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Building a U2-UFO case.

S

Silent Assasin

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
1,120
Ok, so as I mentioned in my pretty much worthless fact of the day thread, I am going to be custom building a new computer case soon. Thanks to SarverSystems, I found the case that originally inspired me to mod. Sarver reminded me of the cube cases made by Mountian Mods, http://mountainmods.com/index.php?cPath=21_32. But anyway, these U2-UFO cases is just what I'm basing new case on.

But with this beinf my first full custom case build, I'm not exactly sure where to start. Right now I'm in the process of designing everything out in AutoCAD. I'm also trying to price things out, and what I'm going to use while putting the case together. While looking around to see what metals were most commonly used, I've found that either sheat steal or Aluminum 5052 is used in higher end cases. So then my search for metals went on. If I went with steel, I figured that I'd try to really polish it up, such as the back of an Ipod, or If aluminum, the brushd aluminum look of most Li-Li's. Which do you think would work best? For the side panels I plan on using hinges rather then slots, it will make it alot easier, not nearly as much measuring and lineing up of the slots. I would also like to put in 1 or maybe 2 windows as well. I am custom building it so that I can pretty much get the same thing for hopefully no more then half of the $350 price tage MM is asking, and I also want to fit my newest water cooling rig into the case. I plan on building a custom box on the backside of the motherboard out of wood for my radiator, the wood will help dampen the sound of the 4x 120mm fans.

Now here's where my questions come in. I am big into lans and I know someone that got his 6800GT jacked last year because he didn't lock his case and so I'm a little worried since that. How hard would it be to put in my own lock? I think this would be easier to do since I am using hinges on the side panels as well.... And if it's possible, I might be putting a lock on my front as well. I'm thinking of pushing back all my drives about a half inch so that I can put on a door, and lock that as well.

I also want my new case to have a clean look, meaning no showing screws, bolts, or rivets. To do this, I plan on using JBWeld to attache my hinges. Do you guys think this would work to keep the panel attached to the case?

Now onto the the mobo tray, and drive mountings. I am planning on purchasing 1 or 2 old skeletons of cases, cleaning them up and then just using those parts for all my mountings. Almost none of those parts that I plan on salvaging will be showing through the window, so they don't need to be super clean.....

So what do you guys think of my plans? Do you think it's possible, and if so, how you guys like it? When I finish my plans, I will probably start a thread in the work logs.

Edit: If any one that has autocad, or even a DWG viewer and would like to see my drawings, I would be more then happy to share my plans with you. Any input on this plan would be great.
 
good plan, sounds like you have a lot of things figured out. It saddens me to hear that people are jacking others' HW at a LAN-party.
 
Well, by you not wanting any screws showing pretty much eliminates my idea of what I use to keep people out of my case................. :eek: I use a off size allen wrench button head screws to secure everthing in my case. There's not much of a chance of someone having a tool like that in their pocket.................... :D And it would take them awhile to open the case if they did. Attaching it with JB weld isn't really a great idea as you can pop the joint fairly easy, although it would make alot of noise and draw alot of attention to whom ever is doing it. Locks are only going to keep honest people honest, if someone want in you system bad enough, they will find a way.

PM me and I'll give you my email, I'd like to see your plans................... ;)
 
The thing about the U2-UFO is that you can unscrew the sides, and the top. When you make yours, you might want to take into account which parts can be taken off. Maybe you would want all 3 locked?

I have a U2-UFO, if you want some pics, I can probably hook you up.
 
Honestly I considered the same thing when I first bought my MM case which I really love, but you can get their cases for less than 300 un-powdercoated. For about 275 or so, that is hard to beat in just time and trouble alone. Not to mention materials, tools, and consumables.

But since you are going to do it, I would not go with the JBWeld either, those joints wont last long from people or moving around to LAN's either. If you really want it to hold up with no rivets, etc, I would weld it or have someone weld it for you. If you go with steel (which I wouldnt) then it would be easier to find someone to weld it. If you go with aluminum (which you should because it can be polished just as well) it may be a tad harder finding someone who can do it well for you. The MM cases are made of 5052 as well BTW... I hand polished my MM case to mirror finish (lots of work) and I am just loving how awesome it looks.
 
Comedian said:
The thing about the U2-UFO is that you can unscrew the sides, and the top. When you make yours, you might want to take into account which parts can be taken off. Maybe you would want all 3 locked?

I have a U2-UFO, if you want some pics, I can probably hook you up.
Click to expand...

Ya, that'd be great if you could post some inside pictures of this thing. I'm having troubles trying to find pics online. And the very few pics that are in the case mod gallery are too hard to find among the 200 pages....

Early today, I've thought a bit more on the structure and how it is going to fit together. After reading your posts, it does seem a bit hard to build it without anything showing. The solid weight bearing parts of the case I've decided will be made of most likely aluminum L brackets and build a cube with them. Then essentually put the sides on in various ways. Idealy it would be nice if I could have both sides and the top open up, but it wouldn't be a major loss if my design woulnd't let me have an opening top..... Also while looking at my 3d models again, it might be a bit hard to put on a front door panel. Instead of MM's 18" cube, I'm going to try and cut the size to 14" cubed. Also, I'm not quite sure what made me think of it, but I came up with a locking mechanism. This lock would also allow me to easily attach the side panels withou hinges. Pretty much, I'd cut a slit in the edge of the panel, and then stick in a peice of aluminum sort of in the shape of a "Z". So that when the panel is latched down, the bottom of the Z will grab onto the bottom of the fram. It will take some work, but I'll try to design this lock in AutoCAD after work tonight.
 
Silent Assasin said:
Ya, that'd be great if you could post some inside pictures of this thing. I'm having troubles trying to find pics online. And the very few pics that are in the case mod gallery are too hard to find among the 200 pages....

Early today, I've thought a bit more on the structure and how it is going to fit together. After reading your posts, it does seem a bit hard to build it without anything showing. The solid weight bearing parts of the case I've decided will be made of most likely aluminum L brackets and build a cube with them. Then essentually put the sides on in various ways. Idealy it would be nice if I could have both sides and the top open up, but it wouldn't be a major loss if my design woulnd't let me have an opening top..... Also while looking at my 3d models again, it might be a bit hard to put on a front door panel. Instead of MM's 18" cube, I'm going to try and cut the size to 14" cubed. Also, I'm not quite sure what made me think of it, but I came up with a locking mechanism. This lock would also allow me to easily attach the side panels withou hinges. Pretty much, I'd cut a slit in the edge of the panel, and then stick in a peice of aluminum sort of in the shape of a "Z". So that when the panel is latched down, the bottom of the Z will grab onto the bottom of the fram. It will take some work, but I'll try to design this lock in AutoCAD after work tonight.
Click to expand...
Of course, you do know that MM makes a 14" cube as well: Twice7 14" Cubed Case ($269 ALREADY black powdercoated)

Just FYI... I'd imagine if you called them to customize the case order, they would sell you one non-coated for about $219 or less...
 
Well, I'm sure that if I really looked around, I coulf find something that I like for less then 300, but then I'm just a DIY guy, and when I start something, I have to finish it myself..... When I finish up my drawing with detail I'll decide if this will be possible with my skills. Bio, sorry I didn't send ya the drawings last night, I got home from work and realized that DoD: Source was finally released, and then got caught up in the gaming.... I promise you tonight.....
 
Ok, so I was just offered one hell of a deal on sheet aluminum 5052 and dimond plate aluminum so I'm starting to rush out my final questions.... What way would be best for cutting the sheet aluminum and dimond plate? I figured that I could rotozip the majority and then get in close with the dremel. But my panels will be 15" squared and I'm starting to think a rotozip/dremel will be fairly hard to make a straight cut for that long.

Also, I need to make some very exact cuts on my frame. I will be using some angled aluminum for this and butting it together with angled joints and capping it off and assembling with rivets most likely (I'm a little stuck as to how I should hold it together). For the frame I've decided to go with 2 different types of angles. First for the interior joints, I'm using some rounded edge with 1" legs. On the outside of that I'm sticking on some .5" leg square edged bracket. This is give me a half inch of recessed area to lay my panelling flat. To attach the 2 brackets my current plan is to gule them together first and clamp them as tight as possible without marking it. After it dries, I want to make my measurements and make the cuts(again not exactly sure what to cut with. My plan is to use the chopsaw, but would I need some specail blade for aluminum?) And after the cut is made, I want to drill holes in the joint, 1 at the very ends and 1 in the middle. I will them place pop rivets through them just for reinforcement. The 2 rivets on the ends will also be going through the end caps to hold them in place. The caps aren't anything for support but just simply there to hide my joints. I then plan on on laying .25" wide sticky foam in the recessed area that my panels will be screwed to.

Tools at my disposal:
1. Table saw(No metal cutting blades, but if it is highly suggested I might get one)
2. Chopsaw, boxcutter, whatever you wanna call it(the thing that you pull down to make the cut)
3.Handheld jigsaw with metal cutting blades
4. Rotozip with all the attatchments
5. Dremel with all the attatchments
6. Many different types of sanders for cleaning up edges
Uh, I think that's about everything that might actually work on cutting aluminum, but I do have plenty more tools, just name it and I'll try and get it....
 
A finish wood blade will cut aluminum if it's not to thick, but it will kill the blade for cutting wood after a bit of use. I've cut up to panel thickness from Lian-Lis on mine without a problem, just be very careful and take it slow and you'll be fine................ :eek:

This was cut on a table saw with a wood finish blade.

dsc002299kl.jpg
 
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