[Sponsored] --- r e f l e X i o n ---  

(Actual shot of side panel above.)

To start, the name of the project is pronounced the same as "reflection," just with an X, instead. I came up with the project name based on a particular theme that I had in mind and then thought, “You know, what would really set it off is to spell it a little different, and hey, my name fits perfectly!â€

To get the wheels turning, I designed a logo and custom graphic specifically for this project that captures part of my vision for it. The theme is galaxies and the reflection of light. I have always been fascinated by the stars, and with a little help from a buddy of mine, the theme was born. With this, I believe I have some unique concepts in mind that will give this project both life and a personality. Some of these concepts, which I feel are unique and have not seen done before, I will not be sharing until the later stages in the project. But I promise to keep this worklog interesting and will try to provide updates regularly. In addition, I want this worklog to be a two-way exchange. All constructive feedback and ideas are more than welcome as that’s how we learn.

I'll briefly state my objective with this latest build before I get into the meat of the project.


My objective: To build a machine that pulses with life and personality and that exudes excellence.


My belief is that the ceiling of creativity is far from being reached in this hobby. My intention is to show a PC's artistic possibilities, to give it a name and a likeness. An identity. To accomplish this, I plan to inject some of my ideas, have them blend with a particular theme, and then to execute that theme through precise and risky modding. I believe that both can be accomplished, so my goal is to build a machine that's both edgy and refined.

So without further delay, I give you:



Edited by Xion X2 - 3/27/10 at 8:00am

So as the intro to the project states, I decided on the Cosmos S for this build after some extensive deliberation. Other cases that I considered were the new Corsair Obsidian, the Zalman GS1000 (was VERY close to getting this one,) or a few of the newer Lian Li series. When it came down to it, however, I saw in the Cosmos much of what I was looking for when it comes to aesthetics. It had smooth curves and a futuristic look about it which I think meshes well with my theme. Seeing as I'm not quite ready to design a case from scratch, it fit my current needs better than any other.

And, I mean, come on.. "Cosmos".. is there a more perfect name for a case based on a galaxy theme such as this one? In the end, there was no other choice.





Cooler Master does a great job with their packaging. To my delight, after opening the box I found the case wrapped in a nice polyester cloth all coddled like a baby.






Nice! There's something about the care that goes into packing that gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside, like what I'm about to get into has a lot of love and care given to it.

Ok, now it's time to get naked.

















You and your dirty mind.. I know what you were thinking.

So once I got her naked it was time to get her in my studio, under the lights, and behind a camera. :hrhr:








The basic structural design will remain, but I plan on modifying quite a bit of it. The entire front will have a custom laser-etched panel. The current side panel with the mesh will be completely replaced with a custom side panel. The renders will lay all this out in more detail.

Concept shots of the inside. The custom bay device ("Zero Gravity Chamber") is in progress and should be complete soon.

Waterjet in action.

I'd like to thank Mike and Chris Dixon of ADCUT for doing an exceptional job on the side panel, along with the other cuts that I had them make which I will reveal shortly. And not only that, but for indulging me by taking a few pictures of the work in action.

I told them: "Guys out there eat up waterjets; I have to give them something."

--And they were kind enough to indulge me by taking a few great shots of the cutting in action to share with you guys. :up:

I'm usually very picky about the work that I do and that I see others do, but in their case, there is nothing to be picky about. I told them what I was looking to do, and they made it happen exactly as I had hoped. This build is really just getting started, but to see concept come to life is almost surreal.

I'd also like to thank Ann Greco for answering my numerous emails and phone calls at all hours of the day and for helping set up the meeting between us which, in the end, I feel (and hope that many of you will as well) led to a special creation. You guys are the best!

Alright, enough talk. I feel like I'm at an Emmy awards, and I haven't even done anything yet.

Ahhhh, waterjet.



Probably the neatest tool I have ever seen in action. I told Mike, "This makes an entire weekend of sheet metal work with a Rotozip look puny by comparison."

Don't get me wrong; I love my RZ. But this thing cut so quick and precise. All pieces were cut in about 15 minutes. Granted, there was some setup time involved beforehand, but much of that was help from Mike in making the graphic even better. He had a tip to help round off straight edges even better than I was able to do with hundreds of vertices.




A good shot of the abrasive used in the cutting.




Nice, smooth rounded edges.




And that leads us to our finished products! Here are some good shots of the unbent Zero-G Chamber:





The chamber will of course be bent to the specs shown in the renders. Shelves will also be inserted, and it will of course be painted at a later time.

More shots of the side panel to come next.
Edited by Xion X2 - 11/25/09 at 11:05am

The refleXion side panel.










Edited by Xion X2 - 1/22/10 at 4:56pm

Some shots of the completed design of the "Zero Gravity Chamber." This custom built enclosure will house the 4 SSDs, two pumps and PSU.










A view from the pump side.

Building the Zero Gravity SSDs.

So, I've began to work on cutting the plexi for the SSD mounts and, as is often the case, it's been tricky to cut it and have it look clean and neat. In fact, forget "clean and neat"--just keeping it from shattering into about 7 or 8 pieces as soon as a blade touches it would describe my recent experiences a little better. I've tried both a hacksaw and jigsaw--even special bought blades tonight that were supposedly made for cutting plastic and acrylic--and both tools have failed miserably. It could very well be user error since I'm not used to working with plexi all that much, but regardless, I'm thinking to myself that there has to be an easier way to cut this stuff.

So I was talking about it with a friend of mine today, and he had this "crazy" idea to use my bending brake to cut the plexi with. I thought this was a superb idea.. not because I thought it would work, but because it would make for some outstanding pictures when the brake shattered the plexi into about 100 pieces. Live action shots.. maybe a collage that I could hang on my wall. "Plexi Distress," we could call it. "At the least, it'll get some laughs from a lot of guys," I told him.

Well, what you're about to see may be hard to believe and is evidence that the "brute force" approach sometimes works in the cases that seem to be born for finesse. And since I'm finally done yapping, let's get into the action shots, a.k.a. the good stuff.

Here I've marked the height and width that the plexi cutout for the drives needs to be. Cutting to this size will keep the edges of the plexi out of the window view, even from an angle.



Alright, let's throw this sucker on the brake. *straps on protective eyewear, ducks and covers head..*



Actually, before we go ahead and break all the rules of physics, modding, and general common sense, let's score this sucker and lessen our chances of being splintered in the eyes with shards of plexi.

I'll use a straight-razor and angle-cut it toward the steel brace.



It's tough to see there because my big fat hand is in the way, but I scored by holding the straight razor at a 45 degree angle, cutting against the steel brace that I was using as my straight edge. Clamping the brace down just held the straight edge in place and made things easier.

Alright, here we go. *ducks*



This will either be genius or Captain Idioto Magnifico, I was thinking to myself at about this point. I think I was also checking for nearby objects of value that could be destroyed by plexi snapping off at speeds in excess of 50mph.

*SNAP*



Well, it didn't go flying at the impact point, so that's good. So.. wait, what's this?



Would you look at that? :rofl:

Who would have thought that a 70 lb. steel brake would offer one of the cleanest cuts on fragile little plexi that you've ever seen? For the last two days that I've worked with it, it's seemed to crack right down the middle if I sneezed anywhere near it. Yet it butts heads with the bending brake and comes out beautiful.





It was a mixture of excitement and disbelief at this point. Not only did the brake make an extremely clean cut, but because the brake cuts against the steel brace/straight edge, it was a perfectly straight cut as well.

So that takes care of one side. Now to cut the other side to size.

So let's score the other side for cutting.



And let's cut this sucka.

*CRUNCH*







Let's take a closer look at the finished product.





Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Still can't believe how easy and efficient that was. Who would've thought.

And .. hey! You guys are early!



Apparently I'm not the only one who's excited at this new discovery. I'm not ready for you guys yet, but that didn't stop you from scampering out in front of the camera and posing on your new plexi window, did it?

Well since you're out here, make yourselves useful and show everyone how she fits.



There's now an inch and a half clearance on each side of the SSDs.


Edited by Xion X2 - 11/25/09 at 12:23pm

Cutting the SSD mounting brackets and the shelves to be inserted into the Zero-G Chamber.

To start, I set up the jig to cut the L mounting brackets for the drives. I used 36 TPI blades. Getting a smooth cut with a jig can be difficult, but these finer blades cut cleaner than anything else that I've tried.




Focus, focus.. cut along that line. Don't blink, sneeze, or do anything stupid...





Hmmm, not bad. Could be a little better or could be a lot worse. I'll go with it and take a file to it to clean it up some.



Oops. In my eagerness to get all this done I forgot to snap off a shot of the U mounting brackets being cut. (That's them on the left, the thicker pieces.) Ah, who cares, right? If you've seen 1,000 rectangular jig cuts, you've seen them all.

The file cleaned the pieces up nice, and when checked against the square, they were all fairly close.

The next morning, I woke up and, after eating breakfast, walked outside to take in some scenery. It was 37 degrees this morning, and there was frost on the ground. I thought it would make for some nice pictures, so I decided to snap off a few shots before getting back to the grind (a.k.a. project).





The lighting was just right for these pics. Not too bright, not too dark. And I thought the low hanging cloud over the mountain was a nice touch.

Ok, back to work.

Let's mark off the shelves that will be mounted inside the Zero G Chamber. There are two shelves that need to be cut. One for the top pump/res and SSDs, one for the bottom two.



Oooook. And time to break out the jig again.



Looking pretty good there...

Exciting stuff, I know. I can sense that you're on the edge of your seats with anticipation of what will come next. For those of you outside the US, I can hear your snores from overseas.

Let's spice things up a bit.

To have the Zero G Chamber fit properly, the existing drive cage needs to be removed from the internal structure. So, time to get those rivets out once and for all.



Anyone want to take a guess at how many rivet heads you can fit on a drill bit? Anyone ever try?



Ooooh boy, there's no turning back now. "The Point of No Return" has never played so loud inside my head.



Case = destroyed.

Such a tragedy. She lived a short but meaningful life. Sacrificing herself for the good of the modding community. They looked on in delight as she was broken apart piece by piece, rivet by rivet.

Let us have a brief moment of silence for the Cosmos S that no longer is...

...



..




(eulogy)





.............

(looks at watch)


......




.............................


......................... (something mentioned about good Cosmos go to Heaven...)





.................................................. .....

(closing hymn)






.........


Ok, enough of that...


The Cosmos S that was has now officially become the ever evolving "refleXion." A continuous evolution of ideas, some nutso, some possible, few practical.




Well, I really wasn't LYING when I said I'd add a little spice to this update. So let's pick up the pace a little.

Here comes the Sonic boom:



A new tool that my dad introduced me to over the weekend, the Sonic Cutter. 8)

No moving parts. Uses a static blade mounted onto the end that simply vibrates at insane speeds and inherently cuts away the material in its path. "Faster than an electric toothbrush," dad said. Hmm, sounds interesting. Let's give it a go on the drive cage to see how it does.

Why break this new tool out? Well, the drive cage will be a somewhat awkward cut on what is rather thin material. A jig would probably work just fine, but it may cut a little rough since the cage material is so thin. The wheel attachment for the Sonic is much finer than a jig blade as you'll see below.

We'll just test it on an unimportant section of the drive cage first to see how it does.





Hmm, not bad. And the blade barely saw any heat at all. This might be a good tool to use for modifying the cage.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time right as I was about to give it some decent play. Cutting that cage will have to wait for a little while.

After arriving back home, I set all the completed parts out on my studio (seems like there should be a lot more, as always...) for a few finished shots. No tripod for these (still deep in the trunk of my car) so they're not quite as good as I'd hoped, but they'll do. Hope you enjoy.