PlayfulPhoenix

Wait no more, friends. On February 11th, Project Nova emerges from the shadows as we unveil the final name, specifications, features, and crowdfunding date.

Delivery!

We've had quite a busy week! Apologies for the lack of photos, but here's a cluster I think you'll find interesting. In this picture, we have some prototype parts on racks, already powder coated, and ready to go into the kiln. This is actually one of the final steps in the process, and takes place just before assembly. And here you have the controls for the kiln. The top modules control temperature, which is held very steady as the paint is cured. Note that the powder coatings themselves are dry as they enter the oven, and dry as they come out, however - the temperature is what causes it (the powder) to chemically react, and bind temporarily, creating the coating.

9/4 - Spray: A worker applies a dry, powder coat spray to an electrically-charged part.

Build_Nerd, I can't link to it, but on our blog (for Kimera Industries - you can just do a web search for that), we have posts that speak a lot towards all the work we've done behind the scenes, lessons learned, and so forth. Some of it speaks more to business and logistics concerns, but the great majority of it walks through testing methodologies, how we've been working on and iterating the design, etc. We've purposefully tried to write and publish a lot of this for the express purpose of helping out people who want to do similar projects, so hopefully you can get some insights from it!

In terms of vertical clearance, I believe you expect around 45mm or so (we will have to verify this with some actual hardware, so don't quote me on that quite yet). It's definitely restricted, but you'll be able to use low-profile coolers, and most AIO and other waterblocks. I'd suggest the latter in such a build, since you'll have the entire front open for a radiator.

We've been trying to encourage people to follow us on SFF Forum since we're spread a bit thin pushing updates to so many places (HardForum, OCN, LTT, SFN, and our own website, among some other vectors). There are also some practical benefits to us posting updates there, as we havemore freedoms (regarding what we can post) there. But I get that some like to stay predominantly on certain communities, so I'll embed images moving forward for ya

8/31 - Bent: A worker uses a press brake to bend flanges onto one of the edges of Nova's internal frame.

Today's update is a short video! A timelapse, in fact. 8/28 - Punch: A laser-punch machine makes the first cuts in a sheet of steel, eventually forming the basis of Nova's internal frame.

Nova will support front-mounted SFX (or SFX-L) power supplies as "standard" (meaning, it's what we recommend). Through a bracket, users will also be able to install traditional ATX power supplies on the back of the case (over the motherboard), though this has a tradeoff of limiting CPU cooler height, and preventing much from being mounted on the side bracket. You do get much more room up front to mount stuff, however.

8/26 - Solid Feet: Aluminum case feet, just cut by a lathe, await a final coating before installation.

8/24 - Handle: Finished aluminum handles rest atop an engineering schematic of their design.

8/21 - The Mill: 1: At the beginning, an aluminum billet has screw mounting holes drilled through it, as they are also used to hold the part in place during the machining process. 2, 3: Next, an end mill bit cuts out the outside shape of the handle, over several passes. 4: After the larger cuts, a corner rounding bit is used to round off the edges of the part, for better ergonomics. 5: Next, the end mill cuts out the inside of the handle, and the interior edges are rounded. 6: Finally, the handle is flipped over, so that the opposing edges can be rounded as well.

Today's illustrated update: 8/20 - Piercing: A laser penetrates through steel, cutting out openings from a metal sheet that will eventually be bent into individual internal frames.

We've done a ton of thermal testing in order to ensure that our cooling recommendations - and the case itself - perform well from a thermal perspective. We've actually dumped all of our testing data in a Google Spreadsheet that's publicly accessible, too - you can get to that here. Also today, a few more illustrated updates: 8/17 - Hard Pressed: An Amada laser-punch combination machine begins work on the main frame section. 8/19 - Carved Feet: A hardened blade - cooled with oil - cuts away at a cylinder of aluminum on a lathe, in order to create custom-sized case feet. I've also put a post on the Kimera Industries blog that we'll continuously update with photos from our manufacturer, as they continue to work on the final prototype!