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Side Project Alert!




On a closely related note, recently I was able to re-acquire my project, Exoframe 2.0, from the person who commissioned it, after he had completed it (finish work, anodizing, powdercoating, and paint).


So as little side project, I'm re-assembling it and going to post completed pics of it!



Framecomplete1_zps373bc8f4.jpg



TRP Link.

OCforums Link.

Extremesys Forums Link.
 
Thanks for the patience on my side project there. Back to it!



I dove in on my plastic sheet work. The bottom panel is a very important piece as its going to be the foundation for a number of things. It was made from hefty ¼” gray acrylic.

Of course, purchased a fat stack of stock plastic from Delvies Plastics. In this project I’m going to be using ¼” light gray transparent plastic, ⅛” light gray, ⅜” fluorescent orange, ⅛” fluorescent orange, ⅛” opaque black, and some very cool custom laser cut pieces (more on that later).






Tee’d up on my Festool plunge cut saw.


Bottompanelonsaw_zps2143ecd0.jpg


I’ve talked about this tool before, but man I really love it. It really is as simple as put the track on the line, the drive the saw over the track. I use some rigid insulation for a sacrificial table, and some pool hosing hooked up to me shop vac, keeps things virtually dust free.

I used to use a table saw to cut my sheet stuff. Accuracy would sometimes be off, there would often been issues with chipping at exit (even with a $150 plastic blade), and quite frankly a table saw is dangerous.












Got the panel cut to the right size:


Bottompanelcut_zpsba1043e8.jpg












Next I cut out the corners to accommodate for the corner brackets:


Bottompanelcuttingcorners_zpsb2d5eccf.jpg











And now it truly fits:


Bottompanelfitted_zps95ae6f7c.jpg











Added some feet I had sitting around the shop (I think they are Silverstone).


Bottompanelfeet_zps8ae9c540.jpg







Bottompanelfeet2_zps2b096ce7.jpg
 
Next step was to start building the internal structure for components. I’ve got 2 “shelves” to build: one level to hold the power supply and one level for the motherboard. In my mockup here I just cut up some shelves of plywood:


Prototypewood_zps95daa9b6.jpg






Plan: bend some structural plastic.

Project thus far is stuff I have done before (cutting, drilling, tapping metal), and I have bent sheet plastic before, but never to hold significant weight and requiring this degree of precision.




First I started with sheet 3/16” thick fluorescent orange acrylic (Thanks to Delviesplastics).

Why 3/16” thickness? ⅛” is too thin to hold significant weight, and ¼” is getting too thick to easily bend.

Why fluroescent orange? Maybe we’re going UV reactive for the internals of this build?




PSUshelfflat_zpsc1d9bafd.jpg



It is currently slightly oversized in lengths--after bending (which will take up a small percentage of length), I can trim it down to exact size.










Next I set up a jig to accurately bend my plastic.


PSUplatformfoldingjig_zpse2a79396.jpg


It’s got the 90 degree bend, plus its got a lot of guides to keep everything square.










Placed the plastic panel on the strip heater:


PSUplatformonheater_zps189ae4a9.jpg









When it was soft and bendy, maybe 5 minutes, transferred it to my jig:


PSUshelfplasticinjig_zps2b56c85c.jpg











Here’s a video of the actual process:


th_BendingPSUsupportshelf_zps1453ccee.jpg
(Click to Play)













Once cooled, remove from the jig and voila:


PSUplatformbent_zps729e1af3.jpg











Dropped the piece in over the radiator unit and started trimming it to fit:


PSUplataboverad_zps696f6da4.jpg













And here it is, sized and doing its job:


PSUplatinplace_zpsfaf051c3.jpg
 
Not done yet! Gots to make it purdy.





Drilled out a bunch of holes:


PSUplatformstartholes_zpsda5b7fb7.jpg






PSUplatformfinishedholes_zpsb8e64eeb.jpg












Added clips to hold the powersupply:


PSUplatformclips_zps5bc4fac9.jpg












And now it was done:


PSUplatformcompleted_zps38cd744e.jpg








PSUplatformcompleted2_zps60ade500.jpg







PSUplatformcompleted3_zpsbc4345bc.jpg
 
Time to get to work on the upper shelf unit, which holds the motherboard.

This was how I laid it out during the planning phase:

Prototypewood_zps95daa9b6.jpg




But a flash of inspiration came to me on how to support the 2 shelves, as you will shortly see.







First I laid out the panel flat, with all my cuts planned:


Mobosupportsheet_zps2920f4cd.jpg








This was a lot of fun because I used just about every technique I’ve got to carve out this panel.






Jigsaw for a square cut out:


Moboshelfcutout_zps4f67d721.jpg







Moboshelfcutout2_zpsbaa2d2c5.jpg










Unibit for large holes:


Moboshelfholes_zps696af30e.jpg










Jigsaw to convert the center 2 holes into a slot, for cable pass thru.


Moboshelfholes2_zpsee48fd23.jpg






Moboshelfholescompleted_zpsb37e8ee0.jpg










And even the plunge cut tracksaw for long straight cuts:


Moboshelfstraightcut_zpsac7726e0.jpg









And there it was!


Moboshelfflatcomplete_zps52e43901.jpg
 
Just like the previous shelf, this one gets its legs bent!


Moboshelfonheater_zps1ad0f4f1.jpg







Moboshelfinjig_zps7500eae7.jpg








And there you go, my 2 shelf units:


Moboshelfbent_zps2ad6186c.jpg



Let me show you how they go together!








Approximate layout, prepping for trimming:


Moboshelfroughfit_zps3fabf488.jpg








And mounted up!


Moboshelfinstalled1_zpsa2a702cd.jpg








Moboshelfinstalled2_zps6d256c87.jpg







Moboshelfinstalled3_zpsfcccc1f8.jpg







Moboshelfinstalled4_zps3b0e6a5a.jpg









Moboshelfinstalled6_zps8734c432.jpg




This was what came to me like a dream--the two support pillars actually of continuous bent plastic, kind of flowing together. Technically I wasn’t so sure I could get everything so accurate to make it happen, but it worked no problem.




.
 
You are a one hell of a fabricator. Wished you were my neighbor. We could have a blast!
 
You may have noticed on some of the pics above that I’ve also installed my hard drive mounting system.

Actually what happened was that in between building the two bent shelves, I found out I had under-ordered my size of 3/16” thick orange plastic sheet. So I had to order up some more. Thanks to Delvie’s Plastics, just a 2 day turn around, but I did put together my hard drive system in the interim (just made more sense to post out of chronologic order, tho).



I’ve used this type of hard drive mounting system multiple times in the past--simple but effective.


I start with 3 identical brackets of ⅛” plastic sheet:





Harddriveslots_zpsa4243459.jpg









Add mounting holes and screws/washers in order to mount drives:


Harddrivemounted_zpsbcbf317c.jpg









Cross bracket will hold the drive brackets down:


Harddriverack_zpsd8f7ca83.jpg







Time to move it in to the actual case. First, I mounted the cross bar, raised with standoffs and rubber nut guides:


Harddriverackmounting_zps0bef2843.jpg









Get the brackets mounted:


Harddrivefullymounted_zpsb9b843f9.jpg









And here it is installed:


Harddriverackinstalled_zps52e23a0b.jpg










And situated with the mounting shelves:


Harddrivessituated_zpsc1a2bd19.jpg









Here’s a little demo video on how to mount hard drives:



(click to play)
 
Now that I had all my major structural components ready, I wanted to test fit my major pieces to get a general idea of layout and fit.





Empty System:


Testfit1empty_zps2d45e191.jpg








Add the mobo:


Testfit1mobo_zps86f3b4c9.jpg










PSU:


Testfit1psu_zpsf53c5d26.jpg








Graphics card and radiator:


Testfit1gpu2_zps9b5811f5.jpg









Testfit1gpu_zpsf73d2106.jpg




Things stack up nice thus far!
 
Time to fabricate a pump/res mount.


Cut this form from the orange plastic:


Pumpbracket2_zps7e58d8d7.jpg












Mounts to my MCP35x/EK cylinder pump/res:


Pumpbracket1_zps9c381663.jpg










Here’s where I set it, front and center:


Pumpbracketmounted_zps67abe3c9.jpg










And mounted up:


Pumpbracketmounted3_zps9a9ac5a3.jpg


I know it looks a little saggy. No worries, in the end it will be supported by a fillport above and the blu ray burner below.





.
 
My next step was to construct my support and brackets for the 5.25 optical drive.

However, before I build all that I needed to locate my 5.25 drive.

After a lot of measurements, I settled on the vertical height, and since the drive would be anchored to the front panel, first I constructed the front panel.












The panel is made from transparent gray plastic.

The bezel is a made from ⅛” opaque black plastic, and laser cut by Delvie’s Plastics. Contacted Delvies prior to this build, knowing that I would want 5.25 sized bezels for this and future builds. Making 100% accurate shapes like this (cutting out the inside square) is difficult by hand, and super easy by laser.


Frontpanel5251_zps4abb67e9.jpg













Made my hole in the plastic--this hole doesn’t need to be super accurate as the bezel will overlay it.


Frontpanel5252_zpsedaae1c7.jpg














Mounted the panel up, and here is where the Blu-Ray burner will be.


Frontpanel5254_zps7457e419.jpg
 
:thup:

These frame based cases are great! Good looking and good airflow.
Mine is made out of MDF & poplar where's yours is metal - which I would prefer but wood was all we had on hand.

Nice job! :cool:
 
Silver,

do you have pics of yours to show us?

Yep :)

Not as fancy, but wayyyyy better than the standard pre-built case the rig originally came with. (Swaped mobo after I fried the Acer one :p )

Mining with the CPU and GPU's in this case was a breeze, everything stayed nice and cool because of the fan locations and the open style of the cases itself.
That's why these frame cases like the OP's are wicked awesome IMO :thup:

IMG439.jpg

IMG440.jpg

IMG441.jpg
 
Wish I had a workshop like that ........ A drill press would be nice...

But even if I did.

I would not be able to build a box like that !!!
 
Looking great Silver Pharaoh! Was just in Toronto last week. This project I am going to finish to the nines.




Plan for the mounting brackets for the blu-ray drive would be a pair of supports that mount to the sides of the drive and span from the vertical orange posts to the front panel bezel.



Started with some straight pieces of plastic:


525bracket1_zps8113f010.jpg







And bent the ends:


525bracketbent_zps458133ad.jpg











This was the their basic shape:


525Lbrackets_zpsf168f019.jpg








Located my mounting holes to the drive:


525Lbracketsmounted_zps490ae615.jpg









Ends get threaded holes:


525bracketstapped_zps9a270629.jpg










Located my attachment height to the main posts:


525mountingholes_zps6fa5b9d8.jpg







And mounted up the brackets:


525bracketsmounted_zps3e575bfd.jpg











525mounted2_zps4d98002f.jpg
 
So, once again, time to mount up my hardware and check my clearances.





Radiator goes here:


525radmounted_zpsd769a752.jpg










PSU and mobo into their shelves:


525psumounted_zps58828a3a.jpg









Blu-ray drive mounted up:


525bdmounted_zps3ce5f61b.jpg








And mount the reservoir:


525resmounted_zpscd2ed7ae.jpg





525resmounted3_zps9ff014d8.jpg





525resmounted2_zpsd43b5397.jpg
 
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