The 7 Year Itch

[Matthew Kane]

Looking Neat so far.

 

[Zzyzxx]

I dont' exactly have a concrete plan on how this is going to pan out, but I think this is a good start for the PS mounting brackets.

 

[ekuest]

if youre gonna tape it into the case then at least use duct tape.

 

[Zzyzxx]

if youre gonna tape it into the case then at least use duct tape.

^^ Fail.

 

[Zzyzxx]

I'm still working on it - RL's been all up in my face. I've been working on the dual PS mounting brackets lately.

 

[ekuest]

^^ Fail.

hehe that was a joke Zzyzxx. i guess i should have added a or /s.

ive been following your build for a few months now. anxiously awaiting an update! how big is this thing btw?

 

[Zzyzxx]

WAAAAAYYYY long break on this one.. other projects got the best of me.

Backplane install:

Last we left we had a stealth backplane in progress, with a hidden pocket in between the visible rear plane and the true front plane which everything is mounted to.

It's mounted, but I'm not yet sure it's use will be understandable yet.

Here's what we have so far with it mounted in the case.

This is what it looks like from the view that will be from the left, viewing the motherboard.

And from the right...

MB Mount install:

To make sure the motherboard had mounts with usable mounts, I started by mocking up an old motherboard I had laying around. I installed an AGP video card and 3 PCI cards, screwed them into bracket I bastardized from an old case I've had laying around which I'd end up using the bracket.

Here's what we have for that from the outside...

... and inside...

Video radiator install

Not much rocket science here, the hardest part of this was determining the positioning of the radiator. Turns out I should have designed this thing even TALLER than originally planned. Ce La Vie..

I managed to work it out though (we'll see when I finish it... tubing planning will be interesting..)

And from the inside...

Power Supply mount install

All prior posts regarding the power supply mounts - forget it - I started over.

The largest amount of man hours invested into this portion were into the power supply mounts. The PS mount manufacture involved 5 separate pieces of material and 12 milling sessions to make everything flush. It was definitely was a learning experience for me, one which I expect to use again in future fabrication projects.

Beautification is still on the back burner, functionality is the primary objective, which has been attained I believe regarding the PS mounts.

I've run on too much, heres the goods with a power supply installed and running!!

.. and from the inside... There is 1/4 inch separation between the top and bottom PS for those power supplies that use 120mm fans for ventilation.

I believe that covers what I've worked on over the last week - as for whats been keeping me busy? My new internet presence server. Upgrade from a 1gb memory Sempron with 2x80gb drives (running server 2k3 and exchange) to a 4 core 8gb memory AMD 2008 server box with a raid 0 OS (2x250gb) raid 5 data/VM (4x250gb) and a raid 0 backup (2x500gb), all on a Perc 5/i, all on a crazy budget. See more information about that controller at http://www.overclock.net/hard-drives-storage/359025-perc-5-i-raid-card-tips.html

Anyways, here she is.. 1 host, 2 VM's. Enjoy!!!

Stay tuned for more...

 

[Zzyzxx]

hehe that was a joke Zzyzxx. i guess i should have added a or /s.

ive been following your build for a few months now. anxiously awaiting an update! how big is this thing btw?

Yeah I know.

It's about 32 inches tall I believe. I'ts huge, but strangely enough in hindsight I would have made it even taller. If I make a 7YI v2.0, there definitely will be some changes.

Some people may have some issues with the current "fit and finish", but imagine this like building a custom car - it never really looks good until it's cleaned up. I'll try and get some pictures of the left side door closed - the match is impeccable.

The entire case will be dissassembled, the aluminum will be given a brushed (sanded?) treatment.

Next on the list is the mounts for the 5.25 bays.

 

[[L]imey]

I don't know about everyone else, but it looks beautiful to me mate. Great job, keep those updates coming.

 

[Zzyzxx]

Latest update is the inside backplane. I have the mobo mounts in place, tapped and installed.

The routing holes have been milled out - I'm not completely happy with the way they look, but I really didn't have a good way of making incredibly accurate routes...

 

[Zzyzxx]

OK well this update isn't rocket science, it's the fans for the HD mounting hardware (which isn't fabricated yet).

I would show you the fans mounted with grills and all, but don't have the long 6-32 screws needed for it at this time.

 

[Matthew Kane]

I envy the amount of patience and precision you put into that project. Good job A++ can't wait for the end product. Post more of the process'.

 

[Zzyzxx]

OK this doesn't look like much, but was a pain in the ass to get right.

I've made 4 supporting rails for the 8 5.25" bays. I started by using the template from ACRyan.

The pilot holes were initially marked with an awl, then drilled out to 1/16". The first 4 were drilled out to 3/16" to test that the measurements were accurate (using some old CD drives I had laying around), then the rest of the pilots were drilled out.

The first was then used as a template for the remaining 3.

Really bad pics inc...

 

[Zzyzxx]

... and cut to size

 

[Zzyzxx]

More pics, braces in place, everything except for the external flanging is cut to size.

They've been drilled, tapped, sanded flush and attached. I'm very pleased with how this came together.

 

[Zzyzxx]

Worked on getting the 5.25" cage fitted into the case tonight - very pleased, don't expect any nastiness when completed as far as visuals.

She's finally starting to look like an actual case...

Plenty of space (4 inches actually) above the top 5.25 bay for power, reset and the planned integrated USB ports.

Closeup on the 5.25 bays.

FYI - the long bolts for the lower 120mm fans are OTW - expect a full "hidden cables" mockup within the next 2 weeks..

 

[Zzyzxx]

Got the 5.25 bay hole cut out the other day, yesterday and this evening I worked on routing out the small indents facilitating the passage of the screws used to install components into the bay - boring to look at, tedious to do.

Tonight I fabricated the top and bottom flanges, and filed/ground/cut the corners to match - drilled tapped holes to attach the 5.25" bay assembly into the case - then spent a few hours slowly dissassembling the entire front end, removed all the protective contact paper - I'll use painters tape if I need to to any additional work to this part.

Onto the pics - This is the (more or less) completed front of the case - 2x120mm holes can be seen at the bottom, I have the fans, the 1 3/4" 8/32 button head bolts are on the way.

I did little work cleaning up the contact paper from the top to present a fair example of what the top radiator will look like. I was pleasently surprised when the screws went back in fairly easily - they were a pain in the ass to get the threads to take the first time around - the AC Ryan grill doesn't quite exactly match the Swiftech radiator. I'm assuming everything settled into place over the last few months.

Stay tuned...

 

[ekuest]

looks pretty good. i cant believe youre putting a rad standing up BENEATH 8 hdd bays. there are much easier ways to do things. on the bright side, this computer is tall enough to act as a desk leg as well, so make another for the other side and get an old door and youre set! as for the "unfinished" look. once its all put together, do what my neighbor does to his cars and just fill everything with Bondo. keep up the good work! i cant wait to see it finished. with all that plexi i assume youre planning some kind of lighting or UV system right?

 

[Zzyzxx]

looks pretty good. i cant believe youre putting a rad standing up BENEATH 8 hdd bays. there are much easier ways to do things. on the bright side, this computer is tall enough to act as a desk leg as well, so make another for the other side and get an old door and youre set! as for the "unfinished" look. once its all put together, do what my neighbor does to his cars and just fill everything with Bondo. keep up the good work! i cant wait to see it finished. with all that plexi i assume youre planning some kind of lighting or UV system right?

The 2x120mm radiator isn't behind HD bays - I haven't fabricated the HDD cage yet, it'll be on the base of the case behind the 2x120mm fans at the bottom of the face of the case.

As far as the look, once all the protective paper is removed, and all the aluminum is sanded for a satin/brushed look - it'll look significantly better. Honestly I think once I get the faux backplate installed and get some hardware in there, get the extensions for the cables fabricated and hidden, it'll look like there's a huge amount of space available. The whole thing is 33" tall - 8.5" wide, offhand I can recall the depth, but it's in the range of extended ATX cases.

I'm hoping my bolts arrive today, it'll give the front a much more "complete" and finished look.

As far as lighting, I haven't decided. If anything it'll just be a clean white cold cathode, nothing more.

Still on the to do list is (in no particular order):

1. HDD cage fabrication
2. 2x7 port USB hub fabrication (I'm taking 2 7 port powered hubs, patching them together leaving 13 ports total, 5 internal, 8 external).
3. Internal plumbing (I'm excited about this - I'll be using 1/2" ID clear acrylic tubing for this - I want to use as LITTLE flexible tubing as possible)
4. Fabrication of reservoirs - these will hang off the right hand door - they'll be made from 2-2.5" ID acrylic tubing. The ends will be made from aluminum disks made on the lathe, with o rings as seals - possibly lengths of allthread running right down the center to hold it all together.
5. Wiring up the 2 pumps, figuring out failure detection and safety methods.

Edit: UPS delivered my bolts - yay!

 

[Matthew Kane]

How much so far have you spent in the materials that you've used/going to use?

BTW: Off topic, is your name off a place in the states?

 

[Zzyzxx]

How much so far have you spent in the materials that you've used/going to use?

BTW: Off topic, is your name off a place in the states?

Raw materials (not counting radiators/fans) about $100 at the start (aluminum, plexi, bolts, nuts, fan grills) maybe another $150 since then. Spent way more on tooling than anything else.

As far as the name, there's a highway in nevada called the Zzyzx highway. I added another "x" so I'd always be last on the list.

 

[ekuest]

i said "beneath" not "behind." point is, its a very large build. im an sff guy myself, not used to such large scale cases.

 

[Zzyzxx]

Everyone should get the idea by now how I created the 5.25" bay cage, I'm doing the same thing in miniature for the hard drive cage.

This is a 6 drive cage that will be positioned sideways, saving space and increasing airflow over the total surface of the drives.

I mocked this up with some old drives I've had sitting around for years.

 

[Zzyzxx]

Standing by for a new shipment of bolts - turns out I've already been through 100 8/32x3/8" bolts....

 

[best [486]]

Nice mod so far, gotta give some respect to anyone who buys a mill when they need one.

Please tell me you aren't buying all of your aluminum stock at a hardware store. You can get it for around $4/lb as drop at steelyards.

 

[Zzyzxx]

Nice mod so far, gotta give some respect to anyone who buys a mill when they need one.

Please tell me you aren't buying all of your aluminum stock at a hardware store. You can get it for around $4/lb as drop at steelyards.

Actually Home Depot for the majority of the stock - If I have $50 into all of the aluminum I'd be surprised. I'll have to look into the steelyard though.

BTW: 200 new bolts arrived yesterday - planning on fabbing the HD cage base mount this weekend, and start on the 13 (8 external, 5 usable internal) port USB mount as well.

 

[Zzyzxx]

The cage has been fabricated, and the cage mount was fabricated this morning. I wanted some way that the entire cage could be removed if necessary.

This is the finished cage with 1 drive installed.

... and the cage installed, hopefully you can get the idea of how it works. It's held in place by 2 thumbscrews which attach through the cage foot to threaded plexi.

... and the mouht on the case floor without the cage.

Stay tuned... next up is the mount for the 14 port USB contraption I've been working on...

 

[Zzyzxx]

Finally decided to work on the USB hub mount...

Initially I was going to frame it with angled aluminum like the rest, but space limitations forced me to be a little more creative.

This is the pair of hubs that will be used.

I decided to go with a flat mount fabricated out of 2x1" aluminum stock...

cleaned up and mounted on the case

.. and with the hub inserted..

and the whole case front...

Stay tuned

 

[FrEaKy]

neato!
Going back to the missed full acrylic look!

 

[Matthew Kane]

That could be one hell of a gaming server when its done, looking gun so far . You adding LED's or cathodes later on?