Project: Secret of the Ooze

[stinger608]

Now you really got all of us wwwwaaaaiiiitttting!!!!!

Come on Blake HURRY UP :twisted:

Na really man, it is looking fantastic!!!

[sbohdan]

congrats blake
just been following the project and its gripping our attention. as allways... can't wait to see the outcome :P

[fps justin]

good job blake. It looks sweet.

[gvblake22]

Progress has been slow on this project because I'm done with all the relatively easy parts, so now most of what is left is fairly difficult. I did however still manage to get the slots for the optical drives and the 120mm front intake fan measurements outlined and ready to be cut on the front panel...

[micmac]

Awe snaker, it is looking good. Any decisions on the silver vs. paint job yet?

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by micmac

Awe snaker, it is looking good. Any decisions on the silver vs. paint job yet?

Hehe, thanks! :smt003

Actually, I had a revelation... Nail Polish!!! I can mask off what I don't want to paint and use black nail polish to very accurately and precisely paint just the spots that I want (like on the round switch). Plus it will dry a nice glossy black and will rub off if I need it to. What do you think?

[fps justin]

i think thats an interesting idea. Would you still need primer?

[Jokerswild]

Nail polish will work, we used that in the machine shop to mark the numbers on the dials and it worked great.

[gvblake22]

Well, tonight was both a failure and a success. A failure in the sense that I found my first real design flaw and the front panel now looks like poop. I realized that the way I orignally planned to make the optical drive tray stealth covers and the front panel would prettymuch requre me to have perfect cutting and shaping abilities (which I most definately don't have) or a CNC milling machine (also something I unfortunately do not have). So guess what happened? Yep, my less than perfect hand acrylic craftsmanship showed it's ugly face when I was making the cut outs on the front panel for the optical drive tray covers...


It started out ok. I got the holes in the corners drilled for the jig-saw and managed to get them roughly cut out.

But it was when I started filing that disaster struck...

I was just filing away like I had been for the 15 minutes prior trying to get the openings shaped just right for the drive bay covers and I was daydreaming (probably about this micmac girl I know) and I filed a big cut right into the top right edge of the rounded end. DOH! :x

You can't really see it in the pictures, but if you look closely at the top slot, you can see that it is not shaped very well. I tried to correct the error but to no avail. Suprisingly, the bottom slot is very close to perfect, but the top one is crap.
Here is a closer pic:


Now for the good news...
Since this little mishap, I have realized my giant design flaw. Trying to get just the drive tray cover shaped perfectly is hard enough, let alone trying to make a hole in the front panel in the perfect spot and the exact perfect size of the cover to fit in! There is too much perfection and accuracy involved to even be able to have a chance of doing something like this by hand with a jig-saw and files. What I needed to do is cut small rectangles with 90º corners in the front panel just big enough for the drive tray to slide through (without the cover or bezel). Then I attach the rounded green drive bay cover to the end of the tray with a slightly larger spacer on it to take up the space of the thickness of the front panel. That way the rounded green drive tray cover will actually stay on the ouside of the case covering up the entire rectangle in the front panel underneath. So when the drive is closed, there will be no gaps around the tray cover and the slot cut in the front panel. And the best part is that neither has to be perfect in order to look good! I just wish I had thought of this before I cut into the front panel!! :evil:

So I have successfully destroyed the front panel, but now have a new and improved design plan for the optical drives. That means that I will probably have to order another piece of acrylic (since I don't think I have a big enough piece of scrap), but I still have to get more acrylic for the case, as well as my next little project. So I guess it's not too bad; except for the fact that I will have to wait until I can save some more $$ and wait even longer to get it shipped here and re-cut and re-design everything. But in the mean time, I can start work on the rear panel. Hopefully This goes a little more smoothly... :roll: :?

[Jokerswild]

You can always cut a new drive cover that matches the opening you cut. Just trace it from the opening. These drive covers are tight. I painted a face on one of mine and two coats of paint made it so it wouldn't close all the way. :?