The Hanging Garden

[PhantomLimb]

Over the years like most of you, I've become a packrat with computer stuff strewn about in my spare bedroom, and put some of it to use folding. After a while, I wanted to get my room back and thought of how to move my stuff where it's not in the way. Since I want to reclaim a bedroom, I tried to think of how I can pull this off.

A while back, I saw a mod K* did using threaded rod to mount his farm in a compact space (Link to thread), and I thought of trying something similar.

I had a 2U rack tray and thought about mounting the boards to them and putting them in a rack, but thought I'd try something different. I came up with this:

I showed the tray to a co-worker who is an engineer and explained what I wanted to do. He thought it was interesting and gave me some suggestions to make it work. He measured it up and made a cad drawing for the tray and I had one of my vendors make a few of them for me.

I cleaned them up and proceded to get them primed and painted.

To mount the power supply, I drilled the back lip and used a screw to mount it to the tray.

A supply of goodies from Mcmaster Carr...6/32 standoffs, hex nuts, and studs.

They screwed onto the motherboard standoffs for a perfect fit, and to allow clearance of the lip of the tray.

 

[PhantomLimb]

For the hard drive, I use the threaded studs in the bottom holes and two nuts on each to secure it.

I drill the holes to thread thru, and secure from the bottom

To mount the motherboard, modern chemistry comes to hand.

This sets up in about 5 minutes, and cures in 4 hours, a little pressure helps with the bond.

It's stuck, and in place.

Reassemble everything and test, so far so good

Proof of concept done, now to work on the others over the next few days.

 

[ICE_9]

So, how much for the tray? Having a vendor might have been expensive. Also, What is the total height of the tray. This looks like it would work great with the rack in the garage.

 

[84gthatch]

i would buy a couple of those to mount to the wall as i have about 5 naked systems running, and this would be a much cleaner solution.

lemmie know.

by the way thats an awesome idea.

 

[Kvothe]

That's pretty sweet. I am already envisioning the walls lined with hanging boxen. Very nice indeed!

 

[SmokeRngs]

That's pretty sweet. I am already envisioning the walls lined with hanging boxen. Very nice indeed!

One of us needs to become a world famous interior decorator so we can spread the goodness of nekkid boxen in homes across the world. Not to mention spreading folding a bit more, especially for team 33. You know there are a lot of people out there that would decorate their homes this way as long as someone "famous" said it looked nice or something.

 

[OSUguy98]

hmmmm... how much weight can one of those trays hold? You could almost do a similar thing as K* did, and just have the threaded rods hang the boards from the top instead of the bottom... of course, you'd have to figure out a way to hang the PSUs...

Have you installed these yet? which way are you intending on mounting them? MB face up? or face down?


Keep on Folding!! For the [H]orde!!

 

[PhantomLimb]

So, how much for the tray? Having a vendor might have been expensive. Also, What is the total height of the tray. This looks like it would work great with the rack in the garage.

i would buy a couple of those to mount to the wall as i have about 5 naked systems running, and this would be a much cleaner solution.

lemmie know.

by the way thats an awesome idea.

My vendor did this for me as a 'favor' of sorts. I think he would shoot me if I asked for anymore.

The original one I bought off Ebay from This Guy. He also sells them in 2 and 4 packs and has other neato stuff. The shelf is 2U high, or 3.5 inches. I had no problems with him.

hmmmm... how much weight can one of those trays hold? You could almost do a similar thing as K* did, and just have the threaded rods hang the boards from the top instead of the bottom... of course, you'd have to figure out a way to hang the PSUs...

Have you installed these yet? which way are you intending on mounting them? MB face up? or face down?

I believe the weight these can hold are 50lbs. max, but each (Including weight of tray) is no more than 15 lbs. each. MB will be face up like in the first pic.

If UPS is nice to me today, I will show the answer to the mounting question later.

 

[PhantomLimb]

One of us needs to become a world famous interior decorator so we can spread the goodness of nekkid boxen in homes across the world. Not to mention spreading folding a bit more, especially for team 33. You know there are a lot of people out there that would decorate their homes this way as long as someone "famous" said it looked nice or something.

<Martha Stewart> It's a Good Thing. </Martha Stewart>

There's your Seal of Approval

 

[Triath]

Looks fantastic, can't wait to see those things put up.

 

[AtomicMoose]

<Martha Stewart> It's a Good Thing. </Martha Stewart>

There's your Seal of Approval

I should ban you for quoting Martha Stewart here.

 

[Duster]

MORE!!! I <3 DC p0rn

Great work you got going to forget to water it from time to time... We want it to grow

and who quotes martha stewart i mean come on your new here and all but martha...

You must now post a pic so we can chop something fun... It has been to long we need so new photochop stuff goin on

blah blah i bored at school

 

[KodiakStar]

Very nice.

I think this will be somewhat similar to the next thing I design

 

[[Spectre]]

What is the depth on that 18" or 24"?

 

[PhantomLimb]

18" deep, ~3.5" (2U) high.

Heh, looks like UPS has a package for me tonite

 

[[Spectre]]

18" deep, ~3.5" (2U) high.

Heh, looks like UPS has a package for me tonite

Thanks.......I have a use for them at home then

 

[PhantomLimb]

Thanks.......I have a use for them at home then

Oops, the depth was 14", sorry I goofed. Sorry Spectre

 

[ICE_9]

So, with this tray, do all of them have the required height to have these holes drilled in them? I like the look of having the PS and the board all in one place, but if the back is not high enough to mount the PS to, this might be a little trouble.

Also, what paint and primer are you using? I have heard of some special non-conductive non-static paint but am really not sure what is the big difference.

Doh! that ebay guy is in AZ. Gonna have to pay taxes on this one.

 

[Pocatello]

what a cool idea!

thanks for the nice photos.

 

[[Spectre]]

Oops, the depth was 14", sorry I goofed. Sorry Spectre

Oh......well I wonder if that guys ebay store has any that are 18"

 

[Asian Dub Foundation]

nice work OP!

 

[ICE_9]

So, they fit into a standard rack. 19.25" by 14" deep and 3.5" tall. 2U setup. I like the idea of the JB weld but they have a vented series that might help make it adjustable for all boards. I called tonight and left a voicemail to get the exact width of the vents to see if standoffs will fall thru or if they can be bolted into place. Frys here in town had some of those and they look neat.

 

[PhantomLimb]

MORE!!! I ...and who quotes martha stewart i mean come on your new here and all but martha...

I should ban you for quoting Martha Stewart here.

Sorry guys, bad call. Here's a better pitchman for decorating with folding

 

[PhantomLimb]

Oh......well I wonder if that guys ebay store has any that are 18"

Mostly he has 14", but I found a 18" he's selling.

So, with this tray, do all of them have the required height to have these holes drilled in them? I like the look of having the PS and the board all in one place, but if the back is not high enough to mount the PS to, this might be a little trouble.

Also, what paint and primer are you using? I have heard of some special non-conductive non-static paint but am really not sure what is the big difference.

Doh! that ebay guy is in AZ. Gonna have to pay taxes on this one.

The tray has a lip on the front and back. The front is ~ 0.75" and the rear is give or take ~0.60". To mount the PS, I made a template out of cardstock to line up the holes, and drilled roughly about 0.3" from the top. I used a 9/64 bit and secured using screws from my parts bin. The PS screws are 6-32 and tightened to secure. I drilled a little wide on the holes to give some play if needed.

The paint is Rust Olem heavy primer, and gloss black, one coat each. Not a 'pro' paint job, I just wanted to cover the metal. Using the standoffs to mount the board, nothing is touching, so I don't have to worry about shorting anything out. The one tray I bought has a powdercoat finish of sorts..

So, they fit into a standard rack. 19.25" by 14" deep and 3.5" tall. 2U setup. I like the idea of the JB weld but they have a vented series that might help make it adjustable for all boards.

I tried drilling out one of the trays and mounting the MB standoffs, but I loused up the holes, that's why I went with the standoff / JB route. I noticed the JB didn't stick as well as I wanted, so I got to see what's up and try again. I think I need to strip the paint off and try again.

 

[PhantomLimb]

My package came...

20U rack rails, 35"long, 10-32 tapped, EIA standard.


The plan is to mount them up like so

And place them here for their resting space between the studs. I have to get rid of some of them as you can see and replace with good wood. Hopefully the Hanging Garden doesn't become the Torture Garden.

This should keep me busy and out of trouble this weekend...

 

[clean_me]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh man, you just set your self up for marty and others.....your second pic above^

 

[Duster]

Is that what i think i see??

Barb wire around your vacuum??

scared someone might help out around the houst and clean something??

 

[KodiakStar]

Those aren't load bearing walls either right? RIGHT? I hope not

You should consider some cross braces as well, so your studs don't flex so much, unless it was cheap wood and it was flexed when you (or whoever) put them in...

 

[rayman2k2]

I hope that it is the natural fisheye of the lense, but the beam on the left of the brown one is kind of...bent...you might want to get that checked...

 

[moo]

its his basement and those arnt loadbaring walls look up at the ceiling then fallow that big brown steel beam around and you see a pipe near the wall that goes into the concerte thats the load baring beam whichs is connected to the ground by that pipe. The house rests on the beam im guessing he lives in the northern areas because most southern areas dont have basements.

 

[rogue_jedi]

nice looking idea. now if only i had enough computers to warrant a mounting method like that... i just have 2 in my room (stacked)...

good luck with getting them all put together and mounted and all that.

the black knight always triumphs!

 

[PhantomLimb]

The walls are not load bearing. The steel I-beam and post are the supports, good eye Moo.

The guy who lived here before me did a total ass job framing it and covered it with shitty plywood. It was therapeutic tearing it all down.

Several studs are bowed and need to be replaced. When I put the new ones in they will be about 19.5" on center, and I will put cripple studs in to strengthen them and help support the rails and avoid any flex.

Duster: Story on the vacuum: I went to the IWA Mid-South King of the Deathmatches tourney this year and that was one of the fan-made weapons used in the tourney. During the loser elimination match, on the the wrestlers who lost 'worked' it by slamming it on the ground after he lost. The handle broke off when he went to slam it, and it went flying in my direction. I got hit with it and got tangled in the barbed wire. I only got a few cuts and deep scratches from it. This is what it did to my shirt:

I left the show with it as a souvenir - I earned it.

 

[toymachineman19]

haha nice about the vacuum thing...but that setup is looking pretty sexy....hehe, more folding goodness.

 

[[H]ella|[H]ard]

Thats a great idea to make some room.

 

[PhantomLimb]

Little update: Didn't have a lot of time to do much during the week, but managed to get a few things set up for today.

Picked up a couple 2x4 for the framing

Mr. Sawzall makes an appearance. 8 amps of powertool goodness

Gone in 60 seconds...

To help attach it, I took a couple of the pieces cut from the length and screwed them to the ends making an "I-Beam' of sorts.

It will be mounted to the top and bottom using drywall screws. The studs cut out are a bit uneven so I cut the new ones a bit shorter and will shim them up. If I need to move it later for tweaking, just have to back out the screws, reposition and fasten. Using 3" Robertson drive screws thru the blocks , it's going nowhere.

This weekend I will frame it in and mount it up. More later.

 

[blakex]

Damn, that's a sweet looking idea. I just might have to get one of those now to play around with...spare motherboard I've got sitting around could be toyed with...very nice idea - thanks for the pics!!

 

[toymachineman19]

looking forward to seeing this complete! looks awesome, folding pr0n goodness,

 

[Majic]

peg board is the key to all that is happy!

Cant wait to see your final setup.
.

 

[PhantomLimb]

Pegboard is nice, one of the ideas I thought of when thinking this up.

 

[PhantomLimb]

A little more from this weekend:

A test fitting to check the distances. The studs are spaced about 19 1/8" edge to edge, and clamped up for now.

It seems the stud had a twist in it I didn't see, time for a little...

Persuasion!

I lined the rails up to the edge of the studs and fastened them home with #14 screws.

Secured, and going nowhere.

I was concerned with the rack screws hitting, but a quick check shows I'm good.

Lined up and level, sometimes I amaze myself.

And the test - 50+ pounds of paint and joint compound. It held, and no warpage to the trays or rails.

The basics for the mount are done, now I need to work on cabling and supplying power to that area, and clean it up a bit. More later on in the week...