Vesper by Maki Role - 3D printed pc - FINISHED! Final pics on page 3 - U/20th August 2014

[Maki Role]

Hello again everybody!

I figured it would be worth sharing with you a project I embarked on towards the end of last year. Loramentum is going strong (have some cool stuff to show over the next week, can't go any faster atm) and Azure Redux is dependent on my finishing Loramentum.

Brief:

This time last year, Bit-Tech paired up with Intel to offer a competition to design a novel case for a NUC. The brief was that it simply had to stick with the theme and reasoning behind the NUC product itself, so no sticking them in a 900D for the lulz. All the ports on the device had to be immediately accessible also (so no hidden USB ports sadly). Of the submissions, 5 would then be picked and sent the hardware, they would then build their designs and submit them for community voting a couple months later.

Summary:

The hardware going into this build is as follows:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3217U
Motherboard: Intel NUC D33217CK
RAM: 2GB Kingston 1333MHz KVR
Storage: Intel 30GB SSD
Power Supply: Asus EXA0703YH Laptop Adaptor

In this design, I wanted to try and make the most out of the production methods. 3D printing allows people to construct fantastic, organic shapes and I wanted to ensure that I wasn't wasting an opportunity. To soften the lines of the sides, I decided to opt for a wooden centre section, which will also help provide a more elegant look. I love combining old and new, and I think this results in a very modern design that will still fit in a period interior (which is where it will be going). On the 3D printing front, I've gone for SLS nylon, which is much stronger and more thermally stable than options offered by home printers.

Concept work:

Here are the concept renders for the project. Since the structure is 3D printed, I already had the models to hand, so rendering them just made sense really.

Progress Shots:

The quality isn't quite there with these sadly, I was still learning and getting to grips with a new camera at the time, they do improve later.

Motherboard top - Kindly provided by Intel

Tiny cooler, but it seems to do the job fine, can't hear the thing at all during use.

Wifi Adapter - Kindly provided by Bit-Tech

2 Gigs of RAM - Again Provided by Bit-Tech

And the 30GB SSD - Also provided by Bit-Tech

All assembled

Macro practice, come a long way since then.

Hopefully you'll enjoy the journey of this little project, I certainly found it to be immense fun and a great learning experience!

[Askew]

Damn that looks like a snazzy little machine, look forward to more!

[DIV1D3]

This makes me mois......

erm, 

astonished, yeh 

[alby800]

WOW. I am following this. Also cant wait to see the Loramentum pics :lol:

[Maki Role]

Damn that looks like a snazzy little machine, look forward to more!

Cheers! I'll be putting out updates daily for this one, so should be pretty quick.

This makes me mois......

erm, 

astonished, yeh 

  

WOW. I am following this. Also cant wait to see the Loramentum pics :lol:

Aha, yeah there are some exciting things planned. I've got the laser cut front panel on it's way, the cables can then be completely finished etc. then it's run p to completion!

[Camcognito]

sweet!

[GeekySole9354]

Maki Role build = Instant follow!

[alby800]

Maki Role build = Instant follow!

 

DAMNIT. I forgot to follow. I always do this, say I am going to follow and then I forget to follow, any I have followed no :lol:

[Maki Role]

sweet!

 

 

Maki Role build = Instant follow!

 

 

*Snip*

 

DAMNIT. I forgot to follow. I always do this, say I am going to follow and then I forget to follow, any I have followed no :lol:

 

Thanks guys!

 

 

And it's time for an update!

 

So here are the raw shots of the side panels straight from the 3D printer.  I really love how they came out, very strong, lightweight and durable, plus the printer had a pretty good resolution which will make finishing much easier.

 

 

 

 

[alby800]

Nice, I can tell that this is going to be good

[SAV1OUR]

holy shit that detail i don't have enough tissues for this stuff 

[Maki Role]

Nice, I can tell that this is going to be good

 

Thanks!  Hopefully it'll live up your expectations.

 

holy shit that detail i don't have enough tissues for this stuff 

 

[Laputacake]

Thanks!  Hopefully it'll live up your expectations.

 

 

Am i missing something? Where'd you get that 3d printer:P

[Maki Role]

Am i missing something? Where'd you get that 3d printer:P

Oh I wish I had an SLS 3D printer, bit out of my price range however. I had these printed by a local firm in London. I've thought about picking up one of those smaller, desktop printers, but the technology's still a bit premature. What's great about SLS is the flexibility over what models you can print. The nylon material is really strong, but the best bit is that the model's supported by the surrounding material, meaning no support struts are necessary.

[Laputacake]

Oh I wish I had an SLS 3D printer, bit out of my price range however. I had these printed by a local firm in London. I've thought about picking up one of those smaller, desktop printers, but the technology's still a bit premature. What's great about SLS is the flexibility over what models you can print. The nylon material is really strong, but the best bit is that the model's supported by the surrounding material, meaning no support struts are necessary.

I wonder if there is like at a place like that near me. The designs look like the old batmobile 

[Maki Role]

I wonder if there is like at a place like that near me. The designs look like the old batmobile

 

Possibly, most printing shops (heh, imagine saying that even 5 years ago) offer FDM services (the kind used by makerbots etc.). A quick google search should come up with a fair few results though, just look for SLS Nylon, it's a fair bit more costly however.

 

UPDATE!

 

Thought I'd show the different woods I considered for this project.  Originally I wasn't sure which to go for, so I picked up some burr maple, burl walnut, curl mahogany and burl vavona veneer sheets.  Personally I love all of them, but they're also not all suitable for the small scale of this project.  Close up, the vavona was definitely the most striking of the selection, so I decided to continue with that one.  I'll be French polishing the wooden centre, so the deep patterns will really pop.  I also fully sanded and primed up the sides so that they are completely smooth.

 

All smoothed down prior to priming.  Went from 80 through to 1200 grit. 

 

 

Primed up and ever smoother than before, stopped again at 1200 grit to help paint adhesion.

 

 

 

Love how the whole thing is powered by this dinky laptop charger.

 

 

Wifi antenna pigtails

 

 

 

Burl walnut veneer

 

 

 

Burl maple veneer

 

 

 

Burl vavona veneer 

 

 

This simply looks amazing close up, so incredibly alien, a bit like the creep from Starcraft.

 

 

Mahogany curl veneer

 

[savehc]

These pics gave me a boner.

[GeekySole9354]

That's really nice

[CtW]

The Mahogany and Burl Vavona are my favorites.

[Prokart2000]

thats epic now we need the 4 way 780tis but that psu might struggle a bit

[Ralphington]

this looks so cooooooool, cant wait for more, subbed.

[Maki Role]

Haha thanks everybody! I did also like the look the of mahogany but sadly the scale is all wrong. Because this build is really small, you wouldn't be able to catch the wood pattern properly, which is a bit of a shame really. I'll have to see if I can include it in a future build somehow.

[Ralphington]

Haha thanks everybody! I did also like the look the of mahogany but sadly the scale is all wrong. Because this build is really small, you wouldn't be able to catch the wood pattern properly, which is a bit of a shame really. I'll have to see if I can include it in a future build somehow.

Also whats happening with loramentum, havent seen an update in a while? i dont mind either way, I mean it is something to take time over.

[Maki Role]

Also whats happening with loramentum, havent seen an update in a while? i dont mind either way, I mean it is something to take time over.

Waiting on the last piece of laser cutting, apparently it should be finished tomorrow. Frankly I'm not impressed at all by Cut Laser Cut. I went to them because they're local, so I figured they would be able to cut it quickly then I could collect it in person. Well, I can still collect in person, but they've pushed the cut date back twice and their communication is very lacking.

On a brighter note, that piece will signal the road to completion for Loramentum, pretty excited to see how it looks!

[alby800]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Title says you got wood 10/10 wood follow again (see my pun there)