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neilhart's Scratch Build Case # 2

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...The front. I had the USB port mounting plate machined at Front Panel Express (google it). The touch switch icon needs to be done in higher resolution...

Here is a power icon in vector artwork :)
 

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  • power icon.eps.zip
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A view of the IO side. I did away with the IO stainless outer plate and retained the inner piece. This part is held inplace with RTV
Hi Neil, Your doing a good job on this (and all your other) build's, thanks for sharing your great work. I saw your treatment of the Rear IO panel, and had thought of doing the same on my current build, I have two questions. What tool did you use to cut down the supplied motherboard IO panel? and What is RTV?

Thanks
Kiwi
 
Hi Neil, Your doing a good job on this (and all your other) build's, thanks for sharing your great work. I saw your treatment of the Rear IO panel, and had thought of doing the same on my current build, I have two questions. What tool did you use to cut down the supplied motherboard IO panel? and What is RTV?

Thanks
Kiwi

The IO panel is made up of the a Mylar plastic with the art held to a steel backing plate with adhesive, and the stainless outer panel. I worked the outer panel with my hands, rolling it a little so as to work harden the spot welds that hold the backing plate. Then used my pocket knife blade to pry at each spot weld until they separated. The key here is taking your time and worrying the welds until they release.

The RTV is for RTV Silicone (Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone) material. Or the tube that I am using is by DAP and is "HOUSEHOLD ADHESIVE SEALANT - 100% SILICONE - CLEAR". And not all RTV is worth taking home. As I have found some that just never sets up firm. With the "good RTV", the full cure is about 24 hours but most things can be handled after 2 hours.

I hope that this helps.

neil
 
Almost done.

The system bill of material follows:

Intel DQ77KB motherboard - source Amazon
Bestec Model BG-AG151EBF-H 19.5VDC at 7.9Amp output, 100-240VAC input - already owned
Crucial M4 128GB mSATA SSD - source Amazon
SO DIMM DDR3 16GB 1600MHz memory, Komputerbay, -source Amazon
Intel i3-3225 CPU - source Amazon
Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler - source Amazon
HGST Traverstar 1TB 7200 RPM 32M 2.5 inch hard disk - source Frys
Kensington Bluetooth dongle - source Newegg
rKey 1.5" Capacitive Touch (proximity switch) Rogue Robotics - source Jameco Electronics
NTE R4-11 D2 -5/6 volts relay - source Frys.
Phillips Flat Head Black Oxide screws - source McMaster Carr
Aluminum Hex Mesh grill material - source McMaster Carr
ABS plastic sheet stock - source Tap Plastics
ABS cement (plumbing suppy) - source Orchard Supply Hardware
Ballcube, Football Dispay Cube - source Tap Plastics
StarTech 4 Outlet USB Plate Motherboard Bridge Calbe - source Microcenter part # 734871
Broadcom Wireless 802 11/a/g/n Internet WLAN Adapter Card - source Amazon
Protronix® Mini PCIe to PCIe Express Wireless Adapter w/ 3 Antennas - source Amazon
Custom Front Panel with USB cutouts - source Front Panel Express
And misceleanous bits and pieces from my salvage bin.

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m1.jpg

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I have my SB2 [Scratch Build # 2] up and in service. For now it is the media server for my home office. I stream videos from NetFlix and Amazon Prime. Here the system is driving the HDTV via DP to HDMI adapter at 1920 x 1200. Also is driving the Dell LCD display via HDMI to DVI adapter at 1600 x 1050.
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m2.jpg

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And this is a comparison of forms with my G4 Cube hack.
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m3.jpg

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And another comparison.
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m4.jpg

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A front view with the case cover in place.
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m5.jpg

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A rear view of the case.
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m6.jpg

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Left side rear view.
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m7.jpg

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Right side front view.
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m8.jpg

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Downward view of the top from the right side.
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m9.jpg

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Front right side view without the cover.
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m10.jpg

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Top front without the cover.
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m11.jpg

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Left side without the cover. Note that I re-terminated the chip-set cooler fan wires to just the correct length and added a bracket used to mount the WiFi antennas shown.
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m12.jpg

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Downward looking left side view.
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m13.jpg

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A busy photo: Custom BT dongle adapter, WiFi antenna mounting, mSATA drive with 5V SB power and ground cable under the mSATA driven and ducking under the motherboard along with the SATA and power cables. Also show is the Blue LED for a power on indicator.
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m14.jpg

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and a photo of the cover/case.

This is a wrap so to speak. I have completed the project and will fine tune the SB2 through time. I need to purchase some photo grade ink jet paper and reprint my power on icon label.

My son did the graphic art for the icon and his art and my color ink jet printer are in different worlds. I may post the re-do as it should be a significant improvement over that shown here.

Questions and comments are always welcome.

Have fun and long live hacks,
neil
 
The IO panel is made up of the a Mylar plastic with the art held to a steel backing plate with adhesive, and the stainless outer panel. I worked the outer panel with my hands, rolling it a little so as to work harden the spot welds that hold the backing plate. Then used my pocket knife blade to pry at each spot weld until they separated. The key here is taking your time and worrying the welds until they release.

I hope that this helps.

neil
Yes that helps, I actually ended up using a large drill bit (in a hand drill) on the spot welds to allow them to separate, a bit like removing a rivet.

You have done a great job there is definitely no hiding in that case (Its basically all on display). If you have have access to a 1st Gen Mac Mini, I would love to see a side by side photo comparison, as IMHO A Mac Mini is more representative of what you created.

Also would love to know what thought process you went through to come up with this design?

Kiwi
 
I really like the way you've incorporated your initials into the power logo Neil. Very well done. The two Wifi antennas are terrific!


-Ersterhernd
 
Also would love to know what thought process you went through to come up with this design?

Kiwi

As most of you know, I really dislike un-tidy cabling and I was very impressed with the custom chassis MiniHack shared recently where he had concealed cables and drives in the layered base that he had designed. So this is my version of his concept using the football display case for the start of the case.

And some of you will remember that I had purchased the Loop L5 AIO chassis and unsuccessfully tried to bring up the Intel DQ77KB mother board with full accelerated HD4000 graphics. That experience gave me the desire to package the MB into the smallest case possible without giving anything up. And this system even sleeps and wakes from sleep.

neil
 
You did clean work as always! :thumbup:

I like this concept. When I look at this rig, I know, that it would be possible to stuff a DQ77KB in the same case, that I've used for my amp...

MacTester
 
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