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My Aluminum Cube Worklog

K

kort0175

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
Messages
131
Ok here goes, much thanks to all on this forum who have helped with info on this project. Also those who have done this before were a great source of inspiration. You know who you are (meaning I have forgotten).

frontpanel.jpg


Here is the front panel sandblasted and clearcoated.

finishexample.jpg


Here is what the finish looks like up close.

finishcloseup.jpg



And closer still.

backpanel.jpg


Here is the backpanel unfinished.

presandblast.jpg


Here is what the aluminum looks like before I sandblast it.

sidesandbottom.jpg


Here are the sides and bottom before I sandblast them.

drivebay.jpg


My home made drivebay.

cornercloseup.jpg


A closeup of how I did my corners.

capscrews.jpg


And the capscrews I got from McMasterCarr (who I now love!).

Ill post more as I finish. All it is, is 1/8" aluminum sheet that I got from the scrap yard. Cut to make an 18" cube. Then sandblast to get finish and clearcoat.
I did sandblast because I tried to polish it and I'm really lazy so that was out. Plus this looks like a metal flake paintjob.
Thanks for looking.
 
It's looking good. I love seeing people build cases from scratch as it gets boring seeing the same mods be put into prebuilt cases. I just hope you have all the measurements done right ;) It's very annoying when you find one measurement to be slightly off when it should be near completion. Myself, I'm making a 14x11x8" ATX case out of wood I have laying around so I have something more compact than the midtower.

Hope to see updates as you progress further
 
Yeah the measurements were fun, but Ive been in the construction business most of my life so I learned that lesson early on. Thanks for the input. :)
 
Ok I now have the pieces home and put together.

fronttopon.jpg


Here is the finished product under the desk it will sit under (dangle).

inside.jpg


Here it is with the top off. Notice the fine lack of wire management at this point!

insideclosemobo.jpg


Here is the mobo I got from DarkEve (welcome back) and the Duron 1gb I got from someone else. Also a blazing GForce2 MX400 (Hey it doubled as a BF1942 client during this weekend's LAN party).

lightsandbutton.jpg


Here are the power button and power and HD leds.

frontwires.jpg


And inside view of same. Switch held by it's own nut, leds in place with hot glue (better than ducttape!).

drivebaytooclose.jpg


This one is for SGSeeker. You can see that the drivebay is in the perfect position in front of two 120mm fan holes. Awsome for cooling the fileserver drives. Bummer that they are so close to the outer wall that you cant get a screwdriver in. Will have to come up with a way to A: Quick disconnect bay from floor of case to maintain drives or B: use thumbscrews on drives. A might be cheaper in the long run. Thanks for the Jinx man. :p

More when I get the fans ordered and in.
 
Looks good man, I would go with thumbscrews for the HDD's that's the quick fix ;)
 
Originally posted by kort0175
Thanks for the Jinx man. :p
Click to expand...

Np, I do what I can ;)

That's just a minor inconvenience. Shouldn't create too much of a problem since drives don't change that often. The pictures make the case look huge.
 
awesome man, two things

1) how are you cutting it so damn perfect, thats my huge problem with mods, i cant cut for shit

2) thumbscrews are a dime a dozen, i'd put em on everything :D
 
I'd suggest looking into full-size drive bays for your HDD's. I think that you've got the real estate for it and for a small investment, you could get the hot-swap drive bays that would allow you quite a bit of flexibility. Just immagine a wall of removable drive bays on that box...

I'm getting a little aroused, I better stop.

You may even want to think about something like a few of these:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-121-405&depa=1
 
Originally posted by jmroberts70
I'd suggest looking into full-size drive bays for your HDD's.
Click to expand...

Good idea.
I thought about that but I really wanted the front to be as bare as possible (so why not put them on the side?)
Shut up inner voice!

Originally posted by kronchev
1) how are you cutting it so damn perfect
Click to expand...

One of the shops where I work has a big metal shear and a floor standing drill press with all sorts of bits, taps, and dies.

Thanks all for the input!
 
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