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[WIP] Lego Techinc PC Case With 3D Printed Parts

Stari89
By Stari89
in Build Logs
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Posted

Hi! My name is Damjan and I want to show the World what I'm working on!

My current self-isolation situation is an excellent excuse to start a new project: A LEGO Technic built PC case! Because am not a person who could concisely modify a LEGO brick (there is a special place in hell for people who would), I decided to 3D print my own bricks which would serve as an interface between computer components and real LEGO bricks.

I expect two challenges:

  • Structural integrity: To properly mount and support heavy PC components I decided to build mostly with Technic bricks. I have quite some experience with that (I participate in LEGO Truck Trial races, Google it) so with some careful planning that should not be a problem.
  • Heat: My "production" (not prototypes) 3D printed bricks will be made out of the same material as LEGO bricks - the ABS plastic which starts deforming at around ~80°C. No computer component should reach this temperature, but I will make sure everything is ventilated properly anyway.

The heat is the reason I'm starting with PC fan mounts:

 

I also made some hard drive and SSD mounts:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I welcome you to join me on this adventure! Updates will follow soon. Cheers!

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Posted

MOFIGYING A LOGO BRICK SHOULD BE ILEGAL.

anyway i just LOVE the idea of lego related case but i dont know abou thermals and dust building up.

i see you really like what you are doing so i . KEEP THE  GOOD  JOB  DONE!!!!!!!!!

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Posted
17 hours ago, Stari89 said:

-snip-

Do you have an overall plan of what its going to look like?

 

From what you have shown it looks cool!

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Thank you for a kind response! :)

@kkpatel87 The plan is to proceed in small steps. The first "chassis" will be something similar to an open test bench which is often shown in LTT's videos. The 2nd step will be to build a somewhat regular PC case to make sure everything is safe for regular use. Only then will proceed to some more over-the-top designs. I have few ideas and I am sure they will be very entertaining.

The current short-term plan:

  • First I need to finnish the power supply mount and make a video.
  • Then I need to design a motherboard tray which I expect will be the trickiest part. It needs to support a ton of weight, it might be susceptible to CPU's and VRMs' heat output and is physically the largest. I plan to make it modular, so if I wanted to make an ITX build I would use only the basic 3D printed motherboard tray bricks, but if I wanted to make a full-sized ATX build I would only need few additional 3D printed bricks to extend the tray to full size.
  • At some point I will also require an on/off switch for a functional PC case. An on/off button and a front case panel I/O board are being shipped to me from China.
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Posted

THIS IS SO ABSOLUTELY EPIC.

 

As a kid this would probably have been the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

 

EDIT: Still is 

PC: 

i5 8400 - RTX 2060 - Strix B360-I - Thermaltake 240mm AIO - 16GB Vengeance RGB PRO - CRYSTAL 280X - HD Plex 400w AC/DC Converter

CUSTOM KEYBOARD:

Gmmk Pro  - Gateron ink Black v2 lubed and filmed - GMK Red Samurai - PC plate - Zeal stabs

DAILY TECH:

Samsung Gear s3 Frontier Smartwatch - Galaxy A70 - Bose QC Earbuds - Bose SoundLink Wireless - Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 

 

 

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Posted

Super cool project!

"Make sense? Oh, what fun is there in making sense?"
-Discord

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Posted

this is super cool

Everyone, Creator - 初音ミク Hatsune Miku Google commercial.

 

 

Cameras: Main: Canon 70D - Secondary: Panasonic GX85 - Spare: Samsung ST68. - Action cams: GoPro Hero+, Akaso EK7000pro

Dead cameras: Nikion s4000, Canon XTi

 

Pc's

Spoiler

Dell optiplex 5050 (main) - i5-6500- 20GB ram -500gb samsung 970 evo  500gb WD blue HDD - dvd r/w

 

HP compaq 8300 prebuilt - Intel i5-3470 - 8GB ram - 500GB HDD - bluray drive

 

old windows 7 gaming desktop - Intel i5 2400 - lenovo CIH61M V:1.0 - 4GB ram - 1TB HDD - dual DVD r/w

 

main laptop acer e5 15 - Intel i3 7th gen - 16GB ram - 1TB HDD - dvd drive                                                                     

 

school laptop lenovo 300e chromebook 2nd gen - Intel celeron - 4GB ram - 32GB SSD 

 

audio mac- 2017 apple macbook air A1466 EMC 3178

Any questions? pm me.

#Muricaparrotgang                                                                                   

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
  • Author

IMG-20200615-113245.jpg

Due to the World Pandemic I am still missing few things from AliExpress to continue my work. Because I am very impatient, I can't wait to show my progress, so here's a photo of the motherboard tray prototype.

The tray is designed to accomodate any (standard) sized motherboard. Mini-ITX? Just take the white 3D-printed brick. Micro-ATX? Add yellow. Full-sized ATX? Add orange.

Brass insert nuts are very secure. I was not able to pull them out after they set in. The surrounding PLA plastic broke first.

Cheers!

EDIT: Inserting the nut video (external link to Instagram)

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I uploaded the motherboard tray video:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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The work is slowly progressing. A prototype for the rear I/O panel is done:

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The design for the rear expansion card slots is done. Today I was able to print the first of three pieces. When I'm done, I'll do another video. Cheers!

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14 hours ago, Stari89 said:

I'm done with the rear I/O video. It's slowly coming together! :)

 

 

Looking forward to seeing the finished build - this is great! :D 

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  • 2 weeks later...
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  • 1 month later...
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I found some time for my hobbies, so I have begun building the case in the virtual environment where I have an unlimited supply of bricks. I started with the bottom which needs to be perforated for better airflow to the power supply. Enjoy.

screen1.jpg

 

screen2.jpg

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  • 2 months later...
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  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
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After almost a year of planning, today I finally started the build! I found out that building in LDD and in real life is not the same. There are few things I already want to change (for structurual rigidity). I will continue with what I have for now and modify later. This is the front mesh.

Cheers!

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