# [Project] insan1ty



## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

alright im finally going to start on my next project  no more mods, this is going to be a build  








thats the basic idea. it will have a small base but im going to but alot of weight on that bottom edge so that it balances mostly by itself. http://www.delviesplastics.com/mm5/...1212&Category_Code=118_Mirrored_Clear_Acrylic getting 10 of those sheets. its going to have as little external mods as possible, the idea is that you want see the IO panel all i have have is a small hole that i rout all the cables through. its going to have an internal hinge so that i can easily open it if something goes wrong. will have angled fan slots as well to look as clean as possible. this will hopefully turn out better then silverstoned (disappointment to me there are so many errors i dont really want to talk about it)

all i need is the acrylic


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## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

Ok, this will hurt the pocket book, but look into Polycarb before acrylic. Much tougher for the thickness. This means a lighter/stronger case. Keep in mind Poly is a bugger to keep scratches out of, but so is Plexi. Also, Polycarb is more brittle, but not enough I'd think you'd notice the difference. 

My .02

Eric


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

unfortuently $$ really is an issue. it would be cool to use poly, but it about 2x as much to use poly then to use acrylic, and poly doesnt have mirrored finish.  thanks for the idea though


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

ordering acrylic on friday. got delayed because of paycheck


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

be honest...who forgot about this project?? well, i for one, DIDNT.  heh acrylic came today, and being a good little modder i got right to work. here goes nothing..








10 sheets mirror acrylic, some hinges, some weld on #3, and an applicator bottle. FINALLY here.








hinges. going to make things much easier...i hope








applicator bottle. not much more to be said








weld on #3. THIS STUFF IS A HUGE PITA to get into the applicator bottle. or im just dumb. i ended up puncturing the secondary metal thingy and using the top as a basin thing to poor it into the applicator bottle. this stuff kinda stings flesh but isnt too bad.








cant mod without meh tunes!!! ayreon ftw








just a little test to see how this stuff works. seems all good








w00t for amazing gluing system. to the left is a sub that i dont use much (dont have it setup, i will soon im being lazy right now), and on top is a secret project that your going to have to wait on  








to the right is another project that you get to wait on. i decided that it was important that i really shove them together. 








success!! 








could have been better but i think its pretty good.








gluing on panel number 3 (technically). only doing one joint at a time. this is what the setup looks like right now. i might flip it in a minute and add glue on the other joint because i think its dry.

anyway, sorry for the wait, ill work quickly so you dont have to wait much. expect at least 1, if not 2, updates tonight. l8r for now


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

update #2








modular work station 








i need to cut the 12x12" sheets into 6x6" for the boxes. wait, 6x6, you only get 4 per sheet! i realized this thats why i have 10 sheets. 3 x 4 = 12 6"x6" sheets = 2x 6x6x6" cubes. kinda confusing but it works. 








tool o' the trade








hi








line cut through. seems pretty smooth. 








cut that in half

*repeats a bunch of times*

now i have 12 of the 6"x6" sheets. 








my current progress as of 5 minutes ago. then parents got mad at me so i get to get ready for school =.= look for more updates tomarrow...well not this many, but some


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## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

Lookin good so far. I remember tryin to do an acrylic cupboard in high school. Was a bit a pain.

And, Forc, we need to talk about how to resize a pic! = )

Eric


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

photobucket says it automatically resizes them to 800x600. 1024x768 isnt that bad =/ its just such a huge pain. its why i stopped watermarking them also. just not really worth it to me. ill see what i can do though


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

after 2-3 days of work, here is what i got. soccer practice and school, materials have slowed me down but im actually fairly close to finishing. well, kinda anyway. 








gluing meh hinges on. this was an insanely dumb process in which i was stupid and the acrylic was even dumber. but it worked, and nothing was damaged (more on that later) 








you can kinda see how the gray backing was destroyed and you can see the mirror part. i was freaking out right about now because i thought the mirror would be jacked. its fine (again, more later)








going to be the top of one of the arms to the boxes. the whole in the middle is where the hole saw is going to be drilled through. im using a 1.5" diameter hole saw bit. 24 pins fit through it, and thats all i care about...








carbide bit. teethed bits with just destroy it (at least thats what i hears) so DONT use them. unless its hacksaw bit but i couldnt find one of those. 








box with 3 sides up. a few things need to be worked out however. im going to attach the final sides (not the ones with holes) with velcro and scraps of acrylic, which will be so much fun. 








the joint boxes are coming out of this sheet. 3x3x3  








 hole sawed out, 1.5" diameter (or close anyway)








THIS is how i know that just because i showed the mirror part im not screwed. i scratched off, with the same glue stuff that i attached the hinges with, the gray backing till i exposed the silvery part. it was this piece and can you tell at all?








12x12 getting sawed








original little hole thing

not sure why i dont have more pics, but they wouldnt really be needed. i just repeated the hole saw thing with the 12x12s, so im done with it (till the joint boxes anyway which are going to SUCK) unforuently, i dont have anything for tubing. going to use either copper, aluminum, or PVC i have decided...


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

You can either use 2" conduit (easiest, use ready-make joint pieces and can bend it) or copper (bronze together for the angles, but takes skill).


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

not too many pics, but i dont need many. 








saved me several hours of work when i found this  old mobo tray from x-navigator. needs some cutting though..








cut, bushed, and im happy 








was all done by hand with a sanding block. not bad...








i found that i can weld into the acrylic other substances and it holds really well.  makes life soo easy, its almost cheating...








as of 3 minutes ago. coming along quite nicely


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## kenownsryu (Apr 1, 2008)

Looking good so far. Too bad suckers like me have to buy cases lol


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

dont you just love it when life says "f*** you, go ahead and die I dont want you anymore."? project put on hold for a few days....stay tuned...


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

dont really want to post a full update because, well, yesterday...sucked and i dont have that many pics. anyway, this is what i spent alot of time yesterday doing, and i think it paid off.
















ill get some progress pics later. not sure when, depends on how im feeling. sorry about how sparatic this is, but sometimes....arg i just cant


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

looks simple, but the 3x3s were really jacked up. took me a lot longer then it should have for me to glue them.








if you look closely, there is a thin piece of acrylic in there. thats to make a really good bond for both main sheets. without it, the 2 squares wouldnt even touch. now, its uber super strong 








another technique i used. that is a small shard of acrylic that, when covered in acrylic cement stuff, turns into a really good glue. used it when bonds were too weak. these 3x3 cubes really need to hold alot because of the steel...








nearly same pic as before, but with the acrylic shard covered in the cement stuff. works really well 








these are just some pics of what i have done, and whats left. thats everything (acrylic wise) that i have done








3x3 cubes








6x6 cubes








meh precious 12x12 








what i have left to do with the 3x3








6x6 (i finally know what im going to do with them. sucks i dont have time to explain, but you should like it i hope )








em biggens. wont be too hard








steel tubes ftw


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## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

How goes the battle, Forc? Looks like yer gettin closer!


Eric


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

i have an update soon, too tired now...wait till tomarrow. sorry bout the wait. i havent done THAT much because i got a new comp and am ocing it, but i should hopefully be done by this weekend


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

ive been sick  cant really do much without getting snot on anything, and im all congested. so much fun... as soon as im over it, i will finish


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## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

Hurry up, dangit. I wanna see what that mirrored acrylic looks like. I have an idea using that for my wife's case, which I will start building as soon as my current project is done and my poor bank account recovers from it. = )

Do you happen to know if they make that stuff in colors?


Eric


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## forcifer (Nov 20, 2005)

well, this might be the last update before the finale...








at the intersections, im drilling. yes, its external modding, but this side is facing backwards anyway so few will see it. and over heating hds = teh sux.








all cut out  very painless...i hope o.o this project is very suspenseful for me, because i cant tell how everything looks








5' of velcro ftw!  going to attach a bunch of things with this stuff








the hard drive cage chosen for sacrifice. first off are those annoying little feet whatever. i dont remember what they were for, i think it was a locking mechinism on my old x-navigator








isnt that much better?








should be enough velcro








fits fine 








velcro - 1, forcifer - 0. this is some hardcore velcro. to remove the cage, i had to break off the bottom thing, and thats pretty hard in itself o.o

*reglues the bottom thing the same way i originally did, but this time i didnt mess up*









the doors are also going to be held on with velcro. this are NOT snapping off, so im really loading on the enforcement. gluing it to the metal tray, and to the acrylic in like 3 places. should hold.








back to the hard drive cage. i decided i needed a fan in there, so here is an 80mm i stole from an old OEM case (amazed that its antec tbh. the psu was also O.O)








ghetto style fan holes








just to be safe  as long as it holds 2 hds








fan + hard drive cage installed








should keep everything fairly cool

yea they do. look at www.delviesplastics.com thats the place i used. they have other colored stuff, i was originally going to use it but then it got too expensive


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## MrChooks (Apr 19, 2008)

Hi Forcifer:
I know zip 'bout 'puters, but a little about fans - & from the look of the photos - I think there is far too much resistance to airflow accross the afn. Is there any way you can cut some more metal out of the box so the opening for the airflow is increased. 

Ideally and "as a rough rule of thumb" it is best if there are no substantial obstructions within a blade diameter of either side of the fan, as when they are that close they really impede the fans capacity to work - The blade ends up "stalling" (where they spin but all they do is stir up the same air - but don't actually make it move from on side of the fan to the other.

Just a thought regards Chooks


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

MrChooks said:


> Hi Forcifer:
> I know zip 'bout 'puters, but a little about fans - & from the look of the photos - I think there is far too much resistance to airflow accross the afn. Is there any way you can cut some more metal out of the box so the opening for the airflow is increased.
> 
> Ideally and "as a rough rule of thumb" it is best if there are no substantial obstructions within a blade diameter of either side of the fan, as when they are that close they really impede the fans capacity to work - The blade ends up "stalling" (where they spin but all they do is stir up the same air - but don't actually make it move from on side of the fan to the other.
> ...


I agree. You need to open up the opeingn to a minimum of 85% of the blade surface area, if not more.


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)




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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Now That is some cool looking rig!!!









I can hardly wait to see what the entire thing looks like when full completed and working


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## Acuta73 (Mar 17, 2008)

WOW, that's a very cool and bizzare lookin rig. Almost hard to look at. Eyeballs don't want to register the lines. I noticed the pipe "legs" went away. They not work well? If it was a weight issue, try it with ABS or PVC? Not sure how you'd get it to look good with the mirror, though.

Just a thought. 

Were it not so cubic, would look like something from Salvadore Dali. Again, very nice work!

Eric


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

It's now got me wondering whether 'half-silvered' acrylic sheet is available and how would it look with those cool blue CCFT lights inside, glowing through the case!!!









Sorry Magnethead, I'm not belittling your cabinet, that's looking excellently great - I'm just leaping forward to the Mk II version


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

It's forcifers case, im posting the pics for him. and OBTW, that's the FINISHED product.


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## WereBo (Apr 5, 2008)

Oops :redface: Sorry 'bout that :wink:

But... but... but.. where's the power switch 'n' CD/DVD drive 'n' flashy little lights???


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## magnethead (Mar 18, 2006)

no optical drives I dont think (if he has one, check a small cube), dunno where power is.


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