Project - Omega Desk

[Squigly]

Would like to welcome a new sponsor to the project



A very big thanks to Aquacomputer, not only for some excellent components but also for showing support and trusting in my build!!

[ESlik]

That desk is awesome. Now if only I could find one like that in wood,I would pay very good money for it.

[Squigly]

Originally Posted by ESlik

That desk is awesome. Now if only I could find one like that in wood,I would pay very good money for it.

Thanks ESlik :-)

Another Saturday so more time in the workshop Was really eager to get stuck in today and was hoping to get more done (as always) but alas.. father time was against me.. just never enough hours in a day

But still managed to get some good progress in, again I am sorry they crappy phone pics but once the main build is complete I will take a real camera into the workshop and get some decent shots..

kicked off the morning by getting the back plate mounted, really been looking forward to getting these on!!

As you can see its still missing the central sections and also still needs all the edges to be cleaned up properly.

I did however clean off the bottom of the feet, more so I could roll this thing over to get to the front plate.. lifting this thing is starting to get really difficult


Got the front plate mounted and also cleaned off the bottom of the legs


While grinding the plate down I could feel that my spine was starting to write a resignation letter with a really sharp pencil so decided to give it a break and work on the I/O plate I had cut out.. As I was putting it into the press brake I realised I probably should have bent it first before cutting the sections out.. it gave very little area for some of the bends.. And of course.. as I expected it shifted in the press break..


So now it lives with the rest of its scrap friends...


After I stop swearing at myself for not having realised that there wouldn't be enough material to bend sooner so got some work done on the support base for the screen mounts, milled the bottom out to sit between two of the support struts and then turned out the center this is where a 76mm pipe will be seated for the screens to mount to.


Then gave the outside a bit more of a decent profile


Splitting post...

[Squigly]

Part 2

Tested fitment, still needed to turn a slot for the plates to fit into


Looking good so far.. so before anying else went wrong I quickly got the slot cut in


Im thinking of getting this piece anodized blue to fit with my colour scheme.. really happy with the way it turned out..



did a bit more cleanup of the edges and also marked out the area to cut for the plexiglass (no not the black marker.. it marked on the inside properly :hehe:


So this is it for the moment..








I didnt get a chance to work on the new mobo tray or even cut out the old one.. and now i will also have to re-do the I/O plate :wallbash: but will need to get that bent BEFORE getting it onto the scroll saw :lol:

I am also playing with some ideas of using plexiglas for the center of the front of the case.. as apposed to closing that off with aluminium.. I will do some quick renders and update..

UPDATE
So here is the original idea with the aluminium center..


And this is then with the plexi.. i may change the layout slightly if i go with the plexi..


What do you guys think?? aluminium or plexi center??

That's all for this week, thanks again for checkin in

[scoter man1]

I'd personally say aluminium since you'd just be looking at the floor or a chair parked underneath it.

[kanana]

great....

[Squigly]

Originally Posted by scoter man1

I'd personally say aluminium since you'd just be looking at the floor or a chair parked underneath it.

Yup was thinking that 2

Originally Posted by kanana

great....

Thanks bud

Yo yo peeps

Well we were joined last week friday (yes friday the 13th) by our new baby, Mom and little one are doing very well and settled back at home.. as for my sleep patterns.. well yes those leave much to be desired (& I have no disillusions that this will be remedied anytime soon) :lol: :thumb::thumb:

Been home all week but have had little to no time to work on the desk, changing diapers and catching up on sleep has been the order of most days.. But I decided to do some work on the scroll saw today and with the afford mentioned lack of sleep me thinks it may not have been the brightest of idea's... but I walked away with all my fingers in tact so all good. :thumb:

I have been playing with ideas for the central section, where I was thinking either aluminium or plexi.. I have decided to go with the aluminium with some plexi designs.. started cutting some out and will see which I will end up using in the end

I laid out some templates on a off-cut piece of 5mm plexi i had lying around


Basic shape cut, now to give it some file lovin and then flame polish, my intention is to then light this up with some LED's that will be connected to the fader I built.


Will hopefully head into the workshop tomorrow to get some work done on the desk :thumb:

[Squigly]

Right, was off diaper duty today and managed to get into the workshop

Did a little more work to the screen mount base, added some scrub screws to hold the pipe in place.. Still waiting on the pipe to be delivered. Also going to try anodize this myself :thumb: always wanted to try.. This shot also illustrates how it all fits together a little better.


Then decided it was time to clean up the front and back panels, there was still the overhang to clean off since i didn't have these parts laser cut.


Got it nice and clean..


After a few hours... both front and back panels were all done


I also started labeling the inside of the panels. as some are fairly similar and i will loose track of inside, top and placement of some panels once they go for powder coating. So side with label is of course the inside, this shows the top of Mobo Inside leg part..


Then finally got working on the central portions, got them cut and bent but not mounted just yet..






Have been granted yet another reprieve from diaper duty for tomorrow so will be heading into the workshop to get some more work done

Thanks again for checkin in!!

[Squigly]

Ok so got the workshop this morning and decided I needed to get the front panel done. I was cutting this with the jigsaw so took my time as this was a panel i really didnt want to have to re-do.. its a big piece..

So set up a small jig to guide the straight line cut


Slowly slowly wins the race..


Then got to the first radius.. and time for some freestyle cutting, took my time here!


It came out great so started freestyle cutting the rest, decided to start cutting the insert out to reduce weight so it didn't warp the panel.


I may have been a little over careful cos it took forever.. but hey, rather safe.. and the final result i was REALLY happy with, all the lines are nice and clean and some simple sanding will finish it up


So now that the front panel was done.. it was time to clean up the plexi..


I really enjoyed this bit.. the belt sander ate through the plexi really easily and left a nice clean finish, a few test fits little bit more sanding and MONEY BABY!!


Fits in nice and snug, I was going to peal off the protective layers for some photo's but decided there is still a ways to go so left them, sorry peeps, but soon enough.
So laid it on its site to show the front panel..


Was really happy with it! so bolted it up


So that was about it for today but was happy with the progress..

Still to do: (list is getting nice and small)
Mount central panels X2
Remove mobo tray
Re-cut mobo tray for new mobo
Mount hinges
Mount glass
Cut holes in rear panel for water cooling features.

AND THATS IT!!!

After that its to get it ready for powder coating and i can start installation of components!!

Thanks all for followin!!

[scoter man1]

Nice work man! It looks much better than that line you penned out originally

[Squigly]

Originally Posted by scoter man1

Nice work man! It looks much better than that line you penned out originally

what? you weren't feelin the abstractness of it all :-p hehehe

[Squigly]

Ok so I was all go this morning when i left for the workshop.. alas the lack of sleep over the past bit has caught up to me so really didn't get anywhere near where I wanted to be today.. but.. progress is progress none the less.

Before getting stuck into the screens I thought i would take care of the Mobo Tray.. in my sleep walking state this morning i left the scroll saw at home so thought if i get the main panel cut i can work on the rest at home during the week..

This is the original tray..


I made up the tray first before cutting into the old one


Again took my time with cutting the original as i didn't want to mess it up.. alas being half asleep i did a little... the cuts are nice and straight.. but in the bottom right i was supposed to cut a step into the original.. i cut to straight :wallbash:


It will be an easy fix so wasn't to upset.. So then onto the screens, I decided to quickly get the stand pipe cap finished up


As well as the mounting plate for the stand base.


Then measured and cut the screen besel aluminium profile, its 10x20mm profile


And another..


And threes the charm!
(will replace image soon)

Then onto the alu welding.. let me tell you not the best thing to try when very tired... you need to heat the aluminium to 380 degrees to melt the rod.. and my hands are now covered in blisters as i kept grabbing the piece..:blush:

Anyways this is the before.


And the after..


The still need to be filed down.. Apart from that i cut the back-plate for the screen out but still need to cut the center out of that with the scroll saw.. will have some updates on that during the week and hopefully a completed screen case sometime this week..

Thanks again for checking in, If you feel it worth it don't forget to vote in MOTM

[parth]

amazing work. out of the world. can't wait to see it finished.

[Squigly]

Originally Posted by parth

amazing work. out of the world. can't wait to see it finished.

Thanks bud, hoping to finish up real soon :-)

Right well headed into the workshop with the intention of getting the screen cases at least partially complete.. it was just not meant to be.. I spent most of the morning cleaning up the frames and making sure the weld was strong enough.. I took in one of my monitors to test with and get the rest of the case done.. all I succeeded in doing was popping the welds on all 3 frames... Me thinks i will have to re-think the screen case design.. perhaps a solid sheet that is bent instead of the alu profile... dunno, will play with some idea's this week..

So after all of that disappointment I decided to put the screen down.. before i broke the dang thing.. and try get some more done on the desk..

First things first i needed to fix the area i had cut on the new mobo tray, so welded on a piece of scrap


Got it cleaned off and cut it down to size


After a few test fits and some more filing it was fitting like a charm


Time to get cracking on the center pieces, got the leg spacer mounted and welded in the corners after bending the top section down


Then started on the back center piece, to remove any sag as well as provide a mounting point for the back plate i made up a support strut


tested fitment and all was good, so mounted the base plate


Still need to add 1 more mount to the center of the back plate


After that I finished off the mounting of the plates, i have a few more little things to clean up but the main construction of the desk is at 95% complete I will still need to work on a few mounting issues with mobo, radiator (well most of the water loop) but will do that once i have ordered some new parts.. I have some of the items arriving soon so will hopefully have them by next week so i can start with the component mounting :thumb:

thanks for checkin in
Squigs out

[Squigly]

Was a bank holiday yesterday so took the day off today and headed into the workshop, I was really hoping the sponsorship stuff would have arrived, its in country but the post office still have their grubby paws on it.. I will be needing the stuff to finish up some of the final holes.. but apart from the glass and its hinges, the desk construction is basically complete.. still need to tidy up a few things, sand, powdercoat etc.. but the actual construction... DONE!!

But onto the progress for the day.
I got the center panels as well as the backplate properly mounted


That allowed me to clean the last section of the back of the desk


After some grinding and filing it was all nice and clean


After that I spent some time making sure all holes were cleared and able to mount easily, I am officially at 196 bolts, needless to say I now have tendinitis in my wrist and that whole exercise took a little while..

so all back together again :thumb:


Did however receive my lighting this week so did a quick test fit for length. I ordered 2 meters of the lights so had already cut .5m off its still a little long so will trim them down a little.


Other than that i just took a bunch of snaps with my phone..














So here it sits till the parts arrive.. I will be focusing a little more on the screen cases now, I think i will end up going with fiber glass for the fron of the screen case with an alu back but will see about that over the weekend.


I will take some better pics once its been cleaned off and powder coated.

Thanks again for checkin in
Squigs out!

[Squigly]

Well took the day off with it being my B-day, try as often as possible to get it off
Anyway was planning a chilled day at home, but it seems the delivery gods are a smiling on me today :thumb:

First up the sponsorship goodies finally arrived :clap: Thanks again Sven for all the help and special rates, very much appreciated!
Box was fairly banged up (typical of our postal service) so was super eager to get in and make sure all was ok..


hmmm so it seemed ok..


Sooo what we got, WHAT WE GOT!!
the nickel plated copper aquatube with lighting and rinsing modules, this thing is heavy!! and NICE!!!!


And the Aqua filter for g1/4 fittings and lighting module


Now since the guys at AquaComputer were kind enough to give such a gret discount i thought it only fair to have some decent photo's so please excuse the double shots..








So there i was happily keeping myself busy with the new bits when i get a call from the delivery company on another order i had put through a few days ago with earlier than expected delivery

Hmmmm package number 2


AAAAAAAArrrrrrrrrrrrgggggg 2nd layer of packaging... lemme in already dangit!!


Happiness!! my Nostromo.. ready to complete the Razer collection (now Lycosa keyboard, Mamba mouse and Chimera 7.1 headset)


Now that i have the res and filter I can finish off the backplate, now just waiting for the radiator and a few other goodies :-)

Thanks for checkin in
Squigs out (to the pub)

[Ace_finland]

epic build! love it!

[Squigly]

Originally Posted by Ace_finland

epic build! love it!

Thanks Ace, much appreciated!!!

Another workshop day and was really hoping to get stuck into the screens.. but was far to distracted by the Aquacomputer items I had received so got stuck into mounting those..

Both the filter and res will be mounted on the backplate so started off by scribing off where the filter would be mounted


Was going to use the scroll saw to cut out the section but since the backplate is so wide i had to use the jigsaw, a little patience and slow cutting and i got the hole nice and tidy


Did a quick test fit... so far so good


When i tried to mount the actual filter i noticed the 2 bottom bolts were catching.. it seems this has been designed to be mounted on a standard case where material is normally around 1mm, since I am using 2mm aluminium it was just shy of clearance.. So.. brand new parts straight onto the milling machine


I just needed 2mm in almost a half moon on either side for clearance on the nuts, just below the main window area.


The clearance worked out puuuurfect!!


So now onto the res.. got some M4 threaded bar and cut it down to 70MM lengths, i wanted the res 50mm away from the back wall to accommodate the nickel plated copper tubes i will be using (still to come)


I had some spare tube in the workshop that I planned to use as a sheath on the threaded bar.(soz crap phone pic)


The problem was the inside diameter of the tube is 6mm, the threaded bar is 4mm so it was a little loose...


Had some tubing from a old silk screen printer laying around.. hmmmm gotta love when scraps come in handy!!! took the tube and inserted it into the tube, was a perfect spacer


So got them pushed in nice and clean and test fitted the res..


I really like this res!! l3p i cannot thank you enough on showing us this!! And as I said at the start the desk is inspired by the l3p d3sk and I just really like this mounting for the res shows it of so well!!


So now that those were done i then got distracted by re-doing the IO plate, got most of the way done with it till my scroll saw blade broke.. and like a muppet.. i didn't have any spares so will finish that off next week.. and of course.. i didn't really get anything done on the screens.. but think i have a workable solution for them now after some planning..

Not much of an update this week, but thanks anyways for checkin in

[Squigly]

Well its been a beeatch of a week, and as much as i was looking forward to getting some work done the energy just wasn't there today.. so not much of an update..

I really wanted to focus on the screens today, so took 2 of them into the workshop and got them stripped down, took all the measurements i needed and got the first piece of aluminum profile cut to size.. again... think this is the 3rd time im making these things! Anyways.. if it is to be done it should be done right!! over the past few weeks while playing around with ideas for the screens i noticed the one monitor had these mounting holes that weren't being used...


and since the other frames I made joined in the corner and kept popping I thought why not move the join to between these two mounting points...


Worked out really well, will still need to fill in the corners and maybe still try a gentle weld on the seam to make it a single piece for aesthetic purposes.. but still the plan worked.. now the other monitor doesn't have the exact mounting holes but does have some.. so will try the same with that monitor.


Since i had the front frame done i started working on some of the other profile pieces that would allow me to join the front frame to the back. I needed to machine some of the profile away to make way for some of the internals


When I started to put the rivnuts in it warped the profile... they a little to thin.. back to slamming my head into the wall..... I had planned to make area for the power supply to mount in (the boxy area of the monitor at the back).. but one of my monitors doesn't have the power supply board, it has a external power pack... so that got me thinking of possibly moving the power board out of the monitor (yes would need to extend some connections) and place the board in the back section of the desk where the power supply etc will be housed... there is still plenty of room back there and it would make the overall monitor case much slimmer and simpler to construct.. I also though of using pop rivets instead of rivnuts as I wouldn't be needing to open and close the screen case.. so.. long story short i have put the screen case on hold.. again.. to see if i can work out the wiring, the rest should be fairly simple to complete now that i am using the mounting holes.

So after much swearing and a few smokes I decided to work on the io plate since the scoll saw blade broke last week (took some spares with today) The pieces are still rough and need to be glued and filed uniformly and cleaned etc.. but just got the stuff rough cut so i can work on it during the week.. A BIG shout out to Waynio for the idea here.. sheer brilliance!!
I didnt have any 10mm plexi but ddi have some 5mm scrap from the front window, so cut to sections from that that will be glued together


this is the back plate that normally has the mounting holes for the case and the plexi


Then the top aluminium plate with the card spacers etc.


As an illustration stuck a shield on to check spacing, clearance is good and once the plexi is glue i can drill and tap it for the card mounting holes


Thanks for checkin in, hopefully a better update next week

[Squigly]

Another small update

picked up some 10mm plexi this week so i could finished off the io plate





Im thinking of leaving the plexi misted as it diffuses the light better, this photo really doesn't show it.. but you get the idea


like a dumba** i left my phone at home this morning so didnt get any snaps of the other progress, but managed to get the mobo mountings completed and did a test fit, then test fitted with the io shield aswell. but that was about it for today.. I have ordered some of the remaining parts so will hopefully get those this coming week for a better update next week.

Thanks again for checkin in

[Squigly]

Managed to get a little progress done today, but the little task's seem to be taking a fair bit of time. So on with it!!

Started off positioning the screens for the coolant temperature sensor screens


There will be 2 sensors, monitoring temps pre & post radiotor


Got both holes cleaned off


Fitting perfectly snug, may take a little more of as a few layers of paint may make this to tight a fit later.


The it was time to start the fan mounting plates for the rad


Had made up a template during the week and check positioning,


First area cut...


fast forward a bit.. all cut and ready for mounting holes


Punched, drilled and tapped the holes


moment of truth.. see if all fans aligned to holes... happiness!!!


and the other side...


then test fitted on the rad.


and a quick check to see how it aligns to the mesh panels, think i will add some hex mesh in the main S3 area as its still fairly open.


So that was one down, still need to make another for the fans on the other side of the rad. but decided to start working on the hinges for the screens, Got some aluminium billet dilivered during the week


and the start of the mill work, this is going to take some time... really been looking at those little desktop CNC milling kits.... this project may just push me to getting one (like i really needs a excuse for more toys)

well, thats about it for this week, will try get the other fan mounting plate done during the week at home so i can test mount the rad, should hopefully be getting the final components needed this coming week so i can start getting the copper tube cut to size and bent, will need to then send those for nickel plating..

Thanks for stoppin by to check in
Squigly out!

[scoter man1]

I never knew that you were going to use that as a fan grill. Looks great man!

[Squigly]

Originally Posted by scoter man1

I never knew that you were going to use that as a fan grill. Looks great man!

Yup that was the plan ;-) thanks bud much appreciated

final water cooling components were delivered this week



got to the workshop rearing to go this morning, was busy the whole day but didn't seem to get much done.. Anyways on with the update.

Started off by placing some of the fittings on the filter and res in prep for working on the pipes


Also got the stands for the dual head sorted, had to cut the one support off each stand



But since both the bitspower 655 mod kit and the dual top are so puurdy it led me to a dilemma.. pumps faceing back.. or forwards... what do you guys think??

Pumps forward??


pumps backward??


this will of course affect how i run the tubing..

Also got the flow meter positioned ready for tubing..


So then to get some of the tubing done. Had picked up this pipe bender a few weeks back so was happy it was finally getting some use


pretty much only got this single piece finished off and of course forgot to take a pic of it completed.. but still it gives the idea


Since i was still undecided on the pump rotation i left the rest of the tubing and finished off the 2nd fan mounting plate, got all the fans mounted and then mounted them both to the rad :thumb:


then mounted the rad to the outside grill plate, was a bit worried at first but it held up really well, of course filling it with water may prove different.


then re-mounted the plate.


checked alignment with the back grill.. and puuurfect!

Right so with the rad mounted I got working on the fill port holes, 2 ports from rear section into the leg for the rad


and 2 from the front to the rear section


That was about it for today, doing the pipe really took some time as i had to get the lengths exact and was filing little by little till it fit just right, as mentioned before the copper tube will be nickel plated once all done.

Let em know what you guys thing of pumps backwards or forwards.. I have been going back and forth between the two and still dont know which I prefer....:wallbash:

[Squigly]

Got a small update, nothing major, was thinking about how i was going to run the fan extension cables from the mobo to the radiator in the leg, its a fair distance, close on 2m.. was also concerned about the number of cables i was running around the desk, So connected up the fans to check, they had claimed they were nice and quiet so wanted to check.. Silence... running all 8 of the 180's on full power was quieter than one of the 120's I currently have in my 600t.. So decided to just connect them up to 12v and run them at full power, makes cable management just that little bit simpler as now i just need a single power line with a molex to run down to the radiator.

got some 3 & 4 pin molex headers from RS today, still had some left over veroboard from the breather circuits I had made.


now the rest of this was completely unnecessary.. but hey.. you know how it goes. took the unneeded tracks off the board


then filled in the unneeded holes with some epoxy


made the board black on both sides



then soldered in all connectors



tested it and it works puuurfect, single power line to run all 8 fans, happiness I really should get a circuit etching kit...