January 2007 Modding Competition Worklogs

slamaa · 15th January 2007, 9:04 PM

Post your worklog entries here please and keep comments in the other thread to make it easier for when the judging has to take place.

hobo-jo · 15th January 2007, 11:51 PM

WORKLOG: LCD Battlestation Mount

From this to....?

So the original plan (http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=538302) was to mount a 15" monitor to the side of a HP e-PC case, there were several reasons this failed (which I will probably note in the e-PC thread at some stage). However, something fantastic came from my ponderings of how I was going to mount this LCD monitor in an unconventional manner. I wanted something that would hold my dreamcast, the e-PC and also a TVtuner/vga adaptor (on the way, allowing me to watch TV and use the dreamcast on the LCD) as well as being able to mount the LCD to the side.

A trip to bunnings and the reject shop ensued (yesterday). I was unsure exactly what I was looking for, but was sure bunnings would provide me with some devine ideas (which is usually the case) but alas it was not to be. I happened to be wandering through the reject shop afterwards with my gf and stumbled across this gem (left item, picture below):

"OMG" I yelled in hysteria. "This is exactly what I am looking for!". At this point I was getting some weird stares so I grabbed the item off the shelf and headed for checkout. Only $12. Can you believe it?

[AVOVE]: Proof purchase was only yesterday.

As we were walking back to the car I was trying to decide how I was going to mount the LCD on the side of the shelf unit at the same time as having ease of access to the shelves. Wham! The idea came to me, why not have the ability to swivel the shelf unit. I recalled seeing something for monitors at bunnings so in I went and surely enough there it was (item on right, 2nd picture up), a swivel that would hold to 100kg. $29.95 later and homeward bound we are.

Fortunately (in a sense) I was unable to finish the mod last night as was out for the rest of the afternoon for a Birthday and only got home at 9pmish intime to see this thread and realise that I had a nice project already lined up for it.

I did get a chance to do 2 things last night:
A) Put together the shelving unit
B) Attach the bracket to the back of the LCD

Using some brackets previously purchased at bunnings (they are designed to mount speakers to a wall, see pictures below).

I should mention that I didn't actually use the screws that came with the speaker mount, but some self tapping screws from bunnings that were a little shorter so as not to hit any of the precious internals of the LCD (as the original screws were quite long).

Fast forward to this afternoon:

I had ripped (well taken apart) the bottom/base of the LCD from the screen. This had been done previously as part of the original idea (see below).

I was unimpressed with the gaping hole it left in the back of the LCD at the bottom (from the removal of the stand), so today I grabbed the piece that had been in there and hacked off some unecessary bits with a dremmel and fitted it back in.

I attached the second part of the speaker mounting kit to the side of the shelving unit.

So both brackets were securely screwed into place, time to mount the LCD onto the shelving unit.

TADA...

Feels like I am in a battlestation (hence the name) here with the extra monitor and is in the perfect position to just sit back in my chair and watch the TV for a bit or flick on the Dreamcast for a quick bash at Soul Calibur 2 or Sonic. Also with a little flick of the shelves I can lineup the LCD for watching movies from bed (NICE!).

All it needs is a bit of cable management. I am waiting for the tuner/adaptor to arrive and then will start cutting holes in the back of the shelves to run cables through, etc.

GAM · 18th January 2007, 2:28 PM

WORKLOG: PC Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 1
Worklog on modifying my PC's front panel with a stylish MeshX front fan air intake.

Surprisingly enough my CFO, er... lovely wife, wouldn't authorise the AU$400-1000 I'm inclined to spend on a brand new, purpose built, feature rich HTPC case. The case was to house the PC components I had accumulated after upgrades to my main machine ;-). Naturally, as I virtually had another working, fairly recent, computer laying around in pieces, I felt compelled to spend something (sub $50) on a cheapo ATX case.
Well, I had to collect my DQ6 motherboard from the PC retailer anyway, so I figured I'd see what they had on the shelves. Sure enough, your typical selection of cheaper Chinese imports were on display, the ones that are made of sheet metal less than a millimetre thick, all essentially the same but with cutesy plastic front panel differences. I chose one that was the plainest and seemed to have the basics covered: air flow ‘modability’; accommodate 92-120mm fans front and back; accommodate at least four 3.5” HD's and four 5.25” devices.

The lucky candidate – ‘Sharky’ brand PC case (AU$45 after negotiating the removal of the inadequate PSU). This case met the basic criteria except that the front panel had virtually no capacity to draw in fresh air. It did have a very simple front panel, though, that lends itself to some simple modding. This is a very flimsy case that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone but I was compulsive and it just fitted the budget.

(Damn. I deliberately didn't take pictures of the case before performing this mod because I was sure that I had taken photos of it already. It seems like I didn't do the whole job because I could only find these, but you'll get the idea of the original front panel soon enough.)

Start Modding
Under the masking tape is the same plastic surface as the rest of this piece of the front panel. This piece more or less pops straight out of the front panel, just beneath the 5.25” drive bays.
Measure, mark and punch. 22mm hole saw selected for the cutting job to the top and bottom edge of each grill.

You can often get away with it, but I highly recommend always clamping the work piece when drilling, cutting etc. In this case, as the piece is rounded at the bottom I had to place suitably sized backing blocks so that the work piece could be clamped effectively and to provide appropriate purchase for the pilot drill of the hole saw. Usually I would have two clamps but due to the awkwardness of the work piece I could only manage one clamp and a very firm hand. The firm hand is particularly important when the pilot drill first cuts through and the work piece wants to ascend the drill bit--that's when things crack and snap.

It is not so bad with this flimsy plastic, but I clear the cut piece from the hole saw after each hole as the pieces can get stuck in there when there's a few of them.
Four holes later. I've drawn lines between the outside edges of each hole for a guide.

Now to the vice. I used packers for good backing support and then tensioned the vice firmly on the work piece for sawing.

Two done, two to go. I try to keep within the lines as the edges are cleaned up easily with a bit of filing and sanding especially as this is plastic.

Now you can see what is going on. I've given the edges some rough filing already. I had to expand the curves of one side to overcome a sawing error. You wouldn't know it.
The furry bits you can see in the photo look worse than they were. They're just fine little strands of plastic that come off in seconds with some sand paper or a finger nail.

(You gotta' love the Wifey!

)
Now to the grill. I cut a strip of MeshX to the width required for each grill--roughly 8mm overlap--using the jigsaw mounted upside down in the Triton Router/Jigsaw bench and then filed the edges a little straighter and smoother.

With the two pieces marked for cutting it's back to the bench mounted jigsaw. By the way, I would have used this for the straight edges on the plastic piece except for the backward curved bottom and the little plastic block between the Power and Reset buttons. Why? Well, jigsaws rip through these things quite nicely when you are working with nice flat surfaces and can get good firm downward pressure on the work piece, otherwise it can get very violent, jumping up and down, making a hell of a racket, scaring the life out of you and making a mess of your work. Worse still, you could lose fingers!

Two grills--one left, one right. The middle piece is scrap (...useful scrap

.

A quick dry fit and we see minor issues. The MeshX overlaps the four mounting holes for the cutesy little LCD and the edges of its buttons.

GAM · 18th January 2007, 2:29 PM

WORKLOG: Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 2
Worklog on modifying my PC's front panel with a stylish MeshX front fan air intake.

Look closely and you can just make out the trim lines--two half rounds at the top and a chunk at the bottom.

Back to the jigsaw to roughly tear these chunks out and voila! It is no beauty contest around the back here. It fits, that's what is important.

By the way, did anyone notice something missing here? One of the wire pairs on the power/reset buttons is missing. I knew I should have removed the buttons but I was too lazy. Silly. No drama though, I soldered them back later.
Now, after some sanding with 240-400grit sandpaper the holes are starting to look professional.

Unfortunately I got a chip--bottom left. Bummer. A little filler and paint down the track should fix that. Apart from this, the edges are looking quite nice.

Protective plastic coating on the MeshX pieces removed and another dry fit. Schweeeeet.

Check it out on the flipside with a little finger tip balancing act. Nice.

I figured hot glue was a good choice for affixing the pieces--it holds well and can be removed fairly easily if necessary with a little chipping and lifting.
First mistake though, I forgot how quickly this stuff sets. Placing the glue first (typical glue application) is not the way to do this job. By the time I had gone around all the edges and started to place the grill the glue had hardened.

Plan B: Glue over the top of the edges. Schweet.
Although the first glue attempt had hardened, it hadn't actually set enough to easily remove--still a little gooey.

Nevermind, let's check out the good side. Schweeeet.

Back to fixing the first side. Patience is a virtue I lacked this day... hot glue? Mmmm, cold set! Into the freezer she goes.

Ten minutes later and we have crispy beads. Most of this stuff lifted quite easily now except where I had started to hack at it when it hadn't set.

All clear. Those marks are from my trusty old chisel aka handy scraper.

GAM · 18th January 2007, 2:29 PM

WORKLOG: Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 3
Worklog on modifying my PC's front panel with a stylish MeshX front fan air intake.

Back to the first side again. Note the finger pressure. I held this for about 5mins while it set. If it was flat it may not have been necessary but as the MeshX pieces slightly overlapped the beginning of the curved bottom they needed pressure to ensure they sat neat to the surfaces.

Voila!

Little LCD panel and side mounted ports reinstalled and temporary cable management.

The bigger picture, behind the scenes. Now, see that little strip of missing plastic at the very bottom of the front panel. Originally that was only source of fresh air in the front--minimal capacity that has now been significantly increased.

Front view-Off.

Front view-On, full frontal.

Next I need to focus on managing the wiring better and creating some form of ducting to marry the 120mm fan behind, with the two grills in front... and maybe some paint.
The duct isn't vital but one way or another I want to enclose or clean up the area behind the basic little LCD which, by the way, displays disk activity, and temperatures via the attached wire probes (simple).

UPDATE: Duct between front grills and front fan!!!
After several man days, no exaggeration, I have finally produced a duct to marry the front grills with the front fan. See the full thread on this stage of the Front Panel mod here.

I've never done any fibreglassing before, or bog/bondo work for that matter, so this has been a big learning experience full of pitfalls, screws ups and substandard results.

Duct Overview:
Initial drawings to create templates

Manufacturing foam sheets for templates.

Foam template cut and stacked together. Plastercine job in lieu of shaping the foam sheets (due to errors on my part, the templates weren't appropriately dimensioned for shaping!!!).

After laying fibreglass weave, resin, mould (waste) removal, body filler for reinforcement and further shaping.

Quick check. Fits roughly.

Coat of primer. Single, heavy coat of black satin spray paint (can). Recall, this is not visible and I was running out of time, so I settled for the rough finishing job.

Wires, switches etc., need to go back in their places and the USB ports remounted. I was prepared to sacrifice the USB ports but I still managed to fit the PCB in its original location, albeit on a slight angle, and keep it mounted with only one of two mounting screws.

Neato!

Unfortunately you'd never know it was there. All done!!!

The final stage of this mod is really quite superfluous, but this is my experiment in creating ducts (practical) and other moulded forms using fibreglass.

See the full thread on the duct mod here

This completes my competition entry.I hope you all liked it!

rodgrech · 21st January 2007, 6:43 PM

sevenAU · 21st January 2007, 7:39 PM

Worklog: DIY waterblock - Part 1

What can i say?, thanks to inspirational waterblocks from our own AussieJester and Cathar i decided to attempt my own waterblock. The idea is to make a simple waterblock that will do the job, i don't expect it to out perform an Apogee.

Where do you start when building a waterblock?

On paper.

I knew this was something i needed to do, design it on paper first instead of diving head first without a clue what i am doing. So i came up with 3 suitable sizes for use with one of my LGA775 boards and decided on 45mm x 60mm for an appropriate sized waterblock. The idea was to make several cutouts on 5mm grid paper that would act as templates for barb holes and the bolt holes, as well as the final size.

After the template was stuck to the block of acrylic i drilled 1mm pilot holes.

Below: The template on the block of acrylic, with 1mm pilot holes drilled.

The next phase in the building of the waterblock was to create the "milled" part if the block. The main complication of this part is the fact that i lack a milling machine, so i came up with the idea to use a piece of 3mm acrylic and cut a neat square out, glue the piece to the main block with acrylic glue to simulate the recessed section.

The process:

After the rectangular shape was dremeled out i started to neaten the cuts with a file.

Using the top of the vice as a guide to keep the sides straight:

After the piece was filed to a neat rectangle i drilled the two 7/16" holes that will be tapped for the barbs.

Some Holes...

After the holes where drilled i glued the next step was to adhere the 3mm piece to the main block.

The next thing to be done was to tap the two 7/16" holes. There where complications with this, as i find it is hard to keep a tap dead accurate unless you are tapping a cylindrical piece in a lathe. I thought hard while looking at the drill press and thought of using the chuck in the drill press to keep the thread straight. It was a sure thing to work and would be accurate.

The tapping setup:

After successfully tapping the two holes it used a disk sander to finalize the shape, and create the frosted appearance on the top.

Top, with some brass barbs:

The next step to take was to drill the holes for the bolts and tap them in a similar fashion to the way i did the barb holes. For these and the barb holes i triple checked the positioning of the drill bit so that it wouldn't stray away from the pilot holes.

Blurry drill and tap action:

Well, thats it! the top is now complete! and it looks great, no major screw ups!

This concludes PART 1, in the next part i will build the base (if i can find some copper

, if not Aluminium)

sevenAU · 21st January 2007, 7:39 PM

Worklog: DIY waterblock - Part 2

Well i got my hands on some copper!

From the time i got the copper i was pretty much straight into cutting the grid design using dremel cutoff wheels on my drill press:

After the grid i drilled all four holes, and counter sinks:

So, now to test some gasket solutions, the rubber band or the tyre tube?

The rubber band worked a lot better, no leaking at all over 24 hours, it just looked crap so my solution was to make a new band using tire tube. (2nd pic down)

Here you see the thread taped m4's, the rubber seal, copper and acrylic:

Mmmmm....gridness

The grid is actually deeper than it looks, at most places it is 3.5mm deep.

Well, here is the final product:

Well thats it, all done. Not perfect, certainly not expecting it to win.

The temps:

After getting a mate to test this for a few days on his swiftech loop, i can safely say it works well enough to use on my PC which is what i set out to do. It's certainly not pretty looking, but it's the whole DIY aspect that makes it awesome!

According to Asus Probe the temps sat on 23 degrees on idle, with ambient being 20.5 degrees, the load temps yet to be tested.

Goth · 23rd January 2007, 12:02 AM

OK, I'm modding a PSU. It is actually a ThermalTake 430W unit I had laying around.

Here we see that there have already been some minor bits of modding peformed to this PSU.

Unpluggable connectors for the fans have been added, a nice CoolerMaster 80mm purple LED fan installed, etc.

The rear fan grille has been cut away, and a nicer wire grille added, although you can't see it here.

You'll also notice that the FETs, output rectifiers and other heatsink mounted components have been removed from the PCB.

Yeah.

Sorry I don't have any pics of the watercooled heatsink fabrication and assembly - i'd already made it before this started.

Some holes and cutouts are prepared in the steel case, and all the sockets and stuff are disconnected and removed. The steel is cleaned up, and primer applied (photo not shown.)

A coat or two of paint is applied, and i've test fitted some rubber trim to the large cutout.

You'll also notice a small plastic electronics-style enclosure/box, it's been drilled up, sanded, cleaned up, and painted, too.

Some nice connectors for the wiring looms

I know about the thing with having the date and your name shown, I will do it in some subsequent photos.

More to come - stay tuned!

Goth · 23rd January 2007, 12:46 AM

*post reserved*

Another coat of paint was not yet applied when these photos were taken.

Not quite finished, yet.

OK, unfortunately there were some practical issues that prevented me from getting this PSU completely installed, plumbed up and a ATX modular cable made for it, but the mod itself is finished, all the aesthetic part, so you can see what it will all be like when it goes together.

I will just have to submit what I have ready now for judging though, just without glamour shots of everything put back together, installed and running.

Sorry everyone, i'll keep you updated.

The chrome grille is glued in using JB-Weld - it's really good stuff!

The grille was buffed a little to shine it up - this brings out a little of the Copper under the chrome, which looks good.

No fan is installed, which is why we need to glue the grille!

The result - looks good!

All the casing components complete - just need to put it all back together!

You can see the finished, aesthetic result of the mod though - looks great!

Here ends my contest submission!

It was fun, good luck to all enterants, and happy modding!

Cheers.

AussieJester · 23rd January 2007, 1:31 PM

Nice work so far fellas :-) SevenAU good to see another modder having a crack at a block best of luck with it buddy looks superb thus far :-) I see you have a drill press, this is all I use for milling plexi, checkout local tool store for Die Grinder bits, flick through my worklog and you will see the one I use for plexi, simple as holding the plexi in your hand and moving it about on the presses bed very very easy, I like your 'work around' very effective Acrifix192 and Weldon are two acrylic cements I recommend for joining plexi permanently (for future reference :-) )

Goth fantastic mate I want to do the watercooled psu myself after seeing
liltlee's watercoold PSU in the Extreme Cooling thread Will DEFINEATLY be watching your progress on this one closely best of luck with the final results mate :-)

Might just add a quick WARNING here to for those that think they also might like to try this, if your not knowledgeable of 240volt systems I strongly advise against doing this, psu even when not connected have the ability to proved a nasty kick...or worse even days after being unplugged from the mains power.

slamaa · 23rd January 2007, 6:11 PM

Part 1: The Copper Base

Well i was initially going to do a CPU block but i noticed that was on the mind of other also, and i already have a CPU block, so i chose to do a GPU Block.
I'm still waitng on some plex as some of you know ive had trouble getting it but i did manage to find some copper and begin on the base.

The copper base untouched.

I then cut the perimetre of my design into the copper using the rotary tool.

I then cut more of my design, 15 small recatangular shapes with the water will flow around, they are also going to have a small hole in the top of each piece to create turbulance.

i then was experimenting with how the barbs would sit.

I then drilled the holes on top of each shape for turbulence which forces the molecules at the bottom up a circualtes them around.

i may go a little deeper

UPDATE: 24th Jan

ok, i wasnt happy with the channels i had done, so i had an idea to mill out the middle of the copper and cut the design deeper into it.
i milled it out so it was wavy to make the end product create more turbulance.

i then cut the horizontal channels.

I have now finished the channels, i also made the 2 channels on the edge angled to make the water be pushed from them but into the middle, just an experimental thing. also the channels are 1.5mm from the bottom of the copper.
heres some pics and one showing the angled channels.

Now going onto the plexi top.

slamaa · 23rd January 2007, 6:11 PM

Part 2 - The Plexi Top:

Thanks to steve-O aka silver bullet for the plex.

Ok i started of with a piece of plex 20mm thick.

I then used the dremal to cut a hole out of the middle for the water to flow through

Then it was attached to te copper with some bolts, the bolts where then cut and filed to be even with the copper so its all flush, now thats it, all finished, just need some barbs, whichi hope wont wreck my comp entry.

herees some pics

BLING

Cheers
Slamaa.

edit: and a seal was added, no pics

Captain Kermit · 23rd January 2007, 11:15 PM

CD Drive mod Part 1

First off, let me say this:

There is some stiff competition from people round here. I don't know how I'm going to compete, let alone stand a chance of winning (maybe it'll turn out like that speed skating race where one guy falls over and all but one person falls over as well and he skates on to win). But, as an Aussie, it is required that I have a go. On with the fun stuff.

The basic plan with this mod was to take my already stealthed drive and wire a keyboard mounted button to open her up and then close her again, so as to avoid confusion between my parents regarding how the hell they're meant to put this shiny circle thing into the damn useless computer. I also plan on painting it and cutting a window in it so you can see the CDs spinning through the future top window I plan on doing to my case.

Here we see the 3 seperate components of the victim *ahem* CD drive. As well as my toes.

Since I don't have any fancy spray on grease remover, turps+CLEAN cloth was used. Wiped it off with another clean dry cloth and left to sit 15 minutes to make sure when I sprayed it turps residue didn't eat away at the paint job from underneath.

My name, plus the date.

Primed(not shown) plus first coat of Lime Green paint.

My soldering area. Complete with light that has 3 settings. Off, Extremely bright, and holy shit that hurts my eyes.

The first wire connected to one of the solder points of the momentary switch on the CD drive. The image doesn't show how dodgy the soldering job is, but there is a connection (tested at a later date)

Second wire attached to the second solder point of the switch

Oh teh noes!!11 The CD drive cover won't go on with those big bastard wires in the way.

Rotary (with safety glasses. ALWAYS. I learnt my lesson the hard way, and although I was doing something extremely fucking stupid, I at least should've been wearing safety glasses while doing it.<end long spiel>) to the rescue.

And it would appear I've lost the image of the the CD drive cover with the little notch cut out of it to accommodate the new wires, but you get the idea.

Next is to route the wires out of the drive properly, cut the window, find some plastic to make the window, and put the buttons into the keyboard.

Captain Kermit · 23rd January 2007, 11:15 PM

CD drive mod part 2

15th January 2007, 9:04 PM	#1
slamaa Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mill Park, Melbourne Posts: 2,026	Jan - Feb 2007 Modding Competition Worklogs Post your worklog entries here please and keep comments in the other thread to make it easier for when the judging has to take place. __________________ \| 2010 Apple MacBook Pro \| GAMmods Last edited by slamaa; 29th January 2007 at 9:58 AM.

15th January 2007, 11:51 PM	#2
hobo-jo Iron Trader Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Adelaide(5048) Words -> Posts: 5,956	WORKLOG: LCD Battlestation Mount WORKLOG: LCD Battlestation Mount From this to....? So the original plan (http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=538302) was to mount a 15" monitor to the side of a HP e-PC case, there were several reasons this failed (which I will probably note in the e-PC thread at some stage). However, something fantastic came from my ponderings of how I was going to mount this LCD monitor in an unconventional manner. I wanted something that would hold my dreamcast, the e-PC and also a TVtuner/vga adaptor (on the way, allowing me to watch TV and use the dreamcast on the LCD) as well as being able to mount the LCD to the side. A trip to bunnings and the reject shop ensued (yesterday). I was unsure exactly what I was looking for, but was sure bunnings would provide me with some devine ideas (which is usually the case) but alas it was not to be. I happened to be wandering through the reject shop afterwards with my gf and stumbled across this gem (left item, picture below): "OMG" I yelled in hysteria. "This is exactly what I am looking for!". At this point I was getting some weird stares so I grabbed the item off the shelf and headed for checkout. Only $12. Can you believe it? [AVOVE]: Proof purchase was only yesterday. As we were walking back to the car I was trying to decide how I was going to mount the LCD on the side of the shelf unit at the same time as having ease of access to the shelves. Wham! The idea came to me, why not have the ability to swivel the shelf unit. I recalled seeing something for monitors at bunnings so in I went and surely enough there it was (item on right, 2nd picture up), a swivel that would hold to 100kg. $29.95 later and homeward bound we are. Fortunately (in a sense) I was unable to finish the mod last night as was out for the rest of the afternoon for a Birthday and only got home at 9pmish intime to see this thread and realise that I had a nice project already lined up for it. I did get a chance to do 2 things last night: A) Put together the shelving unit B) Attach the bracket to the back of the LCD Using some brackets previously purchased at bunnings (they are designed to mount speakers to a wall, see pictures below). I should mention that I didn't actually use the screws that came with the speaker mount, but some self tapping screws from bunnings that were a little shorter so as not to hit any of the precious internals of the LCD (as the original screws were quite long). Fast forward to this afternoon: I had ripped (well taken apart) the bottom/base of the LCD from the screen. This had been done previously as part of the original idea (see below). I was unimpressed with the gaping hole it left in the back of the LCD at the bottom (from the removal of the stand), so today I grabbed the piece that had been in there and hacked off some unecessary bits with a dremmel and fitted it back in. I attached the second part of the speaker mounting kit to the side of the shelving unit. So both brackets were securely screwed into place, time to mount the LCD onto the shelving unit. TADA... Feels like I am in a battlestation (hence the name) here with the extra monitor and is in the perfect position to just sit back in my chair and watch the TV for a bit or flick on the Dreamcast for a quick bash at Soul Calibur 2 or Sonic. Also with a little flick of the shelves I can lineup the LCD for watching movies from bed (NICE!). All it needs is a bit of cable management. I am waiting for the tuner/adaptor to arrive and then will start cutting holes in the back of the shelves to run cables through, etc.

18th January 2007, 2:28 PM	#3
GAM OCAU Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 828	WORKLOG: Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 1 WORKLOG: PC Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 1 Worklog on modifying my PC's front panel with a stylish MeshX front fan air intake. Surprisingly enough my CFO, er... lovely wife, wouldn't authorise the AU$400-1000 I'm inclined to spend on a brand new, purpose built, feature rich HTPC case. The case was to house the PC components I had accumulated after upgrades to my main machine ;-). Naturally, as I virtually had another working, fairly recent, computer laying around in pieces, I felt compelled to spend something (sub $50) on a cheapo ATX case. Well, I had to collect my DQ6 motherboard from the PC retailer anyway, so I figured I'd see what they had on the shelves. Sure enough, your typical selection of cheaper Chinese imports were on display, the ones that are made of sheet metal less than a millimetre thick, all essentially the same but with cutesy plastic front panel differences. I chose one that was the plainest and seemed to have the basics covered: air flow ‘modability’; accommodate 92-120mm fans front and back; accommodate at least four 3.5” HD's and four 5.25” devices. The lucky candidate – ‘Sharky’ brand PC case (AU$45 after negotiating the removal of the inadequate PSU). This case met the basic criteria except that the front panel had virtually no capacity to draw in fresh air. It did have a very simple front panel, though, that lends itself to some simple modding. This is a very flimsy case that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone but I was compulsive and it just fitted the budget. (Damn. I deliberately didn't take pictures of the case before performing this mod because I was sure that I had taken photos of it already. It seems like I didn't do the whole job because I could only find these, but you'll get the idea of the original front panel soon enough.) Start Modding Under the masking tape is the same plastic surface as the rest of this piece of the front panel. This piece more or less pops straight out of the front panel, just beneath the 5.25” drive bays. Measure, mark and punch. 22mm hole saw selected for the cutting job to the top and bottom edge of each grill. You can often get away with it, but I highly recommend always clamping the work piece when drilling, cutting etc. In this case, as the piece is rounded at the bottom I had to place suitably sized backing blocks so that the work piece could be clamped effectively and to provide appropriate purchase for the pilot drill of the hole saw. Usually I would have two clamps but due to the awkwardness of the work piece I could only manage one clamp and a very firm hand. The firm hand is particularly important when the pilot drill first cuts through and the work piece wants to ascend the drill bit--that's when things crack and snap. It is not so bad with this flimsy plastic, but I clear the cut piece from the hole saw after each hole as the pieces can get stuck in there when there's a few of them. Four holes later. I've drawn lines between the outside edges of each hole for a guide. Now to the vice. I used packers for good backing support and then tensioned the vice firmly on the work piece for sawing. Two done, two to go. I try to keep within the lines as the edges are cleaned up easily with a bit of filing and sanding especially as this is plastic. Now you can see what is going on. I've given the edges some rough filing already. I had to expand the curves of one side to overcome a sawing error. You wouldn't know it. The furry bits you can see in the photo look worse than they were. They're just fine little strands of plastic that come off in seconds with some sand paper or a finger nail. (You gotta' love the Wifey! ) Now to the grill. I cut a strip of MeshX to the width required for each grill--roughly 8mm overlap--using the jigsaw mounted upside down in the Triton Router/Jigsaw bench and then filed the edges a little straighter and smoother. With the two pieces marked for cutting it's back to the bench mounted jigsaw. By the way, I would have used this for the straight edges on the plastic piece except for the backward curved bottom and the little plastic block between the Power and Reset buttons. Why? Well, jigsaws rip through these things quite nicely when you are working with nice flat surfaces and can get good firm downward pressure on the work piece, otherwise it can get very violent, jumping up and down, making a hell of a racket, scaring the life out of you and making a mess of your work. Worse still, you could lose fingers! Two grills--one left, one right. The middle piece is scrap (...useful scrap . A quick dry fit and we see minor issues. The MeshX overlaps the four mounting holes for the cutesy little LCD and the edges of its buttons. __________________ GAM Mods - PC Water Cooling and Modding Supplies \| Project 'IOU' \| Project '5.25 PC' Last edited by GAM; 18th January 2007 at 2:41 PM.

18th January 2007, 2:29 PM	#4
GAM OCAU Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 828	WORKLOG: Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 2 WORKLOG: Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 2 Worklog on modifying my PC's front panel with a stylish MeshX front fan air intake. Look closely and you can just make out the trim lines--two half rounds at the top and a chunk at the bottom. Back to the jigsaw to roughly tear these chunks out and voila! It is no beauty contest around the back here. It fits, that's what is important. By the way, did anyone notice something missing here? One of the wire pairs on the power/reset buttons is missing. I knew I should have removed the buttons but I was too lazy. Silly. No drama though, I soldered them back later. Now, after some sanding with 240-400grit sandpaper the holes are starting to look professional. Unfortunately I got a chip--bottom left. Bummer. A little filler and paint down the track should fix that. Apart from this, the edges are looking quite nice. Protective plastic coating on the MeshX pieces removed and another dry fit. Schweeeeet. Check it out on the flipside with a little finger tip balancing act. Nice. I figured hot glue was a good choice for affixing the pieces--it holds well and can be removed fairly easily if necessary with a little chipping and lifting. First mistake though, I forgot how quickly this stuff sets. Placing the glue first (typical glue application) is not the way to do this job. By the time I had gone around all the edges and started to place the grill the glue had hardened. Plan B: Glue over the top of the edges. Schweet. Although the first glue attempt had hardened, it hadn't actually set enough to easily remove--still a little gooey. Nevermind, let's check out the good side. Schweeeet. Back to fixing the first side. Patience is a virtue I lacked this day... hot glue? Mmmm, cold set! Into the freezer she goes. Ten minutes later and we have crispy beads. Most of this stuff lifted quite easily now except where I had started to hack at it when it hadn't set. All clear. Those marks are from my trusty old chisel aka handy scraper. __________________ GAM Mods - PC Water Cooling and Modding Supplies \| Project 'IOU' \| Project '5.25 PC' Last edited by GAM; 18th January 2007 at 2:41 PM.

18th January 2007, 2:29 PM	#5
GAM OCAU Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Newcastle, Australia Posts: 828	WORKLOG: Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 3 UPDATED and FINAL WORKLOG: Front Panel Air Intake Mod - MeshX Grills - Part 3 Worklog on modifying my PC's front panel with a stylish MeshX front fan air intake. Back to the first side again. Note the finger pressure. I held this for about 5mins while it set. If it was flat it may not have been necessary but as the MeshX pieces slightly overlapped the beginning of the curved bottom they needed pressure to ensure they sat neat to the surfaces. Voila! Little LCD panel and side mounted ports reinstalled and temporary cable management. The bigger picture, behind the scenes. Now, see that little strip of missing plastic at the very bottom of the front panel. Originally that was only source of fresh air in the front--minimal capacity that has now been significantly increased. Front view-Off. Front view-On, full frontal. Next I need to focus on managing the wiring better and creating some form of ducting to marry the 120mm fan behind, with the two grills in front... and maybe some paint. The duct isn't vital but one way or another I want to enclose or clean up the area behind the basic little LCD which, by the way, displays disk activity, and temperatures via the attached wire probes (simple). UPDATE: Duct between front grills and front fan!!! After several man days, no exaggeration, I have finally produced a duct to marry the front grills with the front fan. See the full thread on this stage of the Front Panel mod here. I've never done any fibreglassing before, or bog/bondo work for that matter, so this has been a big learning experience full of pitfalls, screws ups and substandard results. Duct Overview: Initial drawings to create templates Manufacturing foam sheets for templates. Foam template cut and stacked together. Plastercine job in lieu of shaping the foam sheets (due to errors on my part, the templates weren't appropriately dimensioned for shaping!!!). After laying fibreglass weave, resin, mould (waste) removal, body filler for reinforcement and further shaping. Quick check. Fits roughly. Coat of primer. Single, heavy coat of black satin spray paint (can). Recall, this is not visible and I was running out of time, so I settled for the rough finishing job. Wires, switches etc., need to go back in their places and the USB ports remounted. I was prepared to sacrifice the USB ports but I still managed to fit the PCB in its original location, albeit on a slight angle, and keep it mounted with only one of two mounting screws. Neato! Unfortunately you'd never know it was there. All done!!! The final stage of this mod is really quite superfluous, but this is my experiment in creating ducts (practical) and other moulded forms using fibreglass. See the full thread on the duct mod here This completes my competition entry.I hope you all liked it! __________________ GAM Mods - PC Water Cooling and Modding Supplies \| Project 'IOU' \| Project '5.25 PC' Last edited by GAM; 5th February 2007 at 3:46 AM.

21st January 2007, 6:43 PM	#6
rodgrech Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: 2fort. Dispensor:Goin' Up Posts: 551	LCD In front drive bay Well, heres my entery into the modding contest. I had lost the drive bay plates for my Antec Plusview so i decided to put a LCD into that area http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007027.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007028.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007029.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007030.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007031.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007032.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007033.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007034.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007035.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007036.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007037.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007038.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007039.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007040.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007041.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...0012007042.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...1012007043.jpg http://users.bigpond.net.au/rodgrech...1012007044.jpg Long story short, after all this work over 2 38/40 degree days, just to discover that the LCD has blown a few ICs. So its game over for me unless i can get another screen/ repair the old one/ do somthing else __________________ Panasonic Toughbook CF-18D 1.2ghz Intel Centrino M, 1.2ghz Ram, 120gb HDD, 10" Touchscreen Green machine AMD Phenom II x4 945 @ 3ghz, 4gb DDR3, Radeon x800 GTO wrapped in a custom green+purple Antec Ninehundred Last edited by rodgrech; 21st January 2007 at 6:54 PM.

21st January 2007, 7:39 PM	#7
sevenAU Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: South Australia Posts: 509	Worklog: DIY water block - Part 1 Worklog: DIY waterblock - Part 1 What can i say?, thanks to inspirational waterblocks from our own AussieJester and Cathar i decided to attempt my own waterblock. The idea is to make a simple waterblock that will do the job, i don't expect it to out perform an Apogee. Where do you start when building a waterblock? On paper. I knew this was something i needed to do, design it on paper first instead of diving head first without a clue what i am doing. So i came up with 3 suitable sizes for use with one of my LGA775 boards and decided on 45mm x 60mm for an appropriate sized waterblock. The idea was to make several cutouts on 5mm grid paper that would act as templates for barb holes and the bolt holes, as well as the final size. After the template was stuck to the block of acrylic i drilled 1mm pilot holes. Below: The template on the block of acrylic, with 1mm pilot holes drilled. The next phase in the building of the waterblock was to create the "milled" part if the block. The main complication of this part is the fact that i lack a milling machine, so i came up with the idea to use a piece of 3mm acrylic and cut a neat square out, glue the piece to the main block with acrylic glue to simulate the recessed section. The process: After the rectangular shape was dremeled out i started to neaten the cuts with a file. Using the top of the vice as a guide to keep the sides straight: After the piece was filed to a neat rectangle i drilled the two 7/16" holes that will be tapped for the barbs. Some Holes... After the holes where drilled i glued the next step was to adhere the 3mm piece to the main block. The next thing to be done was to tap the two 7/16" holes. There where complications with this, as i find it is hard to keep a tap dead accurate unless you are tapping a cylindrical piece in a lathe. I thought hard while looking at the drill press and thought of using the chuck in the drill press to keep the thread straight. It was a sure thing to work and would be accurate. The tapping setup: After successfully tapping the two holes it used a disk sander to finalize the shape, and create the frosted appearance on the top. Top, with some brass barbs: The next step to take was to drill the holes for the bolts and tap them in a similar fashion to the way i did the barb holes. For these and the barb holes i triple checked the positioning of the drill bit so that it wouldn't stray away from the pilot holes. Blurry drill and tap action: Well, thats it! the top is now complete! and it looks great, no major screw ups! This concludes PART 1, in the next part i will build the base (if i can find some copper , if not Aluminium) __________________ OCAU Guitar Players Club (2)

21st January 2007, 7:39 PM	#8
sevenAU Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: South Australia Posts: 509	Worklog: DIY waterblock - Part 2 Worklog: DIY waterblock - Part 2 Well i got my hands on some copper! From the time i got the copper i was pretty much straight into cutting the grid design using dremel cutoff wheels on my drill press: After the grid i drilled all four holes, and counter sinks: So, now to test some gasket solutions, the rubber band or the tyre tube? The rubber band worked a lot better, no leaking at all over 24 hours, it just looked crap so my solution was to make a new band using tire tube. (2nd pic down) Here you see the thread taped m4's, the rubber seal, copper and acrylic: Mmmmm....gridness The grid is actually deeper than it looks, at most places it is 3.5mm deep. Well, here is the final product: Well thats it, all done. Not perfect, certainly not expecting it to win. The temps: After getting a mate to test this for a few days on his swiftech loop, i can safely say it works well enough to use on my PC which is what i set out to do. It's certainly not pretty looking, but it's the whole DIY aspect that makes it awesome! According to Asus Probe the temps sat on 23 degrees on idle, with ambient being 20.5 degrees, the load temps yet to be tested. __________________ OCAU Guitar Players Club (2) Last edited by sevenAU; 5th February 2007 at 7:30 PM.

23rd January 2007, 12:02 AM	#9
Goth Om nom nom nom Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8,424	OK, I'm modding a PSU. It is actually a ThermalTake 430W unit I had laying around. Here we see that there have already been some minor bits of modding peformed to this PSU. Unpluggable connectors for the fans have been added, a nice CoolerMaster 80mm purple LED fan installed, etc. The rear fan grille has been cut away, and a nicer wire grille added, although you can't see it here. You'll also notice that the FETs, output rectifiers and other heatsink mounted components have been removed from the PCB. Yeah. Sorry I don't have any pics of the watercooled heatsink fabrication and assembly - i'd already made it before this started. Some holes and cutouts are prepared in the steel case, and all the sockets and stuff are disconnected and removed. The steel is cleaned up, and primer applied (photo not shown.) A coat or two of paint is applied, and i've test fitted some rubber trim to the large cutout. You'll also notice a small plastic electronics-style enclosure/box, it's been drilled up, sanded, cleaned up, and painted, too. Some nice connectors for the wiring looms I know about the thing with having the date and your name shown, I will do it in some subsequent photos. More to come - stay tuned! __________________ "How is anyone supposed to know that this isn't just a bunch of crap?" - Richard Feynman.

23rd January 2007, 12:46 AM	#10
Goth Om nom nom nom Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Melbourne Posts: 8,424	post reserved Another coat of paint was not yet applied when these photos were taken. Not quite finished, yet. OK, unfortunately there were some practical issues that prevented me from getting this PSU completely installed, plumbed up and a ATX modular cable made for it, but the mod itself is finished, all the aesthetic part, so you can see what it will all be like when it goes together. I will just have to submit what I have ready now for judging though, just without glamour shots of everything put back together, installed and running. Sorry everyone, i'll keep you updated. The chrome grille is glued in using JB-Weld - it's really good stuff! The grille was buffed a little to shine it up - this brings out a little of the Copper under the chrome, which looks good. No fan is installed, which is why we need to glue the grille! The result - looks good! All the casing components complete - just need to put it all back together! You can see the finished, aesthetic result of the mod though - looks great! Here ends my contest submission! It was fun, good luck to all enterants, and happy modding! Cheers. __________________ "How is anyone supposed to know that this isn't just a bunch of crap?" - Richard Feynman. Last edited by Goth; 5th February 2007 at 11:55 PM.

23rd January 2007, 1:31 PM	#11
AussieJester Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Perth Western Australia Posts: 2,464	Nice work so far fellas :-) SevenAU good to see another modder having a crack at a block best of luck with it buddy looks superb thus far :-) I see you have a drill press, this is all I use for milling plexi, checkout local tool store for Die Grinder bits, flick through my worklog and you will see the one I use for plexi, simple as holding the plexi in your hand and moving it about on the presses bed very very easy, I like your 'work around' very effective Acrifix192 and Weldon are two acrylic cements I recommend for joining plexi permanently (for future reference :-) ) Goth fantastic mate I want to do the watercooled psu myself after seeing liltlee's watercoold PSU in the Extreme Cooling thread Will DEFINEATLY be watching your progress on this one closely best of luck with the final results mate :-) Might just add a quick WARNING here to for those that think they also might like to try this, if your not knowledgeable of 240volt systems I strongly advise against doing this, psu even when not connected have the ability to proved a nasty kick...or worse even days after being unplugged from the mains power. __________________ Custom e-Cruiser hidef pics Custom RC Motor e-Cruiser Worklog Recumpence.com... Matt Shumaker Reduction Drives & Astro Motor Supplies TPPacks.com... GGoodrum Battery Management Systems for Lithium Polymer Packs Last edited by AussieJester; 23rd January 2007 at 1:34 PM.

23rd January 2007, 6:11 PM	#12
slamaa Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mill Park, Melbourne Posts: 2,026	Slamaa's Custom GPU Waterblock Block Part 1: The Copper Base Well i was initially going to do a CPU block but i noticed that was on the mind of other also, and i already have a CPU block, so i chose to do a GPU Block. I'm still waitng on some plex as some of you know ive had trouble getting it but i did manage to find some copper and begin on the base. The copper base untouched. I then cut the perimetre of my design into the copper using the rotary tool. I then cut more of my design, 15 small recatangular shapes with the water will flow around, they are also going to have a small hole in the top of each piece to create turbulance. i then was experimenting with how the barbs would sit. I then drilled the holes on top of each shape for turbulence which forces the molecules at the bottom up a circualtes them around. i may go a little deeper UPDATE: 24th Jan ok, i wasnt happy with the channels i had done, so i had an idea to mill out the middle of the copper and cut the design deeper into it. i milled it out so it was wavy to make the end product create more turbulance. i then cut the horizontal channels. I have now finished the channels, i also made the 2 channels on the edge angled to make the water be pushed from them but into the middle, just an experimental thing. also the channels are 1.5mm from the bottom of the copper. heres some pics and one showing the angled channels. Now going onto the plexi top. __________________ \| 2010 Apple MacBook Pro \| GAMmods Last edited by slamaa; 4th February 2007 at 4:15 PM.

23rd January 2007, 11:15 PM	#14
Captain Kermit Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Newcastle Posts: 1,651	CD Drive mod Part 1 First off, let me say this: There is some stiff competition from people round here. I don't know how I'm going to compete, let alone stand a chance of winning (maybe it'll turn out like that speed skating race where one guy falls over and all but one person falls over as well and he skates on to win). But, as an Aussie, it is required that I have a go. On with the fun stuff. The basic plan with this mod was to take my already stealthed drive and wire a keyboard mounted button to open her up and then close her again, so as to avoid confusion between my parents regarding how the hell they're meant to put this shiny circle thing into the damn useless computer. I also plan on painting it and cutting a window in it so you can see the CDs spinning through the future top window I plan on doing to my case. Here we see the 3 seperate components of the victim ahem CD drive. As well as my toes. Since I don't have any fancy spray on grease remover, turps+CLEAN cloth was used. Wiped it off with another clean dry cloth and left to sit 15 minutes to make sure when I sprayed it turps residue didn't eat away at the paint job from underneath. My name, plus the date. Primed(not shown) plus first coat of Lime Green paint. My soldering area. Complete with light that has 3 settings. Off, Extremely bright, and holy shit that hurts my eyes. The first wire connected to one of the solder points of the momentary switch on the CD drive. The image doesn't show how dodgy the soldering job is, but there is a connection (tested at a later date) Second wire attached to the second solder point of the switch Oh teh noes!!11 The CD drive cover won't go on with those big bastard wires in the way. Rotary (with safety glasses. ALWAYS. I learnt my lesson the hard way, and although I was doing something extremely fucking stupid, I at least should've been wearing safety glasses while doing it.<end long spiel>) to the rescue. And it would appear I've lost the image of the the CD drive cover with the little notch cut out of it to accommodate the new wires, but you get the idea. Next is to route the wires out of the drive properly, cut the window, find some plastic to make the window, and put the buttons into the keyboard. __________________ Gigabyte EP35 DS3, E8400@3.6, 4GB Kingston 800, Zotac GTX280, 750GB WD greenpower. Car: '82 VH SL/X wagon. Not much but it'll do. Last edited by Captain Kermit; 23rd January 2007 at 11:44 PM.

23rd January 2007, 11:15 PM	#15
Captain Kermit Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Newcastle Posts: 1,651	CD drive mod part 2 __________________ Gigabyte EP35 DS3, E8400@3.6, 4GB Kingston 800, Zotac GTX280, 750GB WD greenpower. Car: '82 VH SL/X wagon. Not much but it'll do.