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[Protoyping] Introducing the Mac Pro Jr. - X99 E5-2699v3 64Gb AMD R9 Nano

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Hey I guess my last post got deleted. But I wanted to ask if you'd provide some of the details of the material you used? How thick was the aluminum (both the perforated and not)? From the pics it looks like 0.0625" thickness? I think the original Mac Pro has 0.125" holes so I was going to try for that or .25". Where did you source the aluminum? Do you have specific measurements for the cutouts and all that? The dowel rod bending is very clever. I am about to try to recreate something like this and want to nail down the details before I start buying materials.

Also thinking about anodizing at the end. I have 0 experience with that and will prob have a local service give it a go. Do you think I need to get it sandblasted prior to doing that? I am guessing from some research that type 2 anodizing is the way to go...
Materials:
Flat sheet metal is 0.0625" (often referred as 0.063).
-30x48 sheet for $64 at a local shop called DiscoutSteel.com
-mesh at onlinemetals.com with 0.125" Holes and 0.1875" holes in 12x12" sheets.
-Flat stock 0.75" x 48" x 0.125" thickness from local hardware store
-Angle stock 3/5 x 3/4 x 8' x 1/16" (0.0625) from local hardware store

This gave me enough raw materials to make two, but I haven't had time for the 2nd one yet (if ever). I am in the same boat on the finishing, I have no experience with the anodizing. I will likely find a local shop that can do the one off for me, otherwise I will just sandblast and clear coat with a matte finish.

I will find my measurements for the rest of the parts and post soon. The 3D STL model is relatively accurate to get you started.
 
STL file. Updated to the correct dimensions.
 

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Thanks for the files! I have managed to secure some aluminum and am at the stage of doing some test bends. I get how you bent the perforated sheets. But how does your roller bender apparatus work? I kind of get the gist of it from the picture but if you're able to describe it any more or have any videos of it in action, that would be awesome. I am guessing you use the long metal rod as your lever and you insert one end of the aluminum between the dowel and square metal scrap. Is that knob on the scrap metal some sort of backstop? I feel like I'm missing a step or something else conceptually.
 
Thanks for the files! I have managed to secure some aluminum and am at the stage of doing some test bends. I get how you bent the perforated sheets. But how does your roller bender apparatus work? I kind of get the gist of it from the picture but if you're able to describe it any more or have any videos of it in action, that would be awesome. I am guessing you use the long metal rod as your lever and you insert one end of the aluminum between the dowel and square metal scrap. Is that knob on the scrap metal some sort of backstop? I feel like I'm missing a step or something else conceptually.
The knob on the scrap metal is just a remnant from another project, it is not a backstop. I made an illustration for you. Cross section. When rotating the rod/handle up, you must maintain downward pressure on the work piece and the work surface so the dowel maintains contact with the work piece. The two thin strips of metal that are actually being bent are rather easy to do, and the first two bends I tried came out perfect. The other side had to be adjusted a bit. You may need to rotate the handle more than 90 degrees, maybe like 95-100, just because the metal will flex back. Practice first!

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Physical build is complete. I ordered a flat ribbon style PCIE riser to replace the miner riser, but have not swapped it out yet. I did manage to fubar my High Sierra and Mojave installations, but successfully got Catalina installed.

What works:
Wifi and BlueTooth
Ethernet
Metal and graphics
USB 3.0

What doesn't work:
-CPU Power management

I went through a lot of the builds, but most are referencing anything but Catalina. I know I have an SSDT.aml from my original Mojave that worked, but it doesn't seem to get injected on Catalina. Tried variations of FakeSMC and VirtualSMC, many config.plist changes, no success. SMBIOS tried MacPro6,1 and iMacPro1,1. So for now, I am stuck on all cores at 2.3GHz until I figure it out. Power management works fine in Windows 10 with no changes to BIOS/UEFI.

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