If anyone gives a poop about 3d printed cases

notarat

2[H]4U
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Mar 28, 2010
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Here's my new build. I can post more pics if you want.

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Looks like someone forgot to include the case texture in the release build. :p

Looks pretty slick. What all is in the orange box?
 
Looks like someone forgot to include the case texture in the release build. :p

Looks pretty slick. What all is in the orange box?
16Tb of storage and the power and I/O cables for now. V2 is printing and should be done by midnight. It's a simpler design. Fewer parts. 2 versus 3.
 
The computer case has worked out well. But, I already decided to go ahead and implement Version 2.0 of the design so I disassembled the current build.

I then redesigned Motherboard tray and rear I/O panel to be a single piece only 5mm thick. I know...it "sounds" like that is too thin. It's not. There is very little "stress" at all on the new tray/IO panel because it mounts to the red case portion and the bottom of the vertically-mounted GPU rests on the case bottom (it acts as a stressed member, giving strength to the design)

Drawbacks of the current build, above, are:

  • 3-piece design (Not counting PSU Mount or rear cooling fan)
  • Each part takes entirely too long to print (Tray =17+hrs; I/O Panel = 12+Hrs; Red Case portion = 68+hrs = ~100Hrs of print time)
  • Entirely too much filament used for what you get from it
  • Requires 15+ screws to assemble
  • Use of cooling fans (other than the ones on the heatsink) requires "kludges" to get them working (and Drilling a LARGE hole in my pretty motherboard tray)
  • Use of knurled nuts (which you "melt" into the mobo tray) weaken the mobo tray and you risk them popping out at some point)
  • Creating the "ground" points for the motherboard is not really difficult, but requires additional "kludges" to implement.

Benefits of Version 2.0 design:
  • Only 2 parts (Not counting PSU Mount or rear cooling fan)
  • Mobo Tray/Rear I/O shield are 1 piece and it takes only 14hrs to print
  • The new design allows me to easily install a 140mm/180mm cooling fan to cool the back-side of the motherboard and use a heatsink on the nvme SSD on the back-side of the Motherboard.
  • Newly-designed red case portion takes less than 38hrs to print
  • FAR, FAR less filament used! (Over 50% less!)
  • Only 4 Screws to attach the Motherboard tray/Rear I/O panel to the case portion
  • Use of M3 Spacers (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HL7RXVK?smid=A1THAZDOWP300U&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp&th=1) allows me to use M3 Nuts and Bolts & washers to secure the motherboard and allows for EASY implementation of motherboard ground for proper grounding of the system.
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I have a 2nd mobo and 5600G on order for ver. 3 case but I won't be able to make it until I finish the current one
 
Looks cool.

But more pictures please :)

Is the USB/audio front something you printed or?
 
More pics! Like psu area an other stuff in the pic to get an idea of size comparisons. what are you gonna with these current ones if your moving forward?
 
Looks cool.

But more pictures please :)

Is the USB/audio front something you printed or?

Neat... More pics please, I agree.

Anybody intentions to share the files? My itx tray computer is still under my desk

More pics! Like psu area an other stuff in the pic to get an idea of size comparisons. what are you gonna with these current ones if your moving forward?

Randall Stephens - I dunno if I'm going to share them yet. There's still a lot of tweaking I need to do to them before I feel comfortable sharing them.

hemandk, GoldenTiger, DeathSmasher - Pics are coming. Printing parts now but it's slow going because I'm working several print projects at the same time and I only have 1 operational large format printer. (which most of these parts are...)

The build requires a right-angle ATX Connector due to the massive Noctua Heat Sink
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Here's the left grill that just finished printing
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The mobo try & I/O Panel are done so I installed the Motherboard and 6900XT and temporarily powered the system up. It's working fine on the new tray/rear panel.

The bottom "case" portion has changed shape and size since I last attempted to print it. I got tired of 60+hr prints failing because of various reasons I had nothing to do with (loose set screws on the brass extruder gear caused print to fail, then a series of power fluctuations caused a failure 1" - 1.25" from completion of the original 310mm tall part)

So I redesigned it. It's now only 168mm tall (printed on its side) Instead of 68+hrs to print, it's just a hair's width less than 24hrs (23h59m21s)

I also added grills on the sides of it, and there is a 3.5" HDD mount in it now.

This is the latest mockup. I used different colors so you could see the differences.
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The PSU portion sits behind the tray/case area and is not seen, so I really didn't put much effort into its design...It secures the PSU and connects to the motherboard tray. The screws tie the PSU mount, mobo tray and case together like a clamp. Takes 4 screws to "assemble"

PSU Mockup.jpg


hemandk - The front audio & USB 3.2 Type A(2) and Mic/Headphone jacks are part of a piece I bought. It was just easier to get it as a unit. I had planned to remove the connectors from the "frame" but I like the frame so I just made a hole in the case for it. I got it from Newegg - https://www.newegg.com/en-labs-332002-metal-usb-3-0-front-panel/p/376-0018-00002?Item=9SIACJF85T5570

The PSU Mount it printing now on the CR6 Max and the right-side grill is printing on the FF Creator Pro, while the left-side grill is printing on the FF CreatorX. The CR10 S4 is printing radio buttons for my friend's Honda Oddessy and my Makerbot Replicator 2 is printing red Network Jack covers for our SIPR Net connections. (Makes it easier for people to tell the difference so we have fewer "spillages")
 
Yeah, the print times on these things is what kills it for me. I try to run a .6 nozzle as much as I can but still…
 
Yeah, the print times on these things is what kills it for me. I try to run a .6 nozzle as much as I can but still…

I think with a .6 the three main parts would finish in less than 20hrs. (if you're printing with .6 layer height)

I may pick up a second CR6 Max and install a .6 on it. That'd at least let me print the drafts far faster.
 
Here are some pics of the PSU Mount. This is the top, where the cables go through it to the case part, then up to connect to the motherboard or the peripherals in the case part. No. Those aren't "defects" from a "bad print". That's the "Brick Red" filament.
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The more I see it, the more I really dislike this Brick Red colored filament.


Here's the left side where the power switch and cord are located. I haven't used my jig to mark/drill the mounting screw holes yet...
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Here's the back side where the cables connect. The piece near the bottom is the retention bar for the PSU. It doesn't use standard screws; It uses grub screws so there are no screw heads sticking out.
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I'm really bummed with the color of this. I had a roll of Brick Red Overture which looked amazing but I ran out due to the extruder gear issue and power fluctuation issues killing my first two attempts at printing the case using their brick red colored filament.


Why not simply order more? I can't find any on Amazon or anywhere else for that matter.


The case portion is printing (in this same shitty color) and I expect it to be done at around 0200-0400 on Monday

More pics of the PSU mount showing the "color" (if it can be called that) of the filament.
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More progress to report:

The bottom case portion is at 43% complete
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I reprinted the grills for the case on my Flash Forge Creator Pro, using the silver filament I used for my pretty motherboard tray (which I used a 4" hole saw on, marring its perfect finish)
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You can't see it well in the pic above but I printed the grills on glass so they have a reflective finish to them. This is the exact opposite of the look I was going for with this build but I made the change in direction because while the "Brick Red" filament looks somewhat similar to real brick, it's shiny, not matte like the Overture brick red filament was. Since the case is going to be shiny I decided to make these shiny too.

I'd rather have used matte white on these to make them "pop" better against the brick red filament but I'm out of matte White PLA. All I have are two 3yr-4yr old 3D Solutech spools of shiny white PLA and a roll of Matte White ASA (which works well on my FFC Pro, but I don't want to breath in poisonous vapors)

Here's the side shot of the grill frames showing just a tiny amount of ringing on the part on the left. Not bad considering I've never maintained ANY of my printers. I don't even dust them off for 2-3yrs at a time, lol. I just dust buster them and clean the build plate then throw 'em to work...
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I tried to capture a pic of the reflectiveness of the parts but it's difficult. If you look at it in the right angle, you can not only see the light fixture reflected, you can tell what kind of LED light bulb is being used. (Though that level of detail isn't captured in the pic below)
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I look at 3D printed cases and realize I can make pretty much the same thing out of wood for less time and total cost. Plus a wood case with a nice stain looks awesome.
Except for the Woodward reserve case, I've never seen a wood case that looked good. With 3D printing, you have far less restrictions and can do things that are far more intricate than you can with wood. That being said, I haven't seen a good 3D printed case design so far.
 
WOW!!! I think it is all cool! I wish i had a buddy that was into 3d printing so i could learn the ropes. What do you use to make these models on the computer? What kinda printer are you useing? If any of yall have discord let me know, i would love to get into this kind of thing. Keep us posted! Looking amazing so far.
 
Here's the bottom "case" portion prior to the start of assembly. I have inserted the grills on both sides and the USB I/O panel to test-fit them.


One note: Dimensional accuracy on "a" printer may be "good enough" for everything you create using that printer but, when you're fitting parts printed on one printer to parts printed on another you need to have your $h!t straight. The grills are press-fit. They need nothing to secure them in place. I can shake the crap outta this and they stay put without budging a fraction of a millimeter. Same with the USB panel. I'm pleased with this aspect.

Pictures 5 & 6 show the case's "edge" in a less than favorable light. That side of the case was the side which was on the build plate (Blue Painter's Tape texture) and I did use a 3-line-wide brim 0.00mm away from the print to give it a tiny extra bit of a footprint. Based on how well it adhered, I don't think I need the brim/skirt any longer but I'm not re-printing the part just to avoid trimming the brim off.

The hard drive mount is printing on the Flash Forge Creator Pro right now (because I forgot to print it last night, lol)
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EDITED TO ADD:
One thing about the design I don't think I ever mentioned that those who don't have 3D Printers may not know...

Some of the "holes" in the case are diamond-shaped or have 45° corners. The reason for this is because when one prints a part, oriented on its side, the use of 45° corners in the holes means you don't "need" to use supports for that opening since most printers handle 45° angles easily.
 
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WOW!!! I think it is all cool! I wish i had a buddy that was into 3d printing so i could learn the ropes. What do you use to make these models on the computer? What kinda printer are you useing? If any of yall have discord let me know, i would love to get into this kind of thing. Keep us posted! Looking amazing so far.
Thanks. I use Tinkercad (free, online, and very simple CAD program) and print the items on a Creality CR6-Max printer or a Flash Forge Creator Pro (Or Creator X) printer, or a Makerbot Replicator 2.

Will be starting assembly today, mostly using M3, M4 or M5 screws and grub screws for the areas where I don't want a screw head showing.
 
Gonna be loading Win 10 on this one this week so I consider it done. (there are some tweaks to the design I need to do, as is always the case whenever you design something from scratch)

That said, I've already ordered the parts for my next one; 5700G, 16GB RAM, Stock Heatsink, a couple 1TB nvme SSDs and will start designing that case tonight. CPU Arrives Friday. Filament arrives Saturday so I should be able to get the design completed this week prior to the parts arriving.
 
No I don't in general, but this is cool shit. Love seeing people build cool shit. Less talk, more photos.
 
Status Update:

No work done at all the last week to 10 days. Why?

Both computers in my Sig are dead. The Lian Li started life and ended life as my daily driver but it started acting obstinate when accessing the nvme drives until the point it wouldn't boot up any longer. I drained and disassembled it, then pulled all the storage out and packed it up in a box and gave it to my friend. It's gone. (need to update my sig)

The replacement for the 3950X was the second system in my Signature. It started experiencing random shut-offs after less than a day in use (After I built it I put it on a shelf near my 3D Printers so it was sitting for about 5months unused, lol) Since I had moved it from the storage room to my bedroom thought I had maybe jostled something loose. It was built with soft tubing so I was able to remove and reseat all components and, based on the results of that I thought I had fixed it...right to the point where it stopped doing anything at all. It wouldn't even post...

Like the lady on the viral video said, "Ain't nobody got time for Bronchitis!" so I stuck the 5700G into my old Lian Li O11 Dynamic (NON-XL) and got it operational so I could finally stop using my phone to surf.

I took the parts from the 3D Printed case thread here to see if they would work in the motherboard from the 5950X. They were easy to test with. Since they were air-cooled I could troubleshoot with them easier than I could with the water-cooled parts. The 5800X/ASRock OC Formula 6900XT have been working flawlessly for the last 3 days.

I'd have restarted work on the case design (and my new case designs) this weekend but a water line on the 2nd floor of the condo to the right of mine burst, sending roughly 15gal of water per hr into my apartment since about 4pm yesterday...

It's just been fixed so I can finally stop using my 5Gal ShopVac to suck up the water and dump it into my toilet, LOL.

Will start working on the design again this week but I'm taking tomorrow off work to decompress from the stress and lack of sleep this weekend.

Here's the current (unfinisahed) design I'm working on. It's both modular and stack-able. Since the heat sink on the CPU is down-firing, this one is built around a Noctua 200mm fan pulling air down through the computer "sections". The design is open enough that there won't be issues with cooling...

stackable.jpg
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