Node - 3D Printed Case

[Maki Role]

Hmm, that seems like a huge box if you ask me, it's not that much smaller than the case itself from what I can see. When you do get the chance, post a screenshot of the part arrangement, it would be interesting to see what space is being used where.

Oh and cheers! Just finished building the most recent one last night, can't post the pictures until the comp vote is up though

[Norman_the_Owl]

For 4000 dollars you might as well get your own printer

[Complx]

Hmm, that seems like a huge box if you ask me, it's not that much smaller than the case itself from what I can see. When you do get the chance, post a screenshot of the part arrangement, it would be interesting to see what space is being used where.

Oh and cheers! Just finished building the most recent one last night, can't post the pictures until the comp vote is up though

 

Can do!  The parts are pretty large as they are most of the structure, but I think I might be able to get them smaller when I have them in front of me.  Ill quote you when I do.

[Complx]

Hmm, that seems like a huge box if you ask me, it's not that much smaller than the case itself from what I can see. When you do get the chance, post a screenshot of the part arrangement, it would be interesting to see what space is being used where.

Oh and cheers! Just finished building the most recent one last night, can't post the pictures until the comp vote is up though

 

So I was able to lay everything out and my original estimate was pretty close, just not on the height.  the build area would have to be about 10" x 12" x 7.25".  Im not sure how close the parts can get together so I left some breathing room between them.

 

 

[Maki Role]

Bah you have loads of room in there, there's a tonne of empty space by the look of things in between the large parts themselves. I would try to cram all the top pieces in there if possible. Although saying that, this does depend on which printing process you end up using. Personally I only use SLS as it's the only one that's publicly available that isn't rubbish quite frankly. With a project this size it's always going to be a very costly endeavour though. If I were you, I'd start from scratch and try to work out where you can minimise parts or swap them for different processes. For instance, those corners are massive, they don't need to be that large in one piece. You could likely change it so that they slot together and can be glued to form a larger piece. That would allow you to use a much smaller printing volume.

I found this out the hard way twice. The first time with Loramentum falling off the table and shattering, the second time with Moderne and not thinking to divide the model up. The first was just bad luck, but I was able to make a new model much faster, which ended up being 40% lighter, just as strong and looked better. With Moderne I basically doubled the cost of the print by not separating the stand from the body. It meant I was printing a 6cm high object, rather than 4cm.

[Complx]

Hi everyone,

Back with a quick update on the status of this project.  I got a call back from one of the printers I have been shopping this case around to, to try and get it printed.  The cheapest they could do it for was around $700.   While this is a major improvement in price than the 2-5K other places have been asking for, I feel that there is still a way to get the price down even further and improve the design as well.

After fiddling around with the model the past few days, I was able to come up with what you see below.  This design utilizes 8 of the same 3D printed pieces with an internal acrylic or aluminum structure.  This will allow me to utilize most of the acrylic I have already purchased and had gotten laser cut.  

This is still in the rough stages of the concept, i still want to figure out how to get the corners covered up so they are not as unsightly as well getting the rest of the panelling and internal structures worked out and finished.

Once the I have the final model finished, I will share the images of it and detail out how this new version improves upon the old.

More Soon!

[Complx]

Nope, this project isn't dead, just needed a few weeks to work out the logistics of everything.  My last post was about how I was going to redesign the Node to use less parts, be smaller, etc.   Well after spending 2 weeks looking for a 3D printer and trying to redesign the case, it became clear that it was going to be a few months worth of work again.    I would have to start from scratch again and go from the ground up, and after all the time and effort I put into the current design, the thought of going back to step one was not really all that appealing.

While I was able to get a model that had some potential, there were elements about the design I still didn't like, like the lack of edge covers.  This without them you had a clear view to the underside of the paneling and it just didn't look good.

So at this point I decided that the guys who quoted me at $700 to print the entire case were my best option.   I was a bit hesitant at dropping that kind of money so they were nice enough to provide me with one of the larger pieces for free so I could test all the paneling.

And IM SO GLAD I DID!   Every panel I tried fit like a glove, the finish is at a level where a few coats of paint will fill in the ridges and there minimal finish work.   I have already ordered the rest of the parts, and I should have some photos in a few weeks.

 

 

[Guest]

it's a nice design. I wish you all the will and money to finish it!

[Complx]

it's a nice design. I wish you all the will and money to finish it!

 

With what I have spent in time and hardware alone, there is no way it's not getting finished at this point.  Once everything is printed, everything else *should* fall into place.   But I'm also a firm believer in Murphy's law. 

[Overkilled]

what program did you use to make the images

[TrueDerp]

Hey there I would love to have your opinion on something. I too am going to soon be working on a 3d printed case, but much more bland and simple compared to the beast you are making. Me and a couple other people from my school are going to try to attempt to make a 3d printed case for an ITX mobo, and a full sized 960.... and then watercool it. All of it... It needs to be small and right now we are thinking about 10"X10"X16" but are not sure what material would be best suited to print with. I dont want to brake any possible rules by linking my own forum post in someone elses but i'll do it for the sake of not spamming 2-3 paragraphs worth of me on your post haha. ( http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/378969-3d-printed-case/) I would love to get in contact with you and discuss what would be the best to do as I hope/assume you have a much more vast knowledge in 3d printing. 

[Complx]

Hey there I would love to have your opinion on something. I too am going to soon be working on a 3d printed case, but much more bland and simple compared to the beast you are making. Me and a couple other people from my school are going to try to attempt to make a 3d printed case for an ITX mobo, and a full sized 960.... and then watercool it. All of it... It needs to be small and right now we are thinking about 10"X10"X16" but are not sure what material would be best suited to print with. I dont want to brake any possible rules by linking my own forum post in someone elses but i'll do it for the sake of not spamming 2-3 paragraphs worth of me on your post haha. ( http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/378969-3d-printed-case/) I would love to get in contact with you and discuss what would be the best to do as I hope/assume you have a much more vast knowledge in 3d printing. 

 

Im getting mine printed in ABS plastic.  Other pieces I have had printed in the past were in PLA.  Depending on the printer, make sure you check for warpage and shrinkage.  Im getting mine printed on a $50K printer at this point mostly b/c of how many issues I had with the large pieces that needed printing on the lower end printers.  They kept warping and nothing was fitting correctly.

[Complx]

UPDATE!!

 

FINALLY!!! FINALLY!! After about 2 weeks of talking back and forth with the printer,  I FINALLY have a quote!  $500! They are FINALLY printing the pieces and I should have them in about a weeks time, so I can get back to work!

More info soon!

[WolfDeville]

 

UPDATE!!

 

FINALLY!!! FINALLY!! After about 2 weeks of talking back and forth with the printer,  I FINALLY have a quote!  $500! They are FINALLY printing the pieces and I should have them in about a weeks time, so I can get back to work!

More info soon!

 

 

 

Where do you live? I could print them for you for $80 and you can pay shipping. If you want a specific color then it will be an extra $30

[Complx]

Where do you live? I could print them for you for $80 and you can pay shipping. If you want a specific color then it will be an extra $30

 

Im on the east coast of the USA.  What kind of printer do you have?

[Marinake]

Seems like he's from Sydney, Australia

[Complx]

Seems like he's from Sydney, Australia

Missed that...thanks.  Lol

[WolfDeville]

Im on the east coast of the USA.  What kind of printer do you have?

Makerfarm Prusa i3v 8x12

 

I don't think it would cost much to ship some plastic parts. Calculate it if you can and let me know how much it would cost. I will send you a PM with my postcode if you're interested.

[Marinake]

Nice thing you are doing Stranger. This is what a community is about.

And complx, that's a hell of a case you designed there. Ever considered to contact a manufacturer like corsair or cooler master to present your idea. It could be easily branded and put on sale.

[Complx]

BIG UPDATE!! 

 

All I'm going to say is that this was money well spent.  I have had a grin stuck on my face for the past few hours while working on this.  So happy to be able to begin moving forward wit this project again! Enjoy!!

[123h54ah56Sfdg54wh]

That turned out amazing! Can't wait for your next update!

[Seefeldt951]

The real thing looks just like your renderings. So when are you going to mass produce them?

[hearthofsin]

oh my..! 

[Complx]

The real thing looks just like your renderings. So when are you going to mass produce them?

If I can find a cheaper way of making them...I will try and get it into some form of production.

[Seefeldt951]

If I can find a cheaper way of making them...I will try and get it into some form of production.

I suppose, 3d printing definately isn't rapid, like rapid prototyping implies. The parts could be plastic injection molded most likely, but I doubt that is cheap either.