• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

FEATURED Exoframe Mini

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
Everything looked good so far, so time to disassemble and prep for final finishes!



Breakdown1_zps85ec0b48.jpg







Breakdown2_zpseeedd87b.jpg








Breakdown3_zpsbdeed53d.jpg








Breakdown4_zps511c40c9.jpg






Breakdown5_zpsa8e7a18a.jpg








Breakdown6_zpseee44f09.jpg
 
Breakdown7_zps8ad9c96e.jpg







Breakdown8_zpsf9c75a80.jpg






Breakdown9_zpsfabacdd8.jpg









Breakdown10_zpsa84fb6b1.jpg













And here are all my unfinished metal parts. The finishes are going to be: anodized orange, anodized black, and powdercoat black.


Breakdownmetal_zps2be2424b.jpg
 
As is usual, before putting on the final "paint" (actually anodizing/powdercoat), takes a lot of pre-prep, in this case brushing my aluminun.




Time to get a little rough!


Generated the brushed aluminum look by running my sanding block across the metal bars, first in 180 grit then 220. Its important to run the whole length in one smooth motion.




Brushwork1_zpsa23fc428.jpg










Brushwork2_zps0e0648a7.jpg











Here’s a comparison between unbrushed and brushed:


Brushwork3_zps6dcb6f6e.jpg




That was some hard dirty work to get a nice finish.
 
That's the beauty of anodization--it is the equivalent of wood staining to metal. The underlying texture will come thru. Also, the parts have already been anodized, so its too late. I will post pics soon.
 
And here we were after getting everything back from finish work.

Special thanks to Chico Metal Finishers for the flippin awesome orange and black anodizing.

The creation of the metal corner brackets is documented in this thread, thanks to Mione Solidworks and Norcal Laser for fabricating those, plus kwikky from the raptor pit for professionally welding the units. And thanks to Platinum Powdercoating for the black powdercoat.









Here is closeup of the anodized orange bars. It looks fantastic.


Anodizeorangeawesome_zpsf33d5014.jpg












And here are all my parts for this entire computer--system on a table!


Computeronatable_zpseeebdb3a.jpg


Having all this laid out--its like Christmas!










I forgot to mention a crucial previous step during the breakdown period. In order to quickly re-assemble in exact formation, I used my dremel and scribed the inside corners of all the bars. Bar number and corner letter. Let’s me quickly re-assemble each piece in the exact configuraiton.


Cornerlabel_zps5ddab7ec.jpg












And here was my assembly table, ready to go, complete with diagram of all the bars and corners.


Assemblytable_zpsb20e6b0f.jpg
 
I mentioned that I would rather leave the aluminum plain, no orange...



I take that back. :thup:
 
I started rebuilding the system.

I went after the bars that had wires running inside them, as it was easier to work the wires piece by piece.




Rebuild1_zpsdd8e1eea.jpg









Rebuild2_zps47ecaa79.jpg









Rebuild3_zpsc5effe2f.jpg










Rebuild4_zps174ff79b.jpg









Rebuild5_zps132849b1.jpg
 
Next, I tackled finishing off the bottom panel.


Bottompanelfinish1_zpsb3cf3d21.jpg











Looks a little more special with all the protective paper removed!


Bottompanelfinish2_zpsdf7ace49.jpg











Mounted up:


Bottompanelfinish3_zps74d2a968.jpg











Bottompanelfinish4_zps71fcd65e.jpg













And taking a moment to paint its fan grill black:


Paintmygrill_zps28d22d1c.jpg
 
Mounted these back bars which will support the component trays.


Backsupportbars_zpsb0568bf9.jpg













It’s a little hard to see, but next I mounted the black hangar brackets that will mount all the plastic paneling:


Rebuildhangarbracket2_zps6b749067.jpg




Rebuildhangarbrackets_zps0f93d416.jpg










Next, the powersupply tray:


RebuildPSUtray_zps3ab16a35.jpg










And finally, the motherboard tray:


Rebuildmobotray_zps1eb16fc6.jpg



Rebuildmobotray2_zps8d02414e.jpg
 
Thanks!



Mounted up my LED strips.


LEDmounting1_zps2d18960a.jpg






LEDmounting2_zpsf684f554.jpg


They sit in the inside corners of these brackets, to hide them from direct view, and they sit at 45 degrees to maximize shine onto my components.









Wired the components up, 4 strips to the switch, and to power from the power supply:


Wiringsetup_zps5e9da401.jpg










Hid the cable mess in a plastic split tube:


Wiringsetup2_zpsfa4ad9eb.jpg










And hooked it up to a temporary psu to make sure everything lights and functions:


Wiringsetuptest_zpsb1086159.jpg
 
Oh man... :drool:

LED strips are what is missing from my own case!
Nice work man, can;rt wait to see the mobo mounted in there :)
 
Next I added the side panel.


Addingsidepanel_zps28c26c5e.jpg









And trimmed this corner:


Addingsidepanelcornercut_zpsfb862b7d.jpg








Addingsidepanelsexy_zps907f68a6.jpg










My awesome laser cut top panel:

Addingtoppanel_zps23549ab8.jpg







And some pictures of it mounted:


Addingtoppanel2_zps95f9197f.jpg








Addingtoppanel3_zps2d14a5cc.jpg








Addingtoppanel4_zps4b080a2a.jpg










Mounted the other side panel and we’re starting to get this thing enclosed!


Addingsecondsidepanel_zps91dc7fed.jpg
 
Started to put together the back panel:


Backpanelremount_zpse0346b99.jpg






Backpanelremount2_zpsd3813c9b.jpg








And mounted:


Backpanelremount3_zpsef0e55fe.jpg












Also the front panel ,with bezel for the Blu-ray burner and the usb ports:

Frontpanelremount_zpsa8e1160e.jpg










And there you go, the case (without components) was done!


Plasticpanelscompleted1_zpsed29fd15.jpg








Plasticpanelscompleted2_zps89bcd7b4.jpg








Plasticpanelscompleted3_zpsa998f74a.jpg
 
Back