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[Scratch case] Project Duplex

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Hi,

So this is my new Project for the Cooler Master mod competiton. I still have a bit to design but will start fabricating soon.

It's called Project Duplex and will be a two faced case.
-On one side the motherboard, on the otherside a GPU and ssd's.
-Two seperate loops with a 240radiator each.
- WIll be made out of aluminum and acrylic
- Most of the watercooling will be hidden

Fabricating will start soon!




Ace
 
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what is deadline for contest
and subed
 
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looks nice but i dunno how you gonna put flexible pciex cable to the back of the board and creating sleek look. pretty challenging is it?
subb too
 
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looks nice but i dunno how you gonna put flexible pciex cable to the back of the board and creating sleek look. pretty challenging is it?
subb too

It sure is. I will make a cover for the pci-e ports that will hide the cable. The challenge will be to get it look small when irl it will be quite big and bulky. I have ideas in my mind but before i have the actual motherboard i can't do any tests. Hopefullly i will have the motherboard soon.

And i will get the 20x20x2mm aluminum profile this week!
 
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Finally an update! Was a lot harder to get the profile than i thought. Living in the country side has its drawbacks :)

First i would like to say a big Thanks to OCZ and Mr J. for believing in me and sponsoring me with a 256GB Vector drive. Will take some nice pictures of it as soon as i get it back. Took it to a place to make it fit the build a bit better. More on that in another update :)


The profile, Ordered 2mm thick profile but when i got it it was only 1,5mm. Oh well, would have been nice with 2mm for threading but 1,5mm will be enough.... i hope.


after cutting all the profiles with a hand saw and I milled them to the right angle and size.


De burring all the edges


All profiles except one


Welding it all together. Was too optimistic with the welding. I did not think it would warp as much as it did. All in all it was only a mm or 2 off but due to so many angles and lengths it looked so crooked I did not wanna use it.


Plan B: Cut off all the legs, straighten out one leg that was a bit warped. The rest were fine. Then mill all of the legs at once to make sure they are all the same length and straight


Decided instead of welding i would make inserts to bolt into the profile and into the base and top. This way it's easier to keep straight and also a lot easier when its time to paint. Should have thought about this before


Tapping the inserts



All done. Still need to clean up to get it looking really nice but will leave that until its time to paint


The base

Made a 2mm sheet and pressed it inside the profile, welded it and after milled it straight. If i can get another profile i might make a 45 degree cut instead. Would look a lot nicer.


Time for some sheet metal work. Sticking with 2mm aluminum. Don't know what this is called but it is very useful.



The panel is divided into 3 pieces for now while i work with the pieces. I might weld them together at a later stage. Still need to drill a lot of holes and cut some openings in them.


Drilled and getting ready to tap



Had to try a mobo on it. Case looks huge and it is a bit big but u think it will shrink a bit once i start adding things to it


Sponsored by
 

t_ski

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I believe that machine is some kind of brake, which is used to bend sheet metal - although that one looks to be hydraulic vs. the manual ones I've used before.
 
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Looks good. :rockout:
 

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Sub'd. Looks to be a really cool build:)
 
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i see how you could manage to get it to look neat now, your first post sketchings made the case seem like it'd be a lot smaller, or my perception is just a little off lol. Cool build
 
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i see how you could manage to get it to look neat now, your first post sketchings made the case seem like it'd be a lot smaller, or my perception is just a little off lol. Cool build

I might have changed the sizes a bit :D After further drawings i realised i was making something impossible :) so i added a bit of lenght here and there :)
 

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I believe that machine is some kind of brake, which is used to bend sheet metal - although that one looks to be hydraulic vs. the manual ones I've used before.

It's a press brake, I've got one at my shop. :toast:
 
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It's a press brake, I've got one at my shop. :toast:

You are correct!


So a very small update. Have been busy helping mum and dad move house, so have not had any time for modding but picked something up on Friday that i thought i would share with you.

My first part for the build, a 256GB Vector drive.


Content: SSD, a mounting plate, screws, a sticker, a manual and a key for acronis true image


The drive, looks great but didn't really fit the black and red build i'm doing. so decided to make some minor changes.


Didn't wanna go too crazy with these as i want it to look enough original but still fit the design
A solid black one, this was very hard to photograph, probably took 50 photos and didn't get a single good one. Need to read up on how to take proper photos :)




A black metallic one



Made enough stickers so i have a few to mess up, or if i wanna make a small raid :D



Sponsored by
 

t_ski

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Hey guys,

Finally an update!
Recently bought a house and have been moving things (mostly to the garage) so now i can start modding more and close to home so updates should be more frequent now

After thinking a while about the front and the back panel i decided the best way would be to have them water cut, i have countless times milled thin aluminum sheet and it usually ends with the flute snapping. Still need to cut a lot of holes in the back panel for all the connectors but i will do that at a later stage



One step forward two steps back, or however the saying goes. I wasn't very happy about the shape of the frame and the quality of the work i had put in it so i sat down and re-drew the frame and decided it was time for plan C. This time it is made from a 10mm aluminum sheet, it's 15mm wide. I changed the angles a bit and shortened it a bit length and depth wise, the width it still the same


Time to drill some holes


One drilled, one to go, hopefully it fits!


Time for some threading, i always use the cordless drill to tap with, so far i have never snapped a bit with it and its so much faster.


Had to change the "shape" of the mill so i could drill and tap the support bars


The support bars


Done


Seems like it fits!


So much better than the other frame, a lot of work but now i like it and it won't bug me anymore.


Bottom plate for the frame, drilled and counter sunk



Perfect fit except one hole which i need to file a bit.



Old vs new, i don't know what you guys think but i like the new one a lot more


New part arrived!


Another box in the box


Everything is very well packed


Lots of cables with it, needs some sleeving though


Love the brushed steel look on the top of it




Scale photo


More updates coming soon!

Very sad news about OCZ, the only SSD's i've owned are OCZ and i have been very happy with them.
Sponsored by
 
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I believe that machine is some kind of brake, which is used to bend sheet metal - although that one looks to be hydraulic vs. the manual ones I've used before.

Yupp, it's a press brake, NC controlled by the looks of it..
 
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Hey guys!

Finally all moved in to the new house and got internet up and running again.

Just a short update but another one hopefully this weekend.
Milling the motherboard plate and the Gpu plate. Only milling the shape for now and doing all the holes and cutout later.


More milling and drilling, these are for the other panels on the side.


All slots cut out


As i haven't had any access to the press break for a while I started looking for an "affordable" sheet bender, but the quality on them are horrible. So i decided to take a different approach to bending the sheets.

60 degree V-flute, 1mm in the bottom


Milled a 1mm deep slot in both panels


Clamped it to the desk with the slot facing upwards


Put a small flat bar across the sheet so i would bend it equally everywhere


Worked a lot better than i thought it would.


Test fit of the panels. Had to try the grommet too to see if i made the hole the right size


More panels.


Also made a cut out for the motherboard in HDF, It's a lot faster and easier to redo if i have some measurements wrong :)

That is all for now, hopefully another update over the weekend!

Sponsored by
 
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Back with an update, was supposed to be a bit earlier but have been sick so haven't had much time. Anyways...

Did the motherboard and GPU side in aluminum



Test fit of components




Made some covers for SSD's so the cables will be hidden. No pictures of the installed yet but there will be soon enough


Same for the Pci-e extension cable




Made a sheet for holding the rads and fans. Decided to make it in two separate pieces, one for each rad.

A bit of bending

Test fit


Time for some acrylic. This is for the front panel. Was a bit tricky before i figured out how to make it in two runs. Milled some holes and put some centering axles in it. worked out pretty well.


Installed. Made it slightly bigger so i can sand it to the right size. Still need to do the rear and top and bottom. Still not sure if it will be painted or led lit. But i will need to decide very soon.


That's it for this time

As you can see i have some new parts :) Will do some unboxing as soon as i can get it set up

Sponsored by:
 
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Looking really good! Can't wait for your next update! :toast:
 
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Wow, this has some serious potential, and looks to be coming along quite nicely! I like.

As for the acrylic, I'd go with LEDs along the edges. But use some dim/soft ones, with a wide cast angle (maybe 60° or so), and serious bonus points if you manage to have a potentiometer somewhere to be able to control the intensity or even completely turn the lighting off.

Just my .02

Keep up the good work! :)
 
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It´s looking very nice, and if you could turn the ssd lettering in the right position it will be better:rockout:.
 
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Wow, this has some serious potential, and looks to be coming along quite nicely! I like.

As for the acrylic, I'd go with LEDs along the edges. But use some dim/soft ones, with a wide cast angle (maybe 60° or so), and serious bonus points if you manage to have a potentiometer somewhere to be able to control the intensity or even completely turn the lighting off.

Just my .02

Keep up the good work! :)

Thx buddy! I have some red power leds i'm gonna use. Guess why i have a fan controller on each side with 6 pot's each and only 4 fans :D I will divide the leds into sections so i can fine tune them all so they have the same brightness :)


It´s looking very nice, and if you could turn the ssd lettering in the right position it will be better:rockout:.
Thx buddy! I have made gloss black and mettalic black stickers for the SSD, they should be in a previous update. So it will be the right way once its done :)
 
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