![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Hi guys,
As I mentioned the polling shows a majority opinion of keeping the style close to the original. It's ok to maybe add some venting, and get rid of back flanges, but don't get all chaotic or have crazy large vent holes.
(I did set it up so a person could vote for favorites, not just a single favorite, so I hope everyone noticed that and utilized it)
The path forward--
Well, a quick look at what we have so far: The design is getting pretty mature and I am close to finalizing all the details. There have been a astounding number of details, starting with fitting everything in, designing in some build flexibility, dimensioning, tolerancing and of course the mind-numbing struggle to find a home for the USB and audio. I would say the design is 95% complete.
There are a few details still wiggling around a bit, --such as making sure the screws holding the HDD bracket to the case aren't too long and damage the back of the front plate*, are common to another screw, and will work with slots in the bracket to make it easy to install/remove.
*A minor detail I'm working on is preventing any contact/damage to the back of the front plate, so the back could be flipped to face the front, enabling the owner to customize one face without having to buy another front plate.
Ok, some other details I'm working are: thin felt strips to contact areas to prevent scraping and rattling, adding an allowance for powder coat thickness to all affected interfaces, finishing revisions to component and assembly drawings. Things like that. I noticed that the headphone jack is a bit glitchy sometimes, so I need to get with the mfgr. blah, blah, blah.
So, great news is that the cover is very close to completion! I worked on it some tonight, and should have some thing up tomorrow night. I'm thinking no back flange, continuous venting on top but in a clean rectangle shape, and the larger top bends. This should be a best fit to the polling data. Doesn't mean everyone will be overjoyed, just most, and hopefully no one will be horribly disappointed. The pricing on the cover has always been a difficult problem, especially with low volumes. I think this revision will help the costing.
Color: Planning black textured powdercoat all over, except front plate. It will be black anodized mirror or brushed finish.
So, I plan to proceed with a production run, if there is sufficient interest of course. I has been more of a hobby than a business venture, and low volume runs is the pricing model. If interest picks up then it would be nice to entertain larger volumes.
So here is a rough timeline:
Sept: Finish details, get new quote packages, get audio glitching straightened out.
Early Oct: Finalize pricing and set up a pre-order list. Publicize in various forums. I plan to utilize a website forum thread (like the Project mATX does) for pre-ordering and purchasing. This could change, but right now I am planning to start small, and not use a kickstarter.
Mid Oct: Be ready to run a First Edition depending on pre-order interest, somewhere between 30 and 100 cases, probably closer to 30.
Caveats: Li Heat is revising their PCIE3.0 riser to fit more models of pcie mb connectors. I do not have timing from them yet on when they could ship. I may need to revise the case to accept various risers (3M, TT, 2.0, etc) as a contingency plan. As I mentioned, the audio board I am testing needs to be looked into. I do not know supplier timing yet, but some of the general lead times on quotes were 4-6 wks.
Whew, that's all I have right now. I will re-read the posts of the last few days and try to respond and get caught up.
Thanks everyone!!
As I mentioned the polling shows a majority opinion of keeping the style close to the original. It's ok to maybe add some venting, and get rid of back flanges, but don't get all chaotic or have crazy large vent holes.
(I did set it up so a person could vote for favorites, not just a single favorite, so I hope everyone noticed that and utilized it)
The path forward--
Well, a quick look at what we have so far: The design is getting pretty mature and I am close to finalizing all the details. There have been a astounding number of details, starting with fitting everything in, designing in some build flexibility, dimensioning, tolerancing and of course the mind-numbing struggle to find a home for the USB and audio. I would say the design is 95% complete.
There are a few details still wiggling around a bit, --such as making sure the screws holding the HDD bracket to the case aren't too long and damage the back of the front plate*, are common to another screw, and will work with slots in the bracket to make it easy to install/remove.
*A minor detail I'm working on is preventing any contact/damage to the back of the front plate, so the back could be flipped to face the front, enabling the owner to customize one face without having to buy another front plate.
Ok, some other details I'm working are: thin felt strips to contact areas to prevent scraping and rattling, adding an allowance for powder coat thickness to all affected interfaces, finishing revisions to component and assembly drawings. Things like that. I noticed that the headphone jack is a bit glitchy sometimes, so I need to get with the mfgr. blah, blah, blah.
So, great news is that the cover is very close to completion! I worked on it some tonight, and should have some thing up tomorrow night. I'm thinking no back flange, continuous venting on top but in a clean rectangle shape, and the larger top bends. This should be a best fit to the polling data. Doesn't mean everyone will be overjoyed, just most, and hopefully no one will be horribly disappointed. The pricing on the cover has always been a difficult problem, especially with low volumes. I think this revision will help the costing.
Color: Planning black textured powdercoat all over, except front plate. It will be black anodized mirror or brushed finish.
So, I plan to proceed with a production run, if there is sufficient interest of course. I has been more of a hobby than a business venture, and low volume runs is the pricing model. If interest picks up then it would be nice to entertain larger volumes.
So here is a rough timeline:
Sept: Finish details, get new quote packages, get audio glitching straightened out.
Early Oct: Finalize pricing and set up a pre-order list. Publicize in various forums. I plan to utilize a website forum thread (like the Project mATX does) for pre-ordering and purchasing. This could change, but right now I am planning to start small, and not use a kickstarter.
Mid Oct: Be ready to run a First Edition depending on pre-order interest, somewhere between 30 and 100 cases, probably closer to 30.
Caveats: Li Heat is revising their PCIE3.0 riser to fit more models of pcie mb connectors. I do not have timing from them yet on when they could ship. I may need to revise the case to accept various risers (3M, TT, 2.0, etc) as a contingency plan. As I mentioned, the audio board I am testing needs to be looked into. I do not know supplier timing yet, but some of the general lead times on quotes were 4-6 wks.
Whew, that's all I have right now. I will re-read the posts of the last few days and try to respond and get caught up.
Thanks everyone!!
