x86: Blue Water

[Grinder]

Ok, I think I'm gonna go for the gull wing doors/windows, for several reasons:

It was my first instinct.
A respected fellow modder supported it (damn Jedi mind tricks!).
My wife thought it would be cool.
A tech friend basically gave me a vote of confidence, and then said "go big or go home!".
It will look awesome!

I'll do away with the notion of setting a monitor on top, and make it as tasteful as I can (so no Back to the Future DeLorean - too much going on there). Hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew, but it will be fun to challenge myself.

Also, for what it's worth, Grinder is just a name I used in a racing game long ago (grind the gears, bump and grind my way through the competition), and then later in the online FPS "Urban Terror". I have no special skills with an angle grinder (my background is software engineering!). And no, it doesn't refer to a sub sandwich, a joint, a gay hookup app, or the little monkey and the music grinder!

[Kaidis86]

Yesssssssssssss!!!!! Shia LaBeouf the hell out of it!

JUST DOOO IT!!!

[dknourek]

Go for it brother! you got this!

[Grinder]

Dammit, my hot water heater just died. Not the kind of water I want to play with right now! That will distract me for a while...

I have been looking at gas struts to support my gull wing doors:
https://www.amazon.ca/Enerhu-Kitchen.../dp/B07G9VKRCH

But the smallest force that I can find reasonably available is 40 newtons (4kg). I think even one would be too much force, and take up too much space in the case. Plus it would be nice to have two, so one side of the door doesn't sag - but then it would be really overpowered. Going to keep looking, maybe check out spring loaded hinges. The doors should only weigh a kg or so, if that.

[Grinder]

I did find this handy link for calculating the force:
http://www.gecea.com/hatchlifters/gas-springs

And thanks for the support guys!

[dknourek]

I'm purely thinking out loud here but what about a hobby shop for the struts? I would think they might have something that might work from a plane or RC car?

Or I found these guys that have them ranging from 2lbs to 34lbs... https://www.industrialgassprings.com/micro-gas-spring/

-dave

[Grinder]

Not a lot of selection in Halifax... Those micro gas springs look like they have potential, if I can find a place to mount them; my concern is cost and distance/time. I'm gonna try another couple of local spots, in case whatever I acquire first isn't the right size/force.

Thanks for the tip Dave.

[wattermain]

Hey Grinder, Lee Valley has some hinges that you might want to look at . They call them concealed lid hinges.Item #00H5401. Not too bad a price. $12.80 /pair. I’ve bought similar hinges in the past that were smaller and would hold a lid open in any position but according to the description these only hold at 90*

[Grinder]

Thanks wattermain! Lee Valley was on my list of places to check, they are about an hour away but I hope to do a bunch of errands in Halifax tomorrow and swing by. I was in Kent Building Supplies today and didn't see anything, but spoke to a tradesperson who was in picking up some stuff. He suggested East Coast Countertops, so I'll give them a go as well.

Holding at a 90 would be fine as long as it's the right 90 (mount flat on the underside of the case/door top and open upwards). I just had a quick peek, and it looks like 00H5401 are 90 closed, 180 open. I could always fab a vertical bracket in the case but it could be awkward as space is tight. Regardless, I'll go in and chat with them and the countertop place.

[wattermain]

Hinges are tough. Hope you find something. Would look fantastic.

[Grinder]

Simple hinges won't be a problem. Fancy ones might! But it won't change the gull wing look when they are open.

Here I have placed the side panels of the mini C case on the IBM. They should make fine gull wings doors once I cut and bend them. I will install a strip of metal between the doors at the top of the case to reinforce the area where I'll install hinges and to bring it up to the same level as the doors. I'll cut out the area underneath the side panels, leaving a strip around the edge for the door to rest on (a lot easier than trying to fashion a ledge for the door - rather they can cover the whole surface). The beige front trim is just the slightest bit bigger than the metal shell, so the doors should look fairly flush with the front. I will likely leave the crimp in the donor side panels at the rear for strength.



And here is another mockup with parts loosely in place (with the actual mATX mobo this time). Not a whole lot of places to attach gas struts. If I put just one at the back, the door would sag in the front. Maybe if I fashion a bracket in the middle as a mount point attached to the base of the case and overhanging the mobo next to the GPU, but it would require super short struts. I see what I can find in hinges tomorrow.

[Grinder]

Just a quick update, I performed a Halloween sacrifice! Disassembled the mini C case for parts, but I won't have time to post pics for a while. Damn hot water heater is giving me trouble, plus will be out of town for several days.

On another note, I am in hinge hell! I went to three local cabinet/hardware places but couldn't find anything appropriate. At one place I thought for a moment that I was in luck, he said he had something that was 180 degrees, would open to 90 and hold it open, and soft close! Then he said "your panel is made of wood, right?"... Unfortunately it was the type of hinge that needed to be set into a thick(relative to a sheet of metal) cabinet door. I don't think the Lee Valley hidden hinges will work for me either.

I do have the germ of another idea, will give it some thought while I'm away.

[dknourek]

Just a thought, Ive used those hidden hinges for other things in the past that they are not intended for and using it similarly in your case (if it's the same kind I'm thinking of)

You could rough up the back of the door and the backs of hinge's cup side part that would go on the 'cabinet door' and use something like JB Weld to fuse it to the gull wing doors.

Then the other adjustable side could be mounted to small pieces of aluminum or acrylic to offset the depth of the hinges door side and again fusing the aluminum or acrylic to the 'cabinet side' and waiting for it to cure. You could either pre-drill/tap the holes or do it after, then you have doors that are adjustable still so you can fine tune them to open and close perfectly.

Anyway thought I would throw that out there to you for ideas I did something similar many yearsssss ago in a 69' Chev half-ton that I installed a rare factory option, small tool box that went just ahead of the rear tires at the bottom of the body panel. It worked very well for a couple years till the truck was unfortunately destroyed by a drunk driver, but that is a whole other story lol....

[Grinder]

Finally back from out of province, and got my hot water heater done. As promised, here are my Halloween sacrifice pics!

I drilled out the mini C's rivets. Waaaayyyy easier than the spot welds on the PC! There were a few...





Some disassembly required. It's harvest time! Mostly interested in the backplate, probably the mobo tray, maybe using the feet, and a small chance of using one of the other pieces for the 140 rad intake and filter. Also using the control panel and the side panels (for the gullwings).

[Grinder]

Just a thought, Ive used those hidden hinges for other things in the past that they are not intended for and using it similarly in your case (if it's the same kind I'm thinking of)

You could rough up the back of the door and the backs of hinge's cup side part that would go on the 'cabinet door' and use something like JB Weld to fuse it to the gull wing doors.

Then the other adjustable side could be mounted to small pieces of aluminum or acrylic to offset the depth of the hinges door side and again fusing the aluminum or acrylic to the 'cabinet side' and waiting for it to cure. You could either pre-drill/tap the holes or do it after, then you have doors that are adjustable still so you can fine tune them to open and close perfectly.

Anyway thought I would throw that out there to you for ideas I did something similar many yearsssss ago in a 69' Chev half-ton that I installed a rare factory option, small tool box that went just ahead of the rear tires at the bottom of the body panel. It worked very well for a couple years till the truck was unfortunately destroyed by a drunk driver, but that is a whole other story lol....

Wow Dave, you have plenty of luck but it's bad! Thanks for the ideas. I did look at the Lee Valley hidden hinges, but I think they need too much vertical space (due to the 90 degree starting position). The other ones would have to be ordered in, and I didn't like the cup plus was worried about the thickness and the strength of the JB Weld. I also found these at Lee Valley:


I wouldn't have needed JB Weld, just a simple spacer. And they start at 180 degrees as I require. But I still don't like the thickness, and while they hold open to 75 degrees and (I think) soft close, they wouldn't have the iconic cool factor of gas struts. Therefore I'm going to give struts a try! I ordered some before I left town A little more force than I wanted, but I will give them a shot.



I also ordered some polished stainless steel hinges:



However I think I am leaning towards a simple piano hinge / continuous hinge. I could reinforce underneath each gull wing door and the top of the center strip, making only the center bit of the hinge visible and nearly flush. The stainless steel ones are nice, but pretty chunky.