with the Eclipse for a number of years. However, I have kept it between myself and my large stuffed dragon up until now, but I thought I'd let you in on the secret

More to the point, and I am slowly getting to the point with this slightly long ramble, that side on picture with the checkerplate is amazing. I love it. The checkerplate ties in perfectly with the slightly industrial theme, and the metal of the plate and the mirror finish on that motherboard tray tie in perfectly.

The shroud looks sweet, I've been working on something similar and that's given me a big boost - I've gone from thinking "Yeah, it'll look OK" to "This is going to be awesome!". Massive reps to you, and suscribed to keep up with the progress

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