Well, being the cheapskate and ardent do-it-yourselfer, I decided to give it a try at making my own DDC acrylic top. This is an intended modification that I am going to make to my custom wood case setup (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=449069&highlight=design+reality).
Instead of doing the flow mod, I wanted to make a top that would allow for a 5/8" inlet and 1/2" outlet (I like to use 5/8" barbs when possible since I am using 1/2" tubing). Also using a top would allow me to return the pump should it ever fail vs. doing the flow mod.
I got 7- 4"x4"x1" cast acrylic blocks off of ebay ($20 total shipped). I wanted to make a top that would model somewhat off of the radiical.com.au top (http://radiical.com.au/products/RadiicalPumpTop.asp), but I don't have the $50 at present to sink into one.
First, I measured the original DDC top for the inside diameter and depth. It has a slight spiral to it. So I drew the thing in Photoshop to use as a template for my top:
Then I eyeballed where i wanted it to go, traced the outline and centerpoint onto the acrylic, and drilled a 1 1/2" hole into the block with a drill press. This is the largest sized boring bit I can find anywhere.
I then had to ream out for the spiral effect. I used my trusty Dremel imitation Nikota rotary tool to sand out the edge to the line that I had marked.
Instead of doing the flow mod, I wanted to make a top that would allow for a 5/8" inlet and 1/2" outlet (I like to use 5/8" barbs when possible since I am using 1/2" tubing). Also using a top would allow me to return the pump should it ever fail vs. doing the flow mod.
I got 7- 4"x4"x1" cast acrylic blocks off of ebay ($20 total shipped). I wanted to make a top that would model somewhat off of the radiical.com.au top (http://radiical.com.au/products/RadiicalPumpTop.asp), but I don't have the $50 at present to sink into one.
First, I measured the original DDC top for the inside diameter and depth. It has a slight spiral to it. So I drew the thing in Photoshop to use as a template for my top:
Then I eyeballed where i wanted it to go, traced the outline and centerpoint onto the acrylic, and drilled a 1 1/2" hole into the block with a drill press. This is the largest sized boring bit I can find anywhere.
I then had to ream out for the spiral effect. I used my trusty Dremel imitation Nikota rotary tool to sand out the edge to the line that I had marked.