Scratch Build Dice

[Pugsport]

well i got given 3 sheets of metal the other day (3 x 1000 x 1000) and ive been planning to make a case from scratch for a while now, ive got a few designs in mind that i want to try but since this is my first metal working project i thought id go with the simple one to start.

i wont bore you guys and girls with plans of the build, ill just do my best to build it

started out with 6 squares of metal 400 x 400 mm

welded them together to form a cube (no photos but im sure you get the idea)
took the angle grinder to the front/top half to form a lid that will be hinges

then bevelled all the corners off

did the same thing with the lid piece to

so far it sits like this (lid is held in place with welding magnets in the photos)

this maybe a slow project though as the NAS needs to be start and Desk needs to be finished up before i get to carried away here, but as im waiting for weather for the desk i thought id make a start and see how i got on before starting the NAS. i was going to make some videos of this build progress but found my phone would only take about 8 mins of video before stopping :cussing: so i may need to look at getting a cheap action camera or something to do videos

 

[Excalabur50]

This'll be interesting!

 

[AlienALX]

Just what I like, a nice small ITX rig lmao.

subbed.

 

[Bartacus]

Metal work is cool! Subbed!

 

[Pugsport]

This'll be interesting!

thanks im looking forward to it

Just what I like, a nice small ITX rig lmao.

subbed.

haha, i would do an ITX case but i have no ITX stuff to mark out with and id rather have a bigger case and it look clean than a small case filled with cables everywhere. im not saying this has to be the case but when i think how small ITX cases are i see no way of making cable management easy/clean

Metal work is cool! Subbed!

yes i must admit i put off learning to weld for ages thinking why would i want to burn myself just to make something but now ive started i like it just as much as wood work although im not sure my thumb would agree after burning it

now ive started learning to weld and do metal work the burning myself is nothing as its all about watching something come to life.

well not got much doe at all today but i have worked out i need a metal brake badly if im going to continue to do metal work

having to score the metal on the fold lines before bending it. i guess this may not have been so bad if the folds were not 5mm apart

then welding it up after to add some strength back in to the piece

plug welded in place

 

[Pugsport]

Well got a little bit more done

motherboard tray, radiator mount and psu base cut out

motherboard tray brackets in place

motherboard tray laid in place, on four brackets to which it will get screwed to

lid is also on although im not happy with the play thats in the hinges, the right hand side sits flush while the left hand side is a little higher. need to sort this out before its finished

lid mounted and shut

motherboard tray marked out ready for centre punching and drilling

 

[Dawelio]

Another project from Pugsport, how can you not sub? ...

On another note, I initially thought this was a build from Dicehunter, due to the name of the thread haha ^_^

 

[Warchild]

Another project from Pugsport, how can you not sub? ...

On another note, I initially thought this was a build from Dicehunter, due to the name of the thread haha ^_^

That dude is too scared to use water

 

[Pugsport]

well got a little more done today as well as wasting time making the I/O shield holder

Psu mounting hole cut out

Motherboard try drilled and mounted in the case

new hinge mounting strip made

then the complete waste of time this afternoon, any one see issue? the internal holes were not squared up or finished off thankfully. tomorrows job to redo this then

 

[Pugsport]

got a bit more done today

boxed in the internal corners to make smoothing it out for paint easier

fixed my mistake from yesterday to
from this

to this

also got the i/o shield fitted, the hole was not cut out the best due to the fact the grinder only just fits inside the case, so its hard to see whats going on with hands and arms in the way

jobs left to do now are cut the holes for the numbers on each face, fit the lid again and then prep and paint

 

[Pugsport]

finally started putting the numbers on the sides of the dice this afternoon

right hand side of dice, number 5 although the 5th is in the lid, i did also start trimming up the front edge around the lid to (not sure how well it show up here though

view from inside

 

[Pugsport]

got a little more done today

left side of done, number two

right side just need one more hole in the lid for number five

back is good now

front needs two more holes cut for number three

lid is just sat in place for now

tomorrows jobs are cut the six holes in the bottom, fix the lid in place and try to get the rest of the holes cut in, then its prep and paint

thinking of going white on the outside and this on the inside with maybe some detail on the outside

 

[Pugsport]

well got another six holes done today and the lid fitted but if im honest im losing interest in this as i have no real plans at the moment to use it but still plan to paint it then maybe store or get rid of it

six cut in the underside of case

lid fitted and marked out the other two holes on front face

single hole marked out on the top face

 

[AlienALX]

Oooooo custom paint !

Now you have my full attention

 

[Pugsport]

Oooooo custom paint !

Now you have my full attention

well that depends what you mean by custom paint? because as this was/is my first welding/metal work project its no where near straight, i welded it to fast but lesson learnt on that one as well as some other things I've learnt along the way.

but my plans for paint, if i can get it straight enough are
option one

option two

third option is to do a 3 stage paint job on it with white base, purple detail like above and then 3rd stage would be purple intercoat all over

feel free to input on which option or any ideas as this was only ever a test project and no real plan at the moment to use it.

started making it straight with some filler, id really like it to be arrow straight before painting it

this was progress from yesterday as today ive not felt up to do anything and its been cold and windy outside so maybe tomorrow we can get it paint ready

 

[AlienALX]

Can you not paint it red sparkle like a Vegas dice? that, with a white interior would look incredible.

 

[Pugsport]

Can you not paint it red sparkle like a Vegas dice? that, with a white interior would look incredible.

something like this red with a solid white interior

 

[AlienALX]

Yup totally man!

 

[Pugsport]

bit more filler work done today

Testing the colour
metallic silver basecoat

candy red over the top, photo does not show up the metallic very well, ill get some more shot if its sunny soon

 

[AlienALX]

Amazeballs. I love candy haha. It's hard to paint too, so props for that.