Project Open Air Mk 2

[blueonblack]

This is going to be good and I am glad motherboards look much better now

Me too. It was the improvements in the aesthetics of hardware that made me decide to make the last one (and this one) the way I did. I was designing a case and realized there was no reason to hide this awesome-looking stuff inside a box.

It was the modders and enthusiasts like us that made the industry pay attention and make our hardware look as good as it does. Way to go guys!

[blueonblack]

Another small update tonight. After looking over the design for this case I've decided that some changes are in order. As I've said before this is primarily a showcase for hardware. I've been taking into consideration the trip to CES in January, but it's possible that my sponsors may want to use the case at other venues after that, which means not only shipping it but having it unpacked, assembled, repacked and shipped back by someone other than me. I have to take that into consideration in the design. Transport is rough.

To that end I've decided to change a couple of things, starting with the columns. These are structural weak points. If I were making it to sit on my desk and not move they're actually overkill but if it's going on the UPS truck or by FedEx, and then hoisted around by someone who doesn't know how it's put together they're not nearly enough. I decided stronger mounting was the place to start, and turned to these:

These are steel inserts, 1/4-20 internal thread. The external threads are very aggressive and once seated in the maple will never move. Couple that with hex-drive button-head bolts and we've got a winner. The problem came in installation. The hole for the insert had to be perfectly in line with the center of the column. If it was crooked at all that angle would translate to the bolts and create gaps or if tightened down too tight it could crack the inlay or even the acrylic on the upper portion.

I own a fairly nice smaller drill press, which would be the perfect tool for the job, but (there always seems to be a "but") it's too small. The columns are longer than the distance from the table to the drill chuck even at its lowest setting. Obviously I couldn't use the table, so I had to make a jig, something that would hold the column perfectly perpendicular to the base of the machine, since I know that's perpendicular to the drill spindle. Took a while, and as usual with jigs ended up being deceptively simple:

Simple but effective. I took each column off of the base and marked the drill points on the top since I was putting inserts on both ends. I used the existing holes from the smaller mounting screws for the bottom since they were already lined up with the holes in the base.

Clamp it up, center the column in the jig on the drill point and clamp the jig down...

And dive in!

I'm happy to say that went perfectly, ended up with eight nice clean straight holes right where I wanted them. I knew from experimenting earlier that I also needed help installing the inserts straight though. Even with a clean hole the external threads are pitched steeply enough that it will actually drive itself in crooked. I already had the answer thankfully.

I used a piece of 1/4-20 all thread with a lock nut on it as an installation tool.

I chucked that into the drill press, re-clamped the columns and used the press to apply straight downward pressure while I sunk the inserts with a wrench:

Worked perfectly!

So now all four columns have the course-thread steel inserts in them and are mounted back to the base. Once the center section is also mounted with them you'll be able to pick it up there with no worries. One problem down.

That solves the problem of straight up and down force, but I still have to adapt to compensate for racking motion. Even with them bolted down, pressing sideways on the top of one of those columns will be applying force to those bolts and the base with a seven-inch lever. I have to immobilize them side-to-side as well as up and down.

That's the plan for the next update, stay tuned and thanks for watching!

[OvRiDe]

Interesting!

[Stonerboy779]

That's a genius way of sinking in the inserts and I think I'll try and remember that for future reference.

[blueonblack]

That's a genius way of sinking in the inserts and I think I'll try and remember that for future reference.

I can't take credit for that one, I actually got the idea from one of our master modders, Mach. He uses this technique when tapping holes, I just adapted it. Thanks, Mach!

[Snowman]

I really like how this project is taking shape. Very few people work in hard wood anymore.

[SXRguyinMA]

Indeed it's coming along nicely! I'll see you at CES! I'll also be filing that insert threading idea away for future use

[blueonblack]

Indeed it's coming along nicely! I'll see you at CES! I'll also be filing that insert threading idea away for future use

Awesome, we'll have to coordinate and get together sometime!

[blueonblack]

Finally got some free time to work on this thing again! Made a hell of a mess and screwed up one brand new power supply but progress was made.

First step was a hole in the top. Though the only things inside will be the PSU and optical drive, the PSU will need to breathe and I need a way to get the cables out of the box and onto the motherboard. I kept it as small as I could to minimize visibility in the finished product. After rough assembly it turns out this hole could be a LOT bigger, so I may end up enlarging it if the cables are a problem.

After bolting that back to the columns with the inserts I finished last update I had to make a riser for the display shelf. This will be tilted outward to show off the motherboard and the SSD so I had to figure the optimal angle. I settled on 30 degrees and started cutting scrap.

Each riser ended up being made of four pieces: three pieces of scrap hardwood for the structure and one piece of acrylic for the outside to hide it.

Each of these is held in place with five screws from underneath and will also be glued in it final form. No reason the risers ever have to the come off of the middle shelf, and since I'm sure the case will get picked up by the display shelf that area has to hold the weight of the lower portion in motion.

I finally got to tear into one of the coolest parts of this project tonight: Cooler Master was kind enough to donate one of their Esiberg 240L Prestige watercooling kits, thanks guys!!

I've used a couple of these all-in-one products, from Corsair and Antec but this piece from Cooler Master is easily the slickest setup I've seen. It comes with the usual integrated pump/block/reservoir, 240 radiator and 2 fans, but the Eisberg is made with actual compression fittings and a fairly standard tubing size, so the user can add blocks, radiators, reservoirs, tubing etc to their system as they need to. The block/pump/reservoir even has a dedicated fill port.

This flexibility saved me a lot of trouble as the tubing was never meant for this application and was far too short. As soon as I took it out of the box I took it apart and drained it. I'll warn anyone reading this that might decide to try it, the paint scratches easily. It's flat black so it will be easy to touch up, but be advised. The "collar" portion of the compression fitting has two holes in it opposite one another so I'm sure there is a spanner of some sort available to avoid this issue.

Here is the radiator out of the Esiberg system with my decidedly low-tech mounting setup:

I pondered on mounting this for a long time and finally realized that while this case is a showpiece, it is not a showpiece that anyone will ever open or look inside of. That opened any number of construction and mounting options.

Obviously the radiator on this will be at the rear of the case, hidden away under the overhang of the display shelf. That puts it right on the beveled edge of the risers. Anyone see a problem with this next picture?

Out came the Dremel and hacked off that little corner that was in the way. At that point I thought I had it. Went to put the display shelf in place to take some measurements, turns out the front edge of the fans was a fraction of an inch too high. Since I couldn't move the whole setup backward or the radiator would overhang the rear of the machine, I had to put the fans on the table saw.

Finally got that settled, got the radiator mounted and got a piece of acrylic cut to hide the scrap-wood construction:

After much cursing and pacing I finally got the holes drilled properly in the display shelf and the inserts mounted in the risers, so it is finally bolted down.

This thing is FINALLY starting to take shape!

That's all for today. Next time, how to construct a PSU mount that can withstand shipping without destroying the PSU in the process. I hope.

[Stonerboy779]

This is going to be so good. I would also love to see wood inlay GPU back plates haha