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miniG5ized
- Thread starter Fanatik
- Start date
themark said:Try one of these: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000051WSG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Easy to re-position, and no cramps! Works for all kinds of Dremel/file/saw work
Thanx. I'm definatly looking into those clamps. I totally forgot I could use those instead of regular c clamps.
Since I got my workbench its easier for me to just go to my parents house and start working. So I would expect an update to my worklog everyday, hopefully.
Got the plate semi-mounted and removed the tape. I couldnt help it. I wanted to see how it looked against the blue acrylic. Came out better than I imagined.
Then when I was cutting the screws to make them shorter so that they wouldnt stick out from the bottom of the handle; I noticed that it would look better if i screwed them in from the bottom. THis way you don`t see the socket. All you see is a flat side. I still need to sand them and clean up the burs from what the tap made. I think it`ll look cleaner that way.
Socket side shown.
Socket side hidden. Looks way better.
Got the plate semi-mounted and removed the tape. I couldnt help it. I wanted to see how it looked against the blue acrylic. Came out better than I imagined.
Then when I was cutting the screws to make them shorter so that they wouldnt stick out from the bottom of the handle; I noticed that it would look better if i screwed them in from the bottom. THis way you don`t see the socket. All you see is a flat side. I still need to sand them and clean up the burs from what the tap made. I think it`ll look cleaner that way.
Socket side shown.
Socket side hidden. Looks way better.
i like the way you did the logo on the handle.. i was thinking it would look slick with a piece of EL sheet behind it... what ever color you where planing on makeing the rest of the case... feed the wires up from under the logo, and use that flat plastic ribbon stuff like they use inside of keyboards, (its like a circuit board on celephane...im not shure what they call it ill see if i can find a link) just route the ribbon tight against the handel so you cant see it and hide the power converter somewhere out of sightFanatik said:
thore
Fanatik said:
these guys carry it in white http://www.beingseen.com/faq.html#4
however that wouldn't be to hard to do with leds... 1/8 in plexy and SMT LED's just embed the leds into the plexy, 2 on each side, or maybe one for each letter ( i have done this befor with a soldering iron... solder your leads to the leds, then smash the iron into the plexi (the cleaner your iron is the cleaner it will melt, use a new or freshly ground tip (you could shape it this way, make it the same shape as the smt led) ) then while holding the led with pliers and while the plexi is still molten smash the led into the plexy4 smt led's should make it glow like mad... you could use one for each letter and not end up with a cone effect,
i never found a link to the cable i was talking about but i did figure out what it was called, its called flex ribbon they use it all over the place but i couldnt find any one that was selling it just as strips for hobbie use...
thore
Sweet. Thanx for the link. I might do that. I really don't want to add plexi to the handle. That's why I changed the idea of having blue acrylic on the handle. It added too much thickness to it and looked weird but that el wire won't add any thickness and give off better even light. Thanx man.
Thanx guys. I appreciate the compliments.
Finished the metal plate today. The screws came out very clean filed and sanded down. The one thing i did change was the finish on the plate. After i was done I didn`t like the mirror finish on the plate so I went with a brushed look with 800 grit sandpaper. The mirror finish didnt go with the finish on the case. Looks better now and the plate doesnt contrast with the case anymore. They seem as one. Pics of course.
Finished the metal plate today. The screws came out very clean filed and sanded down. The one thing i did change was the finish on the plate. After i was done I didn`t like the mirror finish on the plate so I went with a brushed look with 800 grit sandpaper. The mirror finish didnt go with the finish on the case. Looks better now and the plate doesnt contrast with the case anymore. They seem as one. Pics of course.
The Mod is looking better and better with these details coming together nicely.
Just a suggestion re your "brushed" finish on the nameplate. To achieve the really uniform look of true brushing, wrap your sandpaper around a sanding block and slowly draw it in one direction repeatedly over the entire length of the plate. Keep repeating until you cannot see any scratches going in any other direction. Always keep the block moving parallel to the edge of the plate. It really does give you a pro looking finish. I used to polish knife blades (yes, by hand) and this was really effective.
Just a suggestion re your "brushed" finish on the nameplate. To achieve the really uniform look of true brushing, wrap your sandpaper around a sanding block and slowly draw it in one direction repeatedly over the entire length of the plate. Keep repeating until you cannot see any scratches going in any other direction. Always keep the block moving parallel to the edge of the plate. It really does give you a pro looking finish. I used to polish knife blades (yes, by hand) and this was really effective.
GhengisKhan
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- May 16, 2005
- Messages
- 7,812
I agree with him, an EL sheet behind that, with maybe a thin layer of roughed up plexi over it, to disperse the light nicely would look great behind that logo.thore said:
Depending on the actual size of the logo, one of these should work:
http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=213&type=store
I`ll be sure to do that themark. I also forgot about putting the el sheet behind the plate. Now since the screws are filed flat I wont be able to take off the screws. Also those el sheets from the website you linked are expensive. I didn`t think they would be so expensive. I think I might save that idea for another project.
Sheldron, I think all those allelectronics sells are blue or blue green. I really want a white one but they seem to be too expensive.
Sheldron, I think all those allelectronics sells are blue or blue green. I really want a white one but they seem to be too expensive.
www.beingseen.com is another place that stocks EL products. ok its the only thing that they stock
Started working on the logo cutout for the mobo tray. Decided to dress up the tray since I had a window there and it would be boring to just have the mobo tray there.
I had to use my dremel scroll saw to cut out the big portion of th tray. I then moved to my coping saw to cutout the letters.
Drilled the holes.
Finally cutout with the frosted plexi behind it. I`m going to add white leds behind the plexi to light it up. It should look good after the lighing is done.I didn`t have leds yet so I stopped there
Then decided to take away that mirror finish on the psu. It really sticks out being mirrored. Nothing else is so I gave it a brushed look. I still need to work on it more.
I had to use my dremel scroll saw to cut out the big portion of th tray. I then moved to my coping saw to cutout the letters.
Drilled the holes.
Finally cutout with the frosted plexi behind it. I`m going to add white leds behind the plexi to light it up. It should look good after the lighing is done.I didn`t have leds yet so I stopped there
Then decided to take away that mirror finish on the psu. It really sticks out being mirrored. Nothing else is so I gave it a brushed look. I still need to work on it more.
Well here it is. Our logo on the psu windows. First we can`t mod without some good music. The Subways are awesome.
This logo was going to be a little harder. It is very small compared to the other ones I`ve cutout. Here is a size comparison.
Here is it is in place. It could`ve come out cleaner but the size of it hinder me from using my needle files to clean it up.
Then with the screws filed down flat.
Done with the other side.
One thing you cant see is that when I started giving the chrome a brushed look I forgot about the copper underneath. So of course I sanded too much and it started to show. So now it means I have to sand the whole thing down to get beneath the copper. This is going to take a long time.
This logo was going to be a little harder. It is very small compared to the other ones I`ve cutout. Here is a size comparison.
Here is it is in place. It could`ve come out cleaner but the size of it hinder me from using my needle files to clean it up.
Then with the screws filed down flat.
Done with the other side.
One thing you cant see is that when I started giving the chrome a brushed look I forgot about the copper underneath. So of course I sanded too much and it started to show. So now it means I have to sand the whole thing down to get beneath the copper. This is going to take a long time.
Fanatik said:Well here it is. Our logo on the psu windows. First we can`t mod without some good music. The Subways are awesome.
iaudio x5!!! thats right!! damn i love that mp3 player
gonna go download some of that band...
and shit your mod is kicking so much assss!!
I put the alphacool stuff for sale. I already sold 2 mini res. So I only have 1 left and 3 clear tops for the liang pumps.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1028530264#post1028530264
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1028530264#post1028530264
Here is my what I`m using for lighting. I don`t trust ccfls so I decided to use real blacklights with ballasts and everything. This is a blacklight except the bulb is white. So it gives of UV but also a white light.
Here it is dismantle. Of course it wouldnt fit stock. So it had to be modified. Also it probably wouldnt fit because I`m using two of them.
I needed to find room for them and I has room on the floor but I had to incorporate them and make them look good.
I cut a hole for an aluminum plate I`m using to cover up the black ballast. Then I cut two screw holes so the bulb holders could attach to the ballast. Also I had to cut notches for the wires, not pictured. Don`t worry I`m going to hide the wires later.
Here it is in place. I still need to cut the second hole for the second bulb. Also need to cut holes for those starters. Then I`m going to bend two tubes to cover the bulbs so nothing falls on them.
Here is another thing I need to hide. The ballast hanging on the bottom. I`m also thinking of creating two half tubes to hide them.
Here is how close I come to the mobo. Lucky me. I didnt even plan it this way.
I`m the type of person that always needs to do something new so it looks like I make progress. So before I even finished the lighting I moved on to the cd and hd bracket that will hold everythign together.
Earlier in the project I found out that brushed aluminum looks awesome behind the blue plexi. So Im going to do this on all of the inside of the case. I`ll let the pics do the talking. Keep in mind the cd is vertical. So thats why its shaped the way it is. THe hard part was planiing the box so that I could slide the aluminum in place and not have the side plexis show the joining of the pieces.
Here it is dismantle. Of course it wouldnt fit stock. So it had to be modified. Also it probably wouldnt fit because I`m using two of them.
I needed to find room for them and I has room on the floor but I had to incorporate them and make them look good.
I cut a hole for an aluminum plate I`m using to cover up the black ballast. Then I cut two screw holes so the bulb holders could attach to the ballast. Also I had to cut notches for the wires, not pictured. Don`t worry I`m going to hide the wires later.
Here it is in place. I still need to cut the second hole for the second bulb. Also need to cut holes for those starters. Then I`m going to bend two tubes to cover the bulbs so nothing falls on them.
Here is another thing I need to hide. The ballast hanging on the bottom. I`m also thinking of creating two half tubes to hide them.
Here is how close I come to the mobo. Lucky me. I didnt even plan it this way.
I`m the type of person that always needs to do something new so it looks like I make progress. So before I even finished the lighting I moved on to the cd and hd bracket that will hold everythign together.
Earlier in the project I found out that brushed aluminum looks awesome behind the blue plexi. So Im going to do this on all of the inside of the case. I`ll let the pics do the talking. Keep in mind the cd is vertical. So thats why its shaped the way it is. THe hard part was planiing the box so that I could slide the aluminum in place and not have the side plexis show the joining of the pieces.
Finally got the CD bracket done and here it is with my plextor slotload dvdrw.
While looking at the cool effect the brushed aluminum has behind the plexi it dawned on me why not do this to your windows. The effect it creates is very hard to capture with the camera but here are some pics of it. It gives off this ghostly reflection that is brushed but also has a blue tint to it.
Here is the top window cutout with the same cutout out of aluminum.
Here it is installed after a nice brushing with sandpaper. It looks way cleaner and nicer than just having a window. I`m going to do this same effect to the bottom window and leave the side windows clear.
Here is another thing I just realized. I was going to have the bottom window on the inside of the case. Then finally realized why not put it on the outside of the case since it`ll look better and no one is going to be looking underneath the case anyways. This way the aluminum will also sit outside when I add it.
While looking at the cool effect the brushed aluminum has behind the plexi it dawned on me why not do this to your windows. The effect it creates is very hard to capture with the camera but here are some pics of it. It gives off this ghostly reflection that is brushed but also has a blue tint to it.
Here is the top window cutout with the same cutout out of aluminum.
Here it is installed after a nice brushing with sandpaper. It looks way cleaner and nicer than just having a window. I`m going to do this same effect to the bottom window and leave the side windows clear.
Here is another thing I just realized. I was going to have the bottom window on the inside of the case. Then finally realized why not put it on the outside of the case since it`ll look better and no one is going to be looking underneath the case anyways. This way the aluminum will also sit outside when I add it.
Spare-Flair
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2003
- Messages
- 7,471
Here is the psu finnally mounted.
Looks great except for the giant yellow caps
I know the Austin Modders logo covers it up however.
Is the plate buckling or bending upward in the pic? Maybe some epoxy undernearth it would keep it down since it's only fastened at outer ends.
Spare-flair, if you look at the pic below you`ll see I added two screws to keep it down.
Elledan, someone mentioned this too but Zapwizard told me I shouldnt have an issue with emi. If there is EMI coming of the ballast will having the aluminum covering the ballast help?
Elledan, someone mentioned this too but Zapwizard told me I shouldnt have an issue with emi. If there is EMI coming of the ballast will having the aluminum covering the ballast help?
Got some materials in today. Got some silver braiding for the wires and got more tubing to go over the silver braiding after I sleeve the wires.
and here is a mockup of the look I`m going for with the sleeved wires.
Also here is my blacklight on. It looks blue but it gives off a purple/uv light. Also it really doesnt get hot at all. After 15 minutes it barely got warm. I could touch and keep my finger on it.
Then after I was done with that I had to start on the HDD rack. I first measured and planned for a LONG time on how to do it. It will look simple from the outside but it was very complicated to come up with. From the outside you wont see the joining of plexi. I wanted to have the aluminum cover all the sides. THis is what was so time consuming to plan out. Here are all the pieces that need to be cutout to accomplish this.
Here is the top piece that is beveled and will hold three sides together. This will allow me to leave a 1mm gap between the sides to slide in the aluminum behind the plexi.
Here it is being joined together to two sides. I`ll finish it up tomorrow hopefully.
and here is a mockup of the look I`m going for with the sleeved wires.
Also here is my blacklight on. It looks blue but it gives off a purple/uv light. Also it really doesnt get hot at all. After 15 minutes it barely got warm. I could touch and keep my finger on it.
Then after I was done with that I had to start on the HDD rack. I first measured and planned for a LONG time on how to do it. It will look simple from the outside but it was very complicated to come up with. From the outside you wont see the joining of plexi. I wanted to have the aluminum cover all the sides. THis is what was so time consuming to plan out. Here are all the pieces that need to be cutout to accomplish this.
Here is the top piece that is beveled and will hold three sides together. This will allow me to leave a 1mm gap between the sides to slide in the aluminum behind the plexi.
Here it is being joined together to two sides. I`ll finish it up tomorrow hopefully.
Finally! I finally finished the hdd holder. This took me longer than expected. I ran into a lot of problems. I guess I didn`t spend enough time planning but in the end it worked out pretty good.
Here are the two pieces that make it up. The brackets for the hdd and the outer part to hold it and hide it. This is a pic without the aluminum.
....and with the aluminum brushed up. You can see the hdd poking out the bottom. HDD cleaveage!
Here it installed with its matching CD bracket. You can`t even tell there is a cd drive and an HDD in there.
except if you look underneath you can see the hdd.
Here are the two pieces that make it up. The brackets for the hdd and the outer part to hold it and hide it. This is a pic without the aluminum.
....and with the aluminum brushed up. You can see the hdd poking out the bottom. HDD cleaveage!
Here it installed with its matching CD bracket. You can`t even tell there is a cd drive and an HDD in there.
except if you look underneath you can see the hdd.
darkcrystal
n00b
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2005
- Messages
- 15
amazing mod!!! cant wait to see the finished product
[H]|M Dazz
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2004
- Messages
- 153
Freaking awesome mod so far! Can't wait to see it completed.
I :heart: the Austin Modders.
Such a fun and very creative group to hang out with.
I :heart: the Austin Modders.
Such a fun and very creative group to hang out with.
Thanx for the compliments!
Here`s a small update. A very small update. Its the holidays.
One thing I got done. Those little feet that I added to the bottom of the hdd holder; well they are in the way of mobo.
So off they went.
Here are the new screws that came in to hold the hdd holder in place.
Then work started on the air duct system. This was harder than expected. Since I had to create a tapered end because I`m using two 120mm fans with an 80mm rad.
Here are the four pieces that make up the tapered end. This was the difficult part. Each piece had to be mittered to join and the bottom had to be angled too. So that it sat flush to the bottom piece. The tops aren cut yet. Thats why there are cut lines on it.
Here is the part that will attach the tapered pieces to the fan. The middle isnt cut out yet and I still have to bevel the edges and drill the holes.
This took a long time to get to this stage. Those mittered edges were a b**** to calculate and make them sit flush to each other.
Here is how it`ll look in place.
Here`s a small update. A very small update. Its the holidays.
One thing I got done. Those little feet that I added to the bottom of the hdd holder; well they are in the way of mobo.
So off they went.
Here are the new screws that came in to hold the hdd holder in place.
Then work started on the air duct system. This was harder than expected. Since I had to create a tapered end because I`m using two 120mm fans with an 80mm rad.
Here are the four pieces that make up the tapered end. This was the difficult part. Each piece had to be mittered to join and the bottom had to be angled too. So that it sat flush to the bottom piece. The tops aren cut yet. Thats why there are cut lines on it.
Here is the part that will attach the tapered pieces to the fan. The middle isnt cut out yet and I still have to bevel the edges and drill the holes.
This took a long time to get to this stage. Those mittered edges were a b**** to calculate and make them sit flush to each other.
Here is how it`ll look in place.
Thermite Paste
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2003
- Messages
- 5,650
Then how will we see the finished product?
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!!!!!lesman said:My god, this just keeps getting better and better! NEVER STOP!