Got a New Case!

Great work LF. When you want something your way you really dive in the deep end !

linnemeyerhere said:

Great work LF...

Thanks!

linnemeyerhere said:

...When you want something your way you really dive in the deep end !

What a nice, polite way of saying I'm OCD.

Lady Fitzgerald said:

My biggest problems are being able to see what I'm doing (the old eyes aren't what they used to be) and my hands aren't all that steady anymore.

I resemble that remark.

Lady Fitzgerald said:

What a nice, polite way of saying I'm OCD.

OCD, a polite way of saying anal, I also resemble that.

Britton30 said:

Lady Fitzgerald said:

My biggest problems are being able to see what I'm doing (the old eyes aren't what they used to be) and my hands aren't all that steady anymore.

I resemble that remark.

Lady Fitzgerald said:

What a nice, polite way of saying I'm OCD.

OCD, a polite way of saying anal, I also resemble that.

I've referred to myself as being anal a few times here. As Betty Davis said, "Old age ain't for sissies!"

I'm not anal, I am a perfectionist.

Jim

Phone Man said:

I'm not anal, I am a perfectionist.

Jim

Yeah, yeah, that's me. No one else can do it as good as I can either.

I didn't get much done today but, at least, I'm finally covering holes instead of making them. I saw some black anodized aluminum engraving plates online that looked like they would be great for covering some of the odd shaped holes on the back and bottom of the case so I ordered them. They were what I expected except the edges were bare aluminum so I painted the edges this morning with a couple coats of black paint from a paint pen. Once dry, I started to go mark and drill holes in the case to install them but something told me to check my blind rivets first. It's a good thing I did because the rivets were just missed fitting in the prepunched holes. So, I dug a round jewelers' file and enlarged 20 holes. It didn't take long but it was a bit annoying. When I laid out and drilled holes in the case for the first plate, I drilled the hole 9/64" since I knew that 1/8" would be too snug for a 1/8" blind rivet. Again, the rivet just missed fitting in the hole. I must have gotten a batch of fat rivets. Again with the jewelers' file. Fortunately, I didn't need to file much but, still, it was a total of forty little holes to file. I'm laughing now but it was annoying at the time.

The first picture shows where I put the plates on the bottom. I had to play dodgem with the mounting flanges of the third HDD cage when deciding where to put the plates and rivets but I got lucky and everything cleared, albeit it a bit close.



This is the back of the case. The plates cover the long skinny holes. They has a flange that stuck into the case that would make putting in acoustic foam a bit more difficult so I cut them off first.

That large, weird hole near the top is where the 120mm exhaust fan used to live. It will be covered by a 140mm milled aluminum fan grill with the center cut out and the fan covered with a wire grill.

After debating (more like agonizing) on multiple ways of enlarging the front fan hole I cut a bit undersized, I finally decided good old-fashioned filing with a half-round mill b@ast@rd file would be best way to do the job. After using small pieces of blue masking tape to show how metal needed to be removed, I used the flat side (yes, the flat side) to hog out most of the metal that needed to be removed (it goes surprisingly fast) and the half-round side to smooth it out down to the tape line. Occasionally, I would get a small "hump" I had trouble keeping the half-round on top of; those I leveled out with a small flat jeweler's file. Once all the filing was done and everything deburred, I put some rubber u-channel on the cut edge and tried to put the fan into the hole. Of course, it didn't quite fit. I used some more tape to mark the few problem areas that I could see and filed them down a bit more. The second fitting was much better but still no cigar. After a bit more filing in a couple of spots, the fan went into the hole. The first quarter inch is a bit snug but after that, the fit is as good as it gets.

Anywho, here 'tis:





The last piece of surgery (hopefully) is the top grill needs to go away. I don't want to start that until the top fan shroud comes in sometime this week since I don't want to remove any metal only to later discover I needed it for mounting holes.

I also ordered a 5 1/4" bimetal hole saw and mandrel for cutting out the holes for the two 140mm fans going into the left side panel.

I took a glance at the Fresh Hen Fruit company and found they had reduced the price of the Corsair AX760 PSU from $169.99 + 6.95 shipping to $159.99 and no shipping charges. I juggled some funds and just now pulled the trigger on it.

Very pro looking fan mod Jeannie, good work.
I feel the need to say be very careful with such a big hole saw, it can transmit a LOT of torque to the drill and you hands, which you say you have Arthur problems with. It should be used in a drill press, be sure to hold down the case very firmly while drilling the 140mm holes.

I once let a big (3") hole saw get out of control, neither I nor the project was hurt, but it pulled the power cord out of the drill.