Lone Industries L3: Plain and Simple

jØrd

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Just an idea at this point, but considering switching to M2 flat head screws for mounting side panels. Smaller size would be less obtrusive, but they may be too small.

I'm not in the market but philips head or torx head would defiantly be preferable to flat head screws
 

Lone

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Feb 25, 2015
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Lone

King of Cable Management
Original poster
Lone Industries
Feb 25, 2015
731
1,249
loneindustries.com
Sent three side panels out. Two went to anodizers to try and improve racking, and one went to my powder coater to test a new finish to see if that's an option worth considering. I would prefer to stick with anodizing if possible, but it might not be viable if racking the side panels can't be improved.

HDPLEX released a new HDPLEX 160W DC converter with a new size/layout. That complicates my bracket plans a little. The new HDPLEX 160W is narrower and longer. One nice thing about the new 160W PCB size is that it could probably be mounted parallel to the motherboard, which would make usability better. HDPLEX also released an 80W and 160W AC-DC power supply that may offer some uses.
 

Lone

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Any updates on selling them again?

No major updates. I'm still planning on it. I received word from a new anodizer that they are able to rack my side panels the way I'd like without any special requirements, so that's good news (would've dropped anodizing otherwise). Still waiting on a panel from the powder coater to see how that turned out. I have a draft HDPLEX 160W/250W DC mounting bracket designed, so I'm just sleeping on that at the moment.

Earliest I'd have more available is December, and that's probably pushing it as I'd been in holiday mode. :)
 
Last edited:

Lone

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With the L3, I made the back panel of the case removable (instead of the bottom, when upright). Do you guys think there'd be any point in creating an optional back panel that allows mounting a full-height card over top the motherboard using a riser (e.g. sandwhich layout as done by some people)? My main concern would be whether or not there'd be enough room for the CPU cooler. In terms of full-height cards, it would probably only allow for a single slot width card.
 

iFreilicht

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Don't worry about the CPU cooler, there are a few that are lower than the ATX I/O shield, so there'd be enough room. The question is whether there's any demand for it, especially if you can only fit single-slot cards. I think some people would like it, there are a few TV-receiver cards that are full-height, but I don't know whether it justifies making a dedicated back.
If you were to fit a dual-slot card, you should immediately go for it, that's something I can see quite a few people being excited about.
 

Lone

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Thank you for your comments iFreilicht. I played around with it a little and it won't fit a dual slot card cleanly without increasing the width of the case quite a bit. So definitely not something I'll be able to do as a quick optional add-on.

Received test panel from powder coater, which confirmed that I won't be offering any powder coated cases.

Sent a complete set of parts yesterday to new anodizer for a test run.
 

iFreilicht

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Aw, too bad. Was the L1 a bit wider, then? I remember a build where somebody put a GTX750Ti into it before the L2 was even available.
And to do that they put it over the mainboard.

Strange that you're having no luck with powder coating, pretty much every company I found that did this was doing a very good job with it.
Or is it just that you don't think it will fit with the aesthetics of the case?
Something that I would be worried about with powder coating is the area where the screwheads touch the panels. If you don't put washers in between, the coat can get rubbed off after a while.
 

Lone

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The L1 is the narrowest of the three. The dual slot card itself fits, but the bracket mounting tab interferes with the motherboard IO cutout. If you eliminated the bracket, then it would be quite easy I think.

The sample I had done wasn't bad, but just didn't give the result I wanted.

I haven't had any problem with screw heads wearing out the powder coating, but that may be the countersunk screws. If your screws were rough at all then it would certainly wear out the powder coating.
 

iFreilicht

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I see, so it's just a few mm, then. It could still work if you made it from two pieces so the GPU mounting bracket is recessed inside the back panel, basically forming part of the cutout or at least touching the I/O shield at the top, but it wouldn't be any interference, so to speak. Could make cooler selection quite sparse, though, even the NH-L9 (37mm from CPU IHS) would probably not fit below that, right?

Yeah the ones I know are dome head and a bit rough on the underside to prevent them from rattling free, that could be a reason.
 

Lone

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I see, so it's just a few mm, then. It could still work if you made it from two pieces so the GPU mounting bracket is recessed inside the back panel, basically forming part of the cutout or at least touching the I/O shield at the top, but it wouldn't be any interference, so to speak. Could make cooler selection quite sparse, though, even the NH-L9 (37mm from CPU IHS) would probably not fit below that, right?

Right, I don't think even an NH-L9 would have enough clearance.
 

iFreilicht

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There are lower-profile coolers than that, the Silverstone Argon AR04, Zalman CNPS2X are the first that come to mind. But I think it would be too much of a stretch to limit the selection that much, especially when the hot backside of the GPU is directly above them.
 

Josh | NFC

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Sent three side panels out. Two went to anodizers to try and improve racking, and one went to my powder coater to test a new finish to see if that's an option worth considering. I would prefer to stick with anodizing if possible, but it might not be viable if racking the side panels can't be improved.

HDPLEX released a new HDPLEX 160W DC converter with a new size/layout. That complicates my bracket plans a little. The new HDPLEX 160W is narrower and longer. One nice thing about the new 160W PCB size is that it could probably be mounted parallel to the motherboard, which would make usability better. HDPLEX also released an 80W and 160W AC-DC power supply that may offer some uses.

Lone, I'm late to the party but I love your chassis. Too bad your across the border...I'd love to ship stuff back and forth!
 

Lone

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Do you have a rough estimate for the next batch next year?

Unfortunately I don't have an ETA right now. I'm currently trying to get a different manufacturer to make some of my parts in order to improve quality. If that doesn't work out then I may need to redesign how the case is constructed to work better with my original manufacturer.

Lone, I'm late to the party but I love your chassis. Too bad your across the border...I'd love to ship stuff back and forth!

Thanks Josh. Ya, it is too bad. I do have a US mailing address located in Montana. It's not free, but pretty inexpensive ($5 per package under 50 lb).