IEATFISH's Custom Tech Station - **Design Finalized** - Page 4 - Overclock.net

**IEATFISH** · 10-18-09

Okay, I think I want to make this a little more exact now.

Materials: Outer 3 panels (sides and back) are a single piece of aluminum, bent in a U shape (thanks CD). I'm thinking maybe powder coating the aluminum. The internal pieces are black acryilc or lexan. I'm really not up to date on what materials are available, etc. so any input is great.

SO, how thick of aluminum should I draft up? What should the MB tray be made out of? How thick of acrylic/lexan for the insides? 1/4"?

Once I get this figured out, I can put it back together with some more exact measurements.

Syrillian · 10-18-09

1/4" thick acrylic or lexan will be sufficient, imho.

**IEATFISH** · 10-18-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syrillian

1/4" thick acrylic or lexan will be sufficient, imho.

And honorable it is.

Now that there are two vertical supports inside the case I agree with you. I think the rails will work well for the ODD and simple thumb screws for the HDD. Once I get a revised model together, I can think more about how to put the fan and front panel on.

Would 1/8" aluminum be enough? I would think so...

Syrillian · 10-18-09

Indeed. 1/8" will suffice.

**IEATFISH** · 10-18-09

Updated picture:

1/4" Acrylic inside
1/8" Aluminum for sides, floor, and back

You can see that the ODDs will slide in using the rails and the HDD will just sit on the supports and be held by a single thumb screw. I have not placed a fan yet.

I'm also wondering if I want to have it sit on the flat piece of aluminum or add case feet such as these. I'm not sure if the aluminum base piece will be okay with the feet not being directly under a vertical support, if that makes sense. Need to do some more thinking.

**IEATFISH** · 10-19-09

The panels that were to attach to the bottom have been put on hold for the time being. I have most of the design ironed out I believe. I plan to add 3 switches to the case at some location: power, reset, bios reset. Not sure how or what, but nothing big. Just so I'm not having to short pins all the time.

Okay, here are the outstanding questions I have:

1) Will the base (1/8" Aluminum) be rigid enough to sit on some case feet an inch or so in from the edges?

2) Can you think of an easy way to mount a fan in front of the HDDs? The HDDs have been moved back to accommodate a 92mm fan. I was considering a plate of sorts that the fan screws to that then is secured with a single thumb screw. This would make it easy to remove it for HDD swaps.

3) How will the inside acrylic/lexan attach to the aluminum side panels?

4) Anything else I need to consider?

Some new pictures are attached, now with much more detail.

Syrillian · 10-19-09

Okay, here are the outstanding questions I have:

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEATFISH

1) Will the base (1/8" Aluminum) be rigid enough to sit on some case feet an inch or so in from the edges?

Yes. That gauge of aluminum will be sufficient. You may need to use larger diameter feet (or larger squared, if applicable), and you may need to have a center foot (wither in the center of the panel, or 1 on the front and 1 on the back).

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEATFISH

2) Can you think of an easy way to mount a fan in front of the HDDs? The HDDs have been moved back to accommodate a 92mm fan. I was considering a plate of sorts that the fan screws to that then is secured with a single thumb screw. This would make it easy to remove it for HDD swaps.

You could rig something like an Antec SpotCool, but out of a 120mm fan. I did this awhile back with a flexible neck that I salvaged from a clip-on table lamp (it was like a goose neck and held the form it was bent into).

Or, you could use wing-nuts and recessed receivers... or standard thumbscrews (as you stated) with the appropriate receivers (think, "tool-less"... if you are so inclined).

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEATFISH

3) How will the inside acrylic/lexan attach to the aluminum side panels?

you may need to use small shelving brackets that use mechanical fasteners. These types of braces come in small sizes:

Note: These can also be purchased in a "triangular" shape.

(Pretend one of the planes is aluminum)

You could also use aluminum angle cut to your desired length:

Quote:

Originally Posted by IEATFISH

4) Anything else I need to consider?

Ensure that you consider how components (hardware) will be mounted. One of the things that it is advisable to avoid is "stacking" components: meaning, having to remove one piece of hardware in order to access another.

**IEATFISH** · 10-19-09

Thanks very much for the reply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syrillian

You may need to use small shelving brackets that use mechanical fasteners. These types of braces come in small sizes:

[IMG]snip[/IMG]
Note: These can also be purchased in a "triangular" shape.

[IMG]snip[/IMG]
(Pretend one of the planes is aluminum)

You could also use aluminum angle cut to your desired length:

[IMG]snip[/IMG]

I think either of those should work nicely. None of my hardware or supports comes within 1/2" of the top or bottom so there should be enough room for a 1/2" x 1/2" angle.

Quote:

Ensure that you consider how components (hardware) will be mounted. One of the things that it is advisable to avoid is "stacking" components: meaning, having to remove one piece of hardware in order to access another.

As you can see in the screen shots in this post, all the hardware is independent of the other pieces. Each drive sits or slides into a separate slot. About those drive rails you showed earlier, how much do they cost?

edit:

Just threw this together and I think I like it. I will use an angled piece of aluminum and screw my fan to it. That piece will have two holes for thumb screws. The whole thing will attach to the right panel of the HDD bays using the thumb screws. Here are some pics:

Syrillian · 4 Weeks Ago

I like that fan mounting that you came up with.

If I may ramble....

Another hardware piece that I have been trying to work into builds are DZus fasteners, as I like the "tool-less" idea.

**IEATFISH** · 4 Weeks Ago

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syrillian

I like that fan mounting that you came up with.

If I may ramble....

Another hardware piece that I have been trying to work into builds are DZus fasteners, as I like the "tool-less" idea.

Feel free to ramble.

How exactly are you trying to put those fasteners in a case? I like the idea of a simple quarter turn.

I'm really considering adding the cover panels back in to my case. I think these handles would work very nicely. I just need to decide on how I want to attach them to the case in a way that is easily removable and doesn't break the bank. Those fasteners, maybe just one two of them at the top right and bottom left corner of the panel, look like they could be neat.

Edit: I like these: http://www.dfcis.com/ar-4610/ar-4610.html

		Overclock.net - Overclocking.net > Case Mods & Cases > Case Mods - General Discussion
IEATFISH's Custom Tech Station - Design Finalized

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)