Custom Aluminum Case

A

Aqua_Geek

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 21, 2002
Messages
226
OK, after thinking about it for a while, I am considering making this case with casting resin. Here's the thread that gave me the idea.

I don't know which will cost more... Probably forming it out of resin. I plan on doing both, but I don't know which to start with. Any comments?

Also, I am still having trouble deciding on what to do with the side panel. I would prefer the motherboard to be on a hinged side panel, but at this point I am not sure how to achieve this while making it still look good.

In addition, I am in the process of purchasing a water chiller that is made for getting cold water out of your tap. Here's the specs on it. It has a 1.5 gallon per hour capacity and I am wondering if that will be enough. I think it will, but I'm not sure. This thing is fairly large, though. It will have to go in its own enclosure...

As always, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome. Specifically if you have any insights on using the casting resin.
 
After reading some of the comments in the linked thread in my last post, I decided not to use casting resin until I've had some more experience with it.

I got some extended specs for the water chiller, too:

Refrigeration Capacity: Chilling capacity of 1.75 gallons (6.6 Liters) per hour of 43°- 52°F (6°- 11°C) drinking water, based on 90°F (32°C) inlet water.

Electrical Data: 2.07Amps, 115 Volts, .71 Amps, 220 Volts.

Shipping Weight: 33 lbs. (15 Kg).

Some questions for any/all watercoolers: is that GPH enough? Also, does anyone have a reading on their water temp after going through the CPU block? I am under the impression that it really doesn't increase all that much after going through the block (only a few degrees). If this is the case, then this GPH should be enough because the incoming is only going to be <70F, right?

Also, some questions for the whole [H] Community: I need ideas for how to incorporate this into my case design. How should I connect the two cases together? Where should the quick-disconnect plugs for the computer case go? What should the water chiller case look like? The same?

33 lbs isn't too bad for a water chiller. That should go down because of the weight of the steel case. I just hope I can get everything working properly.
 
I'm going to venture to guess that 1.75 gallons per hour is inadequate. I don't have any science to back that up, but I will say that processors and chipsets put out extraordinary amounts of heat. It'll be hard to handle.
 
OK, here's what the DangerDen radiator handles:

360KCal per hour (1428 BTU per hour) or 418W

Anyone know the conversions?

Hmm, I just looked at what the Eheim 1046 pump: handles 80gal/hr...

But the 2 gal/hr rating is based on 90°F in and 50°F out. I don't think my in will be anywhere near that hot, and I don't need the outgoing to be that cold.

I guess we'll see...

Any thoughts on either case?
 
'In' would start at room temperature and would likely climb as the processor and chipsets heat up the water. That's the real problem--processors and chipsets just put out too much heat nowadays. You would need a very hard working chiller, and I suspect that the chiller you cited isn't up to the task.
 
Here's a site with a guy who did the same thing. I'm not sure of his chiller's specs, but because it's from an old drinking fountain I can't imagine them being too much higher than my chiller's specs.

http://www.water-cooling.com/articles/chiller/chiller.php

"In" wouldn't start @ ambient, though. The CPU block and even the temp in the case wouldn't heat the water up enough to increase it to room temp from 50°F. IMHO. But I'm new to this game, so I could be wrong.
 
Blast! I lost the auction for the water chiller. The final bid was $79. Well, I searched around and found this:

WaterCooler.jpg


Specs:

Compressor
1 spigot dispenses ice-cold water
1 spigot dispenses instant hot water
Child-safe hot water spigot
Indicator light for cold, hot and power functions
Holds standard 2-, 3-, or 5-gallon water bottle
Removable drip tray
Has a compressor, which chills the water like a refrigerator
Currently available online only
Model No. WDQT015

It's got a compressor and it's only 17.5 lbs. It's 18.13 x 13.0 x 13.75. Based on the link in my previous post, I think this thing will work nicely.

So, for $90 I'll be getting a new compressor assembly for the computer. Now I need some suggestions on how to incorporate this into my case or if it should be in it's own case. I am unsure of how I'm going to do this and probably won't until the thing arrives and I'm able to look at its guts.

Any thoughts?
 
dont take this the wrong way, not intending to be a flame at all, but dont you think you should concentrate on getting that case done before you start investing in the cooling? ive done a few projects like this (no cases, hah, but metal construction and other pet projects) and a lot of the time they kinda spiraled out of control until i finally just settled on something that was half as good as what i envisioned and cost me twice as much as i planned. plus there was some half done side project as well ;)

again, not a flame at all, you've just got some killer ideas on the case and i think that once you get that done you could just adapt your cooling system to the case itself. haha, or, sell it to me and make a new one :)

about the cooling as a whole, why a chiller? if you used good sized rad's, swiftech's chiller might be able to help a bit and would certainly be smaller... hell, just using active cooling on a pair of rads (maybe run two systems, one for cpu, one for NB and GPU..) would probably be fine, though, not much cheaper, heh. just a bit more space efficient, i would think at least.

good luck man, cant wait to see how it turns out.
 
jarhead: Yes and no. I know exactly what you mean about starting projects, getting distracted, and then the final product being less than you hoped. No flame taken - it is a very good point. I do need to concentrate more time and resources to getting the case completed rather than deciding on and purchasing components. The problem, however, lies in the case design. If I'm going to incorporate this chiller I need to physically see some dimensions. I don't think abstractly in three dimensions very well. I know to an extent how I want everything to come together, but if I'm going to fork out all this cash on a custom case then I want it to be exact. The solution: buy the major parts and make a cardboard mock-up (which I was going to do a long time ago but didn't have the time). Purchasing the chiller would also allow me to see how much I can move the various components around to achieve the most space-efficient layout. If I was going to use a radiator, I would still purchase it in advance to make sure everything is arranged correctly.

As for the "why the compressor cooler instead of a radiator" question, it's mostly for the "WOW!" factor. I want this case to really turn some heads. I just want to do something a little different than cooling with a radiator. Yes, you make a good point that this is not very space-efficient. But on the positive, it does run quieter than a radiator with 2x120s on it... :D

I appreciate all the feedback that has been given thus far and I hope it will continue as I iron out all the details in the coming weeks. I will probably purchase the aluminum in the next 3 weeks or so. I need the planning to be perfect by that point, though.

Most of all, I am currently at school and live in the dorms. So, I really don't have access to a lot of tools and really can't be doing some major JBWeld-ing/dremeling/etc in my room. Things have to be planned out exactly so all the cutting can be done at one time at the shop. Either that or the finished product will have to wait for the end of the semester (which is probably what will happen).

So, any comments about incorporating this into the case? I was thinking about making the case a little wider and a little taller so I could put the water chiller stuff in the bottom. Any thoughts?

Thanks again for the feedback! I look forward to more comments and insights!
 
I just remembered about the G5-PC hoax thing and grabbed one of his pics. (It's on my server, not leeching from theirs):

G5-PCInside.jpg


There is a LOT of room in that case. The board is mATX but the difference between that and ATX is the height, not the depth. Maybe I won't have to make it all that much larger after all...
 


There is a LOT of room in that case. The board is mATX but the difference between that and ATX is the height, not the depth. Maybe I won't have to make it all that much larger after all... [/B]
Click to expand...


You can get that much room out of just about any good sized case. The thing that makes that look less crowded is the absence of all the mounting trays. The HardDrives are mounted where the PSU used to go. The CDrom is single and mounted on top. There is no room for secondary drives (or mounts, I should say). There is no floppy. It looks vacant.

If you wanted that "bare" inside look, it'd be easily obtained by cutting out your mounts below the top CDrom, then mounting the harddrives flat, side by side on the very bottom of your case (where the PSU is in that G5 PC).

:)
 
I don't know if anyone posted this but next time you make your own case look at FormFactors.org for board size. I though you might want to see this; it's a G4 Cube made to look like a G5 and it's in japanese but it has plenty of pictures that should give you a clear idea of how to do this.
 
CrimandEvil: Yeah, I have the motherboard specs PDF. I have also seen the pics for the G5 Cube. :) Both have been really helpful throughout the whole process.

Spidey329: At this point, the basic layout of my case will look very similar to the one in the pic (depending on height issues that I still have to work out) except there will be room for 2 DVD-R/CD-R drives in the top and the PSU will be in its original location. The hard drives have yet to find a home... As for the floppy: I'll just pop open the case and hook one up whenever I actually need to use one.
 
I just finished reading through the thread.
You might want to use MilkShape 3D for a CAD program, I still haven't used it yet (it's sitting on my HD) though. I have seen a few G4 to PC mods one even was a full ATX. I could post them if you want 'em. Overall it sounds very cool. I'm actually figuring out how to do this exact thing. For a seemless look you might want to do something like the G4 tray mounted in the WTX style, thats what I decided upon but your going to have to figure out the placement for a water chiller setup- shouldn't be too hard I'm already going over it in my head as I type. and it should help with proper cooling
 
By not having a removable side panel you will need either rails or removable drive cages to access the drives. I have a Coolermaster that is undergoing the transition to a G5 look - with the exception of the side panel seams. On top of the case itself, the metal and machine shop work are probably going to run $200. If you want the slight texture of a G5 you should get the aluminum bead blasted.

Also an alternative to anodizing is powdercoating. If you are using an epoxy and worried about the anodizing acid, check the temp tolerance on the epoxy. If it can handle the heat, powdercoating will get you taken care of. This guy did my NeXT cube which is pictured on the site.
 
Well, I finally got to work on a mock-up of the case. Instead of cardboard, I'm using poster board. It's not as sturdy, but it's really easy to work with. It's good enough to give me an idea of the arrangement of everything in the case.

Pics will be up after I finish it tomorrow afternoon.
 
two things - good thoughts on the distraction point, i hadnt thought about it like that.

second, one thing you can do is find out the general dimensions of a certain part from various resellers (you can call them for it) on the size of their compressors or radiators, or whatever and then make cardboard mockups for those as well. if you make a cardboard mockup for all the pierces that need to go inside as well as just the case you can shuffle things around in there until you get them just where you want them. ive used this technique on the last server room i had to setup. had to fit 13 poweredge towers into a tiny closet with room for two monitors and routers/switches/firewall. the mockups were a huge help. lot more fun moving around something that weighs less than a pound than something that weighs 20 ;)

the application would be different in your case naturally, but still useful i think.

ok, make that four things, heh.

are you planning on using the same perforated front cover design the G5 has? if so, you could concievably (sp?) make a housing in the front for the compressor as well as the pump and the other eqipment. if you really wanted to get crazy you could go kinda for a transformer box look with slanted vents and put a cold cathode in there which could look pretty slick.

another idea i just had (haha, living vicariously through you i am, mmm), have you considered water jet cutting a logo or a name or something along those lines into the side panel of the case? it would be interesting if you did and then backed it with perhaps semiopaque plastic (milky perhaps) and gave it backlighting. that could look totally badass. just a thought.

hah, here i am just done hassling you about not getting distracted and i start making cockeyed ideas of my own up to hinder you ;)

good luck man, cant wait to see the mockup.
 
Well, I finally got the model done. OK, technically it's not completely done - I still have to make the door. But you get the idea.

Here's a pic of early construction:

EarlyConstruction.jpg


And a little later:

Construction.jpg


An ISO of the model:

Iso.jpg


A view from the side:

Side.jpg


Bottom:

Underneath.jpg


And finally an idea of its size:

MotherboardandPSU.jpg


As you can see, the PSU and the motherboard are less than an inch apart (0.7" if you want to be exact). I think I want a little more room, so I will probably increase the height, width, and depth by 1-2" each. This model was built almost exactly how the real thing will be assembled. The differences: the left side panel and handles will be 1 piece instead of 3; the front/top/back panel will be 1 piece and the bottom will be separate instead of the 4 pieces on the model. I have also decided to go with a removable motherboard tray instead of a fold-down door.

Also, there will be an aluminum panel between the DVD-R/CD-Rs | PSU and the rest of the case. It will provide some support and organization/mounting points. It won't be a solid panel, there will be holes for power cables, water lines, airflow, etc.

If I opt to go with the compression cooling, I might put an aluminum panel between the motherboard and the compressor stuff.

jarhead: yes, I will be using perforated aluminum for the front/back/top panel. The thought of making a housing in the front for the compressor had actually crossed my mind. And yes, I had thought about putting a logo on the side panel with some frosted plexi and a backlight. Not sure what logo to use...

Thoughts?
 
Have you thought about reversing the motherboards position? You know place the PCI slots up top and the CPU goes to the bottom. I've always like that positioning since Heat rises and all that thermal dynamics, it helps with cooling.
BTW nice mockups! How thick is the material, I need to find some material for mockups.
 
I have thought of reversing the board many times. I am still unsure of what I'm going to do.

Thanks! They're made out of 5 sheets of $0.79/ea poster board. It's something like 1/16" thick. It's not very sturdy unless you make "flaps" around the edges that bend 90 degrees.
 
well now you done stumped me aqua ;) i hadnt gotten that far... heh

first thing that comes to mind for you at least would be maybe your handle, with bubbled plastic. you could even make it clear. ive been giving some thought on how to diffuse the light, im not sure if you would use maybe EL strips or perhaps just good strong CC lighting, but one thought i had was superbright LED's.

only ideas i got so far on diffusing the light would be to put the led's in on extrusions from the actual piece of plastic, ie, if it were a square piece initially, cut it instead to have triangular protrusions to properly diffuse the LED light over the whole surface, yielding you an actual glow instead of some strips of light. this effect might also be achieved by roughing the sides of the clear plastic, but i dont know, it would probably depend on the brightness of the lcd i suppose.

great mockup also, coming together wonderfully. first hurdle down!
 
jarhead: OK, I'm a little confused. Are you suggesting I make the handles out of plastic? They'll for sure be aluminum so they can wrap from one side panel to the other without a joint, providing stability. As for the plastic logo: I have seen a few mods where the plastic was sanded and light from an LED diffused nicely over the surface. I think I saw a mod last Valentine's Day (maybe) where somebody did a picture frame or something. The light diffused nicely in that one, too. I'll buy some sample sheets and see how I can get the best looking glow (after I buy the aluminum for the case and get it cut). :D Thanks for the positive reviews of the mock-up. I am REALLY pleased with the results. It's definitely easier to visualize relative sizes and what-not now.

Also, as I was looking at the mock-up with the motherboard in it, I realized that the width of the case is 8.1" - far wider than is necessary for PCI slots and whatnot. On that note, does anyone know the height of the PCI expansion slots? They're 4.5"-ish, right? So, I am thinking of moving the motherboard tray toward the opening in the case, leaving a few inches behind it. I'd have an extra 3" or so (with some spacing). I might shove the hard drives in that space (flipped 90 degrees on their sides or maybe mounted to the side panel vertically) and also the 16 port switch.

I have encountered yet another issue that needs to be addressed: it's water cooled, so a removable motherboard tray is going to be an issue. Isn't it? Unless I remove the blocks every time I take out the tray. Or maybe I'll have quick-disconnect plugs of some sort for that reason... :confused: Any insight to this would be appreciated. Am I just over-complicating things? Is it really not a problem?
 
Don't quote me on this but I think the safe width of a case is around 6.5, I did some measurements earlier but I can't find them right now. You could keep the current width and mount your reservoir to the tray or somewhere on the back panel? That way the whole assemby comes out with the motherboard.
What do you mean about diffusing the light? Do you want to "backlight" a logo? I'm not to clear on that but I have some links for it. Do you want to make the edges glow or the whole thing?
Oh almost forgot, I would think that reversing your motherboard would help with the water cooling since gravity would help to pull the water down and such. I remember a guy at MIT (was it MIT?) that was working on a very consumer friendy water cooling setup that used that method. Just an idea, would anyone else have any info as to if this assumption is correct?

--EDIT--
Okay I just measured a PCI riser and it's exactly 5
 
CrimandEvil: yes, I want to "backlight" the logo.

OK, if the riser is 5" (I'm assuming that's including the "tab" at the bottom?), that gives me 3.1" - plenty of space to put both hard drives and the switch. I threw together a mock-HD and started arranging things in the case. I think I'm going to put the two hard drives underneath the motherboard tray (side view), rotated 90 degrees onto their sides (front view), one above the other (side view), and sitting with the cable end toward the middle of the case. That way, their cables could run up and through the aluminum dividing panel (should I decide to put one there) and into the SATA headers. Does that make sense? The hard drives are 4" x 1" x 5.75"
 
5" top to bottom
That sounds like a plan; what about laying them side by side that way you can give them alittle breathing room. If you want to backlight it then these might give you some ideas:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...102-8538055-7565724?v=glance&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER

You might want to check out one of Bonzanego's older mods:
Scroll half way down. I believe he used this pen for the glowing effect.
Check out this iBook mod for some info on how to backlight a logo.

--EDIT--
Okay I just looked into my Bookmarks and found some sites that might be of interest I don't know if you've seen them before but I hope that they help out.
Home made G5 case
G5 window mod pics Water cooled G4
G4 case mod
 
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When you say side-by-side, which way do you mean? How I am planning on arranging them is to (from a front view), rotate them 90 degrees onto their sides and stack them one above the other. That way, they would both be mounted onto the side panel. There would be over an inch of room between them and the motherboard tray.
 
I mean not stacked but laying next to each other. I've noticed that my case can get uncomfortably warm with two drives stacked.
 
I mean stacked as in stacked side to side vertically:

|x
|x <- hard drive
|x
|
|x
|x <- the other hard drive
|x

The |'s are the side panel. (This is a front view; the side represented by the x's is the 4" side)

Here's a quick idea for a side panel logo:

SidePanelLogo.jpg
 
hah, no no aqua, i meant, bubbled acryllic for the window, not the handles, by handle i meant your online name or your nickname.

the idea for the bubbled plastic in the windows was so that the light would catch on the bubbles, it could look cool.

good idea for the logo all the same though, little school spirit eh ;)
 
Oh, duh! That post makes a LOT more sense, now! :D

I really like how the "USC" looks. Maybe I'll just go with that...
 
cool, you alum/student? i'm a frosh :p

your designs look really good though, hope this turns out well.
 
I just though about this: How bout cutting the logo out of the aluminum, get a piece of plexi and trace out the logo and then paint the plexi logo with a UV reactive paint (remember to frost it first) on the side that would face the inside of the case. That way everytime the UV lights kick in the logo glows. Does that make any sense?
 
CrimandEvil: after looking at those links, I had actually thought of something like that. My idea was to frost the back side with sandpaper or whatever - enough to get it to glow - and then leave the side facing the aluminum smooth. The thought of using UV paint had not crossed my mind, though. Nice idea - I'll look into it.

I dunno, though. I am completely clueless when it comes to frosting plexi and how much light will actually be diffused. If I could get it to look like the Apple on the back of an iBook, I could care less how the rest of my ideas for this case turn out. :)
 
Just found this. It's a mod somebody made to an older iBook. From what I gather, there's just a light in the case and everything that Apple didn't want to glow got taped off? Yes? No? This really wouldn't be a solution for me, as the cutout in the aluminum would already block unwanted light from getting out. Just thought I'd point it out for others. :D

OK, a quick search at McMaster-Carr turned up (on pg 3315 of the catalog) translucent polycarbonate film. "Film that is textured on both sides diffuses light." So, could I just grab a 12"x12" sheet of 1/8" polycarb, cut two pieces big enough to cover the "USC" and slap the white translucent film inbetween them, creating a glowing effect when a light is placed behind it? If so, total cost: $15! :eek: NICE!

Also, I am thinking about cutting another "USC" out of a scrap piece of aluminum (cut to the same size as the plexi) and putting it on the front of the diffusing assembly, providing more depth to it and possibly casting a shadow (like in the pic). But then again, this thing is going to have a light behind it, so I'm not sure how effective this would be or if it would make it look better or not.

EDIT: Having the "USC" sunk into the case could be a bad thing (ie dust, cleaning). Yeah, it's only 1/4" but still... Maybe I'll scratch putting that second sheet of aluminum behind it...

What if I mount the plexi flush with the outside edge of the aluminum (ie cut out the letters, glue them to the film, and then glue the film to the back panel). Thoughts? Is this in the realm of reality? Would I need to make the letters bold so they'd be thicker - easier to cut out and handle?

ANOTHER EDIT:

I just placed an order with McMaster-Carr for a 12"x12" sheet of 1/8" polycarbonate and a 24-1/2" X 24-1/4", .02" thick polycarbonate film (textured on both sides). I'll see just how viable this idea is. The compressor will probably be purchased this weekend. The aluminum will more than likely be purchased a week from this Wednesday (assuming everything goes right and I have all the bugs worked out of the design). This thing is starting to come together!
 
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