Project: Lamniforme II

Gotta figure out how I'll pass the LCD's wiring through so that I can still open the doors. Any ideas? I was thinking of making some holes in one of the 5.25in bays and pass the wiring through some wrap in there.
 
daedal said:
Gotta figure out how I'll pass the LCD's wiring through so that I can still open the doors. Any ideas? I was thinking of making some holes in one of the 5.25in bays and pass the wiring through some wrap in there.
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I'm not sure were to put the cables, but you could use ribbon cable. So you can have some flex.
 
Well guys, I cut the side panel's window hole this weekend. It took several cut-off discs, three trips to Home Depot, a few hours and even some bloodshed but it's a clean cut. However, I ran into a huge setback: because the window comes in a kit, it's bundled with a locking-strip molding which should rest on the panel's lip and allow the window to slide into the molding then lock it in place. However, because of the P180's sound-isolating material, the side panels are very thick, as below:


--------- <- Aluminum (thin sheet)
======= <- Noise isolation material (plastic, sort of)
--------- <- Aluminum (thin sheet)

This means that the window molding does not fit on the lip. I spent at least an hour trying to get it on there and there is now way that it will hold, even when glued on. After that, I tried to remove the plastic material to thin it out but it's glued on to the aluminum panels. I'm very disappointed. Looks like I'll have to get a metal "ring" made (much like Bill's window kits) but 11in wide. This sucks.

Anyone know of a machinist who'd ship to Canada? *Sigh*
Pictures to come tonight.
 
Looking good man :) and on that machinist there is this site that will ship anywhere ... I gotta find the link for it again..
-edit- I'm not sure if this is the same one or not... I can't find where they ship too.. but whatever I'll keep looking http://www.emachineshop.com/
 
1337m0dd3r said:
Looking good man :) and on that machinist there is this site that will ship anywhere ... I gotta find the link for it again..
-edit- I'm not sure if this is the same one or not... I can't find where they ship too.. but whatever I'll keep looking http://www.emachineshop.com/
Click to expand...
Aww man, I was so excited working on this.. until it came to the price.
For a simple 12.5" ring with drilled bolt holes, we're talking about 30 days wait and 300$ US.. pass. :rolleyes:
 
daedal said:
Aww man, I was so excited working on this.. until it came to the price.
For a simple 12.5" ring with drilled bolt holes, we're talking about 30 days wait and 300$ US.. pass. :rolleyes:
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damn man.. that sucks : / I could that machined at the local shop for a whole hell of alot cheaper then that.. mmm I try'd :rolleyes:
 
1337m0dd3r said:
damn man.. that sucks : / I could that machined at the local shop for a whole hell of alot cheaper then that.. mmm I try'd :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Thanks though. :) I appreciate the gesture.
 
daedal said:
--------- <- Aluminum (thin sheet) <---- DREMEL
======= <- Noise isolation material (plastic, sort of) <---DREMEL
--------- <- Aluminum (thin sheet)


Pictures to come tonight.
Click to expand...

Why dont u try some skillful dremel work, cut out your main hole for the LCD then carfully cut off the two layers you dont need after that.
 
sev said:
Why dont u try some skillful dremel work, cut out your main hole for the LCD then carfully cut off the two layers you dont need after that.
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Well before I cut the hole for the LCD, I need to check that the door will still close once it's installed on there. Hopefully I'll be able to squeese in some time to do that tomorrow after work. The LCD spent the day in the car at -30c, I hope it's alright.. :(

As far as the side panel is concerned, a member on another forum mentioned maybe tried a router saw and see if I can thin out the edge to allow the molding to fit. Any thoughts on this? By the way, I seem to have missplaced my camera. I'll post more pictures when I find it.
 
daedal said:
Well before I cut the hole for the LCD, I need to check that the door will still close once it's installed on there. Hopefully I'll be able to squeese in some time to do that tomorrow after work. The LCD spent the day in the car at -30c, I hope it's alright.. :(

As far as the side panel is concerned, a member on another forum mentioned maybe tried a router saw and see if I can thin out the edge to allow the molding to fit. Any thoughts on this? By the way, I seem to have missplaced my camera. I'll post more pictures when I find it.
Click to expand...

-30deg C!!! FOOK!

It got to -7 here just before xmas and that was cold, but -30!!!
 
Well I finally found my camera, so here are the pics as promised.


Masked and ready. The window kit includes a washer for spacing so it's an easy sketch.
000072.jpg


Some of the materials I'll be using tonight.
000073.jpg


Working on it. It's going well so far.
000074.jpg


Very well indeed.
000075.jpg


Doh! I'm out of cutting wheels. Off to Home Depot!
000076.jpg


Ok, this scared the crap outta me. It flew right by my head.
000077.jpg


And here's another one. This one unbalanced my Dremel and I think it bent a shaft or spindle inside. Grr.
000078.jpg


Done and done. Too bad the molding doesn't fit. I'll try and grind the edges later.
000079.jpg
 
yeah... dremel disks are fun like that... now you know why we sing the praises of reinforced dremel disks, there more enpensive, but they dont break, you will go thoguht 5 disks trying to make the same cut where one reinforced will only use half a disk...

wait untill you get one imbeded in your knuckel...

thore
 
thore said:
yeah... dremel disks are fun like that... now you know why we sing the praises of reinforced dremel disks, there more enpensive, but they dont break, you will go thoguht 5 disks trying to make the same cut where one reinforced will only use half a disk...

wait untill you get one imbeded in your knuckel...

thore
Click to expand...
I tried to use the smaller ones (erinforced) but they were too smal in diamater to go through the entire panel so I used these larger ones which tend to break off. I'll see about sticking to the reiforced disks next time though. :D
 
daedal said:
I tried to use the smaller ones (erinforced) but they were too smal in diamater to go through the entire panel so I used these larger ones which tend to break off. I'll see about sticking to the reiforced disks next time though. :D
Click to expand...

your eyes will thanks you... ;)

thore
 
Using reinforced Fiberglass ones is awesome :D I've used the same 2 for 3 different case mods :p. /subscribed
 
Hah hah, I just noticed my spelling of "reinforced" in the above post. Got it wrong twice.
Anyhow, I should be able to squeeze in some time to grind that side panel down a bit to allow the molding to fit. I'm worried that it will expand the whole a bit and the window won't fit anymore.

Should the worst happen, I'll grab some aluminum plate scraps I have lying around and make, say a 12.5" x 12.5" panel and then cut the window in there and bolt it on. It would look pretty cool as I would polish it to a shine and it would contrast on the black panel and dark tinted window.
 
Quick update: I'll be working on the side panel either tomorrow or on Thursday as I've taken two days off. I've been keeping myself busy with all sorts of other projects and fixing my car. My radiator was punctured by the header shield which apprently snapped off when I hit a bump somewhere.

In short, updates tomorrow or the day after, hopefully with the installed window. Later.
 
[Edit] Ok, quick update. After going through a slurry of tools, I'm still unable to get the molding to fit on the panel properly and I also scratched up the back something fierce as a result, so I'm going to plan B: a rectangular, bolted on alternative. What I'll be doing is replace the round hole (which is 11" x 11") with a rectangular one (maybe 20" x 12") and then bolt on a tinted plexi window over it. I'll be using stainless steel or chromed bolts to top it off after which should give it a nice touch of class.

Doing so would also allow me to mount the VFD right on the plexi rather than on the hard drive cage.. or would it look better on the cage? What do you guys think? The VFD will most likely be bright blue with black trim, as shown below.
http://www.bigfootcomputers.com/Mer...reen=PROD&Product_Code=1708&Category_Code=135

That's pretty much all I've done in the past few days. My car's radiator was replaced yesterday and it's running great. Went very smoothly. Until then, later.
 
I'm liking how things are looking, particularly the idea of the black plexi and the LCD. Very nice so far, cant wait to see what this finishes to.

That case is actually pretty nice, would make a very nice server or 'open area PC' (One that is in a living room/kitchen instead of a computer room) it looks very smooth and refined on the outside with so many possibilities and the semi-WTX setup is a plus.

~Kris
 
I've decided to go with a rectangular window rather than the circle one.
The hole is 13"x13" while the window will be 14"x14" and bolted on. If space permits, I'll mount the VFD above it, or on it if it doesn't work. Haven't had the time to work on it much more unfortunately but it's still an on-going project. :)
 
I love this so far, P180 is a nice case to use.
It's been a while now...
So where are the pics?
 
Yeah, it's been a while and I haven't been able to work on it for quite some time as I live in a carpteted apartment and whipping out the Dremel means hours of trying to syphon debris with the dusbuster, hah. That and the fact that I've been overloaded with various other design projects, my girlfriend, work and of course, WoW. :p

Anyhow, my parents are leaving for Florida this week and I offered to take care of the house for them which implies full garage access. You can see where this is going.

Here's my agenda:

- Finish dismantling the chassis
- Dremel wiring holes in the motherboard tray and other various locations
- Dremel out the stock fan guards
- Overdrill fan holes to allow grommets (what size drill and grommet, anyone?)
- Paint the chassis flat black
- Paint the drive cages blue
- Place sound-dampening material on bottom of the chassis
- Reassemble the chassis
 
Quick update. I have done a bit more work but nowhere near where I would like to be at this point. The chassis is almost completely painted now. I'll try and get some pictures tonight if possible. Until then, here's some randoms.

Started polishing the back plate. Still hours of work to be done to it obviously.
000080.jpg


Hours and hours left.
000081.jpg


The temporary workbench while I have access to the garage.
000082.jpg


Even my girlfriend is helping out.
000083.jpg


RANDOM EVIL KITTY SHOT!
000084.jpg
 
I had an idea that might help you if you still want to use the round window. Since its metal-material-metal, why dont you just cut about 1/4 of the inside metal and plastic crap bigger than the outside, and you should have plenty of space for the locking strip to slip over the outside layer of metal and fit.
 
dude you have to work some on that nice rigg ...
 
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