Project NANO -- A Scratchbuilt Home Server

[davidbuss]

Update 11

 

Thankfully, I was able to recover all of the photos I lost (read the two above posts) but I'm still not really sure what is causing the corruption. I think when I edit the photos straight on the SD card before downloading them, my card reader screws with the file-system Canon uses to organizes photos on the card and then that somehow mutates into the images being corrupted. That's about the best theory I have based on the circumstances the corruption occurs on but because it's not consistent I have no way of testing it. Maybe one of you know? Moving on, a lot of what I have to do from now on involves some sort of adhesive drying, so I'm trying to organize the remaining work in a way that I can do other things while the drying can happen on the side. Anyways, enough with the first world problems, here's an update.

 

I had to do some modifications to the back of the frame because of the fact that it wasn't flush with the panel and the IO was a bit off.

 

If you really must see what I mean, go back to update 6, and you can tell the cutout is a couple of millimeters off.

 

I just widened the cutout on one side and took out the middle piece altogether.

 

Next, I had to make sure the piece sat flush with the back panel. I did pretty much the same thing to the front in update 5.

 

To fix the problem I cut two strips of the same angle I used to make the frame.

 

Then I applied a healthy amount of JB-Weld. Have I said how much I love this stuff yet? 

 

And now to just wait for that to dry...

 

While that was drying, I started work on the electronics for the build. I started with the on/off button.

 

I didn't want to cut off the unneeded wires on the connector so I just cut them pretty short and zip-tied them down to the connector.

 

Since the vandal switch had screw-down leads, there was no solder needed. This part could not have been any easier. 

 

Moving on to the LED box for the NANO panel, I cut and laid out the LEDs like I wanted them.

 

I then jumped the two traces on the back because the strip is supposed to be cut in multiples of three but who likes to follow rules right? 

 

I connected the two strips in series but I don't want to do the pos/neg lines yet because I don't know how long they need to be.

 

Now I had to do a bit more work on the power supply.

 

The molex connectors for this PSU were a mess so I pulled the pins out of one and cut off the excess connectors.

 

I heat-shrinked the stray wires to avoid a short even though it would be pretty much impossible based on the direction the wires are facing.

 

Even though I'm not going crazy and doing my own sleeving, there's something oddly satisfying about doing your own custom wiring.

 

On the other molex cable I did the same thing except left it with two connectors instead of one.

 

That's all I had time for but in the next update I 

[vopos]

Jumping ahead quite a bit, I mirrored the first angled piece and bend a piece of sheet metal around them. I then attached the two with the hardware shown above.

 

 

How did you curve that aluminium??

[davidbuss]

How did you curve that aluminium??

Haha, you're lucky I'm bored. That is... less than easy to explain.

 

I started by bending the aluminum angle pieces just by hand. After I cut the chunk out of the side, they made that curve on their own.

 

I made a bit of a sandwich using the sheet metal, the angle pieces, and some scrap wood as show:

 

That is a front view I guess so here is a side view of the whole thing that makes it a bit easier to understand.

 

I clamped that whole contraption together and when I bent it forward the piece of sheet metal matched the curve of the angle relatively well. It was still a bit off because it bounces back a bit from the point you bend it to but I finished the bend by hand. Once the holes were all drilled and the nuts and bolts were in place, the curves matched almost perfectly.

 

I *hope* (key word in the sentence) that all made sense. It took me way too long to figure out the bend when I was doing it but I think it was well worth it. 

 

Edit: I messed up the second diagram a bit but I just fixed it.

[vopos]

Haha, you're lucky I'm bored. That is... less than easy to explain.

 

I started by bending the aluminum angle pieces just by hand. After I cut the chunk out of the side, they made that curve on their own.

 

I made a bit of a sandwich using the sheet metal, the angle pieces, and some scrap wood as show:

 

That is a front view I guess so here is a side view of the whole thing that makes it a bit easier to understand.

 

I clamped that whole contraption together and when I bent it forward the piece of sheet metal matched the curve of the angle relatively well. It was still a bit off because it bounces back a bit from the point you bend it to but I finished the bend by hand. Once the holes were all drilled and the nuts and bolts were in place, the curves matched almost perfectly.

 

I *hope* (key word in the sentence) that all made sense. It took me way too long to figure out the bend when I was doing it but I think it was well worth it. 

 

Edit: I messed up the second diagram a bit but I just fixed it.

Thx haha

[davidbuss]

Update 12

 

Small update guys. I did some more work on the electronics for the build. It took way longer than it should have because I ran into a few problems (mainly my lack of knowledge on how electricity works) but I figured I'd show what I've done anyway. Enjoy!

 

I made the power distribution thing that I posted a diagram for in the last update.

 

I cut a thin piece of plastic to make it look a bit better and a bit easier to attach.

 

The screen and the fans are both running off of 12v while the LEDs are on 7v, all pulling power from one molex connector.

 

For whatever reason, that wasn't the hard part. I had a ton of trouble with the LEDs.

 

First I tried wiring them in series but that didn't work at all. I didn't know why so I tried wiring them in parallel. It worked fine on 9v but when I tested with the PSU at 7v, the only LED that lit was the top one.

 

I, again, didn't know what was going on so I tried this. Twas then that I realized that the resistor on the LED was "resisting" too much for it to work on 7v.

 

After about 4 hours of messing around with LED strips that weren't supposed to do what I wanted in the first place, I came up with this.

 

That's all I have for now guys! Let me know how you think it's going.

[davidbuss]

Update 13

 

I finished up the electronics for the build and I think they're going to be pretty awesome once installed in the case. Not much else to say. Enjoy the update guys!

 

I put the LEDs in the little box I made for them and added the molex connector on the end.

 

It's a bit hard to tell in the photo above, and still is in this one, but I lined the inside of the box with blue electrical tape so that it doesn't conduct the power.

 

I also build the cable for the screen.

 

Here's the screen being powered by the splitter board I made. I was a bit worried that a molex wouldn't be able to power it, until I found out it can supply 11 amps.

 

And here is everything running off of the same splitter.

 

It was another short update today guys but the electronic stuff takes a lot longer than any of the building stuff just because I'm not as experienced with it. I leave for another short trip this Sunday so I don't think there will be another update until midway through next week but, like I've said in the past, this project isn't dead. Let me know what you guys think of what I've done so far!

[KenadyDwag44]

Nice! I love that power adapter!

[d33g33]

I love scratch builds, more than anything else.

 

The hard work, and effort that goes into them is well beyond any other off the shelf build no matter what they change on it.

 

You sir are a champion and goof on you for having a go and figuring out those electronics for yourself, it will probably come in handy later in life in some way.

[Hikaru12]

Amazing work man! I love how creative people are when it comes to these types of builds. Keep it up!

[davidbuss]

Nice! I love that power adapter!

Thanks! Took a lot longer than it probably should have...

[davidbuss]

I love scratch builds, more than anything else.

 

The hard work, and effort that goes into them is well beyond any other off the shelf build no matter what they change on it.

 

You sir are a champion and goof on you for having a go and figuring out those electronics for yourself, it will probably come in handy later in life in some way.

Thanks a ton man! To be honest I've probably put a bit too much time into this but I guess that's part of the fun right?   I'm just hoping that I can get it done before school starts in a couple weeks.

[davidbuss]

Amazing work man! I love how creative people are when it comes to these types of builds. Keep it up!

Thanks! Exactly why I like them as well 

[d33g33]

Thanks a ton man! To be honest I've probably put a bit too much time into this but I guess that's part of the fun right?   I'm just hoping that I can get it done before school starts in a couple weeks.

Im not surprised. When I tried to get a dual 180mm in my R4 it was a lot of work, a scratch build is a whole different story.

[davidbuss]

Im not surprised. When I tried to get a dual 180mm in my R4 it was a lot of work, a scratch build is a whole different story.

Would I be crazy if I said I want my next project to be fitting a 360mm in the front of either a define mini or a 350d?  :rolleyes: Not practical at all; I just kind of want to say that I did 

[DrewKho]

Update 12

 

Small update guys. I did some more work on the electronics for the build. It took way longer than it should have because I ran into a few problems (mainly my lack of knowledge on how electricity works) but I figured I'd show what I've done anyway. Enjoy!

 

I made the power distribution thing that I posted a diagram for in the last update.

 

I cut a thin piece of plastic to make it look a bit better and a bit easier to attach.

 

The screen and the fans are both running off of 12v while the LEDs are on 7v, all pulling power from one molex connector.

 

For whatever reason, that wasn't the hard part. I had a ton of trouble with the LEDs.

 

First I tried wiring them in series but that didn't work at all. I didn't know why so I tried wiring them in parallel. It worked fine on 9v but when I tested with the PSU at 7v, the only LED that lit was the top one.

 

I, again, didn't know what was going on so I tried this. Twas then that I realized that the resistor on the LED was "resisting" too much for it to work on 7v.

 

After about 4 hours of messing around with LED strips that weren't supposed to do what I wanted in the first place, I came up with this.

 

That's all I have for now guys! Let me know how you think it's going.

 

 

dang... your good on soldering...

Edited November 7, 2014 by alpenwasser
spoilerified quote ;)

[davidbuss]

dang... your good on soldering...

Haha thanks! In all honesty though that took me about half a day to figure out. I messed it up at least four times 

[davidbuss]

Any progress lately?

I'm certainly not dead but the project is on a bit of a hold. Between hockey and school I have very little time to work on it. Sophomore year kind of sucks to be honest. The project will certainly be finished though, just not sure when.

[Ralphington]

Only just found this and I don't know how, but this is truly amazing, and while not one of the flashiest of builds in terms of sleeving and watercooling etc., it is definitely the most (i think) interesting i've come across! well done!

[davidbuss]

Only just found this and I don't know how, but this is truly amazing, and while not one of the flashiest of builds in terms of sleeving and watercooling etc., it is definitely the most (i think) interesting i've come across! well done!

Thanks! I've really been trying to do as much as I can with as little as possible. I think it makes for a very unique aesthetic. To be honest though, I kind of think it looks like crap right now. The paint and finishing are what will really bring the whole build together 

[Jambls]

Thanks! I've really been trying to do as much as I can with as little as possible. I think it makes for a very unique aesthetic. To be honest though, I kind of think it looks like crap right now. The paint and finishing are what will really bring the whole build together 

Speaking of which, can we get an update please?

[davidbuss]

Speaking of which, can we get an update please?

Patience is a virtue my friend   I have a long weekend starting tomorrow so we'll see.