Metal tool case computer

[Billy_Mays]

Your having more luck than me today

[InertiaSelling]

Update 5 : PSU YES

 

I'm done with the PSU area.

 

First, a large square vent was cut where the PSU intake would be (forgot to take pictures of this though). Then a piece of drilled steel was stolen from an old side panel.

 

It was bent 90°.

 

Measurements for the next cut were taken directly on the case, so that the bent piece of steel wouldn't cover the PSU exhaust hole.

 

Three holes were drilled next to its edge so that it could be bolted to the case without interfering with the PSU.

 

Two of the PSU mounting holes were drilled in the small part right after the angle, so that it could be attached there as well. A little bit of filing was necessary, since the PSU screws were almost as big as the drill bit that was used.

 

This is what the PSU area looks like now. The PSU can now be mounted and plugged in, take air from the outside, and exhaust it at the back. Also, it doesn't look awful while doing so, which is almost as important.

 

And here's the current state of the project.

 

I still have to drill an exhaust vent where the second fan will be mounted, install the power switch as well as whatever would fit on the front next to the handle (fake buttons, voltmeter, etc.), and then install the acrylic panel. This is the end of my to-do list though. Once that will be done, everything will only have to be cleaned before I can begin to cram my components inside.

 

@Billy_Mays What happened to you today ?

[Billy_Mays]

1 minute ago, InertiaSelling said:

Update 5 : PSU YES

 

I'm done with the PSU area.

 

First, a large square vent was cut where the PSU intake would be (forgot to take pictures of this though). Then a piece of drilled steel was stolen from an old side panel.

 

It was bent 90°.

 

Measurements for the next cut were taken directly on the case, so that the bent piece of steel wouldn't cover the PSU exhaust hole.

 

Three holes were drilled next to its edge so that it could be bolted to the case without interfering with the PSU.

 

Two of the PSU mounting holes were drilled in the small part right after the angle, so that it could be attached there as well. A little bit of filing was necessary, since the PSU screws were almost as big as the drill bit that was used.

 

This is what the PSU area looks like now. The PSU can now be mounted and plugged in, take air from the outside, and exhaust it at the back. Also, it doesn't look awful while doing so, which is almost as important.

 

And here's the current state of the project.

 

I still have to drill an exhaust vent where the second fan will be mounted, install the power switch as well as whatever would fit on the front side next to the handle (fake buttons, voltmeter, etc.), and then install the acrylic panel. This is the end of my to-do list though. Once that will be done, everything will only have to be cleaned before I can begin to cram my components inside.

 

@Billy_Mays What happened to you today ?

Monitor took drugs last night had to unplug it for a bit to wake it up but I thought I had a dead monitor

[Billy_Mays]

@InertiaSelling You have helped me design my custom case for the PSU mounting because I was having problems making a design since I have an old OEM case that IM going to be using for it and how Im going to mount it, its has holes to the side of it and Im going to use those to hold it to the MDF I'm getting for it (the case costs $10.57 cad)

[InertiaSelling]

@Billy_Mays Glad I helped you with something. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing, most of the time. Will you create a topic to document your custom case build ?

[Billy_Mays]

1 hour ago, InertiaSelling said:

@Billy_Mays Glad I helped you with something. I honestly have no idea what I'm doing, most of the time. Will you create a topic to document your custom case build ?

Yep but it might look a little plain at first since I'm doing it on a strict budget 

[InertiaSelling]

@Billy Mays I got most of my stuff from garage sales. This is not an expensive case by any stretch of the imagination. It's just a matter of buying whatever nice-looking, cheap thingy you come across, and hoping that you'll use it someday.

[Billy_Mays]

39 minutes ago, InertiaSelling said:

@Billy Mays I got most of my stuff from garage sales. This is not an expensive case by any stretch of the imagination. It's just a matter of buying whatever nice-looking, cheap thingy you come across, and hoping that you'll use it someday.

Yep I know that I just gotta get the money for it and then I will be able to get the materials 

[InertiaSelling]

Update 6 : almost done

 

First, the exhaust vent was cut.

 

A metal plate was then made from the steel casing of an old hi-fi system. It got filed until it looked nice enough.

 

The metal piece was bolted to the vent.

 

Here's what it looks like with a 120mm fan installed.

 

The power switch hole was also drilled today, with completely inappropriate tools, as always.

 

The power button got wired as well. The LED doesn't light up though, so I guess I'll remove the LED module so that the LED strips can backlight it a bit.

 

Here's what it looks like now.

 

I also drilled a hole right under the power switch in order to use the hole in its back piece to bolt it in place. It doesn't work though, so I guess I'll try to find o-rings that will get sandwitched between the actuator and the switch and hold everything together. If I manage to do this, I'll use the hole under the power button to make my infrared receptor stick out a bit. I do need to do that, since I use a cheap LED system.

 

Next update tomorrow.

[rodrosenberg]

Keep up the good work! I'm really enjoying watching the progress of this build! Great work using the tools and materials available to you! 

[Billy_Mays]

Pretty good and I cant wait to do my build in my custom case

[InertiaSelling]

1 minute ago, rodrosenberg said:

Keep up the good work! I'm really enjoying watching the progress of this build! Great work using the tools and materials available to you! 

Thank you ! If you're interested in seeing more of the process, you'll be pleased to learn that almost every picture you see here is a screencap. When I'm done putting everything together, I'll probably make a complete build video.

5 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

Pretty good and I cant wait to do my build in my custom case

Thanks. And I can't wait to see your custom case build.

 

If nothing goes wrong, it should be finished tomorrow in the evening. But that's a big if.

[Billy_Mays]

1 hour ago, InertiaSelling said:

Thank you ! If you're interested in seeing more of the process, you'll be pleased to learn that almost every picture you see here is a screencap. When I'm done putting everything together, I'll probably make a complete build video.

Thanks. And I can't wait to see your custom case build.

 

If nothing goes wrong, it should be finished tomorrow in the evening. But that's a big if.

Mine depends if I sell the stuff Im selling or if I get a job

[InertiaSelling]

Update 7 : done (pretty much)

 

Surprisingly, the o-ring actually managed to secure the power button in place.

 

A few switches were desoldered from some old radios, along with their entire mechanisms.

 

Large holes were drilled in order for them to be installed.

 

The acrylic panel was marked and cut using a saw.

 

It was then bolted to the case and filed, as it was a bit too large.

 

Metal and acrylic dust was removed with a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer and a toothbrush.

 

At this point, the transplant could have been performed, but I decided to eat first.

 

A ghetto ankle strap (a simple wire attached to the ground pin of a wall socket) was used to prevent static discharge from damaging the components.

 

Quite unsurprisingly, I ran into a lot of issues.

 

First, the PSU I used as a template didn't have any protruding parts, whereas mine did. I had to make a cut I hadn't planned to make.

 

Then, the cables wouldn't run through the cable management holes I hade made, so I had to disassemble the switches and the motherboard tray. Indeed, the motherboard ended up on top of the GPU cable hole, so I didn't use it in the end.

 

Also, the standoffs really weren't where they were supposed to be. A few millimeters are enough to prevent the screw from sliding in. Eventually, the template (short) mATX motherboard had to be used again in order not to damage mine, and the standoffs were adjusted. All of the screws were succesfully used to secure the motherboard in place, though not all of them were perfectly straight.

 

The two switches' positions had to be changed because they interfered with a USB header. A little bit of electrical tape was added to prevent short circuits.

 

Everything was finally installed inside the case. Unspeakable (linus-style) things had to be done to both of the expansion cards due to incorrect measurements.

 

The computer was then powered on. After an "out of range" error because only one monitor was used instead of the usual two, everything worked correctly.

 

The plastic film was therefore removed from the acrylic panel, which got installed shortly afterwards. It has a few scratches, but nothing terrible.

 

The LED strips got installed as well, once the computer was placed on a shelf to increase usable space on the desk.

 

The final test was to use it for some time. I chose to write this update, and at this point, nothing too bad has happened. The cable management is terrible, both inside and outside of the case, and the intake fan has been installed backwards, which forces me to use the machine with its lid open as an intake vent. Hopefully, I'll manage to fix all of that tomorrow, tidy up my desk, and enjoy my new setup. What I won't be able to fix, though, are the cut tabs on my cards, as well as the poor alignment of the rear I/O. These are my only regrets.

 

Overall, and unless something shorts out overnight, this project is a success. I should be able to edit the build log video on this nice-looking machine, instead of editing a "what not to do" video on my old laptop. It is now 3am in France, so I guess I'll shower and go to bed. Thanks for your support.

[itzsnookums]

Bravo, looks really good. Thanks for sharing

[InertiaSelling]

Just a quick message to inform the 7 people who follow this topic (thumbs up to you, btw) that it has been moved to the build logs section, and that the original post has been updated with more details, a condensed written build log, and a build log video. I have no idea if the topic being moved or the OP being edited will have given you a notification, but I know this message will. Thanks again for you support.

[MrRavens]

Wow, unique build my friend. 

[InertiaSelling]

1 hour ago, LtRavens said:

Wow, unique build my friend. 

Thank you !

 

And I just realised I hadn't posted any before/after pictures, so here they are.

 

Before

Spoiler

After

Spoiler

 

[InertiaSelling]

Antother quick message to inform the 7 followers of this topic that the tool case is now a featured build on pcpartpicker (if you look closely, you'll notice that the damaged intake grid looks slightly less terrible now). I'm extremely glad that my first project was so well-received. It just makes me want to keep making custom cases. I'm pretty sure there will be another hinged thing in november. In the meantime, since I have much less free time, I think I'll stick to more mundane things, such as rebuilding a z400 in a modern chassis. Thanks again !

[rodrosenberg]

16 hours ago, InertiaSelling said:

Antother quick message to inform the 7 followers of this topic that the tool case is now a featured build on pcpartpicker (if you look closely, you'll notice that the damaged intake grid looks slightly less terrible now). I'm extremely glad that my first project was so well-received. It just makes me want to keep making custom cases. I'm pretty sure there will be another hinged thing in november. In the meantime, since I have much less free time, I think I'll stick to more mundane things, such as rebuilding a z400 in a modern chassis. Thanks again !

Congrats!!!! 

[InertiaSelling]

Already posted on "show off your setup", but I want to keep this up to date.

 

Update 8: wire mesh

 

I found some wire mesh on the side of the road a few days ago and thought it would look nice in the tool case.

Spoiler

It makes the components completely invisible when the room is well lit, and a bit less visible in the dark, but I feel like this case needed some grey metal to go with the intake mesh and switches.

[SlipperyPete]

55 minutes ago, InertiaSelling said:

Already posted on "show off your setup", but I want to keep this up to date.

 

Update 8: wire mesh

 

I found some wire mesh on the side of the road a few days ago and thought it would look nice in the tool case.

It makes the components completely invisible when the room is well lit, and a bit less visible in the dark, but I feel like this case needed some grey metal to go with the intake mesh and switches.

this project is by far my favorite one i have followed. it is amazing looking, great updates. just fantastic.

[Orangeator]

3 hours ago, SlipperyPete said:

this project is by far my favorite one i have followed. it is amazing looking, great updates. just fantastic.

Yeah for sure, same. This was amazing to follow, and the pretty much end result looks amazing!

[Theguywhobea]

Nice job dude, looks really clean.