mfb412

sub'd this has potential

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Livinstrong

Very nice work!! Can't wait to see the fined case with all of the parts inside!

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Henchman #24 will never be forgotten!!

shinji2k

Well, I've been laid off for the next week and I got my order of some more hardware from McMaster. Tomorrow will be a nice day so I'm going to get some work done.

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Pearl in the Rough (My on going case mod comp project that I couldn't finish on time)
Actual Power Consumption of a few components I own

Please forgive me, I have SIWOTI syndrome.

A still more glorious dawn awaits. Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns. The rising of the Milky Way.

Warfarin88

Wowser. You're off to an amazing start here! Truly nice work.

I'm not sure where you're sitting with the plexi wrap of the case, but I do hope that stays in the plan. This might have been mentioned/suggested, but have you tried shaping the acrylic with just a heat gun?

I would think you could clamp a long strip to the flat of the case, and then heat along the rounded edge and practically let gravity due the bend for you around the radius of that curve. How thick is your material?

shinji2k

A heat gun was the first thing I tried. I've got a lot of pics showing my failures with the acrylic that were not posted and the whole process you have suggested was tried. I've got no problem bending acrylic, even the cast 1/4" I was using. But for some reason it would not take to the bend radius I needed, at least to my standards. It was near impossible to heat a large patch of acrylic to bend over a 1.5" radius evenly with the equipment available to me. If I went with some thinner acrylic it would probably work, but it would make lighting that much more difficult since I would have to use a lot more smaller LEDs. If I went with some extruded, which seemed to react better to heat, it wouldn't look as good since it only comes in clear. I could try some 3/16" this time and hope it cooperates with me and just use some 3mm LEDs instead of the 5mm ones I already bought.

I'm not in the competition any more so I will take any suggestions you all have . I am trying to find a vendor that will sell me a sheet of ~3/16" fluorescent red acrylic that is ~8" wide by 7' long. I think I found one that will cut custom sizes but not in that color. I certainly can't afford to buy a whole 4'x8' sheet.

__________________
Pearl in the Rough (My on going case mod comp project that I couldn't finish on time)
Actual Power Consumption of a few components I own

Please forgive me, I have SIWOTI syndrome.

A still more glorious dawn awaits. Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns. The rising of the Milky Way.

Maytridy

wow, amazing log!

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Los Fuegos Worklog - "Hope you like it, leave a comment, it makes me happytard ^___________^"

For Sale!

shinji2k

Well I've shot off a couple emails to see if I can get a piece of acrylic in the color I need and in the size needed to cover the whole case in one piece. I really don't want any seams, but my first shopping attempt didn't go well and left me using two 48" long strips glued together. If it turns out I can't get the size I need in fluorescent red, I think I can make clear work. It only has to be colored on the edge to help make the lighting more consistent, so I tried a couple different fluorescent highlighters. They seemed to do the trick, but aren't as good as the real thing. If all else fails I can try that or try to find some florescent paint or something. I really want the acrylic to be included so some brainstorming may be needed.

__________________
Pearl in the Rough (My on going case mod comp project that I couldn't finish on time)
Actual Power Consumption of a few components I own

Please forgive me, I have SIWOTI syndrome.

A still more glorious dawn awaits. Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns. The rising of the Milky Way.

EuroFix

I love the design and the workmanship is amazing!
When I saw the PSU bracket my jaw dropped to the ground...Im still looking for it...
+1 TFS!

shinji2k

Alright, got some sanding done today. Busted out my DA and some 60 grit and said bye-bye to the paint I could reach with the sander. Then I went over it will some 220 to have a nice surface to paint. It's going to rain soon or I would have started with the paint stripper in the nooks and crevices I couldn't reach with the sander. I also need to strip my PCI thingy and my HDD rack. But those are a little awkward to hit with the DA so that'll come later.



And I never did show my first attempt at the acrylic. Here it is. Since I couldn't get the length I wanted I had to glue two pieces together. I did that at a 45° hoping it would be a little stronger and less noticeable. Well, it stuck out pretty bad to me. But I sanded everything flush and went ahead.









For some reason I don't have pics of after I tried to bend it. The problem is that the edges don't bend the same as the rest of the piece. The outer 1/2" or so of each side didn't bend the same as the inside. So next time I try it I will use a wider piece than I need and trim it down flush. This time I'm also thinking of using some steel pipe to bend it over instead of the case itself. I am hoping to get a better bend out of it.

That's it for now. Hopefully tomorrow I hear back from a couple vendors I emailed and I can move on with the acrylic.

__________________
Pearl in the Rough (My on going case mod comp project that I couldn't finish on time)
Actual Power Consumption of a few components I own

Please forgive me, I have SIWOTI syndrome.

A still more glorious dawn awaits. Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise. A morning filled with 400 billion suns. The rising of the Milky Way.

oliverw92

what i would do is get some MDF and mock up a mould of the outside radius of the plastic you need.so say your plastic is 5mm thick, it will be 5mm greater than the outside radius of the case. i would then get some aluminium that can be bent by hand but does not flex very easily. i would bend that over the mdf mould. then get the plastic, clamp in place, heat up and bend. then get the aluminium curve and clamp it on the radius and put clamps on the ends where it isn't bending as much. you could then get the heat gun and stick it on the ends of the aluminium whilst the plastic is under pressure. this would let the middle cool faster than the outside, which is the problem at the moment. like the earth, it is hotter at the middle, and the outside cools faster.

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