[neonblingbling]

Sophomore English 2B Spring 2005
Mr. Schauble

You are nearing the end of a full year of study in Sophomore English. It has been the explicit goal of this course to encourage and assist you to develope clear, precise, ....

blah blah blah....

...There are thus two tasks at hand: to come up with a quality project and then to offer an articulate commentary which shows what makes it a quality project in your eyes.


Ah, there we go. Thus, the project at hand:
One Month Computer Case
Intro: (Boring stuff)

At first I wanted to restore a VW Bug that is rusting away in my grandparent's yard. I loved working with tools, and am waiting for this lifelong burning for wheeled vehicles to finally emerge. But, with a little more than a month and a wallet as light as a feather, it would not be reasonable. Thus, I decided to take my tool-lovin' elsewhere.
I then decided I'll kill two birds with one stone, and mod my current case: an Antec Super LanBoy. I had gotten it on sale, and was getting sick of the overused blue and silver look. It was time for a change.
But after making a list of what I could possibly do, it became apparent that this case was not enough. I had to start from scratch. Thus, I decided I would make one from wood, being one of the easiest materials for me to work with, expecially in this short period of time (FOUR weekends to work).


Pictures: (The stuff everyone loves and wants.)
Two sketches of possible layouts. I liked #2 after a while, so I started plotting wiring (excuse the colors).
#1

#2

If you can decipher my hand writting, you can start figuring out whats happening (probably wont take a genius to do it).

In the mean while, please no 'TELL ME TELL ME' posts please. I am doing this project as fast as I possibly can at the moment, but right now I have to read 142 pages of The Poisonwood Bible. I'll hope to get some nicer drawings (possibly CAD or Rhino'd) by tomorrow night, but again depending on HW load (brain load temp: too hot).

Feel free to post possible ideas and what not. I will hopefully buy the wood (1/2" MDF) this weekend, and HOPEFULLY get a box-looking thing.

[Knivez]

MDF is heavy, I made a subwoofer box out of it, that housed 2 10 inch woofers, and can barely carry the thing. Think about possible using 1/2 inch ply for sides and back.

[dippy_skoodlez]

Originally Posted by neonblingbling

Feel free to post possible ideas and what not. I will hopefully buy the wood (1/2" MDF) this weekend, and HOPEFULLY get a box-looking thing.

Im using my wood acse right now.. I used solid wood for the rame, and venir plywood for the side panels. make sure you quadruple check all measurements, and work out good ways to mount all of the things like CD/DVD/HDD. Good luck with PCI brackets too =/

Also note, this took me around 120 hours to finish, while having access to tablesaw, bandsaw, etc. Unless you have a supreme set of tools, and have built a few cases by hand before, it'll probably take more than a month. Good luck though.

[neonblingbling]

Thanks, good info you two. Sucky part is I am sick right now, so I'm getting cheated out a weekend.

Btw dippy_skoodlez, what exaclty did you make out of wood? I was planning to at least jack the mobo/pci parts from an old case, hopefully cutting back on precise drilling/cutting...

[dippy_skoodlez]

Originally Posted by neonblingbling

Thanks, good info you two. Sucky part is I am sick right now, so I'm getting cheated out a weekend.

Btw dippy_skoodlez, what exaclty did you make out of wood? I was planning to at least jack the mobo/pci parts from an old case, hopefully cutting back on precise drilling/cutting...

100% wood, no mobo tray or anything.

[neonblingbling]

UPDATE 5/1/05, 18 days left
What has been done to date

Being sick killed alot of time. Let's just say I wish I did this much last week.
So far, I have a fairly detailed CAD drawing of what I want this to turn out to be. It is a little hard to tell what is what, so I will leave those diagrams out for now. More surprises too.

I also purchased a sheet of ply and a 2x4. It was hella fun bringing them home in an Accord, but I somehow managed. Also found Utility knife blades, a 3" scrapper, a sanding block, and a trash can all at a dollar store. Should be very useful.

[neonblingbling]

Pictures:
Some tools I used besides trusted Dremel ...which also happens to be Craftsman...


Some old Antec Case I think, had a 80mm Antec intake fan when I gutted it.




Just had to kill a couple rivets so it would be easier to cut


Finished cutting


Back

[neonblingbling]

The garbage can I found for $2


Close up of pattern and size relation to Sharpie

[neonblingbling]

UPDATE 5/10/05, 9 days left
Guess what kiddies, it's picture time!

[neonblingbling]

With possible electronics.

[shellshock]

looks good!!!, that thing is gonna be one heavy mofo

[ghettocomp]

Just curious, how far along is the project now? I'm interested in what you have going.

[neonblingbling]

Just some filler action going on. -_-

I was planning on cutting out many of the necessary holes tonight, but improper tools led me to frustration. Probably next worthy update will be on Sunday after I pay my uncle another visit.

[neonblingbling]

UPDATE 5/17/05, 2 days left
Pictures from 5/13 or so.
Putty and scraper that was used (ended up using fingers for alot of the work)


Big hole


A bad crack


A bad gap


part 2


ANOTHER gap

[neonblingbling]

Some finished putty pics.








This WAS a full container.

[neonblingbling]

Pictures from 5/17
Testing with my current mobo: (took me an hour to take it apart....)

^^^ realized I need SUPER long cables. On a hunt for 36" IDE cables, a PSU extender... ...Not by friday.

Try figure it out










BTW, I made a hard drive mount. (Took FOREVER), but it started to rain, so I didn't get a pic before I had to move everything. And this time, I remebered to bring the camera inside...

STUFF TO DO
*Cut out front and rear 'grills'
*mount trash can mesh in front, rear, and top
*possibly make more hard drive mounts.
*putty up more mistakes
*sand
*paint

STUFF TO DO BUT PROBABLY WONT
*wire up fans
*wire up LEDs
*actually MOUNT electronics in there

All by Thursday night. Yay.

[ghettocomp]

So.... how is the project going?

so far, I like what has been done.

[neonblingbling]

UPDATE 5/18/05 ONE BUILD DAY LEFT

Sorry no pics today. Too tired.

STUFF DID
*Cut out front and rear 'grills'
*mount trash can mesh in front, rear, and 2/4 of top
*puttied up more mistakes

STUFF TO DO TOMORROW
*buy primer, extra black paint, and clear coat
*finish mesh
*cut/mount CD drive (I will 'forget' that we need a PSU)
*cut nails that I found protruding on the sides (can ruin sander)
*sand the xxxx out of everything. Mostly by belt, but unfortunatly some places too tight.
*paint
*paint some more
*paint even more without getting too high
*take pics. lots of them.
*write the report*

Why do I feel the last will be the biggest pain...

[Celeron_Phreak]

I love the fact that you've set up a deadline for yourself, and seem to be getting frustrated at yourself because you possibly might not meet it.

Really, you're doing a great job on this mod. I can't wait to see updated pictures tomorrow as well as some "final" (minus PSU) project pictures. Don't forget that caffeine is your friend when pulling late nights of modding!

I need to update my own thread (Haxor-Jr.) as well. I've "finished it" for now. Just a couple things I think that could use some changes.

[neonblingbling]

Originally Posted by Celeron_Phreak

I love the fact that you've set up a deadline for yourself, and seem to be getting frustrated at yourself because you possibly might not meet it.

Originally Posted by neonblingbling

Sophomore English 2B Spring 2005
Mr. Schauble

You are nearing the end of a full year of study in Sophomore English. It has been the explicit goal of this course to encourage and assist you to develope clear, precise, ....

blah blah blah....

...There are thus two tasks at hand: to come up with a quality project and then to offer an articulate commentary which shows what makes it a quality project in your eyes.

I'm not setting up the deadline, 30% or so of my English grade is.