Project: Honeycomb

[de.das.dude]

This is my 6th "mod" but my first scratch build.

oh i see. this time you fabricated everything (well most of it) yourself.

 

[Fuganater]

Plexi Work

I've been working non stop to get as much done before my vacation next week. Last night I got the dremel out and used a sanding bit to sand off all of the excess J-B Weld. Worked out well.

Then I started designing the front, back and center panels.

Here I had to cut a notch in the center panel for the aluminum frame to pass through.

Next I traced where the PSU would be sitting next to it so I had a frame of reference when I do the mobo tray.

Then I started on the front panel. Here is how the fans will be mounted.

All drawn out. Its pencil so it might be hard to see... sorry.

Back panel.. deff hard to read it but you get the idea.

A closer shot.

And the center panel design. The big rectangle in the middle will be raised 1 1/8" off the center panel. It will be a hiding spot for all the cables.

Tonight I started drilling. Before I actually drill in the real pelxi I figured I would try out the hole for the power and reset switch.
3/4" hole

Fits without a problem.

Now... this is the first time I have to cut my own pelxi since I ordered all the other pieces to be cut by a laser.

Well it came out great and you'll see it in a few. Here is the order that I'm mounting the things.

2 1/2" bolt > 1/8" plexi > 1 1/2" tube > 1/2" plexi > acorn nut

Here it is all broken down.

Me working hard! I ordered the bolts too long for the next part and had to cut 1/4" off. No jokes about the face shield... if your not using one then the jokes on you when you get hurt.

Here are the holes I put in the mobo tray to mount it to the center piece of pelxi. 7 mounting points is way more than enough to keep this up.

And here it is mounted.

Remember that piece I cut myself? Here it is.

My measurements were pretty good. Only 2 of the 9 bolts are at a small angle but it doesn't matter because you will never see them once this gets mounted into the case.

Here you can see where the cables will come through. This will feed one side of the case to the other.

Hope your enjoying the work!

Cheers till next time.

 

[Fuganater]

Lamptron Sponsor

Got my 3rd sponsor today!

Lamptron will be sending me one of the FC5v2 Fan Controllers and two 2xUV Cold Cathode kits.

 

[Sir B. Fannybottom]

Your pictures got taken down! You should make a tumblr account and host on there, unlimited picture hosting.

 

[Fuganater]

MNPCTECH Goodies



So MNPCTECH saw it fit to sponsor my build with a few things.

A box! Yay for me!

OH you wanna see whats inside the box?

Beer Bottle Opener

And no the keyfob was not included... I made it myself.

A sheet of Honeycomb and Round Hole modders mesh.

Billet Machined Aluminum Case Feet

Blow Hole 120mm Fan Kit (Will be used on Project: Green Light)

A big thanks again to Bill at MNPCTECH for supporting my mod!

 

[PopcornMachine]

Congrats on the sponsors! And thanks for all the cool pics.

 

[de.das.dude]

super liking so far.

 

[Fuganater]

How I Keep it Together

I never posted anything about how I plan on keeping the case together except for the threaded screws but that has changed so here it is for all that are curious. I bought everything from mcmaster.com.

6-32 x 2 3/4" screws are used to secure the acrylic that hides the cables on the HDD side.

6-32 x 1 1/4" secure the motherboard to the center 1/2" piece of acrylic.

6-32 acorn nuts are used to secure both of the above screws. Keeps the look very clean.

I ordered some 8-32 x 1 1/2" screws to be used with these 8-32 nuts to secure the fans to the acrylic.

8-40 x 1/2" screws are replacing the below 6-32 x 3/8"threaded screws. I wanted all the screws to be the same type. Black socket head cap screws.

These 10-32 x 3/8" screws will be used to secure all of the exterior pieces of acrylic to the aluminum frame. They are much bigger than the rest because I want to make them easier to take out and they need to be noticeable.

These aluminum unthreaded spaces are 1/4" OD, 1 1/2" length for a #8 screw. They worked great for the 6-32 screws because there was acrylic on each side of the spacer so I didn't need to worry about the head size of the screws.

 

[Fuganater]

EK Waterblocks Sponsor

Just got confirmation that EK will be sponsoring my mod. Their new Nickle blocks come out tomorrow and I will have some of the first ones

They will be providing:

1x EK-CoolStream RAD XTC (420)
1x EK-Supreme HF
1x EK-RAM Dominator-Nicke
2x EK-DCP 4.0 (12V DC Pump)
2x EK-Multioption RES X2 – 250 Basic
20x EK-PSC Fitting 10mm – G1/4 Black
8x EK-PSC Adapter 45 G1/4 Black

Big thanks out to Gregor at EK!

 

[Fuganater]

Woe Is Me

Still waiting for the Bitspower and EK gear to arrive.

I've started cutting the back panel.

I'm now filing it then I'll cut the fan holes. Lots of work but not much to show.

Next Day:

So the hole saw is not working out. Nor is the drill press. It does not have the RPMs to cut the plexi with the hole saw.

Here it is all setup to be cut.

Then disaster happened. The arbor bit for the hole saw some how... snapped?

It wasn't cheap but yet it wasn't an expensive one. $15 Irwin brand which is a well known hardware brand.

So when the drill press stopped mid cut it torqued the whole panel and snapped a piece of it.

Its the back of the case so I am going to see if I can repair it. If I can great, if not, I have to order a new piece and spend another 20 hours working on it.

Cheers till next time.

 

[Fuganater]

Front Panel

I have to get over breaking the back panel and work on the front. Since the hole saw isn't working out I'll have to do it all by hand. I will be going uber slow to make sure I get the best cut I can. There will be some flaws but that is to be expected when doing things by hand. So here we go.

The first holes that I made were 4 1/2". Well I needed a 5 1/2" hole for the 140mm fans. After remeasuring for the 5 1/2" holes, I noticed that 3 of them would not fit on the HDD side. So I down sized it by about 1/4" and they all fit perfectly. I used a compass to draw the circles.

I then started out cutting the 2 fan holes on the mobo side of the case.

Next was the center one of the HDD side.

I heard from someone that you should tape the bottom of your jigsaw so that you don't scratch the plexi and so it glides better. Well it worked like a charm for me.

One to go.

All done.

I also drilled out the Power and Reset switch holes.

Next I have to drill the holes for the screws.

Now to test fit some of the fans.

And the switches.

Looks good. They stick out a smidge so I'll have to sand the holes a bit more or something.

I'm using 8-32 x 1 1/2" Socket Head Cap Screws with 8-32 Hex nuts.

I also did a little brainstorming on the I/O covers. I didn't like the ones that came with the mobo tray so I thought I would try my skill at making my own from some MNPCTECH Modders Mesh.

Stock cover.

I straightened it out as much as I could.

And after a bit of cutting and bending.... I got this. And it fits perfectly.

How does it look?

I finally got in touch with Delvie's Plastics to order some more plexi since I broke the back panel. I also needed the hexagons laser cut and I needed a few sheets of orange for the 2 side panel windows.

I bought some Orange paint while I was home on vacation. Do you guys think a Orange mobo tray and I/O back plate would look good Orange? Or should I just paint the I/O covers Orange? I appreciate the feedback.

Cheers till next time.

 

[Fuganater]

Lamptron Goodies

Lamptron hooked me up with a few things.

2x 12" UV Cold Cathode Kits

FC5v2 4 channel Fan Controller

You can check out the review I did for Lamptron on the FC5v2 here.


Thanks again to Lamptron for helping out with this mod!

Cheers till next time.

 

[micropage7]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Sponsors/Lamptron.jpg

Lamptron hooked me up with a few things.

2x 12" UV Cold Cathode Kits
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Project Honeycomb/DSC07179-1.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Project Honeycomb/DSC07180-1.jpg

FC5v2 4 channel Fan Controller
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Reviews/Lamptron FC5v2 Review/DSC07131.jpg

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a190/Fuganater987/Reviews/Lamptron FC5v2 Review/DSC07134.jpg

You can check out the review I did for Lamptron on the FC5v2 here.


Thanks again to Lamptron for helping out with this mod!

Cheers till next time.

its a nice stuff but its kinda hard to find here

 

[Fuganater]

Media Card Reader Cutout

Since its a 3 day weekend I will be trying to get as much done as I can. Here is what I did last night.

So the media card reader will be in the front plate of the mod. I didn't want to put it anywhere... traditional?

Drilled holes to fit the jig saw blade.

After cutting.

It actually was really straight when I first cut it but I had to widen it roughly 2-3mm so that the card reader would fit snugly. This took almost an hour because I didn't want to take too much off.

As you can see here. Nothing is holding it up. It fits perfectly.

Flush with the front panel.

That's it for today. More to come this weekend hopefully.

Cheers till then.

 

[PopcornMachine]

That's a pisser about the bit breaking and the panel cracking!

But I guess it would be a custom case build without a few little problems.

You're doing great cutting by hand. Now that's some skill.

Keep up the good work!

 

[Fuganater]

That's a pisser about the bit breaking and the panel cracking!

But I guess it would be a custom case build without a few little problems.

You're doing great cutting by hand. Now that's some skill.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks! I'm trying to get better but it takes time.

 

[Fuganater]

Coming Together and Side Panel Design

Yesterday and today I worked on putting the top and bottom panels onto the case. I also worked on the design for the side panel window today.

First I measured where I wanted the holes to be for the bottom panel.

Then I drilled and tapped them.

I then drilled the holes for the case screws and for the case feet.

Attached the feet.

In order to do the top panel I had to temperamentally attach the side and front panels.

Marked where I need to drill.

Another good fit.

I decided that I wanted to paint the motherboard tray and I/O backplate orange so I took them apart.

Sprayed them with some self etching primer.

And now I am putting the orange on. I am doing light coats so that it looks even.


Now for the side panel. I didn't know how I was going to draw the hexagons so I experimented first.

It looks ok but after 3 or 4 of the hexagons, it wasn't square.

So now what? It took me awhile but I then figured out that I should measure the hexagon I cut out and just make a grid on the panel. IDK why I didn't think of that in the first place but oh well.

Progress shots.

Starting to form the window.

And finally with all 4 windows cut out. Through the 3 small ones on the right, you will be able to see the 2 reservoirs.

I think I will start cutting the side panel tonight. Hopefully I'll get the motherboard tray finished today or tomorrow.

Cheers till then.

 

[The_Ish]

Well, that killed my internet..

 

[de.das.dude]

awesome concept

 

[Fuganater]

Well, that killed my internet..

Sorry!

awesome concept

Glad you like it!

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Not trying to be an asshole here.....

but what youve pretty much done is made a MountainMods UFO case but added your own touch to it.

 

[Fuganater]

Correct. I took parts of their case, a normal ATX case, and the DD case and made it my own. I think its pointless to pay $600+ for a case when you can make it yourself for $150.

 

[p0Pe]

Not trying to be an asshole here.....

but what youve pretty much done is made a MountainMods UFO case but added your own touch to it.

The fun thing is that you are being an asshole with that comment.

First of all, why even write it? You don't give any constructive critisism, you don't say "good work mate".
All you are really saying, when unpacked, is:
"Hey, you are just copying MM noob"

My mother always said "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say it"

My opinion:
Mountain Mods are shitty cases made by paper thin plates, and no innovations AT ALL! If you want to see cool cube cases, look for CaseLabs.

Regarding the mod in this thread -
Its awsome, and I cant wait to see that honeycomb window!
And with the work you put into this thing, I have no doubt that it will be better than anything Mountain Mods could ever ship out

 

[FreedomEclipse]

The fun thing is that you are being an asshole with that comment.

Not at all. If i had just simply come out and said "your build is shit! youre trying to rip off MountainMods!!"

Then yes, that would be me being an asshole. But I was polite and just making an enquiry as what hes making looks the same as a MM-UFO. theres no harm in asking is there?

First of all, why even write it?

Because I was perusing through the project logs and came across something that looked like a MM-UFO. If he was customising/modding a MM-UFO, that would be an entirely different story. But in this case. he is building a case from scratch to resemble a MM-UFO, and i was curious.

and his answer was COST. He can build himself the same or similar case but for a lot lot less!.

You don't give any constructive critisism, you don't say "good work mate".

Builds not finished yet. Im not here to offer praise, a pat on the back, a hug or a moral boost. - That wasnt why i made my initial post/comment.

I also reserve the right to hold judgement, praise and critisism until the build is finished as it is very much a work in progress.

All you are really saying, when unpacked, is:
"Hey, you are just copying MM noob"

If you think thats what i said, then i ask that you read my initial comment again. I was just simply commenting that it looked like a MM-UFO case. Im sorry if I offended you in the process. I ment no disrespect at all other then just pointing out a simple observation. No names were called, no insults were thrown or insinuated.

My mother always said "If you don't have anything good to say, don't say it"

Did your mother also tell you to troll on someone who was making an equiry based on an observation? - read my post again. There were no negative comments, only observations.

My opinion:
Mountain Mods are shitty cases made by paper thin plates, and no innovations AT ALL!

So much for what your mother always said right?
you could learn a lot from her.

 

[Suhidu]

You think you just have the ...Freedom to Eclipse peoples' happiness and ambition with your own negative little bits of trivia?

Anyway, Project: Honeycomb looks interesting, and for all the handiwork, ambitious. Nice build updates so far.