Nick Falzone Design - Ikigai

[Nicholas Falzone]

Its a bit nerve wracking making more holes into something I have so much time invested but I figured it would be easier and safer than hand drilling:

 

 

 

 

Luckily no surprises.  I did not have any black button head screws so I made some:

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

Next up was a wiring harness and cover that will go next to the pump distro and keep the wiring tidy.  First I needed to figure out how big it would be and then I started modeling it in cad:

 

 

When I had a design that seemed to make sense I cut out a practice version:

 

 

 

 

Then I started milling some more Wenge to make it out of. To start with, I used my bandsaw to resaw a piece of Wenge. This will make the top and bottom of this assembly and the grain should match perfectly:

 

 

I ran these through the drum sander to get them nice and flat then put the actual dimensions into the cad model:

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

With my stock cut to thickness and the model adjusted I started cutting out the real thing.  I used a double flute 1/4 inch bit:

 

 

 

 

 

From here I started on the cover piece.  I used a 2mm Single Flute bit and a 1/4 inch bit for this:

 

 

 

I forgot about the pump wire cover so at the last minute I added it into the model and cut it out of the same piece:

 

 

 

 

And both together:

 

 

To attach the two halves I made threads in the Wenge.  I tested this first to make sure the threads would work well:

 

 

 

 

From there, I hand drilled some holes into the acrylic to attach it to the main plate:

 

 

 

 

Lastly I did a V-Carve of the Kanji for Ikigai:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nicholas Falzone]

A monumental moment came when I could finally glue up the big wood pieces.  I started by sanding the insides of the pieces to be glued.

 

 

I mixed some wood glue and dye together to make a dark glue just in case the joints weren't perfect.

 

 

I did the same for the PSU caddy:

 

 

Then it was time to start gluing:

 

 

 

 

 

Once the glue was dry I sanded the joints smooth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

With everything sanded I could start the finishing process.  I used Danish Oil then a top coat over that with everything being a wipe-on then wipe-off kind of finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making progress!

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

My CNC machine made a decent but not perfect finish on the acrylic edges.  To clean this up I just used sandpaper.  I do not want a polished edge as I like how the polish/satin look together so I'm just aiming to get an even matte surface.

 

 

I put some sheets of 220, 320, and 600 grit sand paper on my table saw, since it is a flat surface, and went to town.

 

 

 

How it started:

 

 

After 320grit:

 

After 600grit

 

I used a Wenge sanding block for some of the smaller pieces:

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

I decided to add some black A.C. Ryan mesh on the outside where the Kumiko covers the fans, for the extra contrast.  This might hurt performance a little, but it looks slick so its an acceptable trade-off. 

 

At first I tried to machine it on my CNC but since it is steel, and a bit wavy at that, it went about as well as I expected.

 

 

Instead I decided to use some tin snips and this worked great:

 

 

 

 

 

Once cut to size, I used a template I made for the radiator shroud to mark and drill the holes to allow the bolts to go through:

 

 

 

I'll have a photo of this in the case later.

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

I went back and forth on whether to make a shroud for the radiator and fan setup and decided to do it since it would clean up the inside of the case a bit.  I made a model to make sure it would work with the other components.  It would be made out of a combination of Wenge and brushed black aluminum from A.C.Ryan.

 

 

 

I resawed some Wenge on the bandsaw and ran it through the drum sander to make it smooth:

 

 

 

I then cut the pieces to length:

 

 

For the joinery I wanted something simple but strong so I decided on one big dovetail.  I did these the same way I did the ones on the PSU holder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test fitting:

 

 

 

Looking good:

 

 

One last piece of CNC machine work on this.  I needed to route a relief area for fan wires:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dovetails all done and tested with the practice piece:

 

 

Glueup started after that:

 

 

While the glue was drying I went to work on the aluminum part of the shroud.  This attaches to the radiator itself.

 

 

 

 

Ready to go.  This is a 3/16 inch single flute bit:

 

 

 

Tested with the Wenge, it is a snug friction fit:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

I wanted a bit of Pizazzzz in the center acrylic panel so I decided to route a groove and add an Alphacool LED strip in there.  Luckily these are super thin so the groove could be small.

 

 

I used the router table with a spiral carbide bit:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 31, 2021 by Nicholas Falzone

[Nicholas Falzone]

Watercooling:

 

I chose 12mm clear PETG for this case, using some bends also.  I have not done bending before so this was a new challenge and I have more respect for people who do this often, its not easy.

 

I first laid out all the fittings to see where they'd need to go.

 

 

 

 

And got my tools ready:

 

 

 

I used a cheap Barrow tubing cutter and a Primochill tube trimmer to get all the tubes dialed.  Luckily I bought lots of extra tubing since there were a few misshaps, especially on the double bend.  I got it though and it turned out pretty good.