Project: Server and Gaming Case

[PopcornMachine]

Very nice work. I know nothing about working with aluminum. Like a class.

 

[xrealm20]

Looks awesome dude. Subbed!

 

[Thrackan]

The sides of the HD cage consists of three pieces of .125-inch thick 1x1.5-inch u-channel held together with some threaded bolts. The cage will be bolted to the frame of the case via some .5-inch angle.

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/Server and Gaming Case/HDCageSides.jpg


The holes in the angle were used to guide the drill bit into the side pieces.

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/Server and Gaming Case/HDCageSidesDrillingCU.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/Server and Gaming Case/HDCageSides2.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/Server and Gaming Case/HDCageSidesCU1.jpg


Quarter inch slots were routed out of the u-channels to eventually accept .25-inch threaded rods.

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/Server and Gaming Case/HDCageMockup1.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/Server and Gaming Case/HDCageMockup3.jpg

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/Server and Gaming Case/HDCageMockup2.jpg

Are you going to line the inside of the HDD cages with some dampening material?

 

[Spotswood]

Are you going to line the inside of the HDD cages with some dampening material?

No plans to do so at this time.

 

[Spotswood]

Santoprene rubber/plastic tubing was slipped over 1/4-inch threaded rods to form a "cage" to contain the HDs.

Here's why the routed slots are superior to individual holes.

 

[Spotswood]

A last minute design change was to go with SATA backplanes. This required having to route-out 24 phalanx shaped areas for the LED and power cables to pass through.

[These photos are just quick mockups, the perforate aluminum will eventually get mounted to the bottom of the drive cage. ]

The backplanes rest on some soft rubber grommets and are attached via two #4 socket head cap screws.

The 1/16-inch perforated aluminum was a good choice because I didn't have to drill a boat load of holes.

 

[Spotswood]

I finished the bottom of the HD cage by adding four support beams made from 1x.5-inch u-channels.

To further dampen vibrations some 1x.25-inch soft foam will be stuck between the beams and the perforated aluminum.

 

[Sinzia]

Looking at your aluminum work is like looking at the Mona Lisa, everything's simply beautiful!

 

[Spotswood]

Finally managed to mount the HD cage to the case via 12 #6-32 stainless steel socket cap bolts.

 

[TIGR]

Nice work Spotswood. I will watch this project closely.

 

[Funtoss]

How much more awesome can this get?? dude your work is amazing!

 

[Shou Miko]

nice, i can't wait to see how it ends out ^^

erm what hardware r u planing on? ^^;

 

[Spotswood]

Another requirement for this case is the ability to mount six SSD drives. The original plan was to mount them to the bottom of the case, but if there ever was a leak in the water cooling system, all of the SSDs would be toast. So instead, I came up with the idea to mount the drives to the underside of a motherboard tray.

Half-inch standoffs were screwed into the MB tray's existing PEM nuts.

And onto that a .10-inch thick sheet of aluminum was bolted.

 

[Spotswood]

The front inner sheet was turned into Swiss cheese via 9 holes for the 120mm intake fans. The holes were cut with a 1/2-inch flush trimming router bit, guided by a template.

 

[Spotswood]

The top motherboard tray support is the last piece of the case frame.

 

[Spotswood]

I spent a full day squaring up the case frame, squaring joints, re-aligning joints etc. in preparation of fastening the sheeting.

The steps I use to attach a sheet are:

• Drill a hole in the sheet.
  
• Use the hole in the sheet to guide the drill bit for the hole in the frame.
  
• Thread the frame hole.
  
  
  
  
  
• Countersink the sheet hole.
  
  
  
  
  
• Admire work.
  
  

The case with the inner front, bottom and lower back panels attached.

 

[Thrackan]

This will be so frickin' awesome. I love the detailed touches with sunken screws and stuff!

 

[hhumas]

its awesome ... i am curious to see the final stage

 

[erixx]

I love aluminium and like your work, very much!

Only 'but' is : a server doesn't need a big mobo, and a gaming rig doesn't benefit from the heat and obstacles of a neigbouring server in the same case, but i am sure you will solve this!

 

[Spotswood]

My client selected some nice low-profile casters (with 2-inch wheels) which I mounted right away since the case is all nice and square.

Three of the #8-32 stainless steel bolts were screwed directly into the frame via hand tapped holes.

 

[Spotswood]

I attached the .1-inch thick side and front panels with 6 stainless steel flat head socket cap screws. The front panel extends past the tops of the side panels by .10-inch in order to hide the top's front edge.

The process to attach the panels is:

• Drill pilot holes along the edges of the panel
• Clamp the panel to frame and use the pilot holes to drill tap holes into the frame
• Remove the panel and tap the frame holes
• Countersink the panel holes

The side panels extend past the top of the frame by the thickness of the hinge. These will later be scribed and cut to length along the back of the case.

 

[de.das.dude]

sub'd and that thing is huge. but i guess its small compared to your other builds

 

[vladmire]

insane project!

---subscribed!

 

[Huddo93]

Absolutely MAAD build, Sub'd

 

[Spotswood]

I made the top back plate for three 120mm exhaust fans. Once the back was completed I was then able to scribe and trim the sides to their final depth.