WIP octTower - Final photos part II

[Toyoracer]

Welcome to octTower build. The name comes from the dominant feature of an octagon tower.

They say “ go big or go home “ well this is my first build, computer and case, so I will live the motto.

The design came about once I received the HWC aluminum fan grill, and needed a place to mount it. Probably not the common way to design a case, around a fan grill but hey who ever said I was common.



So the case requirements are :
ATX size, capable of housing full size GPU's, dedicated SSD mounting, practical HDD mounting (4),and a couple of 5.25 slots.

Design goal Do Not look like a Rectangle Box but not off the wall looking.
High-light the HWC fan grill and be practical. Must have good air flow and quiet. Tool-less design and cable management are also important.

With all of these items in mind the case must be Clean, in looks and function.

Since this my first build, it will be made from sheet metal. I have also decided to use the solder method for panel attachment. This is to meet the Clean Look requirement. I will use the standard black paint job, with polished aluminum accents, and a window.

Well now to do all that I said.
Here is my metal selection and a workbench with tools being used. Today just cut some panels out and lay-out bends for tomorrow morning.

I hope you enjoy my build, as I am already having Fun.
ps. I need a better camera

[Toyoracer]

Well the fun started right off the bat today. My test bends were with narrow pieces, well when bending the base plate it did not go as smooth. Bowed the second bend and took quite a while to fix, but patience won and base panel is all bent up and looks pretty good. Also bent up smaller panel with no probs. Thankfully base is the largest one. All in all was a good day building.

[Toyoracer]

Good folks, well another good day in the shop - is there ever a bad day
Made another panel this one front top shall we say. Trail fit, whoa fits and now there's a shape. Guys I hope you can feel I happiness building this. Latter.

[Rison]

uh, is it me, or does that metal look really thick and heavy? - good work though, always good to read some off-the-wall approaches.

[Toyoracer]

Thanks Rison. Well probably a little too thick, I went with 22 gauge and 20 for the back panel. Total weight of sheet metal now weighs 25 lbs. Case won't be a light weight but filled should still be under heavy weight class.

[Toyoracer]

Hi, couple of good days. Yesterday was prep, cut out side and top panels, file everything square. Today made top panel. I changed the bend profile on the panel, trying to get more uniform size. I was doing a double bend on the lip but becomes difficult making multiple panels by hand the exact same size. I think this way will be easier. Will bend up the inner fold and solder onto panel, should work out.
Tried out some different lighting and settings to get a little nicer pict's.

[Toyoracer]

Back to work. Have the garden weeded so have some time to play. Yesterday was used to remove the bent up sides from the front panel and adjust size on top panel. Today made flange and bent up new channels for those panels. More work this way but better control of panel size and channel shape.







Then the Air conditioning and Human interface systems showed up to see the progress of the build. (new picture with new camera) These components are of really high build quality. Lian Li and Arctic Cooling.

[Toyoracer]

Trial Error redo haha any idea how long it takes to undo 13" solder joint, alot of patience and a few extra hours. lol Well still learning. It ended up turning out pretty well after all. And yes I am still having fun. The small side turn out really well. The larger one, well I had a couple of solder lumps in my tinning, which I thought would flow out even. In a oven it probably would, for me it just made the channel tilt which I should have stopped and fixed it then. No no solder the whole thing both sides then fix it. Live and Learn. The holes are for mounting top of motherboard tray and have the fan holes cut in just need to put the screw holes in.





The first tenants showed up today, I will have to put some overtime in to get their suite ready. hehe
Re did this pic with new camera.

Seasonic X-650, Gigabyte 790XTA-UD4, AMD Athlon II X4 635, Mushkin Blackline PC3-12800 2x2GB and Western Digital green 2TB EARS. Of course more will follow.

[Toyoracer]

A lot of re-working the panels over the weekend. I am now satisfied with them and have two together. You can't see the difference in the pictures but when it's put together you would have noticed. And I know it was not good enough and thats what matters. Glad I set a realistic time frame or would be upset at my progress.

Ordered a new camera so I hope it comes real quick

[ADay2Long]

Very nice sir!

Question for ya! What do you use to bend the metal, and where did you buy it?