Creating custom parts.

AlienALX

Well-known member
I wasn't sure where to put this as the forums do not have a tutorials area, so here will do. OK. Today we are going to make custom parts using basic tools. IE - tools that are available to every one and not just the rich, so there will be no lazer cutting or water jetting going on here...

Tools needed.

Basic drill. (£20?)
Hole cutter (around £6 on Ebay)
Sand paper (£2)
Tape measure (£1 or so)
Pen.. come on now !
Work bench. Mine was £17 inc from Amazon.
Heat gun. About £13 or so IIRC.
Rotary tool. I use a B&D Firestorm because I like the chuck lock, but Silverline do a goodun for about £20.

Materials needed

Just a sheet of A3 acrylic. I used 3mm here but 5 mil is available. About £6 inc.

OK. So today I am going to build a L shaped plate to hold a 120mm fan right at the back of my Titan Blacks. Right now I only have two, but soon I will have three in there. So first of all I measure up what I need the part to be in size and then plot it down onto the acrylic.



Cut out the hole.



Cut design.



Sand all edges on a flat surface pushing down.



Place in work bench, locking the bench along the marked bend line.



OK, now slowly heat the acrylic using the heat gun along the bend line. It takes about 3-5 mins for it to become flexible enough. Then bend it and when it's in place use a damp cloth along the bend line to re-set the acrylic.



Et voila.



And.



You can also do other designs using the same method. Here I wanted to build a GPU duct to hide an ugly Radeon 290.



And a fan aiming right at the GPU itself.

 
Phase 2, braiding.

OK. So guide number one is braiding a PSU, extension, etc. First up you are going to want to remove the connectors. Now note, on PCIE power plugs, EPS connectors, 24 pin power connectors the pins are all the same. For years people have desperately tried to find easy ways to remove them, and a certain company makes a tool but even it leaves a lot to be desired as it does not push the pins in enough and often breaks because the end needs to be thin.

So let's start with the tools you need.

A paper clip.

Yup. that's it. Thing is, loads of people use this method but it often does not work. So let's do it the Zombie way eh?

So one paper clip. This costs about 0.1 of a penny but if you know what to do with it you will kick the crap out of the tool being sold.



Now what we need is a L shaped piece. So, look at this pic.



Cut it there with a pair of clippers, snips or plier cutter part. You will then have something that looks like this.



OK. Now you need a vice or a pair of pliers and a bloody strong grip. Now you need to basically crush the end so that it's pretty flat, kinda like this.



OK, now you have your tool. It costs small percentages of pennies to make loads more, they will wear out over time.

Now. Let's go through how to use said tool. Here is your enemy....



And trust me, this little git hates your guts. It wants to cut you, slice your fingers and make you bleed. So how do we get it out?

As you can see, there are two little pins coming out of the side. This keeps the pin locked in place, and to get it out you need to push them both inward. Here's how.

This is a ATX 24 pin connector.



Every single wire in there has a pin on the end that is hollow, and coming out of the side are the two splines you saw in the image I made above. Now look at this.



And you can see how you have to insert the tool you made. The pins are *always* on the side of the connector, not top and bottom. So, insert the spade part you made by crushing it with the pliers/vice. Push quite firmly, it needs to go all the way down. See, many people tried this method but it never worked every time. The pins are very hard to get right in, so I want you to watch this video tutorial now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ-JJhKRM50&list=UURAjB0mPRjMLWXrzhqwo-bg&index=2

Now look, the method is rather simple. You force the tool down the side of the clip, make sure it's home, then twirl. Now this is where every one else stops, they do not make the twirl. Watch what I'm doing a few times, watch how quickly and easily I can extract these wires.

Note.

This part is crucial.I don't want your blood on my hands !!!!!!

On the back side of the connector there is a U shape. This is what stops the connector going all the way through. Just trust me on this, it's *really* sharp. Look at this.



And what it actually looks like...



That one was super glued shut as it refused to stop bleeding. So, when you pull the wire out MAKE SURE YOUR FINGERS ARE NOT AT THE BACK AROUND THE CABLE.

Coming up next, braiding a cable with paracord (tomorrow as I need to actually do it and take some pics).

Any questions ask them here please !
 
Last edited by a moderator:
How to braid cables, V1.

Right. Now that you have extracted your pin and wire, here is what you do next. First up here is your wire and that evil little bugger of a sharp U channel I was telling you about.



Nasty little SOB !! OK. So now take your paracord and pull it down the cable. Like this.



Always carry on for about another 1.5 inches. Paracord is stretchy, and tends to stretch when you pull it down the wire to get the length so add a bit on so that when it contracts it doesn't wind up too short. Nice sharp pair of scissors and cut.



Pull out the core. Now a quick interlude. Most paracord is 7 strand core. However, expensive paracord is better quality *but* is thicker and can be useless for braiding with. I suggest using cheaper, thinner walled paracord. OK, what I do is bunch the cores and then tie them up together and toss them in the bin. It can make a right mess if you drop it.



OK, so now take a lighter and gently burn the ends, like this.



That will stop it fraying. Then you insert the scissors and cut, like this.



Do that 4 times, so you are in effect doing this...



And you do that to open it back up. Then braid your cable. I use a metal sheath that I insert the end into, then pull the paracord over that. You can also tape them up and do it that way. More on the tool soon. You need to run the paracord up below the U channel. Go over it and it will not go back into the plug. So do this.



OK. So now you need to heat the end of the paracord with a lighter, evenly all the way around. Then you need to leave it a few seconds to cool down a bit, then roll the end in your finger and thumb so that it does this.



If you roll too early it will stick to your finger and thumb and burn. If you roll too late it will not do that ^ so practice is key. If there are any small bits or strands left simply heat and roll again.

OK, final step. Make sure you open up the clips. I use the end of a scalpel blade (an old one).



Now note. There is only one way you can reinsert the connector. The U channel has a channel in the plug that it will go into and it's one way only. So, what I suggest is looking at the orientation as you remove the pins, then inserting it back exactly as it came out.

More soon, but this should get you going on shrinkless braid.

Over and out ;)
 
How to make cheap hand cut graphics without using a plotter.

Most of this is easily done with a steady hand and a pair of scissors. You will need to use a scalpel/sharp blade to cut more exotic designs, but stuff like this is pretty damn easy if you know how.



OK, first go into Photoshop and put together your design. The design used here is for the IO cover.



Once you have that you need to get it into a rough size and shape.

Create a new file in Photoshop, for this we're going to use A4 dimensions.

File should be 72 DPI, H = 842 x W = 595.

Then place your graphic onto the A4 file and size it accordingly.

OK, now you want to go to Layer-Duplicate layer. Move this clear of the other one. Now Edit-Transform-Flip horizontally. You should end up with something that looks like this..



NB - there is no need to put the numbers 1 and 2 on there, that's only for this tutorial.

OK. Now cut out your flipped image, or number 2. Then apply pritt stick to the back and stick it to the back of the vinyl. DO NOT dispose of image 1 !

Lay Image 1 down on your desk and as you cut parts of your graphic out lay them onto Image 1. It's like a jigsaw now ! I use the tip of the blade to maneuver them into place combined with patience and a very light touch. It's obviously a lot easier with more chunky graphics..

What you should end up with is something a bit like this..

v

OK. Now take a roll of masking tape and lay it over the graphic. As you do so rub it down, but only rub it onto the surface of the graphic, NOT on the paper...

Be careful, again you need a very gentle light touch. You should end up with something like this.



If something has been knocked out of place, don't worry. You can adjust that free hand in a moment..

OK. Now you need to peel up the graphic from the paper. To rub it down I use the back end of my scalpel. Make sure you've rubbed it down onto the vinyl very hard, otherwise you could lift and leave bits of it behind. Once removed it should look like this.



If the paper gets snagged and tears a little don't worry. Just run the scissors around the edges of your graphic and it'll fall away.

For storage.. There are two methods I use. Method one is to remove all of the backing like this..



And then just put it on a single large piece of backing (usually left over from covering panels) or, I just leave the backing on and remove it before applying.

Either way that should explain the method used. Couple of tips..

1. The adhesive on the vinyl can be pretty strong, especially in the case of 3M. This means your blades and scissors will become gunked. To fix this I simply clean the scissor blades and my scalpels before I begin with TIM cleaner. This breaks down the residues and cleans the blades and scissors, keeping them sharp.

2. The scissors I use are pretty expensive fish scissors out of an expensive chef's set. They need to be super, super sharp to cut intricate curves.

3. As you cut make sure you keep cleaning the waste away. Small pieces of waste can easily look like the parts you want to keep, and it can easily get confusing. Remember - stay clean !

4. I have a 1" thick green oak desk. Thus I don't need anything to cut on. However, I recommend a chopping board or something or else you'll trash your desk. Medium soft is good, don't push to hard or the blade will follow the pattern of the wood.

And that's about it.
 
Back
Top