awadon

Thank you very much guys. All of you for your support I've mounted all resin elements in to the both sides of the case. I also did much of the back-light. Probably I will mount some kind of regulator to take control of light intensity. It will be easier to adjust the power. Probably I will leave the keyboard painted in black. Because polished keys are not giving the desired effect.

Working in wood is almost finished. Just take some time to painting and final polishing. So I had a moment to complete the first illumination element in the resin. I think the best will be a "little touch" of light. I do not want to get a Christmas tree. I'm curious of your opinion:) And there are two pictures from the side I previously had mounted the arm. And for now it's everything. As you can see this project is in very advanced stage. But it took me more then half a year to get this result. Now I will place here next updates. I am very curious of your opinion.

After a long brake I've made some inlay on the hdd arm. Grinding itself is not complicated. The problem was to find right putty in a black colour. In the end I got the best results using epoxy putty. Some progress. One side of the case is almost finished. Unfortunately, routing channels and filling it with putty is quite slow. This is almost finished case. Then ...... After some discussion with friends I had to redesign the case. The new version of the arm is mounted on the back and on the opposite side. Now I think there is better balance between front and rear, and right or left side.

Small session with an already made elements I've changed the method of making the mold. So far I've been using foam and putty and then sanding it. And now I've tested method of making the mold from modeling clay. As you can see by the mold, this method also works. It gives huge advantage in time. Instead of hours or days, the execution takes tens of minutes. Next week, all the elements made of the resin should be ready.

Now, I very briefly describe the methods that I used. It is not an easy task. Because making a forms is very time consuming. It's even bigger waste of time to make a form, which will be used only once! But as it turned out not as difficult. First, we need a positive element that will serve to do the form. In my case, these are elements made of the foam. To give them proper smoothness I've put putty layer. I used regular acrylic, because durability does not matter. Light sanding and I've applied a layer of spray filler. Now we have to sand it good. For each inequality at this stage will be reflected in the form. At the end paint and a little polishing. Now I've put some wax and do the form. In my case, it's single use of a form, so no point in doing it with resin. It was faster to make it from a building plaster. Just do not use other kind's of gypsum as I did before, because I had it in my hand. It was a total failure. That was the reason why I had to finish all "caps" with a putty. Building plaster dries much faster and is hard. After removing the positive element the form is ready. Small form problems I fill and sand. It is time to use a gelcoat. I give a very thick layer. In some places above the centimeter, because then there is no problem with sanding and polishing. After removing the element looks like this: And after grinding so: Later I will show photos after polishing, because at the moment I do not have the right polish paste. The advantage of this method is that the resin is very hard and not easy to scratch. And even if it does it's the whole element stays in one colour. And here is one more "plug". Model made ??of foam and over treated. The form just before flooding with gelcoat. And laminate after removing from the form. The same element during processing. Still a little work on polishing and it will be finally ready. As you can see I've at once flooded with gelcoat power and lan sockets. In this module I should be able to put power supplies and access point. Flooding the power and LAN nests in the resin prompted me with the idea for the implementation of my communication LEDs. I've decided to flood a piece of plexiglass in another module. Then I sanded it a little. And try it in place. As you can see now, there are noticeable scratches and visible place of connection. But to sand it finally and polish it I have to wait . Because as I found out, gelcoat final hardness is achieved only after several hours. Probably this is my error resulting from inadequate amounts of hardener.

Ok. I've finished the first stage of build. And now pictures with matrix and keyboard.

Then I've modelled arm, at the end of which I will put hard drives. In my intention hard drive case will be in a disk shape, or even more like flower bud. Frankly a lot of work. And now a small sample of the case along with the arm. There is obviously still missing an element containing the disks. And after few days the arm is ready. So it will look roughly like this. "Bud," of course, will also be trimmed. Trimmed like this

Thank you guys But this is not everything made so far Practically, I managed to give a proper shape to the case. Still a lot to sand, but roughly it is already in the target shape. Now it's time to cover this ugly holes Unfortunately I could not make desired shape without a form. Acrylic when heated is plastic too short. I've used a foam to create a forms. On the the foil I pour out foam. From the back it is protect by the plywood. I'm waiting until the foam expands itself and fill out the hole. Then I can make plaster cast. Now, either I use casting resin. Or gelcoat and laminate. Meanwhile I'm still sanding.

Small progress of the work. I am more and more delighted with the new grinder. And some new pictures

Hi everybody. Few months ago I have started construction of my home server. I will place here all of my work progress made so far and of course all new posts After long reflection, I concluded that I will not once again integrate the server with my home computer. So it is time to make a small, home server once again. Short predictable specification. Processor - Centrino Board - ThinkPad R51, a colleague that one used in the Steam & Current project. Drives - minimum 2x320GB Array, because such I use now. It is possible that there will be more drives. Material: Wood - mirabelle plum (Prunus domestica) and cherry. It is possible that it will use the false acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia). Brass once again to. So as you can see it's a standard for me (I hope that soon this will change:) Here are pictures of sawn timber. I gave a different light to show colour and wood grain. Yesterday I cut a rough outline of matrix attachment. I've also cut a place to settle the keyboard. Then I've sanded keyboard. I've linked the future keyboard with the front. After testing several options for positioning the motherboard I decided to put it partially under the keyboard. The second part with the processor will be mounted into LCD panel case. As you can see at this stage, still nothing spectacular. I've glued sidewalls and little sanded and cut. Unfortunately, my dremel just died. I'm waiting for a new one. And now. My new handy toy - an electric grinder. And a little effects of grinding. The next stage of modelling. Holes will serve as ventilation. Unfortunately dremel failure slows me a bit. It is hard to shape them with another tool. I'am still shaping the form. Here at the very top there will be warm air outlet. Something like a chimney. I have a concept how to cover all those holes. Small update after a few days. Unfortunately photos taken with a lamp :( I've glued back plate to the case.