No production could take place until the panel work arrived, so I was keen to see the aluminium back as soon as possible. I was astounded at the quality of the cuts, which were absolutely spot on. On the basis of this experience, I would definitely recommend laser cutting to anyone wanting a custom case.
Another thing that had to be done before the build could start was to take a trip to the local DIY superstore to pick up the raw materials. I purchased:
7 x 1m rolled mild steel 'L' section.
2 x 1m PVC pipe for motherboard spacers.
1 x 1m zinced M5 thread section.
3 x 1m zinced M4 thread section for motherboard stacks.
1 x pop riveter.
6 packets of zinced M4 bolts.
1 pack of zinced M5 bolts.
120 pop-rivets.
That came to about £55. By this point I had everything ready to begin construction of the case, so I began to move the required parts up to the workshop.
Stage 1
Firstly, I cut the mild steel 'L' section to the size, using a tri-square to make sure the cut was a right angle. The section was held in a vice and filed afterward to remove burring and sharpness left over.
Next, holes had to be drilled into the 'L' section. The clamp I used to hold the metal in place was softened with kitchen roll to prevent scratching on the aluminium surface.
Once the section was clamped onto the aluminium, the whole piece was taken over to the pillar drill where a M4 hole was drilled into the mild steel section. This was repeated down the section until all the holes were drilled. The section and panel were then labelled so that they would be returned to where they were drilled and cut so that everything would fit together when riveting.
A similar process was used to mark up the panels to a right angle of the original panel. Lines were drawn in the relevant place as shown below:
At this point the first major cock-up was encountered. I tried to see if the PSUs would fit the back panel; the mounting holes lined up perfectly, however the vent holes did not line up. I guess I was tired when I designed that part! This required some urgent jig sawing, but unfortunately the skids of the jigsaw had small bumps which scratched up the back of the case fairly badly where I had moved it destroying the lovely finish on the aluminium. After some head scratching I remembered that you can remove bad scratches in aluminium using wet and dry paper, polish and a lot of effort. I decided to leave this until I had finished the project!
This laborious process was repeated unit all the mild steel 'L' section had been prepared and labelled. Next came the hilarity of pop-riveting (you'll know how much fun it is when you've done it!). This took no time at all to do and left me with the following shell of the case:
Another thing that had to be done before the build could start was to take a trip to the local DIY superstore to pick up the raw materials. I purchased:
7 x 1m rolled mild steel 'L' section.
2 x 1m PVC pipe for motherboard spacers.
1 x 1m zinced M5 thread section.
3 x 1m zinced M4 thread section for motherboard stacks.
1 x pop riveter.
6 packets of zinced M4 bolts.
1 pack of zinced M5 bolts.
120 pop-rivets.
That came to about £55. By this point I had everything ready to begin construction of the case, so I began to move the required parts up to the workshop.
Stage 1
Firstly, I cut the mild steel 'L' section to the size, using a tri-square to make sure the cut was a right angle. The section was held in a vice and filed afterward to remove burring and sharpness left over.
Next, holes had to be drilled into the 'L' section. The clamp I used to hold the metal in place was softened with kitchen roll to prevent scratching on the aluminium surface.
Once the section was clamped onto the aluminium, the whole piece was taken over to the pillar drill where a M4 hole was drilled into the mild steel section. This was repeated down the section until all the holes were drilled. The section and panel were then labelled so that they would be returned to where they were drilled and cut so that everything would fit together when riveting.
A similar process was used to mark up the panels to a right angle of the original panel. Lines were drawn in the relevant place as shown below:
At this point the first major cock-up was encountered. I tried to see if the PSUs would fit the back panel; the mounting holes lined up perfectly, however the vent holes did not line up. I guess I was tired when I designed that part! This required some urgent jig sawing, but unfortunately the skids of the jigsaw had small bumps which scratched up the back of the case fairly badly where I had moved it destroying the lovely finish on the aluminium. After some head scratching I remembered that you can remove bad scratches in aluminium using wet and dry paper, polish and a lot of effort. I decided to leave this until I had finished the project!
This laborious process was repeated unit all the mild steel 'L' section had been prepared and labelled. Next came the hilarity of pop-riveting (you'll know how much fun it is when you've done it!). This took no time at all to do and left me with the following shell of the case:
MSI MPG Velox 100R Chassis Review
October 14 2021 | 15:04
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