Completed MJOLNIR: The minimalistic – but not boring – 9.7L Case

[giraffesinmybalcony]

Guys any ideas on how to avoid metal-against-metal scratches when inserting/removing the internal core from the enclosure? My thoughts so far:

• Thin layer of lacquer on the corners
• Tape

These corners are a concern:

Any ideas are welcome! Really don't want to scratch the inside of that fine anodized shell (even if it's not going to be visible to the user).

A couple of pics form the assembly, more to come shortly

@AlexTzone hey! it's been a while since I caught up with your project and it's nice to see the progress you've made. however, speaking for myself of course, I think that you should post more pictures of the assembled case with better quality and lighting. looking from the quoted post above, it seems that there is quite some uneven gap between panels, i.e. (top panel, rear disassembly knob and panel). there are also uneven discoloration/anodization of the panels. i'd like to know if you are concerned about those.

also, may i know the width of your pcie cutout? i think that it might be a tad too small, especially when the panel is that thick and it may obstruct some connectors that are thicker

 

[arkitec]

I was wondering how Razer Core X manage for the corner matter. Maybe you can take a look???
It's just my thought.

 

[thekinghippo]

Guys any ideas on how to avoid metal-against-metal scratches when inserting/removing the internal core from the enclosure?

TBH, I thought about this at one point, but assumed it was already solved given how far development was. If it shipped as is right now I'd use black electrical tape on the corners probably, but it's not really a great look to be sending out a premium case with tape thrown on.

So bear with me because I don't know the best way to describe this but... You know those pads you can place on the feet of furniture so that it will slide around a hard wood floor without scratching? It'd be nice if you could find a thin, sticker version of that and put strips of it on the inside of the shell where scraping would happen. (In my mind I'm imagining 8 strips running lengthwise, 2 in each corner.) Forming a track for the core to slide along as it's inserted.

 

[Sharknose]

Guys any ideas on how to avoid metal-against-metal scratches when inserting/removing the internal core from the enclosure? My thoughts so far:

• Thin layer of lacquer on the corners
• Tape

These corners are a concern:
Any ideas are welcome! Really don't want to scratch the inside of that fine anodized shell (even if it's not going to be visible to the user).

A couple of pics form the assembly, more to come shortly

Skived PTFE tape (slide bearing tape) inside the shell where contact with the inner frame corners is expected.

 

[Tazpr]

Damn Alex... I haven't checked back in on this project in a while as I worked on my own, but the case looks even better in the flesh!

I don't have any need for a second PC, but part of me is thinking I may just have to buy one to support the project and to just look at it... Loving it mate.

 

[dlal1520]

Looks great guys, havent been active here in a while but looks amazing all put together. Maybe a thin felt material layering the bottom corners?

 

[ebc92]

The assembled case looks amazing! Great work!

 

[AlexTzone]

It looks amazing!!!

You could either redesign that piece to have round edges or you could try covering it in a thin soft coating or film and leave it as is.

Glad you like it! Thanks for the idea!

Wow, this case is gorgeous! Seriously.

Where is the power button on the back? Is it the round button near the power socket?

Also, are the feet cast in metal as part of the frame? If so, you may need a rubber feet strip for each.

As for preventing scratches, perhaps gluing a Teflon(PTFE) sheet to those corners. It can be obtained in thin sheets. It's also heat resistant.

Thank you very much! Haha lol the power button has got to be the biggest mystery of MJOLNIR...but yes, your are correct it's the small button near the power socket. Case feet are part of the enclosure yes. Thanks a lot for the tip, good idea!

@AlexTzone hey! it's been a while since I caught up with your project and it's nice to see the progress you've made. however, speaking for myself of course, I think that you should post more pictures of the assembled case with better quality and lighting. looking from the quoted post above, it seems that there is quite some uneven gap between panels, i.e. (top panel, rear disassembly knob and panel). there are also uneven discoloration/anodization of the panels. i'd like to know if you are concerned about those.

also, may i know the width of your pcie cutout? i think that it might be a tad too small, especially when the panel is that thick and it may obstruct some connectors that are thicker

Great questions!

Better pics
- We have talked to Mods by Ben Q for snapping some awesome pics, so that front is definitely covered!

Uneven gaps
- I didn't secure the top panel properly when that pic was taken, so it was sitting a bit loose & slanted. There are even 0.125mm gaps around most panels for tolerance purposes; however, we WILL tighten up the radius at the corners (right now the gaps there are about 0.25mm, we'll get them down to 0.125mm).

Anodization miss-match
- The tone is the same, but there are veeeery slight differences in roughness (due to different bead blasting sizes) when the parts were prototyped. The difference is largely not noticeable to the human eye, but more pronounced on my camera (a bit strange since it's usually the other way around). The production models will have the exact same bead blasting size, so there will be no differences.

PCIe (GPU) cutout
- It's as wide as the PCIe bracket itself, have had no problems thus far.

I was wondering how Razer Core X manage for the corner matter. Maybe you can take a look???
It's just my thought.

Thanks for the tip man, will check it out!

TBH, I thought about this at one point, but assumed it was already solved given how far development was. If it shipped as is right now I'd use black electrical tape on the corners probably, but it's not really a great look to be sending out a premium case with tape thrown on.

So bear with me because I don't know the best way to describe this but... You know those pads you can place on the feet of furniture so that it will slide around a hard wood floor without scratching? It'd be nice if you could find a thin, sticker version of that and put strips of it on the inside of the shell where scraping would happen. (In my mind I'm imagining 8 strips running lengthwise, 2 in each corner.) Forming a track for the core to slide along as it's inserted.

Heeeey Great idea for the mounting, thanks a lot!

Skived PTFE tape (slide bearing tape) inside the shell where contact with the inner frame corners is expected.

Thanks Is there a difference between skived and regular PTFE tape?

Damn Alex... I haven't checked back in on this project in a while as I worked on my own, but the case looks even better in the flesh!

I don't have any need for a second PC, but part of me is thinking I may just have to buy one to support the project and to just look at it... Loving it mate.

Glad you like it man, it has been quite a journey! Are you telling me you would get a MJOLNIR and NOT build in it?? I don't believe you, the urge will be to strong lol

Looks great guys, havent been active here in a while but looks amazing all put together. Maybe a thin felt material layering the bottom corners?

Hey man glad to see you around here again! Good idea, I'll have a look!

The assembled case looks amazing! Great work!

That means a lot, thanks a lot buddy!

 

[Sharknose]

I was wondering how Razer Core X manage for the corner matter. Maybe you can take a look???
It's just my thought.

Razer uses plastic rails on the inner chassis, which glide on a plastic platform. See this review of the Razer eGPU (3:15-3:50):


The inner chassis slides on the plastic, not touching the inside of the metal case.

Thanks Is there a difference between skived and regular PTFE tape?

Yes, there are many types of PTFE tapes for different purposes. You should look for PTFE tape with appropriate adhesive for your surface treatment, and thickness for your your required clearance between shell and skeleton frame. You want the tape to remain firmly in place, without bunching or snagging during inner chassis installation or removal. Also be sure to smooth the edges of your inner frame ends, so there are no burrs or scratches which would damage the tape.

The case looks very good already. Glad to hear you'll be adjusting the fit of the top/side panels.

 

[Shinken1]

A couple of pics form the assembly, more to come shortly

Looks really good, any updated pictures to share?

 

[AlexTzone]

Looks really good, any updated pictures to share?

Heey! Yeah really soon, waiting for that skived PTFE tape (it will arrive tomorrow), so that we don't scratch up the chassis. Once it's applied I'll take some more pics

Btw just ordered black screws, packaging & package inserts. Everything should be here 18:th of October at the latest, luckily all YouTube-related things are fixed so we should be able to send them out as soon as the final things arrive here. Here is a demo of how it will look when getting a MJOLNIR & extra set of side panels (EVA foam inserts & printed cardboard shipping box):

Best,
Alex

 

[thekinghippo]

That packaging looks incredible! I'm so hyped for this to become a reality and to see the youtube reviews.

Out of curiosity have you determined how you're going to run the kickstarter itself? I remember during the initial KS there were a lot of people with problems/confusions that had nothing to do with the quality of the product. (Confusion over VAT taxes, Getting extra panels)

Regarding the pricing... I know this may sound ridiculous or insensitive, but have you considered listing the prices in USD rather than SEK? In the community section of the previous Kickstarter it shows over 50% of backers were from the U.S. <6% were actually from Sweden and everyone else has to convert currency. This in addition to the VAT confusion puts a damper on excited purchasing decisions.

The other issue from the original KS was the restrictions on getting an extra set of panels. They weren't allowed as a separate add-on and Early Bird backers essentially couldn't get them. It's not a deal breaker, but when you're first to the party it feels really nice to get the discount for it. At the time you mentioned to someone that it was due to additional packaging expense. Now that you have the packaging more thought out is this still the case?

 

[AlexTzone]

That packaging looks incredible! I'm so hyped for this to become a reality and to see the youtube reviews.

Out of curiosity have you determined how you're going to run the kickstarter itself? I remember during the initial KS there were a lot of people with problems/confusions that had nothing to do with the quality of the product. (Confusion over VAT taxes, Getting extra panels)

Regarding the pricing... I know this may sound ridiculous or insensitive, but have you considered listing the prices in USD rather than SEK? In the community section of the previous Kickstarter it shows over 50% of backers were from the U.S. <6% were actually from Sweden and everyone else has to convert currency. This in addition to the VAT confusion puts a damper on excited purchasing decisions.

The other issue from the original KS was the restrictions on getting an extra set of panels. They weren't allowed as a separate add-on and Early Bird backers essentially couldn't get them. It's not a deal breaker, but when you're first to the party it feels really nice to get the discount for it. At the time you mentioned to someone that it was due to additional packaging expense. Now that you have the packaging more thought out is this still the case?

First of all, thank you very much Second, really good questions! We have learned a lot from the first KS run, this time around things will be a lot clearer.

Early Bird
There will be no early bird rewards. I know it's upsetting to some, but it's a bit of a double-edged sword (or even quadruple-edged). On the one hand, early backers get rewarded for backing the project early. On the other hand, late-to-the-show backers get discouraged that they didn't get the opportunity to grab the cases at a lower price. On the third hand (getting a bit weird now) the early backers units exhausted our margins almost completely (for those particular cases), and it's important to have margins in case problems arise and we have to put out more money than expected. On the fourth hand (really really weird now), we have to create a gazillion rewards that account for early backers, early backers w.o Euro VAT, early backers with extra side panels, etc. It's just much less risk and headaches if we completely eliminate those, hope you understand.

SEK, USD and European VAT
We have to set prices in SEK due to our company being registered in Sweden, Kickstarter basically forces this. This is why DAN had Euro and Louqe had SEK. Regarding VAT, there will be duplicates of each reward; ones WITH VAT for European backers and ones WITHOUT VAT for non-European backers.

Extra panels
There will be no problems getting extra panels. We'll have rewards that are called something like "MJOLNIR - Bla bla edition - Two panel sets", again, one for EU backers and one for non-EU backers.

Hope this cleared things up a bit

 

[Shinken1]

That makes perfect sense thanks!

 

[AlexTzone]

Wazzup guys!

PTFE tape worked really well against scratches! The cases are now fully assembled, just have to wait for black screws and packaging before we packe'em up and send off to YouTube! Check out some pics below, keep in mind that MUCH BETTER pics will come out once Mods By Ben Q takes a look at the cases.

The three musketeers

Let me know what you think

Best,
Alex

 

[rfarmer]

Man those look fantastic, can't wait for reviews.

 

[Brude27]

Gorgeous work! I know you already said the anodizing was slightly different between the prototype uni-body pieces, so to think this case will get even more beautiful once made official is pretty mind blowing. Well done @AlexTzone! I'll eagerly await the reviews!

 

[dlal1520]

Looking forward to reviews! Love the flush look and tight tolerance! Great work.

 

[DTorgue]

Guys any ideas on how to avoid metal-against-metal scratches when inserting/removing the internal core from the enclosure? My thoughts so far:

• Thin layer of lacquer on the corners
• Tape

These corners are a concern:

Any ideas are welcome! Really don't want to scratch the inside of that fine anodized shell (even if it's not going to be visible to the user).

A couple of pics form the assembly, more to come shortly

Perhaps some HDPE tape? You can get it it in razor thin thicknesses such as 1/32", and its nice and slick

 

[Sharknose]

Those cases look fantastic. It's such a milestone to see the cases reach this point. I'm looking forward to seeing tests done with different configurations and combinations of hardware. Have you selected the hardware to be used in the 'glamour' photos? Will you be doing additional thermal testing before sending to reviewers? Has anything else come to your attention now that you have assembled everything? Any areas of concern regarding clearances/tolerances? Did I mention the cases look amazing? Eagerly awaiting being able to purchase one (or two).