# [Scratch case] Project Duplex



## Ace_finland (Oct 23, 2013)

Hi,

So this is my new Project for the Cooler Master mod competiton. I still have a bit to design but will start fabricating soon. 

It's called Project Duplex and will be a two faced case.
-On one side the motherboard, on the otherside a GPU and ssd's.
-Two seperate loops with a 240radiator each.
- WIll be made out of aluminum and acrylic
- Most of the watercooling will be hidden

Fabricating will start soon!











Ace


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## ne6togadno (Oct 23, 2013)

what is deadline for contest
and subed


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## Ace_finland (Oct 23, 2013)

ne6togadno said:


> what is deadline for contest
> and subed



The dead line is in the end of January, from experience its gonna be a lot of work theese coming weeks  thx!


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## micropage7 (Oct 27, 2013)

looks nice but i dunno how you gonna put flexible pciex cable to the back of the board and creating sleek look. pretty challenging is it?
subb too


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## Ace_finland (Oct 28, 2013)

micropage7 said:


> looks nice but i dunno how you gonna put flexible pciex cable to the back of the board and creating sleek look. pretty challenging is it?
> subb too



It sure is. I will make a cover for the pci-e ports that will hide the cable. The challenge will be to get it look small when irl it will be quite big and bulky. I have ideas in my mind but before i have the actual motherboard i can't do any tests. Hopefullly i will have the motherboard soon.

And i will get the 20x20x2mm aluminum profile this week!


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## Ace_finland (Nov 11, 2013)

Finally an update! Was a lot harder to get the profile than i thought. Living in the country side has its drawbacks 

First i would like to say a big Thanks to OCZ and Mr J. for believing in me and sponsoring me with a 256GB Vector drive. Will take some nice pictures of it as soon as i get it back. Took it to a place to make it fit the build a bit better. More on that in another update  





The profile, Ordered 2mm thick profile but when i got it it was only 1,5mm. Oh well, would have been nice with 2mm for threading but 1,5mm will be enough.... i hope.





after cutting all the profiles with a hand saw and I milled them to the right angle and size. 





De burring all the edges





All profiles except one





Welding it all together. Was too optimistic with the welding. I did not think it would warp as much as it did. All in all it was only a mm or 2 off but due to so many angles and lengths it looked so crooked I did not wanna use it. 





Plan B: Cut off all the legs, straighten out one leg that was a bit warped. The rest were fine. Then mill all of the legs at once to make sure they are all the same length and straight
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Decided instead of welding i would make inserts to bolt into the profile and into the base and top. This way it's easier to keep straight and also a lot easier when its time to paint. Should have thought about this before





Tapping the inserts









All done. Still need to clean up to get it looking really nice but will leave that until its time to paint





The base




Made a 2mm sheet and pressed it inside the profile, welded it and after milled it straight. If i can get another profile i might make a 45 degree cut instead. Would look a lot nicer.





Time for some sheet metal work. Sticking with 2mm aluminum. Don't know what this is called but it is very useful.









The panel is divided into 3 pieces for now while i work with the pieces. I might weld them together at a later stage. Still need to drill a lot of holes and cut some openings in them.





Drilled and getting ready to tap









Had to try a mobo on it. Case looks huge and it is a bit big but u think it will shrink a bit once i start adding things to it





Sponsored by


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## t_ski (Nov 12, 2013)

I believe that machine is some kind of brake, which is used to bend sheet metal - although that one looks to be hydraulic vs. the manual ones I've used before.


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## Arjai (Nov 12, 2013)

Looks good.


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## HammerON (Nov 12, 2013)

Sub'd. Looks to be a really cool build


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## Ace_finland (Nov 12, 2013)

t_ski said:


> I believe that machine is some kind of brake, which is used to bend sheet metal - although that one looks to be hydraulic vs. the manual ones I've used before.



Yeah, it was a hydraulic one and was a dream to use 



Arjai said:


> Looks good.


Thx buddy!


HammerON said:


> Sub'd. Looks to be a really cool build


Thx man!


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## a_ump (Nov 12, 2013)

i see how you could manage to get it to look neat now, your first post sketchings made the case seem like it'd be a lot smaller, or my perception is just a little off lol. Cool build


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## Ace_finland (Nov 12, 2013)

a_ump said:


> i see how you could manage to get it to look neat now, your first post sketchings made the case seem like it'd be a lot smaller, or my perception is just a little off lol. Cool build



I might have changed the sizes a bit  After further drawings i realised i was making something impossible  so i added a bit of lenght here and there


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## Mindweaver (Nov 12, 2013)

t_ski said:


> I believe that machine is some kind of brake, which is used to bend sheet metal - although that one looks to be hydraulic vs. the manual ones I've used before.



It's a press brake, I've got one at my shop.


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## Ace_finland (Nov 17, 2013)

Mindweaver said:


> It's a press brake, I've got one at my shop.



You are correct! 


So a very small update. Have been busy helping mum and dad move house, so have not had any time for modding but picked something up on Friday that i thought i would share with you. 

My first part for the build, a 256GB Vector drive. 





Content: SSD, a mounting plate, screws, a sticker, a manual and a key for acronis true image





The drive, looks great but didn't really fit the black and red build i'm doing. so decided to make some minor changes.





Didn't wanna go too crazy with these as i want it to look enough original but still fit the design
A solid black one, this was very hard to photograph, probably took 50 photos and didn't get a single good one. Need to read up on how to take proper photos 













A black metallic one









Made enough stickers so i have a few to mess up, or if i wanna make a small raid 






Sponsored by


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## t_ski (Nov 17, 2013)

Ace_finland said:


> Need to read up on how to take proper photos



Some light reading for you:

http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/0...ts-the-adafruit-photo-tutorial-by-johngineer/

http://www.overclock.net/t/912437/how-to-photograph-your-rig

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/guides/2010/02/15/better-photographs-of-your-mod/


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## Ace_finland (Dec 3, 2013)

t_ski said:


> Some light reading for you:
> 
> http://www.adafruit.com/blog/2010/0...ts-the-adafruit-photo-tutorial-by-johngineer/
> 
> ...


Thx a lot T_skI! had a read and realised it is a lot harder than i thought, need to practice a lot before taking the final pictures


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## Ace_finland (Dec 3, 2013)

Hey guys,

Finally an update!
Recently bought a house and have been moving things (mostly to the garage) so now i can start modding more and close to home so updates should be more frequent now

After thinking a while about the front and the back panel i decided the best way would be to have them water cut, i have countless times milled thin aluminum sheet and it usually ends with the flute snapping. Still need to cut a lot of holes in the back panel for all the connectors but i will do that at a later stage









One step forward two steps back, or however the saying goes. I wasn't very happy about the shape of the frame and the quality of the work i had put in it so i sat down and re-drew the frame and decided it was time for plan C. This time it is made from a 10mm aluminum sheet, it's 15mm wide. I changed the angles a bit and shortened it a bit length and depth wise, the width it still the same





Time to drill some holes





One drilled, one to go, hopefully it fits!





Time for some threading, i always use the cordless drill to tap with, so far i have never snapped a bit with it and its so much faster.





Had to change the "shape" of the mill so i could drill and tap the support bars





The support bars





Done





Seems like it fits!





So much better than the other frame, a lot of work but now i like it and it won't bug me anymore.





Bottom plate for the frame, drilled and counter sunk









Perfect fit except one hole which i need to file a bit.









Old vs new, i don't know what you guys think but i like the new one a lot more





New part arrived!





Another box in the box





Everything is very well packed





Lots of cables with it, needs some sleeving though





Love the brushed steel look on the top of it













Scale photo





More updates coming soon!

Very sad news about OCZ, the only SSD's i've owned are OCZ and i have been very happy with them.
Sponsored by


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## SaiZo (Dec 12, 2013)

t_ski said:


> I believe that machine is some kind of brake, which is used to bend sheet metal - although that one looks to be hydraulic vs. the manual ones I've used before.



Yupp, it's a press brake, NC controlled by the looks of it..


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## Ace_finland (Dec 27, 2013)

Hey guys!

Finally all moved in to the new house and got internet up and running again.

Just a short update but another one hopefully this weekend.
Milling the motherboard plate and the Gpu plate. Only milling the shape for now and doing all the holes and cutout later.





More milling and drilling, these are for the other panels on the side. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




All slots cut out





As i haven't had any access to the press break for a while I started looking for an "affordable" sheet bender, but the quality on them are horrible. So i decided to take a different approach to bending the sheets.

60 degree V-flute, 1mm in the bottom





Milled a 1mm deep slot in both panels





Clamped it to the desk with the slot facing upwards





Put a small flat bar across the sheet so i would bend it equally everywhere





Worked a lot better than i thought it would.





Test fit of the panels. Had to try the grommet too to see if i made the hole the right size





More panels.





Also made a cut out for the motherboard in HDF, It's a lot faster and easier to redo if i have some measurements wrong 




That is all for now, hopefully another update over the weekend!

Sponsored by


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## Ace_finland (Jan 6, 2014)

Back with an update, was supposed to be a bit earlier but have been sick so haven't had much time. Anyways...

Did the motherboard and GPU side in aluminum









Test fit of components













Made some covers for SSD's so the cables will be hidden. No pictures of the installed yet but there will be soon enough





Same for the Pci-e extension cable













Made a sheet for holding the rads and fans. Decided to make it in two separate pieces, one for each rad.




A bit of bending




Test fit





Time for some acrylic. This is for the front panel. Was a bit tricky before i figured out how to make it in two runs. Milled some holes and put some centering axles in it. worked out pretty well.





Installed. Made it slightly bigger so i can sand it to the right size. Still need to do the rear and top and bottom. Still not sure if it will be painted or led lit. But i will need to decide very soon.





That's it for this time

As you can see i have some new parts  Will do some unboxing as soon as i can get it set up

Sponsored by:


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## adulaamin (Jan 6, 2014)

Looking really good! Can't wait for your next update!


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## Ace_finland (Jan 8, 2014)

adulaamin said:


> Looking really good! Can't wait for your next update!


Thx buddy!


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## McSteel (Jan 8, 2014)

Wow, this has some serious potential, and looks to be coming along quite nicely! I like.

As for the acrylic, I'd go with LEDs along the edges. But use some dim/soft ones, with a wide cast angle (maybe 60° or so), and serious bonus points if you manage to have a potentiometer somewhere to be able to control the intensity or even completely turn the lighting off.

Just my .02

Keep up the good work!


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## ST.o.CH (Jan 9, 2014)

It´s looking very nice, and if you could turn the ssd lettering in the right position it will be better.


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## Ace_finland (Jan 9, 2014)

McSteel said:


> Wow, this has some serious potential, and looks to be coming along quite nicely! I like.
> 
> As for the acrylic, I'd go with LEDs along the edges. But use some dim/soft ones, with a wide cast angle (maybe 60° or so), and serious bonus points if you manage to have a potentiometer somewhere to be able to control the intensity or even completely turn the lighting off.
> 
> ...



Thx buddy! I have some red power leds i'm gonna use. Guess why i have a fan controller on each side with 6 pot's each and only 4 fans  I will divide the leds into sections so i can fine tune them all so they have the same brightness 




ST.o.CH said:


> It´s looking very nice, and if you could turn the ssd lettering in the right position it will be better.


Thx buddy! I have made gloss black and mettalic black stickers for the SSD, they should be in a previous update. So it will be the right way once its done


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## Ace_finland (Jan 26, 2014)

So been crazy busy trying to get as much done as possible. The Cooler Master mod contest ends on the 31st so i am freaking out a bit right now 

have had a lot of parts lying around for a while now but thought it was time to upload some photos.

Ever since i saw the Maximus Vi Formula i knew this was the board for my next computer. I generally don't like "naked" pcb's so this is perfect for me!









A lot of accessories.





Just sexy, great color scheme and as a bonus its ready to be water cooled!




Even has a backplate, this just keeps getting better and better!





Next up GPU, decided on a GTX 780 since i seem to have no time for gaming anymore. Still there is nice to have some power when i need it.




Even the inner box looks great




Awesome, almost a shame to water cool this.




Great looking backplate, won't be seen though due to the way it will be mounted





Have always wanted an I7 since i do use Solidworks quite a lot. Never could justify to buy one. This time i just bought it and didn't think about the cost





I had 16Gb of platinum ram from before. Bought another pack just for the looks. Won't really need 32gb but it does make the case look better. And some light bars.




For some reason the old ones does not look like the new ones. The old ones still have milling marks and are slightly shiny. The new ones looks like they have been blasted with some media. Lucky i bought the light bars.





So on to the case

Made some fixtures to hold the reservoirs in place. Took a while before i figured out how to do it.












The circle pattern didn't really fit the shape of the case so i decided to make my own front. Not sure if i will sand it down to make it a bit more matte. Still need to countersink all the holes.





Lowered the led strips into the acrylic. Since the sheet aluminum is lowered 2mm from the other side and the leds need about 2.4mm depth there is only 1,6 mm left of material in the middle. Was a bit worried that the light wouldn't spread out to the edges but seems to be working just fine. Won't show you that just yet.









Made some adapters for the lamptron controllers so it will attach to the sheet metal.





This is how its now, still a lot to do and not much time left but all the acrylic and sheet metal is sanded down now and fits great.









And a bit of bonus content,

obviously it won't fit in the computer but i do have a different plan once the case is done.




Great looking piece!













Will add more photos of it once i get it up and running, will be a bit later as i need to focus on the computer right now

Next update before the competition ends !

Sponsored by:


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## micropage7 (Jan 26, 2014)

wooow nice 
its just half way
clean build, love it


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## Ace_finland (Jan 26, 2014)

micropage7 said:


> wooow nice
> its just half way
> clean build, love it


 Thx!


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## Ace_finland (Jan 31, 2014)

Quick update before the competition ends!

Got all bit painted so started assembling pieces

Frame















Pumps and psu support





Lamptron controllers, had these from the old rig so was easy to make new mounts for it.









GTX 780









Test fit


















Sponsored by:





Final photos in a few min!


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## Ace_finland (Jan 31, 2014)

Some better photos!









Fisheye


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## McSteel (Jan 31, 2014)

Wow... Flawless victory.


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## MakeDeluxe (Jan 31, 2014)

That RoG cover over the PCI-E slots? Absolutely beautiful!


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## t_ski (Jan 31, 2014)

I've been following this from the beginning, thinking it was just something "meh."  Now all of a sudden BAM! This is better than I thought. 

Is that painted or powder-coated?


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## Devon68 (Jan 31, 2014)

Wow that's some amazing work. Been following this thread for a while now and got to say the end result is awesome, wouldn't mind a case like that standing next to my monitor.. Hope you Win the competition.


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## Ace_finland (Feb 2, 2014)

McSteel said:


> Wow... Flawless victory.


Thx man!


MakeDeluxe said:


> That RoG cover over the PCI-E slots? Absolutely beautiful!


Thx!


t_ski said:


> I've been following this from the beginning, thinking it was just something "meh."  Now all of a sudden BAM! This is better than I thought.
> 
> Is that painted or powder-coated?


it's powder coated, i bought a cheap powder coater about a year ago and i love it 



Devon68 said:


> Wow that's some amazing work. Been following this thread for a while now and got to say the end result is awesome, wouldn't mind a case like that standing next to my monitor.. Hope you Win the competition.



Thx buddy! I will keep modding this for a while still, it was a bit of a rush to get it ifinished and i had to leave a few things for the competition.


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## t_ski (Feb 2, 2014)

Ace_finland said:


> it's powder coated, i bought a cheap powder coater about a year ago and i love it


Is that the Sears Craftsman one?


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## Ace_finland (Feb 2, 2014)

t_ski said:


> Is that the Sears Craftsman one?


It's from electrostaticmagic.co.uk, but they have a newer model now. Think it was £120 when i bought it


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## Ace_finland (Feb 8, 2014)

Hey guys!

The Cooler Master Mod Competition is now live. If you have a minute and like my build please go vote for me. Everyone who votes also have a chance to win something from Cooler Master. Here's the link: http://woobox.com/pvkzwc/vote?web=1

Thx guys! Update coming soon!


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## McSteel (Feb 8, 2014)

Upvoted 

Looks like you have those Thai Farmers transformer truck rig and the Lamorghini ROG to contend with, but to be honest, I genuinely like your mod the most.
Best of luck in the competition!


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## Ace_finland (Feb 8, 2014)

McSteel said:


> Upvoted
> 
> Looks like you have those Thai Farmers transformer truck rig and the Lamorghini ROG to contend with, but to be honest, I genuinely like your mod the most.
> Best of luck in the competition!


Thx buddy! I know, it's filled with amazing builds this year as usual  I really liked the workmanship of the transformers build and the final pictures.


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## ThE_MaD_ShOt (Feb 8, 2014)

Great build, I voted for you.


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## Ace_finland (Feb 9, 2014)

ThE_MaD_ShOt said:


> Great build, I voted for you.


Thx for voting buddy!


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## Ace_finland (Feb 25, 2014)

Thx to everyone who voted for me in the Cooler Master mod competition. I finished at 3rd place and are very happy about it.  Next update coming soon, making a few improvements to it


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