TribalOverkill's LiquiD EvolutioN

tribaloverkill said:
Ok,... xPRZ's and sPT's are on their way to taiwan. Now,.... time for some more levo, blackout, and even some cevo too! This is what I need from you guyz,... I need a watercooling test rig. I need to know what you think this rig should consist of meaning,... .
Click to expand...

Mate....tell me you have tested these reservoirs....

I've noticed in testing my own custom reservoir that the heat of the water over a prolonged period of time can lead to expansion, especially if it's sealed to the atmosphere. I've heard a few creaks from my reservoir in it's first run, but no leaks thanfully. That was cooling an AMD X2, northbridge and two X1900'x, all at full overclocked tilt for four hours solid. A fair bit of heat. I know it will never (never say never lol) crack because of the way it's bolted together.

I'm just a little concerned that your glued joins won't be able to handle the heat of an enthusiasts build. I've looked and can't see where you have load tested them. Many folk have had commerically available reservoirs leak. I hope I'm wrong and talking out my backside etc because your reservoirs are pure acrylic art and should adorn many a pc case.
 
CASEJUNKIES LIVE --- NKCM --- 1st PLACE TROPHY RESERVOIR

So yea. I was kinda,.... hiding this from everyone. I got an email from Thadeez asking if I would sponsor the competition by creating some kind of custom reservoir that could be doubled as a trophy that one could just place on a shelf or whatever. So I said yes:) So that very night while at work I got started drawing up what this thing should look like. When I got off work I immediately went to the studio and got started.

May-31-2007 (sPI9000z)

I had discussions with the company a while back about standard reservoir sizes. I think I said 4 and 7" at the the time but I think I changed that sizing around a bit. Anyways,... I also mentioned having 10 or 12" reservoirs. Speciality reservoirs, limited edition kind of stuff. So I thought this would be the perfect opertunity to make a speciality 12 inch reservoir! This B@#$%^ is huge! LOL.


Here is what will be the inside "thing" or effect.


After playing around with some chipboard mockups, I came up with this shape.


Here I heated and wrapped the uv blue acrylic around a pipe. I bought some paper mask and applied a strip of tape to it. I used it as a strap. I made several of these and basically heated and strapped my way from one end to the other. Once I had it fully wrapped I went back to do it again checking for uneven areas.


When done I ended up with this.


Bing.


After it was completely cool I put it back on the pipe and traced the shape onto the pipe so I would have something to follow for when i go to do the next one. I lined the pipe with paper mask too. You can see here how I heat then tape it off as I go,...


When done,... two identical spirals.


Cool ehh?


I knifed the edges so the sprials looked fluid like and round. I sand out all the imperfections from heating and taping on the outside of the spiral. I also sanded down the inside too.


When I was done the spirals were water clear. So beautiful. It was at this point I though to myself,... I dont want to give it to them!!!! LOL.


A little UV light,...


Look how water clear it is,... it's like a spiraled trail of water or something,...


So pretty.


I totally destroyed the shop. LOL.


So hot.



A lot more work needs to be done. But I got all this done in several hours worth of work. Not bad.
 
Next,...

Apr-01-2007 (sPI9000z)

Here's the new and improved bubble chamber. It is new and improved but I am trying to phase this whole bubble chamber out. I dont think I need it any more. Anyways,... few bubble holes and in the middle this time. Why? Because the bubbles sit mostly around the inside parameter. Makes sense to put the holes in the cetner. The inner tube thing to see there is a bypass tube for filling. No more pouring in a little water and waiting or tapping it to get the water to go through the holes. I was actually filling past reservoirs through the barbs and topping off through the top of the reservoir. For this reservoir,... you just fill through the top. That fill tube I left a bit long. You'll see why later.


Here's the bottom piece. Actually this isnt the bottom piece. I changed the design of this thing. It's so much better now. I'll explain later.


Here im making the bottom blades that will help get this thing turning and keep it turning. I'm drilling with a 1/4" hole bit at an angle, the very edge. I will glue this blade and 4 others to the 1/4" tubing that I use as a shaft. The idea is that you want each piece to have as much contact as possible for strength.


Crappy camera cant get a close up but you see the groove I cut?


WHAM. You see what I mean:) Thats shit is strong too!!


Perfect little fan.


Making the arms that will hold the spiral to the shafts. Same thing, 1/4" hole bit except straight down this time. This is so the arms are on the shaft straight.


I trimmed some slack off the bttom of the spirals so it fits the reservoir body.


So cool. It like super snug on that pipe. It's so cool.


Here's what is going to hold the spiral together. Notice there are pieces instead of a whole shaft. I believe that having a whole shaft especially this long,... would have a lot of unwanted friction while turning. So by having less shaft, less friction. Only thing though,... i have to remember for next time,... to put one of these at the very top or make sure theres one at the very bottom and one at the very top. The highest one is just above half way. The spiral has a slight shimmy while turning. Not too noticable but it can be prevented. so yea.


Look at that s@#$!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! So cool. What I did was put the spirals back on the pipes and spaced then evenly apart then I taped them down so they couldnt move. Thats how I held them in place while gluing. I left the area that I was gluing hanging off the end of the pipe. It worked very well.


You see the gradient effect on the edges? Thats the knifing I was talking about. So cool.


yum.


Almost done. Cashews anyone?


Here the fill tube being to long. Now,... When I put the top on,... evrything has to have contact. If it doesnt it wont seal. So what I did was put the reservoir on the mitre saw and I trimmed the whole top so evrything was perfectly even. Worked so damn good.


Done. Well,... kinda.


There's more,... I hope I'm not overwhelming you guyz:)
 
Update.

Apr-10-2007 (sPI9000z)

Once again,... my precious.


SHIELDS! Or sHIELD!


OH YEA! Before I continue,... notice the HKCM. Thats my bad. I thought it was Holland something something something. I didnt notice the F@#$ up until I had well gone and shipped the damn thing to them! Can you believe that shit! I was at work all chilled and relieved that it was done and shipped. Thats when I started browsing around and checking this whole contest out. Thats when I saw it and when I did,... you know that taste you get in the back of your throat when you are REALLY shittin your pants? Well,... thats what I had going on. I was absolutely furious! I went and checked my emails to and from thadeez to see if the was a mispelling and there wasnt,... it was me. I couldnt believe it. I still cant believe it. Deez really didnt care because it was beautiful as hell and holland, netherlands,.... same thing. Oh well.


Preview.


Some blue tape behind the text to help me picture what it would look like.


Keep following! There's more!
 
Next.

Apr-11-2007 (sPI9000z)

UV blue text backings. Knifed and water clear like the spirals.


Getting hot.


Smokin!


Here's the shield after being shaped. I totally forgot to take pictues of the process. But I pretty much used a rubber hammer over the usual pipes I use. The trick was to not rush! Take your time. Small steps, pretty much striking the same area over and over. Try not to bend it all the way the first time around. You take steps. Bending it more and more each time until you have the shape you want.


Look at that shape! My god that came out good! You see how it sits flush on the table too! Not crooked!


I reopened the bottom of the reservoir to etch what you see in the pic. I also fixed a problem I was having with the bottom piece. I'll explain that later on down the road.


All done. I think its done? Yea its done. I forgot to take pics of the support bracket I made too. To keep the strips of aluminum with the text from flexing. I have pics of it in the next update.


Movies - Quicktime
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5

WallPaper - 1600x1200
 
Just thought I would show you guyz something. This is just a general something something I will most likely being using for all reservoirs with SpinFX.

Aug-02-2007

Some small pieces of acrylic all with a 1/4" hole drill through them. Now the hole was drilled with a cordless using a hole bit so it's not deadon or even clean looking. Nothing in this update is really deadon. I'm just trying to prove to myself that this idea is nicer then previous methods of attaching the FX to the shaft. Anyways,... I have a 1/4" bolt with a washer and a nut too.


Put the acrylic pieces on the bolts like so,... and make sure they are tightly secured.


Put the end of the bolt into the press chuck so that the nut is touching the chuck. This is so that the nut doesnt come loose while cutting. IMPORTANT: Make sure your chuck is secured tightly too. These chucks are usually held in place with a tapered end. You should give the chuck a good upward whack with a piece of wood of something to make sure it's in tight. Make sure the chuck's little arms things are fully opened and inside the chuck before you whack it.


Now,... this is the dangerous part. If you dont know how to use a lathe,... you might not want to do this. You have to know how to position the bit for this type of cutting. if you do it wrong you can seriously damage your machine and more importantly, yourself. I cant even begin to tell you how how much damage could occur. Anyways,... I warned you. What you see is a carbide router bit clamped to the piece of wood which is clamped to the press table which is in a postion for cutting lathe style.


This is so dangerous.


You see the angle of the cutting surface of the bit? A little bit past 90 degrees, maybe 100 degrees? This is so the bit scraps and does not gouge. GOUGING acrylic is bad! The acrylic breaks and shatters when you gouge it. At HIGH RPMS,... that means exploding. Also,... this could lead to the bolt riding up onto the bit bending the bolt having the both catch something and then shearing off with great force. You see how the bit is also aligned the bolt? IF the bit is to far behind the bolt, the bolt will ride up on the bit. Thats bad.


First cut. I'm spinning the acrylic at 1900+ RPM I think. Keep watching,...


A couple more cuts. You see whats happening?


WHAM! How cool is this! I'm actually cutting when I took this pic. I'm actually cutting a lot with a single pass but I did this so you could see the lip as I am cutting it.


Very cool. This actually isnt completely round yet.


See:) Almost there though.


There you go:) 9/16" on the money.


After some sanding and polishing. Look at all the imperfections. This kills me but it's not like im going to use these so I dont care. Still kills me though. You see the hole I drilled? You see how the piece are perfectly aligned on the outside not not aligned on the inside. Reason being because the hole I drilled was a tid bit larger then 1/4". Even is it was a 1/4" they would still be off a bit but by so little we wouldnt even notice.


The product. Acrylic washers. But for what?


This. These washers slide a bit to easily on the 1/4" shaft but I know if the hole was 1/4" they would be snug. What are they for? Keep looking,...


This piece I halfassed. I'm not even going to show you ho wI cut that little 1/8" groove. You guyz would kill me if you knew:) This would be the little arm thingies that holds the SpinFX to the shaft.


the arm thingie goes on the washer like so and its glued. You see the crazing! Thats because I used the table sander!!! Damn. I need to slower but torquier sander so that the acrylic doesnt heat up as much when sanding. Anyways,...


Slide over the shaft just like that. The hole purpose is to make it easier to glue the arms to the shaft in the right postion. This whole assembly will hold itself together in postion for gluing. More more holding each piece while glue cures. Cool?
 
What up everyone!!! Damn I have been stupid busy lately. Working, F'ing around with my POS car, rtying to keep it from breaking down on me,... yea. Well,... here's a little something for you. A couple of fellow modders placed an order for a custom reservoir. Qhs who ordered something kind of like the NKCM reservoir, a blue triangular helix kind of thingy. The shields for Qhs's reservoir,... kind of futuristic looking. It's going to look hot! Then, DarthBeavis who placed two orders. Both which will be used in his new build, "Day Walker", from the movie Blade. Reservoir #1 will have a cool helix inside as well but the overall look is going to be a bit different, a bit bloody red looking:) The shields for it will one of Blades glaives:) I'm going to design my own glaive though. Reservoir #2 which is actually two reservoirs, two sPL's. A QUAD res. These sPL like reservoirs are smaller in diameter and have a tinted pane of acrylic down the center:) They will be mounted as one unit with a set of shields that have hinges/ slider thingies in some way or another so that he can open the shields to reveal his quad res. Its going to be be COOL!

Sep-29-2007 (rDB324q, rDB756g, qHS987b)

Custom Orders:

DarthBeavis-
[rDB324q]
Summary: One Unit, 2 reservoirs, 4 loops, hinged shields to open and reveal.
Height: ~4-1/2"
Width: ~5-1/4"
Ports: 4 G1/4's on bottom for each, 8 total
LEDs: On top, unknown amount

[rDB756g]
Summary: SpinFX tinted even width helix with pointy ends, using a glaive as shields
Height: ~7"
Width: ~4"
Ports: 3 G1/4's on bottom
LEDS: On top, unknown amount

Qhs-
[qHS987b]
Summary: SpinFX UV blue triangular like helix, futuristic machine like shields
Height: 9"
Width: 4"
Ports: 4 G1/4's on bottom, two inlet's and two outlet's
LEDS: On top, unknown amount

Ok,... here are the bodies. Qhs wants his max dimensions to be 9"h x 4"w. DB,... doesnt know what the hell he wants, LOL. So the glaive res will be about the same height as the xPRZ's and the tank is going to be about 4.5" tall. About. Width,... I'mn going to keep it as tight as possible without losing the look I want.


Here are the rDB324q bodies. They are,... I think I cut them so that they are 4" tall or maybe 4-1/8" tall. The diameter is 2".


Much smaller. I tried to go smaller but the diameter wouldnt allow for 4 fittings along the bottom.


A piece of scrap tinted acrylic I have been trying to use for the longest time. Going to use it for the middle panes for these rDB324q's.


Hot. The tinted pane should help seperate the colors a bit better so they dont mix as much. I have plans for another reservoir like this, not goign to share any info on it right now. I actually have tons more ideas for reservoirs like this but im not going to share any of that right now.


While those rDB324q's are curing,... time for Qhs's reservoir. These are left over from the NKCM reservoir. Im going to use these for his. But before I get started I have to try something.


Some more acrylic donuts. Exactly .5":)


Some strips I cut with the router.two 1/4" strips to hold the FX to the shafts and a 3/8" which im not goign to use because I f'ed it up trying to make a certain cut that is proving to be a pain in the arse!!! I made a new strip thats a 1/2" wide to replace it.


Here's the 3/8" strip. angle cuts on both sides to cut the jet of water from the inlet. I dont know if it makes a difference but I thought I would try it. Almost cut my finger tips off doing it.


Here's the cut I was trying to make. I didnt want to do it this way because it's jut a pain in the arse. Basically I need to cut out litte 1/8"+ grooves in the little paddle things Im making. The grooves are at a 20 degree angle too. I wanted a way of cutting the groove in one shot. But all my attempts have failed. Riggin up what I have to do it firstly is insane. Notice I dont have an pics of my previous setups. You would flip if you saw what I was doing. Anyways,... this is it.


Basically you cut one side and then flip it over and then cut the other side. When down you can snap off the little tab making a little groove.


Here are all my paddles. Its amazing, using the same setup with the scroll saw to cut all these tabs, some would fit the acrylic donuts and some wouldnt. Fitting and not fitting is a night and day thing,... that much different. I didnt get it. So I chose all the ones that did fit.


TA DAH! Glue it all together. I used a aluminum rod down the center to make sure I dont push the paddles in to far that I wont be able to slide it over the 1/4" acrylic shaft.


So cool. Basically,... I am trying to get rid of the bubble chamber found ontop of the other reservoirs. Using this little propellar will allow me to move the inlet closer to the center of the reservoir. The jet of water fromt he inlet will push this along which will spin the FX and not the water. The farther the inlet is from the center or the closer to the inside wall it is the more the water will spin. Because the jet of water is flowing around the inside wall. Having the inlet closer to the center will jet the water against the wall almost perpendicularly. Also,... the 15 degree bottom to jet the water almost completely upward which helps to keep from spinning the water. The water spinning funnels any air inside the reservoir down to the outlet. This is what I dont want.


Back to DB's quad res,... shaved off the excess tint.


Time to wrap some acrylic.


Marking my path in which to wrap.


Shape drawn out,...


Cut/ Sanded and ready to go,...


Glued them together to save time,...


Niiiiiiiice,......


Here's one cooling off. It's takes several attempts to get it just right. first,... I make these belts using tape and paper mask. I use them to wrap around the hot acrylic to hold it on place. Once I wrap from one end tothe toher I have to go back and do it again to fine tune the wrapping process. Most likely the acrylic is not perfectly spiraled or there might be some bend spots or areas that weren't smoothly wrapped. I have to reheat those areas and do it again until its right.


Very coool.


There's one.


Both,...


Thats it for now. Going to go back tomorrow to start on DB's bloody helix,...
 
Update. Not much done but definitely cool.

Oct-02-2007
I clean up the prop a bit,...


I want to see about finding some 1/16" thick acrylic to make these. I am thinking it would be better. Not sure.


I cut the diameter down enough so that the FX can fit over the prop,...


Very cool looking,...


Because I couldn't find a compass large enough,....


The rDB756g FX shape.


Helix,....


Rounded and smoothed out,...


Some more sanding,...


Pretty sure these are ready for polishing,....


qHS987b,....


rDB756g,... I'm going to leave the inside of this helix frosted to catch the redness of the red LEDs. If I polish the whole thing it might not be all that red. The outside will be polished.


Thats it for now.
 
Update! God I spent a lot of time in the studio despite all the other running around I had to do. i had to take both my vehicles to the shop to get worked on. I took one car, got it back and then took the truck. I drove the care to studio with no problems. When I went to drive homeI ran out of gas! The fuel gauge is shot! always on full! Plus! The engine when you rev it up a little bit,... it cuts out and then rev's up again cuts out and so on. Kid of the the rev limiter but way to low in the rpms. I had to take it back and then pick up my truck. Thank god my truck is fine:) Anyways! So,... I did a lot of work in the studio but still didnt really get anywhere with these custom orders. I was having trouble making up my mind. I want these to be perfect. So I'm not taking any chances by experimenting with new stuff. Let me explain.

Oct-07-2007 (rDB324q, rDB756g, qHS987b)

First,... i polished up the FX's. OMG they look HOT! I dont want to give them away!!! HA HA HA. I said the same thing with the NKCM res:) I really need to make myself one of these.


Liquid blue,... water clear!!!


God I love this one,... the shiny tint with the dusted side is flippin amazing!!!


Blue one with a bit of light,...


The red one,.... it does look a lot better in person. I had trouble getting the cam to focus.


Now,... I was going to use these. Their 1/4" with a 1/8" groove. Very tight looking but weak. I decided not to use them. Instead of making wider ones I had an idea,...


New tools;)


Watch and learn,...


Uhh huh.


Yeaaaa.


Lets make more! Look at that! friggin .5!!! LOL. God I love turn cutting.


I love making small acrylic parts,... their so,..... cute.


Those little rings are 1/4"!!!


Going to drill through the larger ones,...


Tah dah!


I'm going to glue it like this and then drill out after. Reason being that the only reall way to cut those 1/8" rods is by sanding or grinding them. But! they heat up so fast and with the sanding,... they craze when glued. Drilling after didnt turn out to be all that easy so I'm going to have to figure out another way to make this.


Curing,...


Drilled them out. Again,... PIA!


Very cool! Let me tell you ,... these little S@#$s are string too! I broke one just for the hell of it,... to see how strong,... and holy hell it gave a fight! I like these:)


Oh YEA! A new SpinFX right here!!! Not exactly like this but I definitely see myself passing these rods through one of those 1/4" rods in the same fashion:)


What you think? Think it will be cool?!?! I do!


Ok,... now. The idea ws to shape the smaller discs to contour the inside of the FX's but doing that is not that easy. It's got to be a flush fit. If its not flush enough it wont hold. Last thin I want to for these things to fall apart. So,.... I'm aborting this idea for now. I'm just going to use the other kind just a bit wider though, for strength. The only way I see using these is by having the little posts pass right through the FX. I am pretty sur eI can do that. I wanted to do that now,... but I would most likely have to remake the FX's because drill holes in them evenly would be a pain. I would have to drill tiny pilot holes first before wrapping them.


Anyways,... I had to step away from those. I been working on those for I dont know how long. This is something I have been wanting to do for sometime now. Resealable reservoirs.


This is one piece by the way:) I was a 3/4" block that I cu down to 1/2" and then did a good workup on it:) Its not perfect but it's good enough to know that it works. I'm going to make a full SpinFX reservoir using these after I'm done with the custom's.


This is the wrong size o-ring. I got the right size on it's way.


Instead of using an 1/8" acrylic rod for the FX to spin on,... the new reservoirs are going to have a polished 1/8" aluminum rod which doubles to hole the reservoir closed:) The o-ring around the rod gets compressed when you close the reservoir. I'll explain all this later on. the rod does not spin,... the FX spins on the rod.


This is going to be hot!


More to come later.
 
Check it out!

Oct-15-2007

First,... I wanna to let everyone know that people are having trouble with the xPO's. The tops and bottoms are coming off. The reason being is that I am pretty sure that I forgot to clean the mating surfaces before gluing. It is not because I did not use enough glue. That is not how it works. I did not sand and polish off any of the glue either. The glue isn't realy a glue at all. It's actually a capillary chemical that reacts with the acrylic and melts it. Its water thin and flows INTO the joint. once the chemical reaction is over,... there is nothing left behind other then the bonded acylic. Now,... the mating surfaces have to be near perfect for bonding. That being flush, clean, and with no more or less then 220grit sand marks. The grit marks help the solvent flow into the joint. Now in my case,... I am thinking that I sanded all the pieces, left and went home. The next day when I got back I just started gluing and forgot to check if they were cleaned. This is a very stupid mistake. It took me about 3 - 4 months to make all those reservoirs in the studio. 30 xPO's, 30 sPL's, and 30 sets of shields. It took waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer then we thought. I am not going to be doing anything like that until I have proper machinery to carry out such a task. The sPL's seem to be fine. I made them first way in the begining and it only took me a few days I think to make those, maybe a wekk I think. I wasn't as fatigued at that point to make a stupid mistake. My apologies for the trouble.

If you have a defective xPO,... you need to email me so that I can can fix it for you. Below is one that I just got done fixing. All is well. I fixed two of them so far. My email is [email protected]. Thanks.


So! Time to prototype something I've been wanting to do since the begining the the SpinFx reservoirs. Reservoirs that you can re-open and change out the FX inside. These new reservoirs are a series of parts. ACRyan is wanting to make some stuff of mine now sooooo,... I'm going to tell them to start here. Anyways,... I ordered some stuff I need. I just ordered some more stuff and I'm waiting for it. Should come today.


Some Buna o-rings,... both 3/32" thick and one with a 1-7/8"ID and the other with a 1/16"ID. I also bought two more lathe bits. I have another coming it the mail. All this is on a huge sheet of 3/4" acrylic.


Thick as hell.


Lathe bits.


This bit I use the most with the drill press. Used for cutting and facing.


I'm cutting off a couple of these 3" by however long it is,...


Used the mitre saw to cut up the strips into 3"x3" squares.


I need the trim the 3x3's down thickness wise. 3/4" is too thick. I need them to be 2-1/16" thick. This is how im going to do it. This block I cut squared using the mitre saw.


Taping the block off and the one side of each piece. Gluing them to the block.


Put the whole thing back into the mitre with the wood block touching the fance not the acrylic. I'll shave off 1/16" each time until I get really close to my target thickness and then its,... cutting off hairs until I an just above my target thickness. I do not want to hit my target. Theres a reason.


Cut down.


Very nice.


You would think that teh blade would melt the crap out of the acrylic but it didnt. It actually left a VERY nice and smooth surface. Very impressed.


That day is over. Didnt get to spend much time in there that day. Here is some other stuff I ordered and got from ACRyan.


Stuff from ACRyan. I got like every fan color and different sizes,... and some other stuff cool stuff.


Sent me some of the AluBoxes. These things are nice! I have plans for these:)


MeshX and MEshHEXX in both black and silver.


Some aluminum rods, copper, nylon I bought.


Some UV blue hose,.... that really isnt UV at all?!?! It's still nice though. Maybe if I run UV blue coolent though it it will look a bit more UV. I dont know.


10 chrome shower hoses!!! LOL!!! Damn thats a lot,...


A baby mouse,...


Ok,... here's the squares all bored out.


This is how I tap now. I run it as low as it will go,... I think 280rpm. The tap is taped to a socket extention thing. My threads are straight as hell! Only thing that sucks is getting the block off. I have a a huge blister from all the turning.


Nice G1/4 threads.


Wham. This is how I turn my acrlyic on the press. The wood donut holds the acrylic stready and straight while cutting. How straight?


This straight. 1560rpm,...


Spiderman was here,...


Beautiful,...


More beauty,...


Lovely.


Holy S@#$,... this stuff is like annoying! I mean it kinda resembles webs,... its statically charged so it clings,...


Spiderman,... chill! I didnt kill your damn grandpa!!! Go away!


O-rings!!!


Thats a crappy pic,...


Almost done.


you see the little holes in the center. I still have to cutg a sink there for a small o-ring. I coutnersunk the port holes to sink the o-rings of the fittings so they are not so visible above surface. Plus the countersink pinches the o-ring against the fitting a lot better. Better seal.


Like this,... The o-ring has to be above the surface like this. It has to be compressed to make a good seal. I have to be carefull drilling that sink,...


I thought I would slow the bit down because the bit is kind of a big step from the 1/8" hole thats already there. Well,... this is what happened,... so I bumped the press up to 1250 and altered the bit a little to cut acrylic better.


Anyways,... here's the bottom of the end pieces.


This is pretty much what the final product will look like. The copper rod basically has three jobs. Main job is to keep the end pieces from coming off. Second,... act as shaft for SpinFX. Lastly,... compress the o-rings around itself. Now,... The copper rod doesnt really have to try hard to keep the end pieces on because the end pieces are REALLY on there. I had to vasoline the o-rings a bit to get them on. Once lubed they went on easily actually. When the orings are dry its almost impossible. Water helps too but vasoline is best. You dont need a lot. Just a bit on your fingers, rub it into your finger tips and then just rub it on the o-rings a bit. Them beign tight like that ensures a good seal. You can see the o-rings mashed against the inside wall. The inside edge of the reservoir bodies are countersunk to help get the o-rings on. So the only real strength needed to to compress the o-rings around teh rod itself which doesnt require much strength at all. It's a pretty simple but sweet way of doing it.

There will be two sizes available, a 4" body and a 7" body. Of course I can make custom sizes in teh studio for you if you want;) This is the start. I am going to be making my own acrylic plugs for LED's and possibly temp probes. I'm also going to be making brackets to mount these things too. There will be many accessories for them. The idea is that you can buy them whole or just buy the parts. ACRyan will make these. Hope you like them. They can be used just like this. I will be making dual brackets too so you can create dual res tank type setup. I have tons of S@#$ lined up. As I said this is the start right here.
 
Madness or Genius? I think its a whole lot of both!
Awesome work!
 
Dude when I saw the work log on the [H]ard|ocp front page the first thing I though of was the scene in Resident Evil towards the end where Alice says "Blue for the virus, green for the anti-virus". That is some excellent work keep it up and keep us posted on how it goes. This thread is definitely getting added to my subscribe list.
 
Rev Lemmon said:
Dude when I saw the work log on the [H]ard|ocp front page the first thing I though of was the scene in Resident Evil towards the end where Alice says "Blue for the virus, green for the anti-virus". That is some excellent work keep it up and keep us posted on how it goes. This thread is definitely getting added to my subscribe list.
Click to expand...


I was on the hard front page? LOL.
 
Update.

Oct-21-2007

First,... working on a logo. What you think of this? There's something else I want to do before I decide.


Now,... here's somehing I started but didnt finish yet. An o-ring disc. This one is metal, obviously. I want to make some acrylic ones and then maybe try the metal one again. I'm not happy with it.


OI! Whats this?!?!


HOLY S@#$! I'm mean,... seriously. DAMN! When I ordered it online it just didnt dawn on me how big this thing is!!! I knew it was an 8" vise but,... well, its the 83lbs that I wasn't expecting! YES,... this thing weighs 83lbs! Thats more then half my own weight! I cant use this with my drill press. I think its weighs about as much as my drill press does. Hmmm,...


So lets get a new drill press!


Holy HELL!!! LOL.


Building a support platform so it doesnt fall over and crushes little me,...


LOL,... it's a street lamp post,... damn.


Almost done!


New chuck next to the old one,... lol. Wow.


Ok,... done. The vise you see in teh pic is a new one. It's a 6" vise thats weighs in at 66lbs. The next one down is 3" that weighs 17lbs. I bought these from mcmaster.com. Let me tell you,... they are friggin awesome! I actaully went to their facility to pick this thing up becuse I needed it like,... now. You have no IDEA how big that place is!! I stepped inside and was literally like,... "Holy SHIAT!". The guy there laughed and was like yea,.. it's endless. This place was so huge. Would take several minutes to walk from one end to the other! There were conveyer mounted up way off the ground moving stuff around,... their ceiling fans had blades that look as if they came off a helicopter!!! HUGE! Everything was huge! And clean as hell too! They have their S@#$ together in there!! Thats why their so fast! I called them up about replacing the vise with a smaller one. She said which one you want? I said the 6". She said it will be about an hour. just bring it back. I was there in 40 minutes and there it was! They took it back and that was that! I love em!!!


Friggin laser beams,...


I love this vise.


Spent about an hour aligning the laser so its dead on. The one thing I dont like about the laser is that its not a true cross. It's hard to line it up on the Y axis I think. The axis to and from the drill. Oh well.


Lets try it! I got a 11.8mm drill bits for my G1/4 threading. I modded it so I can bore with it. No bit stepping. Works great!


Old belts.


New belts. LOL. They are twice the size!!


Ok,... these are for the custom reservoirs I am working on. I decided to use the new style for them to help promote the new style of liquidEvo reservoirs. It's spinning so smoothly thats if you stepp back from it,... it doesnt look like its turning at all. This is 1480RPM.


You see,... thats spinning.


Thats just yummy looking.


Ok. Almost done. Time to cut the lip and then cut the o-ring groove.


Groove time. This is a Lathe bit blank I bought off of mcmaster-carr that I ground down to work as my groove cutter. Its doesnt work as good as I wanted. I have to play around with it. It's shape has a purpose.


These are pretty much done. I want to try and sand and polish them. See how it turns out. As you are reading this,... I am already on my way back to the studio. I called out and I have off tomorrow night. I want everything except shields done by then.
 
Small early update. I'm going tback right after I post this,...

Oct-22-2007
Sanded. 400grit. I like the way they look here,...


Nice dusted finish,...


But because I know you guyz want polished,.... here you go.


Some eye candy,... DangerDen and Koolance fittings. Those are all 1/2" fittings. They are nicely spaced. I am happy. These things came out nice.


Going to cut the new bodies for the custom res's when I get back. After that I am going to attempt to make my own acyrlic plugs. After im done making one plug, I am going to assemble the FX's. OH WAIT! I have to make new prop's first. Damn! I have to make the props before I cut the bodies! Hmmm. Oh well. I got some 1/16" acrylic for the new props. Its awesome. Very thin and flexible but hot damn its strong! Going to play around with it and see what I can do. More pics later,...
 
Damn,... what a night. I didnt really get anything done but at the same time I got a lot done:) Last night I was just playing around designing my own LED plugs. Check it out,...

Oct-23-2007

Ok,... this is where I started but did not end. At this point I'm just trying out different things. Trying to figure stuff out. Goign to drill a,... I believe its a 3/16" hole down the center.


Now I'm goign to tap the hole with a 10-32 tap. Going to turn it by hand. I just want to start the tap, not go all the way. The press shaft is spring loaded so it will be hard to do this. But atleast it will be fairly straight.


Took a the belt off so it spins freely.


Done. I tap this by hand. You see the threads towards the top? Thats how well the drill press thing worked. HA. It works better with larger taps.


10-32 rod I cut down.


install rod.


Install piece into press. NOW,... I'm going to cut the top of this acrylic cylinder down so that it will fit into the chuck itself.


Like this.


Trimmed and straight as hell. God I love this.


Faced the bottom.


This is a decent cut.


Modified my cut off bit. Notice all the angles. Very important. Still not perfect but it work very good.


Groovy.


S@#$! What happened!!! Damn,... I cut it down to 4.8" and thats to small for threading. Oh well. Lets do it again.


Ok,... here we are again. This time it's at .5"


Much better.


Trimed down.


Now,... I need this to cut the other side of the plug.


So cool.


Screw the plug into it and then,...


I cut that new piece into its shape. I can now flip it around and cut the other side the plug.


NOW! Screw all that you just read/ saw. I have a better way. I have been working with a 1" acrylic rod which is to big. I got it that big becaue I wasnt sure what I was going to make. An easier way,... this here is a 1/2" rod. It's diameter is actually ok for plugs if you use the right size o-rings. It's a tad bit to small but still works fine. I ordered a .62" acrylic rod which is going to be perfect! That diameter will fit right into my chuck too! So this is what I'm going to do for my plug designs,...


Thats seals just fine! Just because there isnt acrylic hovering completely over the o-ring doesnt mean it wont seal.


There is still a groove to keep the o-ring in place and to pull the o-ring down onto the surface to make the seal. Again,... the new rod I ordered will hover over the o-ring a bit more.


See! Once the o-ring is in place,... its a pain to get out!


Here's the plug cut down with the o-ring on and is screwed into the piece I made. I just gave it a nice beveled edge.


I'm drilling between two flush pieces of wood to create a perfect holder for a 4.9mm drill bit. Im drilling with a 3/16bit because its a tad smaller then the 4.9. The holes will hug the 4.9 once in place.


See.


Oh yea.


Done! OH not quite! I forgot! The most important part!!


Flat siding! So you dont scratch up your plugs installing them:) Thats a router bit. I ordered an end mill to replace this router bit.


Now its done.


Installed. Its works! Very small and tight looking! Keep in mind this is only a prototype! When I get the new stuff I will make more of these, better ones. Im going to make some for the customs and acryan.


I'm in CPU magazine! Thanks DarthBeavis and GOOD JOB on the win!!!


So,.... what do you guyz think!?!?!
 
SUCCESS!!! WHAHOOO!!

Oct-26-2007

MCMASTER-CARR!!!


You see the little door next to the bay door? Thats Will Call. I asked the guy out of respect if I could take a pic of the inside sho wI could show others who buy form here what it looks like on the inside and he said,.... no. LOL. He said MCMaster is very hush hush about how they operate. Oh well. I tried.


Anyways,... Three rods. Left to right,... 1", .62", and .5".


You see the difference,... Its going to work out nicely.


Some more lathe bit blanks,...


A 3/8", 4 flute end mill,...


A 1/16", 3 flute end mill. This is to big for what I need it for. Damn. Its to big by,.. I think, .02". yup.


How do they cut these damn things!!! Look at that! Geez.


Again,... the .62 and the .5,...


The .62 in the chuck.


Cut down to .5 for threading,...


O-ring groove,...


Cut off,... This is only the test subject. Looks good to me! Lets make more! The cut off for this one is crappy. You see all the melting? Have to tweak the bit,..


I'm making 8 to start.


Decided to thread in the vise. I cut that wood block specifically for this. It's got a 5/8" hole and one side of the block is slightly rounded so when I crank it in the vise,... the force to focused on the hole making the hole tighter.


Now,... because G1/4 BSPP is a paralell thread,... I'm starting with this side and,...


im goign to finish with this side. Meaning that once I cut all the threads starting with the other side. I'm going to flip the died over to this side and then do it again. Reason being is because the cutting teeth on the other side is shallow to start which helps you start the threading. When you flip it over and do it backwards you are cutting whats left. Know what I mean?


Threaded,...


The threads were shortened and the end was polished to help let light pass through down into the reservoir.


The cut off,... much better! You dontg have to cut all the way through. At this point you just snap it off. Better that then to have to fall off onto the floor making it so you have to look for it.


All c ut and ends shaved down to the right height. Time for the next step,...


Tapered the tops,... very nice.


4.9mm coutnersinked holes for LEDs,...


The polished side.


You guyz still dont like the look of the black o-rings?!?! I love it! So cool looking.


I'm very impressed with the results. But we're not done. One more thing to do,...


Flat sided to prevent scratching to tightening them down. I think Im going to leave them the way they are,... with the cut marks. I think its cool. Im sure the plugs would look good polished too but if I sand and polish them, they will lose their shape a bit, the tapers and countersinks etc,... what you think?


We lost one,... When I was milling the sides,... it loosened up and spun around withe the end mill. A moment of silence please,......... screw that, give me your o-ring, you dont need it anymore,...


The prototype next to the product. What you think?


Now,... I only have to make like,... ha, I dont even know how many more. They were fun to make so its all good.
 
Ok,... come cool pics for you guyz. I have to admit that I overslept by a couple of hours so I wasnt able to get much done. I have off sunday though. I plan on finishing these plugs and I plan on starting the propellar which is totally redesigned,... anyways.

Oct-27-2007

Here's a batch of 21. I cut up what was left of the rod to make these. When I'm done making these I will make 21 more. That will covereverything I need with some extra's.


This is how far I got. The threading is pretty much done. I just have to sand and polish the bottoms. I'm thinking of grinding a bit to dome the ends for polishing.


Lights on,... God this is just too coooooool.


So yea.
 
PHEW! LED plugs,...... done.

Oct-30-2007

Ok,... so this is the last 19 I made? I need more.


32 more. Why so many? To learn. To learn what? To learn how to be as productive as possible. What to do and when to do it kind of stuff. This is help me with other stuff from here on in. I corrected any mistakes I made with the first sets. I got so good at making these now:) These new ones I near perfect:)


Cutting the ends down to the diameter needed for theading. This is actually cool. I was using an acylic tube just to toos them in when done. They fell inside in such a wya that their own weight supported them inside the tube. LOL. I slid it off the table over a box and they didnt fall. first thing came to mind,... get a pic!


So I used the vises measuring collar to set how how in to go,... everyone of these is exactly .5". God I love.


so beautiful to me.


Had to empty my shop vac because it just wasnt sucking good enough. This is what I found. A S@#$load of acrylic! I have enough here to cast a whole new sheet! LOL. This was emptied a lttiel bit ago. LOL. This is all from the past few weeks.


So nice,... so perfect.


All threaded. I need a better way of threading. I need a way of threading more evenly. I need to rig my old vise into a threading machine. I need foot pedals, forward and reverse. You think running the press motor backwards would harm it? Reversing the polarity? I dont think so because isnt this how they reverse a hand held drill?


Delicious.


O-rings installed. Going home,...


At work,... here what Im thinking about doing for a propeller. I need something that is simple to make. I dont want the factory dealing with a load to little pieces,... peicing them all together, gluing multiple spots. I need as few pieces as possible. So this is it. Each propeller will consist on two identical peices which will be offsetted from each other. In this example,... I am using 3 blades but I have a feeling that I will use 4 blades per piece, 8 blade total per prop. Theres a reason.


I designed this so that is easy for even me to make. I can turn cut the outer diameter. Drill out a few spot and then make a few cuts with the scroll saw. I need to make a very specific jig for forming them.


Once formed,... well the pics explain the rest.


Now,.. heres the thing with teh number of blades. There are a few variables I'm taking into consideration here. #1: The total height of the prop. I do not want the total height to exceed a 1/2". Anything more would be cutting into the space used for the FX. I dont want the propeller so big that it steal the attention away fromt eh spinFX. BUT! I am definitely,... seeing highly designed props coming very soon, in different colors too:) Because these props do look cool:) Now, #2: Blade angle. I want anywhere from 30 - 40 degrees even though in the pics it says 20 - 30. Having more of an angle will have a lot of torque to get the FX turning. This is what I want. Going about 45 degrees take away from the torque. Above 45 degrees means less torque and slower turning. Less then 45 degrees means less torque but faster turning. Possibly faster. The FX is in water so it can only turn so faster,... so technically, it would be about as fast as being above 45degrees. Understand? To little of an angle, it might not turn at all. So the idea is to stay as close to 45 degrees as possible. #3: I want the blade to atleast meet end to end and if possible overlap a bit to creat a constant motion. any gaps in between means a loss of thrust. Holy s@#% I sound like a friggin engineer or scientist or something. ha ha ha. so yea.


I'm goign to be using 1/16" acrylic to make these. I think that is a very good thickenss for what Im using it for. I was even thinking about trying 1/32". It is suprisingly strong. once the two pieces are positioned,... they are glued together in the center. They will be slid on a 1/4" shaft and then glued there.


Again,... I'm thinking about doing 4 blades. If you tilt these blades of the 3 blades design,... I am thinking it will excedd the 1/2" target height.


Back to the LED plugs,... Done! These are the ones Im sending to acryan.


What a lovely specimen we have here,... i love the flat sides. Makes so much sense to me.


Awesome.


With some danger den fittings,...


With Koolance,..


What do you guys think!
 
looks amazing..

i havent been around much .... but this worklog keeps getting better...
 
Damn I'm tired!!!! OMG. The propeller is almost here!

Nov-01-2007

Here's the 4 blade design that I was going to go with but I thought,... what the hell. I just want to go with a one piece prop. So,...


One piece prop I will make,... the reason why I didn't want to go with the one piece design initially is because I wanted the blades to overlap for more continuous thrust. I cant get them to overlap with a one piece design. But then I thought,... is it going to make that much of a difference?!?!? Maybe,... maybe not. What I do know is that if I go with the one piece design,... it will work undoubtly.


Goodness gracious thats hot.


Time to break out the .06 acrylic. This stuff is perfect for the props,...


Here I'm turn cutting them down to a target diameter of 2". This stuff is kind of hard to turn cut because its very flexible and thin. There was a lot of shattering until I got down far enough where it was a more continuous cut.


Very cool.


I'm liking it already:)


See how thin it is compared to the regular 1/8" we use.


This one is going to be the template to the holes. The purpose of the holes is to shorten the area of material where the blades meeter the center. I am drilling because it's easier then scroll sawing something different. Get me?


Center punched,...


Goign to drill all of them at once. I bolted them to this wood so I have more to hold on to while drilling and because its easier to pass the bit through the last disc.


Done.


This looks cool!


Almost there!


Now I marked a couple of these like this so I can easily line them up for the cut.


Crazy dangerous buts works like a champ. The blade is actually very thin. a tiny bit smaller then 1/16". But it cuts at 1/16" because its got a slight shimmy to it.


HOT!!! Not done but HOT! OMG these are going to come out pro!!! WOW! LOL.
 
Started the forming jig but I'm not done yet. I have off tonight and tomorrow and monday too. So I'm goign to back after this to finish these props. I'm goign to make 2 aluminum versions of the prop too so an test the jig.

Nov-02-2007

Bought some pine. Cut the end at 45 degrees.


Then I cut them again like this,... another 45 degree cut.


Put them together and this is what you get,...



Going to make two just in case. These are the bottom pieces.


These are the top pieces. The second 45 cut is in the opposite direction to counter the 45 of the bottom pieces. They needed an extra cut too.


This is how they fit together.


This is how I made the extra cut. A simple jig to hold the little pieces.


Nice.


I have to sand the pieces down and then glue them to other piece of wood. The top and bottom once done will be about 2" thick. You'll see,... its not done.
 
WOW! I love it,....

Nov-03-2007

Super glued down to another piece of wood. I was going to screw them down too,... next time.


Nice.


Drilling out the centers. 1/2".


Very good.


Very nice,...


I need a wooden tube, 1/2" round.


1/4" bolt to turn cut the tube.


Awesome.


Aluminum props,...


Now,... I have to figeout the height of this center tube. Makes a big difference.


I cleared away some of the wood around the tube to make room for the props.


I can push or pull until I get it the way I want it.


I think im goign to go with this height right here. Atleast this time around. I will definately be playing around with this again in the near future.


Aluminum test. I'm just trying to see about what shape the acrylic ones will take on,...


This jig makes these props here,...


You see how the blades are all to one side? This is not what I intended but,.... I actually like it. I can get it to sit more flush against the end caps right above the in port. It makes the prop look more like it belongs to the end cap as opposed to the actual FX. Know what I'm saying?


This is what the jig looks like when closed on a prop,....


See the prop?


That is just so cool looking,...


Closed.


Now,... just for the hell of it,... I tried lowering the middle peg in hopes that the blades would be somewhat more half way between the center ring of the prop but no,... this is what I ended up with. I have to figure out what the jig is missing that I cant do it. Something is up,...


You see how it starts high then slopes down again? I have to have larger 45 degree thingies to get the blades up higher. The top piece of the jig is pushing the blades down. The 45 degree wedges have to be higher the the stoping point has to be higher too.


I moved the peg back to get what I got before out of the aluminum version. I like this a lot better. I'm goign to keep it like this. I kind of like how its flush on one side.


Here it is on an old xPRZ FX. I have the prop upside down. DOH.


Heres's the prop before forming. It's only takes seconds to heat this stuff up and to my surprise it didnt out gas as easily as I thought it would! No bubbles!


During.


Done.


This looks cools. Both alum's back to back. Looks cool.


Flush.


This is how I want them. This looks nice. The prop looks like its a part of the end cap and not the FX. I'm going to make tiny shaft's with one end keyed. That will be the whole prop. The FX shafts will be keyed on the one side and it will mate with the keyed end of the prop.


Yea,... I love my 30 pounders, I started doing it this way.


Check it out! New colored washers! These go on each end of the reservoir.


Blue for Qhs,...


Black or tinted for DarthBeavis,...


Green,...


And clear. I'm sending all the colors to the company.


Ok,... time to clean up the jig,...


Nice,...


HA! Reminds me of the little thing inside a blender. Not the blade but the thing under the container that turns the blade.


A mouth with really sharp teeth!


My stash,... keep some, sending some away.


I made a quick video testing out the new prop;)

How to make an xPRZ FX explode,...
 
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