Project: Hutch, a Qmicra v2 gets liquid...

As I mentioned in my previous post, finding a great spot for the pump and multiple hard drives was a challenge. I manged to get it worked out, and with the pump mounted, I could move on to the hard drive mounts.

There will be room for 4 hard drives total, in two different locations. What you are about to see, are the drives that will be mounted below the center support section in the case.

I decided to use a channel type mount. What you see here is a piece of aluminum channel cut and bent. You'll have to forgive the lack of few pictures here. When I was live streaming this part, I forgot to grab the camera...

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In each of the channels, I've placed some rubber 'U' molding. This will act to dampen vibration.

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Here are the approximate locations for the channels. Due to the way I wanted to mount these, bolts or rivets wasn't going to cut it. I decided to break out the torch and HTS-2000. The channels were brazed in to place. I was live streaming during this portion as well, hence the lack of in progress pictures.

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The braze..

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Next up, I needed to make brackets to mount to the hard drives. These brackets will slide in to the channels.

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I drilled a few holes, and mounted the drive...

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And finally, the drive mounted in place.

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Next I'll be working on the remaining two hard drive mounts, as well as a custom shroud to cover the center section of the case. Stay tuned!
 
so this brazing thing. i would like to do it. you just use a bernz-o-matic or is it more complicated?
 
ekuest said:
so this brazing thing. i would like to do it. you just use a bernz-o-matic or is it more complicated?
Click to expand...

It's really a fairly simple concept, but the execution can sometimes be tricky. Yes, a Bernz-O-Matic, and the HTS-2000 is all you need. It's just like soldering. You heat up the metal and apply the braze to the heated portion. The most complicated part of the process is the potential for warping the aluminum. If it's too thin, or the heat is applied too long, or too hot, you'll warp or burn through the metal. It's not a pretty sight... I would recommend practicing on scraps before you commit to anything valuable.
 
awesome. thanks craigbru! looking forward to the next update as always... :)
 
This is amazing! I've lurk'd in [H] and always come str8 to your threads! Sub'd
 
Who's ready for another update?

With the completion of the first two hard drive mounts, it was time to move on to the second pair. In order to mount them, I needed to have something to mount them to... This came in the form of a new shroud for the center of the case. This shroud will cover all components there, and provide for a streamlined look.

Here I've got the panel marked out and ready to cut.

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The panel all cut...

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After cutting, it was time to bring out my trusty brake. It hasn't really had a good workout since the completion of the Rogue. That's about to change though...

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Now, before I can give the shroud a test mount, I've got to get these studs gone.

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Let's see how it fits...

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Like a glove!

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Okay, now that we know it fits, I need to get the holes cut for the hard drive mounts. I'll be modifying and reusing the original mounts. Their modification is soon to come, but it won't change the way that they mount. I'll be duplicating PCDL's original method, as it's so simple and elegant.

Here I've got the holes marked out.

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The first two holes cut...

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One down, one to go!

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The second one is done!

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Now all the drives have a home. I just need to add new mounting studs like the ones I cut off earlier. A also have some other detail work to finish up on the shroud, and that will be in the next update.

Before I wrap up this post, I've got one more additional thing to show you. For anyone that may have clicked on the 'Losias Live' tab on my site, you'll see that I'm working on doing some live modding broadcasts. I've done a few test runs, and came to the conclusion early on that the picture was a little dark. As of today, I took care of that little issue. Needless to say my worktable is no longer dark...

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Man Craig this is looking sick! And that live update thing is a sick idea. Nice lights install also.
 
Thanks man! Now that I've got the SFF modding forums up and running smoothly at losias.net, I should have time for more regular updates.
 
Seriously? You guys are blazing new trails on the SFF front! I'd be honored to do so. Let me get some updates backlogged and I'll post it up. Thanks!
 
Hell yeah! You're work is awesome, and would be more than welcome there! We may be just starting, but we've got some top notch contributors, and many more coming.
 
Who's ready for another update? The last post left off with a half finished center shroud, and newly installed lights in the shop, and that's where we will pick up now. As you're about to see, the new lights are bright. They are surface of the sun bright. They are so bright I couldn't see quite right for a day after I first turned them on. So, what better way to explain the results, than with a pic? I can say with certainty that this picture doesn't do reality justice...

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With all the newly found glow, I needed a way to tone things down a bit, so I put in a dimmer switch.

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Since the lighting was taken care of, it was time to get back to finishing the center shroud. The first task at hand was to modify the OEM hard drive mounts. There isn't room in the case to use the mounts as they were. While they could originally hold two drives apiece, I only needed them to hold one. So, they were marked for a date with the Dremel.

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After they were cut and sanded...

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I thought now as a good time for a test fit.

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With the left side looking good, I thought I should check things out on the right side as well. First I need to get the fans mounted to the side radiator.

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Now I drop the radiator on it's mount, and put it in place. All looks well!

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Almost there! I just need to find a way to secure the side hard drive mounts in place. These bolts will do nicely...

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Done!

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Up next is the switch plate, stay tuned!
 
Thanks man, it does come in handy!



Two updates in one day? Crazy, isn't it? Well, as promised, I'm moving on to the switch plate. For any of you that remember when I was putting the mesh in the case cover, you'll have noticed that the switches were in a non-traditional location. They are on the right side of the case, and to facilitate their placement, a custom bracket was needed.

So, I marked out the pattern I needed in a piece of aluminum, and I was ready to cut.

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A little quick Dremel work, and then some time on the metal brake resulted in this...

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A quick test fit indicated I could move on to the next step. It fit exactly as it should.

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Next I had to mark out the switch locations.

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Once drilled and Dremeled, I was left with dropping the switch and an USB port in place. Like a glove!

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With a high strength epoxy applied, the bracket was clamped in place.

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One day later, and the epoxy was cured. The clamps were removed, and believe me when I say, that bracket won't be coming off anytime soon... okay, ever...

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So, what's next at this point? Well, good question. All major pieces are now in place. I've got no real fabrication left. Hutch and I are still contemplating a good reservoir idea, but other than that, it's all down to details now. I've got wire sleeving to do, as well as hose routing. Also, who could forget the paint? Colors aren't definite, but the interior will be black, while the outside will be a complementing color. Sure, we'll also likely slip in some other small details here and there, but this is really the bulk of it. Of course I'll continue to post as work progresses, but for now, we've got the clean and solid foundation we were looking for. There's no bling, or extraneous fluff here. So, for anyone expecting Project: Rogue type insanity, stick around for the official start of OSIDIAS soon!
 
Reading these threads keeps me up late at night :) Great stuff, I love the clean look....I am a fan of that.
 
:drool:

An update by craig is like an early christmas present :)

Very much looking forward to seeing this finish and the official start of OSIDIAS.
 
One of the biggest ongoing, yet unresolved issues with this project, was the placement of a reservoir. It's been debated for much to long, and I wasn't sure we would find a solution we really liked. Well, that has now changed...

Hutch will be getting a custom reservoir that due to it's placement, will be a huge focal point for this case. If every mod has at least one aspect that could be considered it's 'showpiece' item, then this is it.

So, to get ready for the reservoir, it was decided to bring a new look to the top of the case. The cuts should highlight the res, and the fluid flowing through it. I took a piece of transparent sheet of adhesive mailing label paper, and printed out the pattern I wanted.

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I peeled the backing off of it, and stuck it in place.

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Now, anyone that has followed one of my logs, knows that I love using masking tape to guide my cuts. I find it much easier than following a regular line, and it makes for very accurate filing. With this in mind, I applied tape on the sheet to match the lines.

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Finally, after a little time spent with the jigsaw and Dremel, I'm left with the following...

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With the cuts out of the way, it's time to start on the reservoir itself, and that will be covered in the next update. Until then, I've got a high tech paint image of the reservoir placement. Who needs CAD? Haha!

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One other thing... Most of the work in this post was streamed live as it happened. Thanks to my http://losias.net/losias-live/ page, I can now stream, and archive those streams for later viewing. I'm hoping that this will become a huge feature on this site, although I'm still getting the bugs worked out. Anyone interested in knowing when I stream live should follow me on twitter @craigbru. I always send out notice when I'm live. For those not on twitter, or if you miss the live streaming, the videos are archived on the Live page as well. Until the next update!
 
Perfect cuts as usual :D

Can't wait to see that reservoir put together. It's got to be one of the more original ones :)
 
Brilliant as usual Craig!
Have you thought about SSD for this? Power, heat and space all good pros for this build i'd say :)
 
lillimon04 said:
Great cuts Craig!
Click to expand...

Thanks man! It just takes a steady hand and a firm grip.

Elledan said:
Perfect cuts as usual :D

Can't wait to see that reservoir put together. It's got to be one of the more original ones :)
Click to expand...

Thank you! The reservoir itself will be a fairly simple design, but I'm sure I haven't seen one implemented quite like this.

Rossi~ said:
Brilliant as usual Craig!
Have you thought about SSD for this? Power, heat and space all good pros for this build i'd say :)
Click to expand...

Thanks! While this isn't my PC, I do know that SSD's aren't going to be used due to their limited storage capacity. Hutch wanted to be able to drop as much hard drive in here as possible. ()Now, with the OSIDIAS project I'm planning, I've got room for 4 SSD's and 2 full size drives... :D)
 
craigbru said:
Thanks! While this isn't my PC, I do know that SSD's aren't going to be used due to their limited storage capacity. Hutch wanted to be able to drop as much hard drive in here as possible. ()Now, with the OSIDIAS project I'm planning, I've got room for 4 SSD's and 2 full size drives... :D)
Click to expand...

:D Awesome
 
The reservoir... When Hutch and I were originally planning this project, we tried to come up with some sort of showpiece for the case. We wanted something that would to set it apart and make it a little different. For a very long time, what exactly that would be, eluded us. Well, through and idea on Hutch's part, and some revisions on mine, we came up with a plan. The results of that plan are what follows.

In the previous update, you saw how the reservoir will sit in the case. There is exactly 11mm of clearance between the top of the center shroud, and the bottom of the case cover. That's perfect for a 3mm - 5mm - 3mm acrylic sandwich. With that in mind, I made a few careful measurements, got the acrylic marked up. I used a few of the Bitspower fittings sitting in place to make sure I had the proper clearances. As with everything in this case, space is at a minimum, so the planning had to be perfect.

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To save time, all 3 layers of acrylic were clamped together and cut out at the same time on the scroll saw. I also used some spray adhesive applied to the paper backing to ensure no movement during cutting. The following is the result.

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Before going any further, I figured a test fit was warranted.

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Since the test fit went well, it was time to make a cutout in the center (5mm), piece of acrylic. This is where the actual coolant will flow. I peeled apart the pieces, and marked my cuts.

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After it was cut, it was simply a matter of gluing the 3 layers together.

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So, what's next? I've got to even up and polish the edges, as well as adding two more smaller threaded pieces of acrylic to attach the Bitspower fittings. Once that is done, I've got to make a few small modifications to the case cover to allow the reservoir to fit properly. After that... well, we might be ready for paint!
 
In the future you will be able to make things like that with your new FREE CNC machine!!!

you lucky bastard!!!
 
Man, I wish I would have used CNC when I made the res... It would have definitely saved a little time. Although, I think it's important to have a foundation with hand tools before you cheat and use CNC. :D
 
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Absolutely, if you don't know how to do basic fabrication with hand tools. you have no business using a CNC machine.

I will lay off the "lucky bastard" stuff now. I know how that kind of thing can get annoying.
 
Haha, no problem man. I've always though CNC was something you had to work you way up to. It's kind of a 'paying your dues' thing for me. I love hand fabrication, and I think the actual modding is just as important as the idea. There are guys out there like oldnewby that will blow your mind with nothing but a jigsaw and files...
 
The Qmicra is a great case stock, so to see the base design pushed further is really cool. This mod delivers!
 
As always your work and thought put into your projects is top notch awesome. The top res is a pretty sweet idea.
 
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