Node - 3D Printed Case

[mokawob]

Awesome design! 

 

Would love to see this in a mid tower version with a nice liquid cooling set up

[Complx]

UPDATE 6/27/2015

And so the work continues!!!  This week it was about putting the final touches the assembly of the case and working on getting the hardware fitted, making sure there are no last minute tweaks to any of the parts (Spoiler Alert: There are, but they are minor)

So first up, the design has hex holes carved out for the nuts that will hold all the paneling, they needed to be glued into place to make sure they won't fall out when you remove the various panels, as this was a minor issue when I was trying to assemble this case for the first time. I got to the last panel on and had issues keeping the nuts in place while trying to screw them in.  So after some super glue and letting it set, this issue has been resolved and we're good to go!

And after a quick trip to the hardware store to pick up the last few pieces of mounting hardware, I got started on mounting and fitting the hardware!






















I ran into a minor issue with the motherboard tray, it will need to be redone, but that's because of a few issues.  It's missing pump mounting holes, it's smoked acrylic instead of black, and the motherboard mounting holes are a bit to high.  So when I went to install the I/O shield, this happened:



So other than that, I'm starting the next parts of the build, the water cooling and hardline tubing.  My first time doing hardline, so wish me luck!!

Stay Tuned!

[Cult]

Im also following this.

The all black looks nic3e

[Complx]

Im also following this.

The all black looks nic3e

 

Maybe in the future, you might see an all black version.

[Cult]

Maybe in the future, you might see an all black version.

That would be awesome 

[Ehsteve]

The floating-style motherboard was an amazing idea and this is a great execution of that concept.

[Complx]

Update!  (7/3/2015)

Now that the major stuff is out of the way, I can start focusing on the minor things and detail work that needed to be taken care of.  Enjoy!

Taking the heat sinks off for painting.

Pump Mounted





Running a quick leak test





Painting the parts, now to let them sit and dry overnight.

Stay Tuned, more tomorrow.

[waggythegeek]

-snip-

Stay Tuned, more tomorrow.

So excited!

Lets say you decided to completely disregard the 3d printing aspect. How much would it cost to make one of these cases with the cheapest production method available?

[Joshndroid]

looking absolutely fantastic! awesome looking case design

[Albert1998]

If 3d printing this bad boy is so expensive, why don't you get your own 3d-printer? It is just as expensive and in the long run you will benefit from it.

[Seefeldt951]

If 3d printing this bad boy is so expensive, why don't you get your own 3d-printer? It is just as expensive and in the long run you will benefit from it.

Unless you have a good amount to spend on a printer you are not going to get one that will either be big enough to print all of the parts, or reliable. Also the FDM desktop printers don't typically produce really good surface finishes.

A friend of mine and I just started building a little 3d printer about a month ago ourself and we found out pretty fast that there is a lot of tweaking and problem solving required even to just own a preassembled printer I would think.

[Complx]

If 3d printing this bad boy is so expensive, why don't you get your own 3d-printer? It is just as expensive and in the long run you will benefit from it.

 

I had thought about getting a makerbot, but that is what the first set of parts were printed on, and the quality of the prints were crap, so I had to look elsewhere.  The final parts were printed on a Fortus 250, which cost around $50,000. sadly, I don't have that kind of cash laying around.  Lol

[Costa]

Sweet modular design dude! You should sell it to a case manufacturer and ask for royalties from sales    For your next personal rig it would be cool to make a complex organic design; something that could never feasibly be mass produced.

[Hackentosher]

Out of curiosity, what material is this being printed in? I am thinking about taking on a similar project with my own design and ultimaker, but I am not sure if I should stick with PLA or use something stronger like nylon and then paint it.

[Complx]

Update 7/10/2015

Before I start I want to thank bit-tech for nominating me for Mod of the Month for June 2015!! Thanks again guys!

Back with a few more updates, and I'm happy to report it's finally coming together.  I have had this thing together and apart so many times I'm getting pretty good at it.   There were a few more parts that ended up needing to get painted, one of which was the motherboard tray.  I had originally wanted a solid black tray, not transparent.  That's what I had originally ordered but the company who cut it for me screwed up the order. (they has also messed up previous things so I decided not to use them any more)  So I ended up disassembling the entire thing again to  get at the tray and painting the back half with black paint.



A few other things came out nice after painting.







I also marked and drilled holes for the pump to mount to.




I also went about making some custom stickers for the back of the fans so they were not so ugly.  I had access to a printer and cutter so I was able to make them next to perfect.



















Mounted!




And so the current state of the case looks something like this!  LOL!

[Maki Role]

This build is just screaming for rigid tubing

[Complx]

This build is just screaming for rigid tubing

 

I would agree, however, I learned the hard way not to get Acylic tubing...that stuff is way to brittle.  Also this is going to be shipped around the country in the coming week so I wanted something that I know would be up to take the abuse of transport and shipping.  So for now I'm sticking with flex tubing. at a later date I might swap it over to rigid.

[Maki Role]

I would agree, however, I learned the hard way not to get Acylic tubing...that stuff is way to brittle. Also this is going to be shipped around the country in the coming week so I wanted something that I know would be up to take the abuse of transport and shipping. So for now I'm sticking with flex tubing. at a later date I might swap it over to rigid.

Eh either use PETG in that case or push fittings with 8/12mm tubing, neither of those will break. I'm always surprised with how people cause acrylic tubing to shatter actually, I've never managed it despite using it for years now. I mean Loramentum takes regular train and foot journeys around the country, still in perfect nick. IMO the flexible tubing just looks disappointing really when the rest of the case is so interesting.

[Complx]

Eh either use PETG in that case or push fittings with 8/12mm tubing, neither of those will break. I'm always surprised with how people cause acrylic tubing to shatter actually, I've never managed it despite using it for years now. I mean Loramentum takes regular train and foot journeys around the country, still in perfect nick. IMO the flexible tubing just looks disappointing really when the rest of the case is so interesting.

 

The final version of the case will have rigid tubing and sleeved cables for sure.  I have a deadline looming in the coming week where I'm attending 2 shows with this so I needed to be presentable and durable enough to survive the trips.  I agree I would like to see rigid tubing in the final version.  It was my first time attempting it and I was woefully unprepared both tool wise and info wise.  These will be corrected before the final build shots are taken.  So don't worry.  

I should also note that the case is incredibly difficult to work in, its got some very tight areas with lots going on, but we'll keep pushing forward!

[Complx]

See it in person!

Hi all, I will be attending 2 shows coming up in a weeks time.  I will be at both PDXLAN 26 and Quakecon 2015 this year and I will be bringing the Node along with me, so if you are interested in seeing it in person, feel free to stop by!



7/17 - 7/20





7/23 - 7/26



Hope to see some/meet people!

[MasterAli]

-snip-

 

The case looks so cool! Sadly I won't be able to go. Hopeful some big case company will see it and buy the plans off you. I would totally buy one if it was under $200

[Complx]

Update 7/15/2015

Another update!  Getting closer and closer to finishing this project, this will be the last "progress" update to the project until it is finished.   I will be posting some images of the project at some of the events I'm taking it to, so keep an eye out for those.

So lets get to it!

Started testing the lighting system, these suckers are bright!  RGB LEDs controlled via IR remote and receiver.



This is one thing I'm not happy with and will be fixing in the future.  The lights are SO bright that they bleed through the 3D printed plastic.  I think the solution to this will be to disassemble the case and paint either the interior of the case or the paint all the parts to add a barrier for the light.  THIS WILL BE FIXED!



As with the last update, we painted the motherboard tray along with a number of other small parts.





SSD's Mounted.



It's all coming together!









As I stated before, I will be taking this project with me to a few show, and to make sure it all gets there in one piece, I ordered a pelican case to ship it all in.







All packed up and ready to go!



Time for a beer!




After the two shows are over, I will be handing the case over to a friend of mine to do all the cabling, at that point I only have a few minor things to take care of and it will be completed!!  

Stay tuned!
 

[luke_2bossly]

Insane best of luck to you 

[Complx]

Hi all,

A couple of updates on the status of the Node, nothing to crazy.  So I traveled to Portland, OR for PDXLAN 26.  Had a blast there, I entered the Node in the CPUMag Case mod competition, I took 5th place and was up against some very tough competition.  

After that I was off to Dallas TX for Quakecon 2015.  Again, I entered the Node into the Modders INC Scratch Build competition, unfortunately I didn't place in that competition at all.

A lot of people were very interested in the case and had a lot of good things to say.  I'm VERY happy with the reception of the case overall, makes all the time and effort worth it!

After both events I was informed I won Bit-tech's Mod of the month for June!  http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=287885

For those wondering about the status of the project, after Quakecon, I handed the case over to my buddy at Hexagon PC so he could do all the sleeving for the case.  Once it is done, he will be shipping the case back to me and I can start the rigid tubing for it.

I want to thank Hexagon PC for the sleeving, he does great work!

 

https://www.hexagonpc.com/

Thanks everyone!  Stay tuned for more!

From PDXLAN

[hearthofsin]

nice! 
congratz on the bit-tech mod of the month win  

you haven't showed us final pictures tho !