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Thread: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

  1. #17
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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    I take it you cut the grill out with wire cutters & pliers?

    Way to smooth it is a file and a lot of elbow grease, you can use sand paper wrapped around a stick or something to use as a cheap file.
    A rotary tool with a sanding drum is my preferred way to do quick rough sanding, to remove the worst jaggedness or lumps, then a file to do the final smoothing.

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    mikeo01 (14-03-2013)

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Yeah pliers, I don't have a rotary tool unfortunately

    Thanks for the tip I think I have a file lying around, just to smooth those edges so I don't cut my skin. For now I have just covered it up so it doesn't look so stupid

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Also quick question regarding sleeving, basically, how would I go about this?

    There's some cheap loose sleeving or cheap kits with the heatshrink included, but how'd I remove the existing sleeves to properly sleeve them? I can't open PSU because it'll void my warranty and I would probably kill myself, never open PSU up and can't risk it.

    I would rather sleeve the individual wires because it'll be very nice to cable manage and would look great. I wouldn't be sleeving the same colour so I may get some UV blue seen as there is some UV blue reactive components in my case. So blue + red UV braided sleeves.

    I think this would make the interior look amazing if I can get it right.

    Thanks for all the input, I am glad I went ahead with this mini mod

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Cable sleeving is a rather time consuming process, for a non modular psu you'd have to open it up to remove the old sleeving.
    This would void the warranty but the same can applies to other sleeving, a manufacture/retailer can take any form of modification as a reason for voiding the warranty agreement.

    You could sleeve other cables like the fan and front panel connector cables.

    For psu sleeving, you need a couple of pin removal tools.
    If you want to individually sleeve wires, then most kits are no good because you just want a lot of small sleeving and heat shrink.

    For your psu, to keep the warranty intact, your best bet would probably be UV reactive spiral wrap, just to cover the cables and give the effect.

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Ah, sounds quite difficult to do that. Well maybe in the future I could always get a modular power supply and try it on that instead?

    I have only ever removed the pins from the molex using a knife/slot head screwdriver. Hmm I may give the sleeving a pass then


    But for the fans they should be quite easy? There's 3mm, 6mm and 9mm available on ebay for quite cheap, for the general fans I can think of I have the USB cable, chassis head cables that are individual, I would wrap these into one, a few fans and my akasa PWM splitter (which looks awful because it's a mess )

    As for the spiral wrap thanks for that, that looks pretty decent, it would give some UV effect which I am after. I may as well give those a go, after all the cables are black so the only thing that'll show is the cable wrap, and may make my life easier with cable management.

    Thanks for the help again Pob and the great ideas!

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Quick update, rest of my lighting parts haven't came through yet I will be adding another UV cathode to the top of the case, maybe dual 10cm ones for a quick effect. I am also thinking of using my painted Arctic fans to the top of the case then using EL wire as an outline around the top bezel.

    New Addition to the UV Family

    So thanks to Pob, all the great suggestions given are really fitting into place nicely. Although labelled as "red" it comes out a bright orange purely to do with those TY fans! However, it looks good!

    Cable Spiral

    So here's the 1M spiral cable that I have now officially ran out of, I didn't want to use too much of it otherwise it'll look overkill. So some subtle UV cable management, reminds me of the water looping tubes which I would love to do, but I can't (water cooling is so expensive!).


    Simple cut and wrap it around my Akasa smart PWM cable.



    Looks nice I think for now, will tidy everything up when I finally get my last bits!





    Hope this thread inspires beginners like me to start a mod, its very fun even if it does turn out a disaster


    NEXT: When I get my EL wire and another cathode I will get the left most side lit up and will get the front bezel and top bezel outline lit up!
    Last edited by mikeo01; 20-03-2013 at 12:48 PM.
    "If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0" ||| "I'm not interrupting you, I'm putting our conversation in full-duplex mode" ||| "The problem with UDP joke: I don't get half of them"
    "I’d tell you the one about the CIDR block, but you’re too classy" ||| "There’s no place like 127.0.0.1" ||| "I made an NTP joke once. The timing was perfect."
    "In high society, TCP is more welcome than UDP. At least it knows a proper handshake."

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    Senior Member mikeo01's Avatar
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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    EL Wire

    My last little part. This one took about 20 minutes, didn't get it all tidy because I couldn't think of way to get it around the window. I will probably make a border for the window in the near future.


    Couldn't get a good image for the front bezel but you get the idea of what it looks like when on from the top bezel.




    How it looks when on

    The front panel looks similar but only the top would come out properly.

    "If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0" ||| "I'm not interrupting you, I'm putting our conversation in full-duplex mode" ||| "The problem with UDP joke: I don't get half of them"
    "I’d tell you the one about the CIDR block, but you’re too classy" ||| "There’s no place like 127.0.0.1" ||| "I made an NTP joke once. The timing was perfect."
    "In high society, TCP is more welcome than UDP. At least it knows a proper handshake."

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    very nice mike, I've jet to mess around with EL wire, can you just cut it to length? how's it powered?

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    mikeo01 (28-03-2013)

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Well the ones I bought are simply powered by 3v, 2x AA battery powered inverter.
    I personally haven't tried cutting it but it's copper insulted by phosphor so with a bit of fiddly soldiering

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Still an on going project I do have a few more things to achieve.

    Firstly I have a new cooler coming soon, also I will be using a nibbler to cut out some areas which I will show. I will also use this nibbler to cut out some areas for my switch (cathode switch) and EL wire inverters to be placed so it doesn't look all over the place. + MORE vinyl = orange carbon fibre to suite orange theme + maybe more cathodes

    Finally I will be (trying) to find a way to mold some plastic around my acrylic window for 1) easier mounting with thumb screws 2) have an outline around the window itself for aesthetic purposes
    Last edited by mikeo01; 24-04-2013 at 09:37 PM.

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Nibbler - Big Holes

    The Tool
    £11 on eBay, Draper Expert. Not bad



    What I cut

    Top panel cut for 1) more airflow 2) easier management with those darn plugs! 3) allow some UV light through for my top fans



    Finished - Need File though!




    Rear Fan Area - Cut WAY Too much off
    But hey I will put some vinyl on to finish it, bit of filling and now I have nice area for air to fly out note: That fan isn't attached to the back, that's on the heatsink. Rear is free




    UV Light - Sorry Small Image, used on older phone

    Last edited by mikeo01; 28-04-2013 at 02:58 PM.
    "If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0" ||| "I'm not interrupting you, I'm putting our conversation in full-duplex mode" ||| "The problem with UDP joke: I don't get half of them"
    "I’d tell you the one about the CIDR block, but you’re too classy" ||| "There’s no place like 127.0.0.1" ||| "I made an NTP joke once. The timing was perfect."
    "In high society, TCP is more welcome than UDP. At least it knows a proper handshake."

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Nibblers work better on aluminium mainly because it's softer and tends to be thicker when used on cases, thinner steel cases tend to bend and distort (as you have found out) it's a combination of thinner metal sheet and more force required to nibble steel.
    You can panel beat the metal flat again with a hammer but really you want to take the whole ting apart to do that so you can work on individual panels/pieces.
    All you need for this is a flat chunk of wood and a hammer, put the wood behind the metal as a flat surface to hammer on to, if you want to try it practise on a scrap bit you cut out from the case first.

    My big advice to you would be to get a permanent marker pen and draw out areas you want to cut out before you start cutting, to avoid situations like you have with the back, put the fan on top of the area you want the hole, line it up then draw around the inside of the fan, you don't get a full circle but you do get a better idea of the area you need to cut and can mark out a good shape before you start hacking away.

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Ah thanks for that, good to know in future. I didn't realise it would distort it because it felt pretty thick as I was cutting it.

    Problem is I don't have a rivet popper so I might have to find something to put underneath to make it flat.

    I was going to take the thing apart but it would meant buying a rivet popper and spare rivets, so I thought I'd just go for it because it's hidden now. Except the back.


    And thanks! I will in future! As I was cutting I realised I cut too far and thought I may as well go the full length. Fortunately it isn't toooo bad. I'll have to file the edges and then cover the bare metal again.
    Yeah that's my problem, do now think later

    Thanks for the advice, I will try find some wood for future to shape the metal back. I know if I start dissembling it I will cause chaos. Bit of filling and hopefully it won't look too bad.


    Also, any advice on how I would try and make some sort of shroud or something for my acrylic window. I was thinking for mounting purposes and aesthetics.
    My plan was to cut metal sheet up and basically stick it onto the acrylic for mounting as I have found some cheap AWG wire which is UV reactive which I could use purely for aesthetics. So it isn't just one great window.

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    You've Been Tangoed + Silver Arrow Install

    Orange carbon fibre vinyl

    Top Panel - Fan Bay



    Front Panel



    Silver Arrow Install



    Finish Shot

    "If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0" ||| "I'm not interrupting you, I'm putting our conversation in full-duplex mode" ||| "The problem with UDP joke: I don't get half of them"
    "I’d tell you the one about the CIDR block, but you’re too classy" ||| "There’s no place like 127.0.0.1" ||| "I made an NTP joke once. The timing was perfect."
    "In high society, TCP is more welcome than UDP. At least it knows a proper handshake."

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    it looks great, nice work

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    Re: Mike's Case Mod - Vinyl/Acrylic/UV

    Thanks
    "If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0" ||| "I'm not interrupting you, I'm putting our conversation in full-duplex mode" ||| "The problem with UDP joke: I don't get half of them"
    "I’d tell you the one about the CIDR block, but you’re too classy" ||| "There’s no place like 127.0.0.1" ||| "I made an NTP joke once. The timing was perfect."
    "In high society, TCP is more welcome than UDP. At least it knows a proper handshake."

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