Concept Needle - small footprint, fully watercooled build at 7L
- Thread starter robbee
- Start date
I Use Sketchup for basic modelling and checking fitments and then I use Fusion 360 to make actual designs. Some 2D work I also do in Adobe Illustrator, that's the black and white screenshot in the initial post.
Thanks. I've done some 3D modeling in Sketchup, but not sure what is the best way to model sheet metal that needs to be bent, i.e. going back and forth from 3D to 2D, where to start, etc. But I also assume a more professional software is needed in the end. Perhaps Fusion 360.
Yeah, Fusion 360 has a metalworking function that allows you to convert 3D models to 2D files, which take bend deduction into account so you don't have to bother with that.
My package from ADT link just arrived. The PCI riser is reasonably flexible, more so than the Li-heat riser I had before. The double bend is at 8mm thick without using excessive force. should be able to get it down to 6mm when it's held in place by the gpu. So that's good news!
The HDMI and DP extenders also look good and work well. Only problem here is that I thought the threads were M3 while in fact they are M4. Gonna have to drill my mounting holes a bit bigger but it's not that big an issue.
The HDMI and DP extenders also look good and work well. Only problem here is that I thought the threads were M3 while in fact they are M4. Gonna have to drill my mounting holes a bit bigger but it's not that big an issue.
Something landed on my doorstep 2 days ago! Took me a while to find time to work on in, but I have an update to share :-)
The lasercut part looked really good. No warping or damage after the long trip from China. No sharp edged or burn marks, it looks just like I had hoped.
First task: countersink the holes. I'm doing this before I start bending because otherwise the holes may become too hard to reach. The stainless steel is a pretty hard material, but with a HSS countersink bit, it's no problem. I'm doing this with a regular battery hand drill, nothing fancy.
After that it's on to the bending. I had done some tests before, but it was still the first time I would do it on an 'official' part. The theory is simple, you put the part in the bench press and bend it, but there's also a lot to consider:
- Is the part inserted straight? A tiny offset on the bend can become much larger on the end of the part.
- Is there a previous bend that interferes with the press? This requires good planning and thinking beforehand and even then you might be up for a surprise.
- Making a bend of 90° requires you to bend it a little further because there is quite some spring back, especially with steel. This is a bit trial and error. Luckily, it's not too hard to manipulate the bend a little bit by hand after it's been done.
- What about bend radius? You can't really choose that with this tool, so it depends on the material used and the thickness. With 1.5mm stainless steel, I'm getting bends of about 2mm inner radius. A little bit more than I had hoped, but it is alright.
- Even with all of the above considered, I would say that a bench press bender like this is only 90% accurate. For my purpose, that's alright though.
So on to the pictures. Here you can see the press at work. I made little notches on the part where I needed to bend to help me making straight bends. It went quite smooth, although at one point I had a bend that interfered with the tool so I had to offset the bending parts a bit from the bench press.
The end result is satisfying and the measurements pretty much are as I expected. Only the part that will hold the AC intake and video outputs has a too large bend that interferes with the first video output. I only need 1 video output, but I might just hammer a bit at that bend to make the radius smaller so I can use both. Not sure about that yet, we'll see.
Next up will be the inserts and offsets that will be used to mount the hardware.
The lasercut part looked really good. No warping or damage after the long trip from China. No sharp edged or burn marks, it looks just like I had hoped.
First task: countersink the holes. I'm doing this before I start bending because otherwise the holes may become too hard to reach. The stainless steel is a pretty hard material, but with a HSS countersink bit, it's no problem. I'm doing this with a regular battery hand drill, nothing fancy.
After that it's on to the bending. I had done some tests before, but it was still the first time I would do it on an 'official' part. The theory is simple, you put the part in the bench press and bend it, but there's also a lot to consider:
- Is the part inserted straight? A tiny offset on the bend can become much larger on the end of the part.
- Is there a previous bend that interferes with the press? This requires good planning and thinking beforehand and even then you might be up for a surprise.
- Making a bend of 90° requires you to bend it a little further because there is quite some spring back, especially with steel. This is a bit trial and error. Luckily, it's not too hard to manipulate the bend a little bit by hand after it's been done.
- What about bend radius? You can't really choose that with this tool, so it depends on the material used and the thickness. With 1.5mm stainless steel, I'm getting bends of about 2mm inner radius. A little bit more than I had hoped, but it is alright.
- Even with all of the above considered, I would say that a bench press bender like this is only 90% accurate. For my purpose, that's alright though.
So on to the pictures. Here you can see the press at work. I made little notches on the part where I needed to bend to help me making straight bends. It went quite smooth, although at one point I had a bend that interfered with the tool so I had to offset the bending parts a bit from the bench press.
The end result is satisfying and the measurements pretty much are as I expected. Only the part that will hold the AC intake and video outputs has a too large bend that interferes with the first video output. I only need 1 video output, but I might just hammer a bit at that bend to make the radius smaller so I can use both. Not sure about that yet, we'll see.
Next up will be the inserts and offsets that will be used to mount the hardware.
Good job on the bending, thanks for the check list!
How did you proceed actually to move the parts?
Like just having the part to be bent in the vice and pushing with hands on the main part until you reach 90°? Or the opposite, keeping the main part fixed and pushing on the smaller part to be bent?
No extra tool needed, like a hammer, a piece of wood or something?
Am I right to think that you made the two bends holding the C13 connector to be flush with the side of the main part?
How did you proceed actually to move the parts?
Like just having the part to be bent in the vice and pushing with hands on the main part until you reach 90°? Or the opposite, keeping the main part fixed and pushing on the smaller part to be bent?
No extra tool needed, like a hammer, a piece of wood or something?
Am I right to think that you made the two bends holding the C13 connector to be flush with the side of the main part?
Didn't even notice the second part on the vice was concave and not flat, sorry...
And thanx for the closeup screenshot!
So I made some progress in the last weeks, but not as much as I was hoping. A few things happened that set me back:
- My HDPlex DC-ATX died on me. It sounded as if something was shorting, fans would spin at boot but nothing else happened. Larry was amazing and sent me a replacement unit though, which works well.
- The CHA-FAN header on my motherboard died too. Setting it to PWM and attaching a 3 wire fan makes it spin at 100%, attaching a 4 pin fan does nothing. Setting it to DC does nothing with either fans. Is this build haunted?
- The double bend of the riser is just too thick, especially because it is right against the motherboard backplate. I'm thinking of alternatives. The Comino riser seems great, but it has a MOQ of 100
I do have another plan though. I would like to use an M.2 to PCI riser and attach it to an M.2 slot on the back of a motherboard. This would eliminate the issue of the riser bend, the largest issue with the build atm. My current motherboard only has a front mounted M.2 slot though, so I would need a new motherboard. But I'm gonna RMA that board for the fan header anyway, so I'm looking at the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax atm. It has no annoying chipset fan, 2 M.2 slots and enough clearance for the DC-LT pump block. As an added bonus, I'll be ready sooner for the new ryzen CPU's.
I'm still gonna stall this for a bit though, as I'm waiting to see what new GPU's come out these days while still keeping an eye on the second hand market as a nice 5700XT or 2070 would also suite this build very well.
Long story short, this is how the build looks atm and will look for a while longer:
- My HDPlex DC-ATX died on me. It sounded as if something was shorting, fans would spin at boot but nothing else happened. Larry was amazing and sent me a replacement unit though, which works well.
- The CHA-FAN header on my motherboard died too. Setting it to PWM and attaching a 3 wire fan makes it spin at 100%, attaching a 4 pin fan does nothing. Setting it to DC does nothing with either fans. Is this build haunted?
- The double bend of the riser is just too thick, especially because it is right against the motherboard backplate. I'm thinking of alternatives. The Comino riser seems great, but it has a MOQ of 100
I do have another plan though. I would like to use an M.2 to PCI riser and attach it to an M.2 slot on the back of a motherboard. This would eliminate the issue of the riser bend, the largest issue with the build atm. My current motherboard only has a front mounted M.2 slot though, so I would need a new motherboard. But I'm gonna RMA that board for the fan header anyway, so I'm looking at the ASRock B550 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ax atm. It has no annoying chipset fan, 2 M.2 slots and enough clearance for the DC-LT pump block. As an added bonus, I'll be ready sooner for the new ryzen CPU's.
I'm still gonna stall this for a bit though, as I'm waiting to see what new GPU's come out these days while still keeping an eye on the second hand market as a nice 5700XT or 2070 would also suite this build very well.
Long story short, this is how the build looks atm and will look for a while longer:
Thanks for the update!
You could even add another M.2 drive with a PCIe to M.2 adapter, I am about to do this but for an APU build. Dunno if having a GPU in addition means that you need a motherboard with bifurcation though...
I know the feeling, sometimes things really don't want to go our way, just don't give up!
Too bad the double bend did not work.- The double bend of the riser is just too thick, especially because it is right against the motherboard backplate. I'm thinking of alternatives. The Comino riser seems great, but it has a MOQ of 100
Sounds like a good idea, looking forward to see how you implement it!
You could even add another M.2 drive with a PCIe to M.2 adapter, I am about to do this but for an APU build. Dunno if having a GPU in addition means that you need a motherboard with bifurcation though...
Nice to see how this case is coming along. I like the brushed look of the metal myself. Larry's pretty great with the support and nice to know he got you a replacement for free. I can't see how you're making the riser cable bend underneath, but I figure it should be very flexible if it's as least as good as the Li-Heat.
I might need to do some manual sheet bending myself. Mind linking to the bench vise that you're using to make the bends?
I might need to do some manual sheet bending myself. Mind linking to the bench vise that you're using to make the bends?
The vise is from a local DIY store, actually any vise should do. The break might be harder to source, but Amazon has some options, like this one (you can find more and wider options in the suggestions)
The riser is very flexible, but the total stack of the backplate + folded riser + GPU io extensions is just too thick. So either I'll have to make the space between GPU and motherboard wider (which defeats the purpose of using 80mm fans) or look for another option. This is how it looks:
Kaka Industrial sure is a name that grabs the attention, right?! ?
So looks like I have some good news: I found a way to make it all fit. The solution was to route the GPU io extensions above the motherboard and not try to squeeze them under the motherboard along with the riser. The only downside is that it's pretty visible, however the tubing from the watercooling will hide most of it when that's ready.
(the male DP part is supposed to stick out so much, I know right)
(the male DP part is supposed to stick out so much, I know right)
Oh, so it was too thick just because of the GPU extensions! Good catch!
An ADT left angled would have let you route the cables down along the GPU (where there is lots of room), instead of having them going over to the mobo side:
Something like that but from what I see there is no low profile ones available.
An ADT left angled would have let you route the cables down along the GPU (where there is lots of room), instead of having them going over to the mobo side:
Something like that but from what I see there is no low profile ones available.
I went looking a little further and actually found a nice solution for HDMI cables. It lacks the convenient mounting holes and I haven't found a DP version yet, but they might be a very nice route to explore. Thanks!
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