Very nice.

New Shop Equiptment: Band Saw

My birthday is on the 30th and I managed to get a gift a few days early which is great. I got a 10" Craftsman band saw. This saw will save me some time; especially with acrylics. It has the ability to accurately angle edges and perform perfectly straight cuts as well as more detailed work. I'll be using it with some thinner, soft metals like aluminum. Anything heavier than that can be cut using my air cutter.

I recommend getting a good set of blades if you buy this saw. The blades that come with it are not real great and a quality blade makes all the difference in the world. I got two different types of blades to use on different materials. One for softer metals and another for acrylic work. Depending on the thickness of materials you'll probably want a 12-16TPi blades. The more teeth the finer it cuts and the thinner the materials you can cut. I added some custom old school style pinstripes to make the saw an Envious Mods saw.




Update: Scratch Built Reservoir

The long awaited update on the reservoir I've been building. As many of you know I'm still settling into the temporary shop being used until my new shop is built from the ground up in spring. It's taken me a while to find some of the pieces I started before I moved. I finally managed to find the reservoir that I have been building from scratch. I had a couple things left to do to it before it was ready to be chemically welded using Tap Plastics acrylic cement. I've just finished drilling and tapping the holes for the fill port, inlet and outlet. This can be very nerve racking as I don't want to crack it when drilling.

Tap G1/4 & 11.8mm Drill Bit:


I've found that it works best if you drill the holes before spending all the time to cut and shape the materials. I used an 11.8mm drill bit to prep for the G1/4 tap. It is important that you use a bit that is exactly 11.8mm. Otherwise the threads won't be right and you won't get a water tight seal. Also when you tap your hole; make sure that the tap is perfectly straight so that the threads are correct. Typically I'll put the tap in my drill press and turn it by hand. This helps a lot. If I don't have my drill press handy I use a laser to tell me where the exact center mark is. When tapping I just make sure the laser stays in the center of the tap.

XrayMan
 
Happy Birthday Envious Mods. Thanks for showing us your nice builds.       

Hey, thanks buddy. That's very kind of you to say. I'm just happy I get to share my builds with wonderful people all around the world.

PSU Shrouds Side Pieces:

A couple weeks ago I did the rough cuts on the pieces that go on the PSUS shroud. These pieces are part of the styling and it is very tricky to get the effect is want. I've been debating on painting these gunmetal but, I have the black paint right now so I wanted to try something with the beveled edge I hand filed into the edges of these pieces. After I had everything painted up I started to sand and file off the paint on the edges. The hard part is making sure it's even throughout all the pieces.

Now that I had this done I was able to roughly mock the pieces up so I could make adjustments. I only mounted some of the pieces because I need 3m tape to really mock them up and I ran out of the good stuff. After making a few adjustments the pieces look great. Once I get the gunmetal paint I will give it a try and mock all of the pieces up at that time.






EVGA's New Power Link:

After seeing EVGA's new Power Link I knew I had to have it for the IKONiK build. It was a perfect fit. After talking with EVGA, they agreed to send one. Being a designer and fabricator I really look at the effort that goes into solving problems like GPU cables going everywhere. EVGA did a great job of coming up with a solution for that problem. The Power Link wraps around the side of your GPU which gives it a very clean look. Your stock PSU cables plug into the Power Link and it seems to work with almost any 8 or 6-pin configurations.

Even the spacing between the two pin sets is adjustable. Since I inverted my motherboard the EVGA Logo is upside down. I made a thin acrylic piece that will go over the logo to correctly orientate the logo. I decided to make a "PowerLink" logo which lets people know what it is. Every time I post any pics I get several emails saying, "what's that thing called?" It looks really sharp once installed.






Motherboard Mods: EVGA Z170 Classified K

I have spent soo much time trying to figure out how I am going to customize the motherboard to fit the build. Originally I was going to use modern patterns to tie all of the pieces together. I tried about 10 different designs and spent days narrowing down potential candidates. I even had a voting poll to help determine the best route to take.

Yesterday I decided to wipe the board clean and design it from the ground up again. I came up with styling that fits the theme and looks great. I wanted to keep it simple while conveying the themes design cues.The early tests of this look killer (pictured below) and I plan on making a few minor adjustments as well as using a different type of vinyl I ordered.

Sanding Out Scratches In Aluminum:

Early on in the build process I built the PSU shroud and cut an aluminum plate that goes next to the shroud. I had some hand me down pieces of aluminum that looked like it had been run over. I seen the potential of what it could be with some work. The case is now starting to come together and I felt it was time to do just that. I started off with 180 grit sandpaper because the scratches were very deep. I also knew I wanted to give it a brushed look to match other finished on the build. It came out great and once I get closers to finishing the build I'll start using finer sandpaper to give it an even better look.





Pro Modder Tip: Brushed Aluminum Finishes

Brushed aluminum has started to become pretty popular and it looks great. You can brush your own pieces of metal but, for this tip I focus primarily on aluminum. The real trick behind giving something a brushed look is the precision and technique behind the use of sandpaper. You have to give the piece long even strokes without wandering in any other direction. I usually use a sanding block and a guide that runs the direction of the brushed look I want. A guide can be made up of anything that's straight and can be used to make sure you lines are straight. I use a piece of square metal stock or anything else I have laying around at the time.

You'll also want to make sure you start your sanding stroke before the aluminum piece starts and continue that stroke past the other end of the aluminum. This makes a big difference. I've found that not doing this; gives the edges weird marking that make the entire piece look amateur. Start with around 180 grit if you already have scratches in the aluminum. If it's a new piece you can start with 220 grit or finer. The more fine grit the sandpaper is the finer the brushed look will be. Usually after using a 220 grit I'll work my way up to 1000 grit but it's not required as 500 grit is usually fine enough. The first few times I tried this technique is started by practicing on some old scraps of aluminum before doing the actual piece I was working on.

Here's the before and after sanding out the scratches and giving it a brushed finish:

rjohnson11
Great progress so far

Thanks buddy. It's much appreciated.

powerlink looks awesome!  Keep up the great work.  Really like how the build and all the custom work is coming out!

EVGATech_EddieH
powerlink looks awesome!  Keep up the great work.  Really like how the build and all the custom work is coming out!

Thank you. I really like the way it came out as well. The last few times I've tried to update my build log here it doesn't work and I have to come back days later to try again. Not sure what the issue is.

Cable Combs: Ordered

I've been thinking about using some cable combs from Mnpctech for a while now. Bill sells some billet aluminum ones that are absolutely stunning. There were several reasons I decided to go this route for the IKONiK build. The main reason was the fact that they match the theme of the build perfectly. I also liked the fact that they wouldn't break eventually and not many people had these yet. I can tell that aluminum cable combs will be seen more often as people start to discover them. I can only hope that anodized aluminum cable combs are in the near future. Below if added a link to the combs I got from Mnpctech.


<br /> I'm using Mnpctech Billet PC cable combs from here, https://mnpctech.com/buy-stealth-cable-combs-for-pcs/ <br /> <br />  <br />  <br />

Passthrough Plate Changes:

As mentioned previously I decided to make a few changes to some of the locations for the watercooling parts. I also decided to change up the hard drive rack shroud and turn it into a complete passthrough plate. I might also make a window on the back side of the case so you can see the other side of the passthroughs but that will depend on exactly where those tubes run in relation to the outer panels parts. I should have plenty of clearance but I won't know until I start mocking up the passthroughs.








Tube Reservoir Mockup:

Originally I was going to install the scratch built reservoir that I spent a long time working on. There's several reasons why I have decided to save it for another build. The main reason comes down to space. I decided I'm going to use a much thicker 420mm radiator since I won't be using a 360mm one up top. The thicker radiator will look killer and offer up the best cooling options. This change also allows me to make the passthrough plate that will become a major feature of the build. If I decided to keep the scratch built reservoir it would have to be rebuilt to make it much smaller which defeats the purpose. Relocating the reservoir makes sense in many ways and there's so many advantages that outweigh the
negative.

Great Mod build, really like all the details and clear pictures

Awesome updates!  coming along nicely!

PSU Shroud Changes:

After building the APEX build for CES 2017 I decided to make a few minor changes to the original concept design done for the IKONiK build. Doing a complete build in this case allowed me to see things I ordinarily wouldn't see until it became an issue. I love the PSU shroud in designed for IKONiK but, I realized that I wanted more access to the front of the power supply and the ability to get under the pump in the future. This will also allow me to make a good drain port and it will make future maintenance a breeze. A new acrylic panel was made to go over a small portion of the shroud. This panel can be un-bolted for upgrades etc. It also adds a unique look to the shroud and offers up some neat features I'll go into later on.

As mentioned earlier in the build log; I wanted to build a removable acrylic plate that allowed access to the PSU while also holding the pump setup. I came up with a neat idea using a few standoffs from a motherboard plate and some clear acrylic. It was rather easy to make a template for this because the PSU shroud had already been built. It was just a matter of measuring the edges so the fit would be exact.






Acrylic Runner:

I decided to make an acrylic runner that fills a gap on the back side of the case. The gap is where the rear plate for the PSU switch and power meet the IO section. This is merely for aesthetic purposes. I made it from white acrylic and I haven't decided if I will paint it or not.

Gluing Acrylic Side Panels:

I added a strip behind the acrylic pieces that are on the right side of the case. This strip serves several purposes. It helps to perfectly align the side panel and it stops the interior LEDs from shining through the edge of the panel. There's a clip that holds the front panel of the Dark Base 900 Pro and the added acrylic strip takes up the gap between the clip on the inside and the inner wall. Filling this gap helps to hold the side panel in as well as aligning it with the side of the case.






Rear IO Shroud LEDs, Vandal Switch & Panel:

I've been wanting to build a lit IO panel for quite some time now. It really comes in handy when trying to plug in different things in the back of the case. I didn't want the LEDs to be on all the time though. I used a aluminum channel and light diffuser to mount the LEDs under the switch panel. This makes for easy removal and the ability to turn the IO LEDs ON/OFF by hitting the vandal switch on the back of the case. Part of the panel needed to be sanded so that it was slightly thinner on each edge. This made it so that the panel fit exact on the inside where it contacts the case.
I'm really quite impressed with the way this top panel came together. It was really tricky to get just right but, it was well worth it.









Pro Modder Tip: Applying Vinyl To Panels

I get a lot of questions about vinyl. It is a great material to use and doesn't require too many tools to work with. It's kind of like golf; it takes a lot of practice to get really good at. I almost always use an exacto knife, a felt tipped squeegee and a heat gun. The heat gun is used at the end to help set the vinyl. If your outting vinyl over a curved or straight edge; heat will be your friend as it will allow you to stretch the vinyl. You have to be careful to not overheat vinyl as it will melt. Each kind of vinyl is different, so I use a scrap piece to test temps with.

When applying vinyl to panels I like to start at one end and work my way over the panel. To begin I remove only a little of the backing from the vinyl so I can stick one edge to the panel. Using the squeegee I move it towards the opposite side I started from. The trick is to only remove a little bit of backing at a time and then squeegee it down. Repeat this over and over to make sure you don't get any air bubbles under the vinyl. Once the panel is completely covered I will take an exacto knife and hold it at a slight angle and run it along the edge of the panel. This takes some practice to get right. When I've gone all the way around the outer edge I will recheck all the edges to make sure they're even. Trying these techniques out on scrap materials will let you know what will and won't work.

rjohnson11
This build is looking great. Looking forward to the final build pics.

Thank you. Me too. I just got back from CES where I had another build. I will be posting more updates on the IKONiK build soon.