DETN8R's Project : ONE
Date : Sunday, 29 February 2004
Author : DETN8R
Provided by : n/a
Introduction
Before I get started I would like to thank Wolfman for giving me the chance to display this on the site that got me started in this thing we like to call modding. Had it not been for this site I would have never started this hobby. This mod was probably one of my most challenging yet. It required me learn new skills, use new tools, and try new things.
My main inspiration came from Mashies Oenone case, an SGI O2 case. I loved everything about this case and I wanted to try something very different with it. The main thing that stood out to me about this case was the vents along the sides and the way he illuminated them with the CCFL’s. The base of the case would ultimately be my most pain staking endeavor in fabricating this case. It required 12 handmade pieces of brass, some solder, some pantyhose, tons of bondo, and a hell of a lot of patience.
The next few pages in this article shall show you how I turned this:
Into This:
I know the mods look subtle but that's only the outside. Actually, the outside of this case required the most work. Just a quick note on the images, Early on in the article I was taking the images with my digital camera and cropping out the main part. I later switched to just keeping the images one size to keep a uniformity to them all. Also, in trying to keep this article understandable I'm going to split each part up so you may see completed or uncompleted areas of the case in the background of the images.
With that said, lets get on with the article.
Getting the Case!
To began, I purchased an SGI case from Ebay. After a few bids and a quick payment the case was on its way. It arrived shortly thereafter and with the glee of a boy on Christmas (or a boy getting his present a few days late) I unwrapped it and immediately began mutilating its insides. I removed the former chassis and set it aside to get measurements from it for the new frame which I would ultimately have to construct.
Unfortunately the case was in very poor condition.
The corner piece had broken off completely and a crack ran the length of its
left side. It also appears as if something was rubbing against it “shaved”
away some of the plastic. All these would require repair and later, reinforcement.
To add to these atrocities I dropped the case once more and it broke along the
other side. Not only did this add to instability of the “shell”(top
portion of the case) it also added to the repairs to be done. I can be so careless
sometimes.
With all the repairs to the top part of the case the base of it would be undergoing serious modification. The look I was going for with the base was sort of like a rocketship. The vents on the base just gave me the feeling of some sort of propellant/exhaust system. I wanted blue lights to shine through in a sort of stepped pattern through the fins, you'll understand what I mean later if you don't already.
My main intention for this from the beginning was that it would be used primarily as an HTPC. It would ultimately house an mATX motherboard with everything onboard(LAN/AUDIO/ETC). The only thing I would put on the mobo was a graphics card so I could plug it into my TV. I only wanted to have one hard drive in here because I really didn't have the room to spare, and of course one DVD Drive for the movies. The powersupply would definitely have to be a small rackmount 1u PSU.
The Design
I had the basic idea inside my head as I'm not to great at translating my thoughts to paper so I don't make sketches or blueprints to work from. What I originally wanted was an all chrome case, that would look sexy wouldn't it?. I just thought that it would look great with a mirror-like surface because this thing is very curvy. I was hoping to get some great reflections off of it. Mashie suggested I get it airbrushed with some Alclad2 paint. This was my plan but CrimsonSky (The Best Case Scenario) informed that this paint tarnished instantly at any contact with finger oils. Oh well, I would just paint it black myself.
The base would undergo the most treatment and detail work because I need to fabricate the fins I wanted in order to get the look I wanted. I was planning on using aluminum since I had an abundance of and had grown quite good at working with it. I wanted to transform the base into something that could be perceived as a rocket. I wanted the base to be a little wider then the top(shell) of the case, to sort of flare out to make it stand out more.
The Repairs
After all the breaking and cracking to the shell of the case it was time to put humpty dumpty(so to speak) back together again. To do this I used one of the worlds strongest adhesives, JAB Weld. It comes in two tubes which you mix together in equal parts. I used a toothpick to mix and apply the stuff. First and foremost I had to reattach the piece that had been broken away from the shell so I applied the JBWeld all around it and put in place. Then I moved on to fixing the other cracks that were on the shell as well as a few other things that had broken off. I wiped away the excess that squeezed out with a paper towel so I would have clumps of steel like glue on the outside of the shell.
This worked out great but some of the cracks were still opening up, and this would show in the paint job. I decided to add something stronger and more permanent, Fiberglass.
With most of the materials I used for this case I purchased some fiberglass resin and some fiberglass cloth from Home Depot. That store is GREAT. Much like the JBWeld you have to mix two parts in order for resin to harden. I didn't take any pictures of the mixing process or application process. If you ever use this stuff make sure to get some gloves to keep it from getting on your skin. I used some old plastic bowls from such items as "I cant believe its not butter" to mix it in. I used a piece of plexiglass to mix it and one of those sponge paintbrushes to apply it, I didn't use the paintbrush until the second application and it really helped. I would recommend wearing old clothes to, I now have have a hardened section of fiberglass resin in a pair of good pants. At first I only applied one cloth to each section of cracks, this wasn't enough as I originally thought I added several pieces of cloth later in an attempt to strengthen it further.
When using fiberglass I would recommend EXCESSIVE masking to keep fiberglass resin off of parts and areas you don't want it. This stuff is strong and hard to remove.
Bondo is usually used on cars for autobody repair, this substance is quickly gaining ground in the modding community and tons of people are beginning to use. For me, this was also my first time using this substance. I figured I would learn to use this substance on the front of the case where the old SGI emblem use to be. I wanted the front of the case to be perfectly flat and this seemed like an easy job. Again, I have no pictures of the mixing process but I will give this little hint: Bondo also makes some rubber spreaders just for this stuff and when mixed properly it should match the color of the spreaders, a kind of flesh pink color. I then sanded the area in order to make the front of the case entirely flush so that when I painted the case there would be no seams/cracks visible.
This turned out to be a useful experiment, it taught me the basics to mixing bondo and how to apply it. You'll notice in one picture the bondo to the right is a bit red, I mixed in to much hardener. Hence it dried fast and was harder to apply. I got a bit more skilled with this stuff and learned that you need to over-apply the stuff to the area your working on as well as beyond the area. These next few pictures area actually after ALOT of bondo applications but by this coat I had learned how to work with this stuff sufficiently. Sanding is also a big part of the process, you need to get a smooth surface with which to work with. I bought and electric sander to get the job done faster, the B&D Mouse.
Here we see a few applications of bondo and the resulting smoothness due to the electric sander. I also devised another method for the more intricate areas of the sanding process involving a sanding block an a piece of conductive foam, the conductiveness of the foam adds nothing to the process. The foam allows the sand paper to contour to the shape of the case. In addition to this side I also applied some bondo the left of the case but this side required little work and I do not think it would require great detail in this article. I also used a bit of bondo spot putty to fill in anything so small that I missed it.
Now its time to move onto the most daunting task of my design, the fabrication of the fins and molding them into the base of the O2 case. I really didn't know where to began, I knew the basic idea of what I wanted but not how to achieve it. This feature of the would be what I wanted to set it apart from my predecessors case(Mashie's Oenone)I figured I would use aluminum but I didn't have the slightest idea of how to attach them to one another or how to attach them to the base. I went through a few prototypes to get an idea of the shape I wanted using some scrap aluminum.
I decided this was a useless and wasteful method of prototyping so I moved onto an easier, more forgiving material to work with, paper. By this point I knew that I couldn't have curved fins because of the way I wanted them to overlap so I would have to settle for straight fins. I began prototyping the fronts with paper and moved onto the sides.
I was originally planning on using aluminum but this would have been hard to bond together, after a long and insightful conversation with CrimsonSky I decided to use brass and cut and solder each piece together. I immediately purchased a sheet of brass from Home Depot($30!!! for a 25"x12" sheet). I transferred the stencils I made to the brass and cut them out using my craftsman cutting tool. I began with the front set of fins because they took up the least space and wouldn't take long to cut, I taped them up and made a few marks on them to know how I would mount each piece to its counterpart. Eventually I had all of the fins cut and ready for some shaping and mounting.
Before I moved any further I did a bit of research on solder, I wanted a good strong bond between each fin. Finally I decided to purchase some solder from a company called Solder-It. The solder-it solder is really useful, its not like normal wire solder its more of a creamier and comes in a syringe which I found really easy to use. I will be ordering more from them in the future. Along with the solder came some useful sheets of paper detailing procedures for soldering a few different materials. Solder-It really knows its stuff. Not only do they sell solders for different things, including aluminum solder, and plastic solder.
So I bought a torch from home depot and this provided hours of fun. Not only did this serve to melt the solder but it would also help to shape the fins. In order to make the fins more flexible heat needed to be applied to make the brass more pliable/shapable, the fins required a few bends to sit properly on the base of the case. I don't have any pictures of any of the heating process because I decided it would be to risky to try holding the fins, the torch, and a camera. Applying this solder is extremely easy, I used a small bead of solder on the upper end of each piece after scratching a mark into where the fin above would sit. My first attempt with front fins was quite insightful as I learned how to hold each fin while not allowing the previous joint to loosen while heating the current joint I was working on. Each set was strong enough to stand on its own.
The Fins - Continued
Once I had the fins fabricated I had to remove the original vents on the base. This was simple enough, I just cut them away using my cutting tool and cleaned the edges up with a file. I later enlarged the front hole and did a bit more cleanup to the others.
Now I needed to figure out how to attach the fins to the base of the case. This involved a bit of thinking and I finally decided to solder brass screws to the inside of the fins and then just screw them to the base. I drilled a few holes in the base then used those holes to mark the fins so I knew where to put each screw. In order to keep the fins flush with the base I cut off a small portion of the head. This part was very tricky, I had to hold each screw in place and then heat it with a torch in order for the solder to flow. This was a very long process as some of the fins or previous screws would come loose do to the heat. Then I simply put them in place and placed nuts over the ends..
The excess brass would need to be removed from the back of the fins, it wouldn't be visible. I simply cut away the top of the inner fins, again using my craftsman cutting tool with the flexi shaft. I know that's not a good explanation so Ill just go straight to the pics and hope you'll understand once you see them.
More Fins!
I couldn't stop here, I noticed that the fins had quite some "flex" to them so I need to solder in some supports to keep the from shifting and breaking. I used some scrap brass to solder in place and a few areas where the supports on the base came up. I had to mount each set of fins on the base to solder the reinforcements in place. This was a very complicated task and I melted the base a bit but it paid off in the end.
The front set didn't require any reinforcement so I decided to leave those as they were. Now came the part where all the skills I had acquired working with bondo would pay off, the molding of the fins into the base. Once again Crimson sky offered his help in here, he mentioned that they bondo may possibly crack and flake off and that I give the bondo something to "bite" into to give it a better hold on the base. There's a reason you need to "scuff" up the rubber on your bike tire when patching it. He suggested that I spray some pantyhose with an adhesive and "tack" it on the base at the ends where the fins would flow into the base and then coat it in some epoxy to harden it and then apply a coat of bondo and continue with molding the fins into the base. I purchased some 3m Super77 Spray adhesive, some epoxy, and....lets just say I got some pantyhose from "someone".
The spray adhesive was used just to tack the pantyhose in place, the epoxy was used to secure it and harden the pantyhose. The netting of the pantyhose would give the bondo lots of little places to "bite" into.
I later discovered that it was easier without overlapping the pantyhose onto the fins because this created a bump in the bondo which I later removed on this set of fins with a razor. The first application of bondo went well, I cleaned it up a bit with some 220grit sandpaper
Then disaster struck, while handling the base I somehow caused the left set of fins to come loose. One of the solder bonds had broke and a fin came free. I injected a little more solder in-between the fin and attempted to re-bond it using a torch. This caused some problems, some bondo burned, the plastic of the base started to dip a bit. I need to start all over with the molding on the back part of the fins. I shaped the plastic a bit to help with the fin molding aswell. This application of bondo went on surprisingly well, little cleanup was required.
The next piece was the right set of fins, this part also contained the most so lots of shaping would be required. The right set required the most coats of bondo because I could never get it just right. Since this set of fins was so close to the front set I decided to make it appear as if it was conjoined with the front set of fins as well. When I put the first coat of bondo between the front and right fins I added to much acetone and the consistency of the bondo was very fluid-like. As well as adding it between the front and right fins I added along the top of the right set because when I cut this it didn't quite line up with the top of the base in this section. After a few more applications of bondo, a bit of sanding and shaping it was starting to take form.
The front was fin molding was quite a task in itself, because the fins were so small on the front it was hard for me to make a believable transaction into the base. I used a small file and an exacto knife to do alot of the shaping and several small strips of sand paper. Eventually after all the shaping was done I used some spot putty to fill in all of the little gaps and holes that I may have missed with the bondo.
Using the old chassis I was able to figure out the dimensions that would fit in the shell without any complications. Using the aluminum extrusions I had left over from Project:ZERO I was able to construct the framework need to support the mobo tray. The maximum height inside this case was 10", that would fit an mATX mobo just fine as they are 9.6" square. I would nee to construct a "U" shaped piece of framework in order to have a removable motherboard tray.
I began by cutting 1 8" long piece and two 9" long pieces using my new jigsaw. Using the connectors from 80/20 I constructed the "U" shaped frame that would hold the motherboard and hard drive tray. In order to have a freely sliding tray I need something to slide in the slots of the extrusions. I cut a piece of plexiglass to size to use as the first tray, I would have to mount the mobo tray on this tray. Using plexi again I made another piece and marked out all the mounting holes.
Using some more extrusions as spacers to mount the two pieces of plexiglass together I had my sliding tray. I tapped the holes into the motherboard tray to secure the tray that slid in the extrusions to mobo tray, sounds kind of complicated I know. The spacers left just enough space for the other tray to slide freely while mounted to its counterpart. Hopefully these pics will explain things better than I can.
Unfortunately at this time I hadn't yet decided on the placement of a hard drive. Now this is one of the most critical components of any computer. Thankfully and luckily I had left juste enough room between the spacers to fit one. I made a few modifications to the plexiglass and voila, I had my hard drive mounted. Because of the socket cap screws I used I only left a small gap between the screw heads and the circuit board of the mobo.
This design allowed me to mount the hard drive while saving space because it was recessed in the main tray which slides in the rails of the extrusions. I used an old mATX motherboard for all testing purposes. After the completion of the motherboard trays I was quite satisfied and decided to move on to the other side of the framework. This side was unique because I had to mount the powersupply on the bottom of the base, this left no room for the "U" shaped framework I used on the other side.
I decided to make an "L" shaped piece of framework and mount it to the powersupply. In order to ensure I didn't short anything out in the power supply. I used a screw with a very small head. I also decided to put the framework where there were little exposed contacts inside of the PSU, where the connector wires came out from.
Mounting the framework was very simple. I simply used some screws with small head that needed to be cut down to size and two T-Nuts to attach the "U" shaped frame to the base. Attaching the power supply was easy, it had a tab in the front of it with two mounting holes, I simply used some 1/4" spacers and for some support in the back of it I fabricated a small mounting bracket out of aluminum.
The original CD drive was mounted to the old chassis with a little "holster around it", the holster was in turn attached to the shell of the case; holding it on. So I had to keep the holster but I wanted to cut everything unneeded off of it. Not only did I want to cut off the excess I wanted it to look "OK".
The next thing to do was to figure out how to attach the DVD and the shell to the framework. The mounting of the DVD drive was extremely frustrating. I don't really take the time to plan things out on paper so I'm always working on-the-fly. The framework on the PSU was mounted slightly closer to the back than the other framework, The DVD drive had to be mounted straight in order for the shell to fit correctly. I had to fabricate a piece of aluminum that was able to connect to the dvd drives holster and to the frame. The amount of measuring I did for this piece alone was extreme. I don't think I can explain it well so Ill just get on to the pictures.
Time was fading fast for me, the lan party was approaching fast and funds were disappearing. A few months earlier G-Gnome had made his mark on the scene with his now epic worklog on his Orac3 project. This was a great source of inspiration for me and tons of others as well. He made his mark on the scene and I was a follower. I was riding home one night thinking about his project and his legendary wiring when it hit me, I had a payphone handset my dad had given me with some very cool conduit on the end of it. This conduit was very small and could only hold about four standard size PSU wires, for the IDE and ATX cables I would use the same thing G-Gnome did; Shower Hoses. I thought these two would go well together.
This was practically the last thing I did, the idea for the conduit came to me very late in the project so I was still a bit unsure as to how to do it. I knew I couldn't just have a bunch of wires coming from the PSU, that would get too cluttered. I decided to make a container that would attach the framework on the PSU that would house all the wires and the CCFL inverter. I used a piece of aluminum and made all the necessary bends to wrap around the frame. I needed to have wires for the ATX plug, 12v plug, HD pwr, DVD Drive, and IDE cable. For the ATX plug and IDE cable I used the larger showerhose to hold those wires and for smaller wires(12V, HD,DVD) I used the smaller Payphone conduit. I drilled a few holes in the container I made. I used some grommets to hold the conduits in place and to provide a nice professional touch to the overall appearance. Upon attempting to attach the container with all the wires inside I noticed it would not fit. I needed to cut away at some of the framework of the PSU, I used my jigsaw to cut the extrusion and ended up braking the blade. I used some of the hose from within the shower conduit to protect the wires from any sharp edges left behind on the extrusion. I used some socket head screws to attach it to framework as I am greatly favoring the look of those screw heads.
I had to cut each wire on the PSU and resolder it in order to get it through the conduits. One thing that saved me a lot of time during the soldering process was the Solder-It solder, that stuff is great. In the pics above you may or may not see the DUAL 6in CCFL inverter, I wanted to use the same buttons that came with the O2 case to control the CCFL. I searched everywhere for a small toggle SPST push-button switch. I used some epoxy to attach a piece of aluminum to the base for the switch to sit on. For the power switch I used a small Momentary push button switch mounted a piece of plexiglass in order to use the same power button on the base. I ran some wire all the way from the CCFL inverter to the bottom of the case and back up to switch which is connected with a plug in order to make everything removable. I ran the wires for CCFLs themselves the same way. I also did a lot of testing to ensure I got the CCFLs in the right position to allow the maximum amount of light out of the fins in order to get the affect I wanted. (IGNORE THE PAINT)
For the power to the DVD drive as well as the IDE cable I constructed this little box. I wanted the IDE cable to look like it was screwed into this box even though it wasn't. I ran the IDE cable through a length of shower hose to complete the overall look.
This was the part I was most fearing, the part where all My hard work would either make or brake the case. A paintjob is one of the most important things to think about when you plan on doing a total case mod. I had painted one case before using the excellent guide over at The PC-Workshop and had gotten great results. This time I didn't just want a flat color, I wanted the metallic look. I chose Metallic Black Night from rustoleum, but with paints that use flakes you cant really sand the color coats. The key to any great paintjob is the primer coat. I used some duplicolor filler/primer to ensure that I filled each an everyone of the little cracks in the case and base. I decided to primer the shell first to see how all my hard work paid off. The results surprised the hell out of me. However, there were some small cracks that still showed through. I went over these with some spot putty and re-primered, unfortunately I have no pictures of that or of the painting of the base. In the last pic you can see the great job I did of repairing the part that had broken off.
I did the regular wet sanding with 400grit sandpaper and 600grit before moving onto the color coat. Fortunately since time was a factor the paint dried within hours and was ready for a wet(clear) coat. I probably would have gotten better results had I sanded the clear coat with, 1000,1500,2000gritt and then with rubbing compound, & polish. I primered the base with the same filler/primer and decided on painting it a flat back color because I seriously feared sanding it. I did "LIGHT" sanding with 600grit to at least make an effort.
I made the back panel after painting the case, this was fairly simple. I used two pieces of aluminum for the back. I glued a small spacer from a hard drive as a fangrill for the PSU Fan on the back. An actual hard drive platter was used for the rear 80mm Fan, which was an aluminum fan. I only made one slot for the graphics card because the mobo I used had everything onboard(audio,lan,etc..). I decided to just make the holes for the switch on the PSU and power cord.
The back panel was made the morning of the lan (1am-3am Lan party started at 8am) so I was in a rush. Earlier that day I was also in a car wreck so that put me back about 18 hours. This was the end of my journey and the contest at the lan party would be the final judge.
This case was my most extensive yet, I tried a lot of new things out and luckily the results were satisfactory. There were a few other cases entering the case mod competition at the EverLAN party and for some reason they were all Pre-Mods with a little added in. I'm a little apprehensive to say this but......THEY DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE!!!!!!! hehe.
Here are the final detail shots. There are some chips in the paint at this point but it doesn't matter because they weren't their when the judges saw it. The joint between the front and right fins looks way better in person.
I hope you enjoyed this way over due article. These pictures as well as over 200 more of the construction process can be found on my personal website gallery at WWW.DETN8R.NET/GALLERY
I would like to thank Virtual Hideout and Wolfman for featuring this article on the greatest CaseMod website around, and the many people that posted in my several worklogs with ideas, comments, and praise. I hope you will all follow my worklogs which will always be featured in the Mods-In-Progress Hideout of the Great VHForums.