Phinix Aurora

[phinix]

Thanks Bill, had "a few" days break, but I'm back!


UPDATE

As you all can see I'm not dead I was working on something on the side and didn't have time to play with my Aurora. This weekend I had few moments so wanted to do something that will show some colors of my project.

As I showed and did last time I was outside, enjoying good weather (in last few weeks it has been cold and snowing here in Glasgow) I had cut out some rectangles from aluminum. There were going to be support plates for LEDs under drive cage shelves.
So I decided to cut them in half, they were bit too big. Then I drilled holes in them - I wanted to mount them under shelves by screwing them to it.

I marked holes on them...

..then drilled and then matched those holes on acrylic shelves...

Then I drilled holes in acrylic and pushed those brass inserts into the holes.
You can see the pattern there - two 5cm LED strips go in the aluminum plate, then turn over and screw it to the acrylic shelf.

And here's the sandwich
LEDs will be soldered together later.

Now, I had these pieces cut from blue acrylic.
Those are the bits for "drive envelopes" Yes, everything need to have unique names
I needed two 7mm deep/tall envelopes for SSDs and one 9.5mm tall for 2.5" HDD.
Now, those two pieces with lots of holes are for ATX and PCIe cables, I will get back to those later

Big blue piece on goes on white first...
Two small pieces go on each side... small squares will keep drives in place.

Top piece goes on top

Here is a little mock-up of the envelope.

Next two photos is just me playing with colors
I was taking all pieces for a bath.. Time to do some wet sanding on all edges before I start gluing them together...

First gluing long bit... and rest of them, one after another...

Boom.. first envelope ready...

..and glued to the big white piece...

Few good minutes later.. all three shelves ready to go!
Maybe edges don't look perfect, but they're really ok.
I noticed my special acrylic glue become solid for some reason (was waiting in the box for 2 years, so maybe time did its job...). So I had to use super glue, which leaves a bit of bright stains under acrylic bits. But at the end it all looks good I say...

It was time to try out the taller one with some spare HDD...

Fits nicely... good job.. Looks ok. Happy days...:thumb:

That is all for now. Next time I will prepare radiator cage. Time to screw down the big boy and build it up with nice mesh.

Till next time:thumb:

 

[colinstu]

saw this on the frontpage... sub'd!

I'm not usually much of a lianli guy but you're doing awesome work!

 

[Blauman]

Sub'd as well, this looks cool! I must have missed your other project but I really dig the way you were getting the screw posts into the acrylic.

 

[mnpctech]

Awesome, I love your work!

 

[phinix]

saw this on the frontpage... sub'd!

I'm not usually much of a lianli guy but you're doing awesome work!

Thanks. I'm about to do lots of stuff to this case, so at the end it won't look like any case from that manufacturer on the market

Sub'd as well, this looks cool! I must have missed your other project but I really dig the way you were getting the screw posts into the acrylic.

Thanks, I'm happy you like my work. If you have time and didn't see that, please take a look at Nano Tower project, it's my favorite

Awesome, I love your work!

Thanks Bill, you are watching my project so closely, I hope you are not getting bored waiting for updates!

 

[phinix]

After my birthday I was sick for couple of weeks, then there was Easter, then I had my daughters birthday, was still sick (I think I still didn't get rid of cough.. some nusty virus I caught...) so was pretty occupied for a last month, that is why there was no update. But I'm back now and did some work on Aurora, so it is time to share

It's been raining here in Scotland for last few days (more like a week I guess) and it looks like it will rain next week too
It is time to another small-ish update.
I caught some sun today (plus some sudden rain falls too... and did some work outside.

But before this I wanted to show you want I recently received.
Watercooling magicians from EK sent me more presents:clap:

As I showed before, EK gave me their waterblock for GTX670.
To complete its look and make it in project's color scheme, EK guys sent me white acetal top for it!
And that is not all!
They also sent me their latest reservoir! With additional white top and bottom bits!!!

Look at that!

I had to try those out and swapped top and bottom bits
What a beauty...

I wanted to thank EK again for all those fantastic items - these will blend in nicely to the whole internals.

 

[phinix]

I showed you guys those L shape frame bits before - these are the elements for radiator cover or "cage" if you like
Front of the case will be occupied by huge dual radiator with two fans. Some, 20mm exactly, will be sticking out from the internal part of the case to the front cover. This front cover is pretty thick so there is more than 2cm of space between end of internal case and front wall. So some part of radiator will sit inside, some in the front part of the cover. I hope that makes sense...

Now, radiator and fans will be covered with a nice wall, made of those L shape bits, narrow aluminium wall on the left and nice mesh inside the case.

Here are the main bits:

This is two pieces put together, left wall of the radiator compartment.
Don't worry those bits are uneven on top, they will be cut to size later on.

But first, I want to show you mounted acrylic "spine" for drive cage
Yep, I finally mounted it.

Here are main bits, two blue acrylic rods and two opal holders, top and bottom one.
As you can see, one on the left is bottom one, will be screwed to the bottom of the case. Top one, on the right, has already installed brass inserts on the side, cause this one will be screwed to the side panel of the case, internal one, which I cut to size and mounted on the right from mobo tray.

Now, these two will be pushed on those rods and will end up in the middle. They will be reservoir holders mounts.

Small adjustment to the case top rail Rods were pretty long

..and rods installed. I let myself to play with different color program son my camera

Oh, this is a part of next update, cause it's not finished, but I will show it anyway
Here you can see brass inserts already installed in acrylic rods. These are the first pair, which will hold first drive cage shelf. I tested it and it look awesome, but need to finish all the way up before show it

Kinda small teaser:hehe:

OK, let's get back to radiator compartment.
Here is a small L shape holder for a left wall...

..and here you can see drilled and ready to be screwed right side L shape bracket, right next to mounted rods "spine"...

..and the left wall "pushed in". I will use rivets to mount them, so for now they are only pushed, to show the idea. Between those brackets I will install nice mesh and glue it to the frame with double sided tape, to make it look flash. I have some nice mesh left after Nano Tower project, when I got it from Bill, from MNPCTECH.

Three last photos show the middle acrylic reservoir holders mounts pushed down.
Holes are perfect so it was pushed down pretty hard, so they won't slide.
Of course they will be drilled and brass inserted, to make sure my beautiful EK reservoir won't move.

OK, that is all for now. I hope you like this update and will patiently wait for another:hehe:
Looks like next Monday is a holiday, so will be taking day off to stay with my daughter at home. This may create good opportunity to go out and do some more work on Aurora.

So, please stay tuned! :thumb:

 

[xiamyou-pcs]

Holly molly... I don't no what to say, this is just an amazing project! I am so inspired by it.

 

[mnpctech]

hows it going Mike? everything looks awesome so far!

 

[SlvrDragon50]

Wow. Your work with acrylic is just incredible.

 

[phinix]

Guys, sorry for a delay. I was away for couple of weeks, here and there. Then had some problems with my house (leaking roof again!), now I'm working in my garden, summer started so had to do some work. Lately I have been digging in my back yard to prepare nice base for my new shed, where I will continue my project. Shed ordered so need to work hard now to meet the deadline, cause shed guys will come up soon with slabs to finish the base and build my workshop
So please be patient, soon will continue my project in brand new place

 

[phinix]

UPDATE ??!! NO WAY !!!
...yes way

Guys thank you all for your patience. As I mentioned before I was pretty busy/sick/away for last couple of months, that is why Aurora was collecting dust on my attic. I had to finish all planned "summer projects" before I could start modding again. During last two months (weekends only cause I'm unable to do anything during the week due to work I have made concrete slab base for a new shed, got rid of old one, got new one on new spot, made a nice concrete slab patio in the place of old shed and cleaned up my attic (a bit, most of the stuff is still waiting
So please let me start this fresh update with photos of steps I went through to moment I could grab my dremel and start working on Aurora again

First, everyone who was fallowing my logs saw my old shed in my back garden.

Back then I could only work outside that little rotting shed. You can see there is a wee garden in the back - previous owner had some kind of flowers or weed or something there. Totally unused spot. So I decided to get a new shed right there. Ground was uneven, like a small bump, so had to dig it all out first and make it even, before I could make this slab base.

It wasn't easy - it was made of stone hard clay and lots of roots, old broken slabs, rocks, bricks... I was so happy I didn't dig out some body parts... I dug out some old brick with a date on it - 1947...
So I was digging it out day by day, slowly getting to the back end of it. I decided to leave a meter long space behind for some stuff in the future, so here was finished spot.

Then I ordered tone of sharp sand, 31 cream concrete slabs and in one weekend I made this:

Then few weeks after my brand new shed came, guys built it in 40 minutes
6x12 feet beauty. I could only have 6 feet wide cause that ground was pretty narrow and the end. So made it 12 feet long, perfect for my new workshop

Guys also took the old shed, using chain saw they took it down - it took them about 2 hours to do that - looks like destroying isn't so easy then creating after all

On the photo below you can see new shed in place, then old shed bits left and all my stuff outside - it was raining right after they finished so I had to quickly cover all my stuff then take them inside new shed. I was sick after this for couple of days, got cold, back pains and everything. But it was worth it

...and my new workshop

...and I have a window!!!

Next step was to get rid of all the rabbish after old shed, plus some old fance that my "fantastic" neighbour left on my side when he was building a new fence on his garden.. don't ask...:duh:

During this time my mum was visiting us, so she helped us with all the work - my wife, mum, daughter - all were working... under my supervision
Spot was cleaned and I shifted all the rubbish to local recycling center.

After another weekend, new patio was made. Again, I had to order tone of gravel, slabs, 10 bags of mortar etc... It was nice sunny day, so I was making thispatio, while my lovely family was making a BBQ.. there is nothing better from having a beer and nice grilled polish sausages after hard work...:naughty:

Here from bird's view - new patio in the middle of garden with a nice wooden picnic table... plus blue trampoline... little one wanted to have something for her in new garden too...
You can also admire some clean drying underwear of my neighbors on both sides

Last weekend was a time to finally do something in my new workshop - I needed a strong work table. So I took a trip to B&Q again and got myself a nice kitchen worktop and some timber for structure. After couple of hours and about 40 used screws, table was ready.

OK! So that would be it! I know that for someone who does things like that all the time, these are nothing, but believe me - being IT my whole life - making such a wee "construction jobs" was pretty a lot and I'm really proud of myself

Now, getting back to Aurora. Here is a quick shot of Aurora chillin on a new picnic table, just before it was taken to the new workshop

Now actual update on the project. Short one, cause I just started working in my new place.
It is time to finish up front radiator cage and make main right wall mounted solid.
You can see radiator stands lying on the edge of the case - it is uneven, so I had to do something with it before I could go forward.

After couple of minutes with my huge file... hehe.... well, not to embarrass anyone.. it is average size really...
...edge is sorted.

Now the right wall. I had to make an entrance to the back of the drive cage, so cut out a hole in the back - it will be covered with piece of aluminum at the end - moveable of course, so I could easily have access to drives cables.

Now, to make this wall steady as a rock, I had to fabricate small support bricks - white acrylic of course, 10mm thick. I had one spare drive shelf that I used for those....

..and with nice rounded edges...

Last bit I wanted to show is this top cover/section/balcony for dvd - it will be mounted on top of the drive cage blue acrylic rods. I will explain this later when will be mounting it.
Right now, photos of cut out fro white 3mm acrylic sheet all the bits. Those square holes are right for those rods, so you can imagine how they gonna go.

This is about it for now. I'm off tomorrow, busy most of the day but will have few hours in the workshop to do some more steps. Will show that too of course. And the new weekend is coming quickly, so will be working on Aurora again:thumb:
Thanks for watching guys! Mod on! :dremel:



Ow, forgot to mention it.
Do you guys remember that I also said I will be modding the keyboard that Cooler Master kindly sent me?

So here is first part of modding - key caps.
As a real hardcore IT, I had a sweet Commodore 128 in the past - those were days..
That is why I wanted to make this keyboard (Cooler Master TKL Quickfire Rapid) to look like an old Commodore keyboard. There was one crazy GroupBuy on keyboard enthusiasts forums that was called "Retro DSA" - and I took part in that GB.
Here is the result, ENJOY! :blush:

Til next time! This time, really soon!

 

[Jorona]

Holyshit. I want that keyset. Got a link? You need to spray that keyboard casing beige. Then, it shall be complete.

Good job on the shed too. Wish I had a dedicated space at home to work. Right now I have to bring everything to the shop to do anything.

 

[phinix]

Holyshit. I want that keyset. Got a link? You need to spray that keyboard casing beige. Then, it shall be complete.

Good job on the shed too. Wish I had a dedicated space at home to work. Right now I have to bring everything to the shop to do anything.

Second phase will be creating new cover for the keyboard so stay tuned!

 

[Octonaut]

very nice progress, where are you buying the acrylic?

 

[phinix]

very nice progress, where are you buying the acrylic?

Thanks. I buy it on ebay, whatever is cheapest.

 

[phinix]

Hi guys!
Time for new update.
It is SO much easier to work on projects when I have a dedicated space for it.... sweet shed

So here it is!
As I showed them before I drilled those holders and hot-pushed inserts.

Here they are attached to the radiator cover wall.

Then I fabricated another two... for other side - to mount front side of mobo wall...

Here are both sides mounted with those holders. Steady as a rock
Please have in mind that those screws and nuts I use now will be replaced with nice silver dome nuts and bolts, which I even may paint white at the end. Those I use now are just temporary. Same for rivets - have some black leftovers, so use them for now - I already have white rivets for final finish.

Also fabricated these 4 front panel holders, but will use them later - front panel will be mounted way after

Now, this is.. door.. let's call it a door Door to the rear of drive cage/shelves.
It has a nice round hole, which will be a gap where all cables+wres will go to the back of the case.

Now, I had to drill and cut out holes for cables/wires that go to the mobo...

..and all holes done.

Also mounted this blue acrylic pass-through bit for 24 wire mobo cable.

..and more holes for cables/wires that go under the mobo...

Now, here is a white/opal slim drive shelf I showed before - just a mockup, so you can see how it will be mounted. I need to do some wee adjustments to it and fit in dvd drive.

I had some left overs of mesh I received from Bill from MNPCTECH when I was working on Nano Tower. I cut out a nice rectangle and pushed it in the radiator cage. It will be mounted with double sided tape, nice and clean.

That is all for now. Thanks for stopping by:thumb:

Next thing I will be working is that dvd mounting thingy. I noticed that top line of the internal case is too high, so need to cut off a bit to squeeze a dvd there.
After that I will finish drive cage - need to solder those leds that go under each shelf and mount those shelves in first place.

Stay tuned:thumb:

 

[mnpctech]

Great to see you back on this project, Love where it's going

What is your plan with aluminum fuel cover style 120mm blowhole fan grill?

 

[phinix]

Great to see you back on this project, Love where it's going

What is your plan with aluminum fuel cover style 120mm blowhole fan grill?

Thanks Bill!
There will be 120mm fan on top end of the case. I will push blue acrylic between this grill and case, so it will be raised 3mm. Maybe even put some leds to light it up a bit

 

[phinix]

A wee update/summary for today.

I have put together drive cage to finally see how it will look inside. I drilled all holes in blue rods and pushed brass inserts. Then mounted all 3 shelves and installed it in the case.
Basically, pretty much all main bits are done inside. Power cage (PSU and wire cables junction) finished before, now drive cage and radiator cage.

First - wire holders for mobo 24 pin cable.
These were cut from opal 10mm thick acrylic ****. Holes are for two wires each, 12 in total.
I drilled holes and mounted it behind mobo tray.

I put that additional wall in front so you can see how wires will go.
First will go through first wire holder, up to the second, were they will turn a bit left, to finally get to blue holder to other side. Then straight to mobo.

I used Tensol 13 to glue together those white bits for a dvd shelf.

So here it is - this is what we have at this stage.

Drive cage ready and installed, dvd shelf installed.

Here's dvd coming in. You can see this wee bracket for mounting it.
I need 3 small screws to finish it, but they are coming to me now, thanks to mingingbollock - thanks man!:thumb:

With the top on...

Unbranding the front

That is all for now
Stay tuned!

 

[mnpctech]

Love the combination of alum, acrylic and mesh!

 

[phinix]

Love the combination of alum, acrylic and mesh!

Cheers Bill! I'm going to powder coat it white at the end, but looking at it just now I have to say it looks pretty nice too. I like the look of raw alu
It reminds me your Fusion mod, blue and clear alu, sweet combination.

 

[phinix]

Guys, I worked on front panel look and made few versions, however this one has made to the end of "brain storm" so here it is, front panel sketchup:

 

[phinix]

Update time...

After designing that front panel I sent sketchups to Tom from Chilled PC and here is what I got last Friday.

Aluminium bits CNCed nicely. I also bought a blue acrylic sheet for all external work.
It's frosted blue, so will look cool, when lit up from behind.

I went to my shed yesterday (it was already dark after 3:30pm) and drew and cut out main pieces for front panel. Apologies for low quality photos, I used my phone...

Then started to file down and sand all edges. I still need to polish them nicely.
Next will be mounting front panel to the case.

I'm thinking how I'm gonna mount it. I thought I could add 3mm gap between main front panel and those acrylic and aluminium bits and squeeze SMD led strips there.
It would be a lot easier, just to glue those strips to main case panel and then screw down blue acrylic and aluminium layer on top...

What do you guys think?

 

[mnpctech]

sold me on the design, hopefully you'll have another update soon!

 

[phinix]

Yep, here it is!

HAPPY NEW YEAR Everyone !!! :clap:

Christmas break is always a good moment to spend some time on modding project
Between holiday feasts I managed to do some work on Aurora, yay!:naughty:

Wires... I bought myself a nice crimping tool while ago (most expensive hand-tool I have:wallbash, so this job wasn't that hard I have to say.
I have made 24pin cable, 2x 8pin gpu cables and 4pin CPU one.

I prepared everything and started to cut 24 even pieces for ATX cable.
Christmas tree obligatory photo

When got all cut up, I pushed them through those holders I made before.
Just to see how it will go on...

Then took out pins and started to crimp them, one after another...

..all 24 wires done, ready to be pushed in the nice blue plug

Done!
I will mount it at the end, when the case will be powder coated. This extension will be mounted permanently, so it won't be bale to come out.
I decided to do this so all cables will be custom made and easy to use with any PSU in the power cage. I won't need to mod the PSU to make it match the whole scheme.

Now, 8-pin GPU cables...

16 even pieces of wire... my little daughter was a great helper in cutting those

Done card plugs side and pushed through the acrylic blue holder (it will be mounted in power cage right below the card's power sockets).

Now other side plugs... pins ready to go...

Crimped...

...and done!

CPU 4-pin power cable was easy, 4 pins done in no time.
This is how it's going to be routed. I need to drill some holes for P shape wire holders on those corners. However I don't have other side plug, will need to look for it later...

This is it. Good time spent on wiring, when watching some movies
Tomorrow - back to work! Festive time is over for me:waah:
Soon, another update, stay tuned:thumb:

 

[mnpctech]

This is coming along real nice, phinix!

 

[phinix]

Cheers Bill!

Update time!

I had some of this stuff done like 4 weeks ago, but wanted to put together some more, that is why update was pushed away few times.

Plus one little accident that happened week ago, I will explain below.

So! A while ago I had those 4 small cubes made for mounting front panel. I had to drill holes in them and push those threaded inserts, then mount them on case frame and screw front panel to it.
I matched and measured front panel and drilled holes in it. Bought some 25mm long M3 screws and here it is:

Cubes mounted, waiting for inserts...

Inserts inserted

..and front panel fits like a glove

Next was to drill 20mm holes in rear of the case for 2 buttons that will control lighting in the case.
Holes drilled, filed, sanded and one of the white buttons tried on...

After I mounted front panel, I noticed that it all looked nice and pretty, but... I had to "adjust" it a little for dvd!
Front panel had too much stuff on the way of slim dvd drive.
These cases have plastic bits on top and bottom of the front panels so both, aluminum and plastic had to be filed down...
Here is plastic bit cleared, dremel action

Then front aluminum bit also cut off, dremel action

Tried the dvd drive and all looked fine!

...then I tried to put on top panel...

Little "lip" strip was on the way! Oh you little...!!!

..now.. that's better...

As you see there is a big hole in drives bay, so I had to cover bigger part of it.
I asked Tom From ChilledPC to cut a wee rectangle to cover it. It had to be precise 149x65mm with perfect 90degree corner, so had to be done on CNC.
Tom cut it out for me and day after I got the piece. I will mount it later using rivets on both sides.

As i did most of the wiring before, I still had to mount 8pin graphics card power cables, so had to measure and cut out hole for it.
Hole cut out and sanded..

...and PCIe cables in the hole, nice...

Now the bad moment...
As you saw in previous updates I used M3 threaded inserts in all acrylic bits.
Next step was to make mounting blocks for reservoir that will hang on two blue rod spine I made for drive cage.
So I made same shape white acrylic blocks and I pushed M3 inserts in them, same as before...

However, when I was mounting it, I screwed them too much and inserts broke through...
Looks like those M3 inserts are fine for small and delicate mountings. So I had to order M4 inserts, same as I used in Phinix Cube.
Those "baaastardos" are huge compared to those M3s. They came last Friday and I could continue my work. I pulled out those M3s, re-drilled holes and pushed M4 inserts.
Look at the difference! Only 1mm bigger screws and how much bigger inserts are! M4 has nice big teeth so it holds in the plastic really strong.

NOTE FOR FUTURE : do not use M3 threaded inserts for installations that needs to be firmly mounted!


So, reservoir holders mounted and look nicely

Last thing I have done last weekend was... top fan exaust hole !!!

I'm telling you guys - this machined billet aluminum fan grill is so sexy, I unpacked it and was touching and admiring it for good 10 minutes
Fantastic piece of aluminum, nicely made Mnpctech!
See, I'm gonna powder coat it satin white to match the whole theme, but inside I feel like I would love to leave it like it is.
If I'm gonna make some future projects with Mnpctech 120mm blow hole, I will definitely leave it unpainted!

So, frosted blue acrylic pieces had to be cut, same theme and shapes as front panel of course.

Action photo (well, with jigsaw turned off Right in the middle of drawn lines, I like to draw 3mm gap - perfect for jig saw cutting...

Here they are, 3 acrylic pieces and blow hole kit:

First, I cut out "round" hole in top panel... well, not really round I say
but it doesn't matter, it will be covered anyway...

..then in acrylic, first time I use jig saw to cut 120mm hole, pretty good for a first time!

..and blow hole kit tried on.. perfect!

That is it for now. I hope you like this wee update.

Next one on Thursday, 13th March!

 

[phinix]

UPDATE TIME!

I can't believe I missed these photos!
I've done lots of soldering for drive shelves lighting and never showed it!:wallbash:
So here are few. Again, please note that I'm not a good in soldering, simply get the job done

Here is my soldering station/mess ready to go

Each shelf gets 2 3-led strips, all shelves' lighting soldered together between levels and goes out with one pair of wires straight to the power chamber.

I gotta say, soldering those strips is a pain! I don't know why but solder doesn't hold of it easily! Am I doing something wrong? I almost burnt it through, solder didn't hold on to the small round pads on the strips. I finally get them all soldered but seriously, pain!:wallbash:

...anyway, today I took out radiator and fans to put together.

I love the "whiteness" of those fans

Both screwed down.

This is how it's going to sit in the case, fans sucking air from inside the case to the front of it.

I bought myself few bits and wanted to show here - white ring power switch and fill port.
They both will be mounted on top of the case. Fill port will be sitting next to the 120mm blow hole ring, connected to the top hole in reservoir.
Power button - I haven't decided yet where it's going to go.

Any ideas?

OK, now I have to dress up, it's time for birthday party:clap:
See you next time guys:rock:

 

[mnpctech]

can't wait to see this build finished, will be nothing less than Epic!

 

[xDezor]

Love it! Makes me want to start working on my PC-A04.

 

[phinix]

Cheers guys!

I have a small update for you today.

This is work I done last and previous weekend, so you can see how little time I have for my modding during the week

First dvd measured up and mounted - I had to measure depth of the dvd drive - how deep can it go to touch acrylic front panel.
I drilled two holes in white shelf and screwed it down.

Also mounted whole drive cage/reservoir acrylic spine and mounted this white beautiful reservoir I got from EK.

Then I tried out front panels bits, not finsihed, but wante to see how it will look so far...

That was two weeks ago, now what happened yesterday...
I had to align and mount this sweet little Scythe fan controller.
So first tried it out with just alu front panel bit...

I had to mod this controller metal cage, cause it was getting in a the way of front acrylic panel and needed to install it right behind top alu bit...

That is better, filed down sides and got rid of front bits...

Then I cut out some small L shape alu bit so I could easily screw it down to the acrylic front panel middle bit and to the controllers cage.
You can see here, it will be mounted below the controller cage...

3mm thick acrylic panel will be enough to hold it down. I had to drill and tap those holes

Now I'm waiting for new screws to be delivered for this - I ordered very short 4mm M4 screws for this to be mounted.


In the meantime, have a quick look at front panel - top bit covering dvd will be glued to the acrylic bit behind, so it's only lying there.
Name bit, middle grill and bottom triangle are screwed down. Acrylic bits aren't finished yet, some edges need to be filed down and sanded, will do that later.
So it's just a wee mockup for you
Imagine all black bits being white and white light glowing behind those blue acrylic bits... there! This is how it's going to look like when I finish it

 

[shollz]

looks amazing

 

[phinix]

Update time.

As I mentioned before, all metal work is done.
I started to dismantle the case and clean it up with high grade sand paper before I send it to powder coat place.

Let's see what has happened in last month.
Here is how it looked last time.

Top panels are ready, only need to screw them down.

Holes drilled in first piece.

Then acrylic piece measured and drilled.

Second piece was straight forward, same steps here...

...and all screwed down. Job done

Top panel ready to go, still need a hole for fillport....

Now here... slight change in mounting of front panel. I really didn't like the way it was done in first place - M3 thin screws going through the front alu, acrylic, then front panel.. too many layers and hard to find a hole in almost 30mm thick front panel.
So I added M4 threaded inserts to those acrylic mounting blocks and decided that front panel will be screwed from the sides! Brilliant!

I tried out dvd to see how it aligns.. looks perfect to me...

...and front covering bit.. will be glued at the end.

Now the controller - here is how it's gonna be mounted.

It sticks out too much, so I trimmed it a bit to make sure it will fit in the radiator cage.

Now these little beauties...
Seriously, those feet are so sweet I'm not gonna powder coat them. I will keep them clear, cause the shine so nicely
Yes... I like feet... :eeek:

Drilled and mounted.

I tell you, fast mounting cutting wheels are bless....

I had to make some small gaps for dvd cables on the top of that plate.

I also had to make these - small acrylic blocks with threaded inserts for mounting top panel.
Case frame drilled and ready for mounting...

That is it for now. Next week it will be all packed and sent to Tom in ChilledPC for powder coating goodness...


Now, I still don't know where I'm going to mount power switch !!!:waah:

Any ideas ???? :worried:

 

[sbudbud]

Damn, looking at all the custom rigs on this site makes me jealous, soon i might have to build one

 

[Cudenver]

wow, its looking nice, can't believe the skills you have, this must have taken tons of hours.

 

[jojojonny22]

love those white enermax fans.

 

[phinix]

Damn, looking at all the custom rigs on this site makes me jealous, soon i might have to build one

wow, its looking nice, can't believe the skills you have, this must have taken tons of hours.

love those white enermax fans.

Thank you guys for your comments! Nice to see you like those updates.

While I'm waiting for the case to be powder coated, I wanted to show you what I have received from Monsoon Cooling company. There is no need to introduce this brand - all watercooling enthusiasts know it very well. Their innovative compression fittings rule on all forums.
They kindly supported my Aurora project with these items:

• 3 kits of white compression fittings
• 2 white 45 degree adapters
• 6 white 90 degree adapters

Here's a full box

Each set has its own key tool and two sets of gromets

..all boxes emptied

water cooling p*rn

All will complete water cooling loop in my Aurora. They will look awesome with blue tubing.

Now we just need to wait for case to come back from coating.
Tom from Chilled PC is also cutting left side panel window. Of course design is matching front panel.

 

[cgrant26]

Completely brilliant technique for mounting the threaded sockets into the nylon blocks. Really cool project!

 

[phinix]

Completely brilliant technique for mounting the threaded sockets into the nylon blocks. Really cool project!

Thanks, I'm happy to see you like the idea of those inserts. It's been long time since I came up wit this and I've been using this technique in all my projects.



Last weekend Tom from ChilledPC emailed me that case is done, nicely powder coated and ready to be sent. I'm going on holidays now for 2 weeks so Tom will send the case to me upon my return. That means I will show the results at the end of this month. I can only imagine how this case is going to look like coated all in white

Next step will be putting the case together with all the custom parts, soldering all the lights for the case (mostly front panel), then mounting hardware in it, building the water cooling loop and that's it! I wanted to finish it in July, but it looks like it's going to be August now