[Scratch Build] CUFEC

[gamingowiz]

Thanks for dropping by!

 

 

The build will be a black and copper theme using a custom stainless steel case.

 

Comprising of mostly 304 grade stainless steel and copper tubing, I've come up with the name CUFEC!

**Don't forget to click on the hidden content to see more photos and explanations!**

 

Current Stage: Rough Assembly for UNI

 

To be completed:

• Fix a few crooked copper pipes - may even change the gpu to backplate run
• Lighting
• Sata cable spray paint.
• Hide any gaps on i/o with foam

 

SPECS
 

Hardware
 

    ·      CPU: i5 6600K

·         GPU: XFX R9 NANO

·         MB: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 ASUS Z170I-Pro Gaming Motherboard

·         RAM: Something with decent heat sinks to detail. 16GB DDR4

·         SSD: Kingston 480gb

·         CASE: Prototype Laser Cut Steel

·         PSU: Silverstone Strider 650W

·         Cables: Custom 550 Paracord Black & Copper

·         Fans: Corsair air WHITE 120mm Corsair Air Series SP120 Performance Edition

Watercooling Components 
 

·         CPU BLOCK: EK Supremacy EVO BLACK

·         GPU BLOCK: EK Full Cover R9 NANO BLACK

·         FITTINGS: PrimoChill Revolver Compression Fittings 1/2 OD - Dual Tone - Anodized Black

·         FITTINGS: Generic 90 degree copper bends

·         TUBING: 1/2 Copper

·         RADIATORS: 240 & 120 Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 EK CoolStream SE 240 & 120 Slim Dual Radiator

[Minsekt]

sweet. im using copper tubing for my next build too. are you powder coating the tubes? 

 

also please use auto-color for your posts , the black color is almost not visible for users that are on the night theme.

[Castdeath97]

Looks interesting I'm following.

[gamingowiz]

On 3/16/2016 at 9:11 PM, Minsekt said:

sweet. im using copper tubing for my next build too. are you powder coating the tubes? 

It's cool stuff! No powder coating, just a good polish then a spray of aerosol polyurethane to prevent it from oxidizing. I'll have some photos up shortly.

 

Sketch Ups

 

Similar size to my corsair 250D. You can check out the mod of the 250D HERE.

This is obviously pretty heavily influenced by PARVUM in both it's construction method and design. Only change is some of it's aesthetics and layout overhaul. Going for an extremely clean layout with virtually nothing but tubing and hardware.

[gamingowiz]

UPDATE 1 - Laser cut & Copper pipe
 

Laser cut .DFX

Sent off today to be cut. Sketch up drawings just transfered to lined .DFX  - should hopefully be done by the end of the week!!

 

Copper Polish

Got a start on polishing the copper. Used some aerosol polyurethane to seal the polish and hopefully preventing any oxidation (discoloring). I'll be changing from a satin to gloss however.

 

 

I'll update very soon. Building myself a work bench now and hope to get a start on sleeving. Photos to follow!

[KSores]

this build is going to turn out amazing! love the color idea!

[gamingowiz]

UPDATE 2 - Cable Management & Drill Pressing

Paracord Sleeving

Spoiler

Using a solid copper wire. Hopefully allowing me to train the cord a little better. Also very very easy to sleeve, but the draw back is that it breaks after being bent lots. Hopefully works out well!

 

Drill Pressing

Spoiler

These cubes work the same as parvums. M3 thread in 16x16mm cubes. Just testing out the new drill press so excuse in accurate holes  

 

Finalized Copper Finish.

Spoiler

The final finish!  Used 1200 grit sand paper, metal polish and a glossed aerosol polyurethane! turned out beautiful :,) 

 

 

Some product photos to follow soon.

[Minsekt]

45 minutes ago, gamingowiz said:

-snip-

meh this is what makes builds special, slamming a board in there can anyone ;-)

looks promising so far, i like it!

[gamingowiz]

UPDATE 2.5 - Case Arrival
Just a small update, but an awesome one... Case has been cut!

More Photos

Spoiler

(FYI: Case is held together by blu tac atm, hence gaps)

Two days off from work and UNI, so expect some more updates and photos tomorrow! 
I'm excited :3 

[Minsekt]

looks damn good so far! do you want to polish the case too?

[gamingowiz]

4 hours ago, Minsekt said:

looks damn good so far! do you want to polish the case too?

Thanks
I'm not sure to be honest.. either that or a powder coat. maybe a white gloss interior and mat black exterior? I don't know, haven't thought about it enough yet. 

what's your opinion?

[Minsekt]

id would powder coat it matte black, but thats just me, i dont digg white cases. polished or brushed finish would look nice too i think.

[gamingowiz]

2 minutes ago, Minsekt said:

id would powder coat it matte black, but thats just me, i dont digg white cases. polished or brushed finish would look nice too i think.

I don't either tbh. However, I think a real high gloss white interior with black exterior would be cool.. or maybe a high gloss black interior with matte black outside? haha dunno, I'll play around with it for sure, finish is everything! 

[Minsekt]

i love all black builds, im currently using black matte ekwb zmt tubes, black fittings and cooling blocks. next build is going to be copper tubes/black powder coatet and all black case, maybe uv reactive coolant in the reservoir for a little color but thats it. glossy interior and matte exterior sounds sick jup! i hate glossy on stuff that im propably going to touch, exterior would be a no go, but interior reflects the cooper and stuff, thats cool

[gamingowiz]

20 hours ago, Minsekt said:

i love all black builds, im currently using black matte ekwb zmt tubes, black fittings and cooling blocks. next build is going to be copper tubes/black powder coatet and all black case, maybe uv reactive coolant in the reservoir for a little color but thats it. glossy interior and matte exterior sounds sick jup! i hate glossy on stuff that im propably going to touch, exterior would be a no go, but interior reflects the cooper and stuff, thats cool

Yeah,I hate finger prints. but you've got it, I want something that reflects light well. make it look as clean as possible, almost as if it's some kind of factory where cleanliness is everything, ie: cpu line. undecided. 

Another update, I sold my 250D today  very sad! But, funds are in for new hardware  

[gamingowiz]

UPDATE 3 - Water Cooling Gear & Case Construction

Gear

• EK waterblocks
• EK SLIM Radiators (120+240)
• PrimoChill 1/2" fittings (combination of glossed black and matte for each department)
• EK Department fittings
• Barrow 150mm Resevoir
• Phobya Pump
• SP 120 fans (these are 10/10)

Spoiler

 

 

Case Construction

Gone from an m3 to an m4 screw. the threader just kept snapping. I might move from a button screw to something more flush aswell
I've also finally decided it will be getting a powder coat. Interior being a gloss black whilst outside being either matte or some kind of black.

 

[gamingowiz]

 UPDATE 4 - Component Install

 

Motherboard & Res mounting

Motheboard pictured here is a dead one  wont be the one I'll be using.

Spoiler

Stainless steel isn't easy to drill...lol... The large holes below took nearly 1/2 an hour to do each. Aluminium for my next one for sure! Some sand blasting and filing will get the blackness/excess all cleaned up.

 

 

Copper & Radiator Install

Copper is yet to have a finish applied. Fans Will have a metallic copper paint on the blue attachments. But these photos show a lot of progress!

More Photos/How to

Spoiler

Any of you who may be interested in utilizing copper for you tubing may be curious as to how it's done. It's extremely easy; I'd go as far as saying a lot easier then working with acrylic tubing. At least that's the case with my experience

So pictured above you can see me doing a rough measurement with the pipe. Below you can see the end result.

All I did was simply use that red tool to cut down the pipe roughly. Then just get a palm sander or file and shave down any additional copper. Finish of with burring the sanding the edges. put on the right angled fittings ($2 compared to $15-20 compression fittings) and you're nearly there.

lastly, make another small cut in the pipe to insert into the copper fitting then into the compression fittings. Make it large enough you can tell that it's in all the way but small enough it so it looks flush with the PRIMOCHILL fittings!

[gamingowiz]

 UPDATE - More Copper runs completed!
As you can see, everything is a tight fit but is meticulously layed out. The cable management is a surprise (yet to figure out how i'll do it - stainless steel lol) but they're will be very minimal wires. Motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM are all arriving on Monday I hope. So hope to finish the rest of the runs then.

Besides that, paint and cable management, I'll be done. But I'll be doing some kind of ornament or scene setter with the copper to go in the case. I saw some cool stuff on YouTube...Good Artists copy; Great artists steal - Picasso


As mentioned, fittings are not in correct positions.

More Photos

Spoiler

The pipes don't appear parallel because they're not. they're not glued in or fitted correctly so they're just sitting there. They're dead straight when held correctly. 

[gamingowiz]

Update - New sheet arrival and minor mods

I don't think I mentioned it on this forum, but ran into an issue with my motherboard tray. Stainless being tough to drill and having gone through $100 worth of titanium and cobalt bits left me ordering a new sheet with the addition of the pictured holes below.

 
But yes, later the sheet arrived - cable management holes work wonders when paired with the stiff wire. I'm yet to really even try and train the ones pictured here! Might notice the fans as well, looks niceeee!

It may not appear that I've done much.. Sleeving, redoing some of the copper runs and drilling more holes in the cut (for what ever reason they were not laser cut?) is whats taken me most of the day. Blame UNI and work on the others

Enjoy!
*Note, motherboard pictured here is dead and not the one i'll be using. Hence hole alignments.*

More Photos

Spoiler

 

[amvoith]

This is one of my favorite builds right now. Keep up the great work!

[gamingowiz]

3 minutes ago, amvoith said:

This is one of my favorite builds right now. Keep up the great work!

Really!? I'm glad to hear  
Thanks!

[gamingowiz]

Update - Fill port and glued runs
Make shift fill port - door stopper and a T fitting! Works a treat and looks pretty cool too 

Spoiler

 

Getting closer!!! I'll book it in for a powder coat tomorrow and maybe finish up the cables sometime over the weekend.

Spoiler

[gamingowiz]

Update - Finished the loop! leak testing.

All done! epoxy seems to be doing the job fine! been a few hours now, but I'll leave it on for a day or two.
You may notice a few of the runs are slightly off. I'll be redoing them.

More Photos

Spoiler

- What's everyone's opinion on the paint I should use?? Should I attempt it myself? I'm so scared <:(

[Infin8]

IDk, but the case looks similar to the parvum to me. Coincidence?

I'd probably get the metal powdercoted.

[gamingowiz]

22 minutes ago, Infin8 said:

IDk, but the case looks similar to the parvum to me. Coincidence?

I'd probably get the metal powdercoted.

some appropriation applied for sure, as mentioned!

I agree, though the wallet doesn't