Scratch Build - Slim Aluminum Mini ITX SteamBox (formerly "m3a2")

I bow before your fabrication skills, I could make one without an optical drive.... But it would be made out of cardboard.. or maybe 2x4's :eek:
 
Alright...when are you getting off the mat and rebuilding your CNC? :D

I need some help, lol!
 
Machupo said:
Alright...when are you getting off the mat and rebuilding your CNC? :D

I need some help, lol!
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Oh dude, believe me, I look at building/buying a new machine almost everyday. Don't know why I tiorture myself so, haha.
 
updawg said:
When can I buy this case too ;)?
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Haha, don't tempt me! I'm actually pretty attached to this one. But if you look at my history I'll sell anything that isn't bolted down. Hmmm.... I better go bolt this case to the home theater cabinet....

I think you've probably got one of the most extensive collection of unique mini itx cases of anyone on the forum. You should post them all on the forums somewhere!
 
Update: Expect to see five (5) more of these coming soon... Exactly the same as this one minus the optical drive and fan controller. I'll be rebuilding a friend's old pinball machine in exchange for him machining the parts. It's a blessing to know good people :)
 
I just sent the drawings and CAD files over to the friend who will be machining these. Since he runs a very busy shop it may be slow progress. I also need to drop off the materials and pickup the tabletop arcade I'm working on for him.

I'll make 4 of these available to you all w/ a few options.

Standard case:
- case w/o ODD
- two (2) USB3.0 ports on front panel
- PCIEX16 riser assembly (riser and spacer)
- unfinished (will be sanded/textured)
- 4 rubber feet
- wired vandal switch (pick-your-color)
- industrial Velcro (for ssd/hdd mounting)
- screw kit

Options:
- brushed front panel w/ special vandal switch (like the one in this worklog)
- powder coated textured black (inside and out)
- special aluminum feet (for standing the case up on it's side vertically)
 
I just sold me drum set today and I've got this cash just screaming to be turned into another Cnc machine (much smaller than my original Cnc machine). Oh the temptation.... I couldn't produce these cases in mass with the machine design I'm looking at, but in could do 1 here and there.
 
Small update: I had originally reversed the fan on my noctua cooler to match the exhaust flow of the 120mm chassis fan just above it. Well, it started whining and making noise the other day. Flipping it over back to its original orientation fixed the noise problem, but now the fans are fighting each other. Temps are still good regardless.
 
First post here, but I've been lurking around for a bit hoping one of these slim steambox style cases becomes available at some point. Really nice work on this man, it looks great.

Would something like an H60 or other AIO fit in there? Might need a slim/half thickness fan, but if it fits would allow you to position fans however you like and not worry about them fighting each other. Also could eliminate potential worries about cpu coolers and ram height.

27mm for the rad + 12.5mm slim fan + block/pump thickness (25mm? 30mm? anyone know this?) = ~55-65mm? Just a thought, not sure how much clearance there is from the CPU to the top of the case.
 
Jorona said:
Call Noctua, they'll replace it. It should work in any orientation.
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Good call, I'll give that a try.
ShortSideShelf said:
First post here, but I've been lurking around for a bit hoping one of these slim steambox style cases becomes available at some point. Really nice work on this man, it looks great.

Would something like an H60 or other AIO fit in there? Might need a slim/half thickness fan, but if it fits would allow you to position fans however you like and not worry about them fighting each other. Also could eliminate potential worries about cpu coolers and ram height.

27mm for the rad + 12.5mm slim fan + block/pump thickness (25mm? 30mm? anyone know this?) = ~55-65mm? Just a thought, not sure how much clearance there is from the CPU to the top of the case.
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Thanks!

Unfortunate, with the stack up of the coolant block/pump and the radiator and fa, it's too tall to fit. I have however designed in the past a little bump out cover to allow a full sized fan to be mounted with only a minor bump out on the top panel.
failwheeldrive said:
nice little build, impressive fab skills.
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Thank you sir :)


I dropped off the materials to my friend with the shop. I'm going to ask him to make 2 first and then have him consider 2 more. I also picked up the arcade to be repaired. This guy has the ultimate man cave with a huge variety if old and antique slot machines, pinball machine, mechanical games and video arcades. Amazing. Absolutely. Amazing.
 
How goes the pinball machine repair? Any trouble finding parts for it? We had a pinball machine growing up but had trouble sourcing replacement parts for it after a while. I think it's collecting dust in my sister's basement now... Mind you, ours was pretty old even for a pinball machine :). If you got to 1,000,000 points on it, it would run out of digits, roll back to zero, and rob you of your high score lol.
 
ShortSideShelf said:
How goes the pinball machine repair? Any trouble finding parts for it? We had a pinball machine growing up but had trouble sourcing replacement parts for it after a while. I think it's collecting dust in my sister's basement now... Mind you, ours was pretty old even for a pinball machine :). If you got to 1,000,000 points on it, it would run out of digits, roll back to zero, and rob you of your high score lol.
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It's a tabletop arcade actually, but it's going well. Slowly. I just started by drawing an electrical schematic of what's in the cabinet. I can hear certain components that need to be replaced. Caps hissing, solenoids chattering, etc. Hopefully it's just a matter of replacing these components and replacing a few bulbs. It's a football game. Actually looks custom made, no serial number or mfg. noted on it. Really simple looking. Not even sure how you play until I can get it work and fire it up.
 
Finished powder coating the prototype. Pics coming soon...

The xbox controller receiver has limited range when mounted internally due to the thick 4mm aluminum case. So I came up with a clean way to mount it externally. Thanks to a coworker of mine, I was able to have it printed and I'll dye it black to match. It will mount to the side of the case by the power switch and just look like part of the case.

Here is the raw, unfinished part. Even a button to press the sync tac switch:
c12aae75e3a10f89dd1c991e5d2f677a.jpg

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Prototype is powder coated and the 3D printed xbox controller receiver is mounted:
6b974b3717d01258bcd1e9529ded2261.jpg

Smoothed out with a little 3M di noc carbon fiber vinyl:
b6e7b01ef831a261289e5d81af3d7aec.jpg
 
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