Modeling Request: PC trim for Printing
lewanuva567_b3928e7406
Posts: 9
I have an amazing-looking PC case that was made back in 2005. I got it from my brother-in-law after I graduated from MCRD San Diego in 2013. It had taken some abuse over the years and I had to rewire most of the ports and every LED in the case. It's gorgeous and has been the centerpiece of many game days at the college.
But it appears that the plastics are now feeling the wear of time. Despite having been kept (by me) in more than ideal conditions, exterior trims are begining to warp and crumble. I am looking for someone that would be willing to accurately model these pieces for me as I neither have the time nor the finese to do this very well. Most of the time when I am using Hex or any other modeler I am just dabbling around. While I imagine this would be a fairly simple job, I would much rather prefer someone who has more experience do this.
The part in question is approximately 6" x 2" x .5"
A picture of the case: http://i.imgur.com/kMigUk5.jpg
The broken piece: (album) http://imgur.com/a/69lvN
I will not want the underside done at all. The exterior is all I am concerned with so don't worry about placing the screw mounts. I have enough experience with hand tools that I should have no difficulty with it.
If you are interested in taking on this project, then shoot me a PM and we can discuss the relevant details. This is for personal use only so I would like to keep any desired compensation to a minimum. Like I said it is a simple design but I neither have the time or finese to do this.
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Comments
Would not a 3d print of the damaged piece not be an option? They have those printers all over the place now.
Is the problem that the plastic stems (often referred to as "bosses") that are threaded to accept screws have broken? I'm a professional industrial model maker and have made dozens of computer cases over the years... Using tradional methods, you are asking someone to reverse engineer the part... If you could find someone experienced to do that for under $500 that would be pretty miraculous... But maybe someone might take that job for that or less... The problem you will face is making the part will require either machining the part from a chunk of ABS plastic (the ideal method) which will be very expensive because you'll have to find someone who is a machinist, and they charge big bucks... The other alternative is making the part out of bits and pieces... Problem with that is the glue bonds will break down quickly due to the heat. Your only other alternative is to have someone fix the part as perfectly as possible and then use it as a pattern to make a casting from... Usually this involves making a two part RTV silicone mold of the part and then injecting a urethane polymer (one that matches the specs of the ABS) and curing it in a pressure tank... Needless to say that would be pretty expensive... Just the materials alone would run around $400 - $500 or more depending on what the person making your part is equipped for... Further complicating that, few urethanes can do well under higher temperatures... There are some... ones that are made for use in medical autoclaves and others for aerospace, they are usually 3x the price of regular materials... There are some newer high tolerance epoxies that might work too, but...I'm guessing that is not what you had in mind. I wouldn't consider 3D printing the part because the part would probably deform from the heat... The printing plastics are pretty weak in that regard... There are high tolerance materials, but those would be uber expensive and are really not found at most RP print shops... Also that would incur the expense of a 3D scan of the original part for proper dimensions.
I'm guessing you can't find a replacement part anywhere online or else you would not have asked that... If nobody here offers to make this part for you, and don't be hurt if nobody does... that may be a nothing looking part, but thats several skilled hours of work making it by hand... If nobody offers, try looking into professional model making studios (ones that do prototypes not architectural models).... Or a casting shop... Or perhaps the engineering department at your local college... You might find someone there with enough skill to make the part and charge a lower price... I know sometimes cheap model making shops use students to do overflow work for simple projects (and severely underpay them), so you may find someone there.
One big problem you'll face is most model making and design studios are turning completely to 3D printing... So that drives up the prices for skilled traditionally made parts, which are far more durable, but almost an artisan skill now.
Other places you might find someone cabable of doing this... Boat repair shops and custom auto body repairs... A bunch of good model makers I've worked with came from those backgrounds.
One other thing, anyone who is skilled enough to do this should ask for the original part to take measurements from... If they don't, don't expect good results.
Sorry I'm not offering to do this but I don't have the time to work on it, and it would be a bit expensive too.
Good luck.
My intent was to have the piece 3D printed. I've been going over printing services across the internet. Given the quality I am wanting, I am fairly certain that run-of-the-mill 3D printing is out of the quesiton.
But the piece has warped outward, breaking the bosses clean off of the backside of the trim. What I had intended to do was simply leave the piece solid and drill into the piece once I was ready to mount it. Plus, with a 3D file I could have new ones made if ever neccesary.
I know it's pretty expensive but I do like this case. I'm actually getting ready to retrofit and update the front panel jacks to USB 3.0 and redesign the wiring of the case lights.
would the material you printed to be suitable for the case, would it stand up to any heat dispersal, or heat, or stress? If you have it modeled what color is it? Is it black? Which black?
Black on one printer, fabric, plastic, screen, crayon, etc may not be someone else black. You need to be specific, very specific.
http://www.cal-print.com/InkColorChart.htm
Would it be easier to find this case on ebay or craigslist or contact the manufacturer before hiring a 3D artist or print bureau that may or may not be able to print something that was designed and copyrighted by someone else.
At the cost it might amount to you might be able to get a far more efficient and modern case with new fans and new parts. Otherwise if a little loc-tite glue ain't gonna fix it it's probably not worth it.
Like I said, this is an old case. The manufacturer is not even in business anymore. If they were, I am not confindent they would have the piece. Ebay and Craigslist are a nope as well.
Anyway, the piece in question is on the outsied lower front corner of the side panel, immediately behind a 120mm fan. I'm confident heat dispersion will not be a big issue. To further that I inted to have the piece printed in the best material to resist heat and impacts as well as modifying the print direction as needed.
As for the case's colors, it was manufactured and painted with automobile paint and the piece appears to have a 25% black matte finish.
I'm pretty dead-set on having this done. Yes, I realize this will be expensive but this is how I want to do it.
Is the case's manufacturer RaidMax? If it is, while they no longer sell that exact design, they are still in business and do have some designs you might like. NewEgg carries RaidMax. You can also buy RaidMax cases through Amazon.
No, I'm afraid this is from MGE's XG Line. Believe me I wish there was something availble for this case.
I guess if you are getting it printed, you are having your fixed/remade part scanned?
If the part has warped, then anyone who fixes or makes a new part without knowing the actual original dimensions will not be making a correct part... This will lead to problem, I've seen that happen... You make a part for a client they take it meeting somewhere far away, they break the part because they are clumsy or don't know how to pack it and then get the part repaired locally by a chimp or one armed gibbon... then when the client gets back they scan it or have a mold made from the "repaired" part and complain the copies don't fit right... The answer is always the same... "But it looked right"... Looked and you used a pair of calipers and accurate prints to make sure, are two different things...
How badly warped is the part? Is it not mounting flush anymore? Is most of the cracking occurring on the inside of the part or the face?
If it is more an issue of it looking like it is about to crumble away than it is actually full of visible cracks you might be able to save it yourself it nobody else is interested... Plastic degrades from heat, but as you pointed out, the outer surface was painted with (probably) a lacquer based paint, which will alway hasten degradation of the surface of a styrene based plastic... It protects from UV rays, but the initial chemical reaction actually changes the plastic slightly and the thinner it is the worse that reaction, basically making one side more brittle over time.
What you could try to do if you can't find anyone to do this, is to reinforce the interior of the part with an epoxy putty... I know this isn't what you wanted to do, but I figured if nobody takes you up on it you are gonna have to do it yourself...
Looking at the pictures, the part does not look that badly deformed or damaged, so that is good...
First off, I have no idea if there is some sort of positive surface that the part mounts to... like a recess or alignment ridge... I take it, that from the image, the parts are the ones under the word "VIPER"... There is a left and right part, and they are basically the same but mirrored.
If the surface to which the parts mount is flat, you could use a heat gun to relax the part... The ones that they use for shrink wrapping stuff, not the ones for removing paint... Or you could mount some 240-320 grit wet/dry sandpaper to large flat surface (a thick piece of plexiglass or a very large FLAT/SMOOTH ceramic tile) and carefully sand out any warpage... Home Depot sells a material called "PC-7" (by PC products), they may have it in store, but most likely you'll have to order it online... You'll probably be good with a 16oz kit.... PC-7 is an epoxy paste that applies more or less like Bondo, or if you've never used that- wall compound or spackle, only it's a two part mix... If you coat the inner surface of the part with at least 3/16" (4.5 mm) of material, it will probably stabilize the part and keep it together for a few years more... There used to be a place called "Small Parts Catalog" but I haven't bought from them in a couple of years and now they are not showing up on the internet anymore... They used to sell bosses with brass inserts that you could use to retrofit stuff... You probably could still find them somewhere I'd imagine... If you do, you could mount those in place of the broken ones... I'd build up more material around the bosses to ensure they are strong... Actually I'd probably make the amount of material thicker and use some steel rod embedded in it to ensure it keeps it's shape... I don't see there being that much of a big heat issue, because the part basically traps heat from the case in the first place (it really should have had a vent or hole in it somewhere to let heat escape to begin with)... Remember to wash the part carefully with dishwashing soap and rinse it completely before applying the PC-7... Also it would be beneficial to lightly abrade the interior surface to aid in the adhesion of the epoxy, this is a major reason most glues fail to work properly, release agents used to allow part to eject from the molds they are made in are all over the surface, 90% of manufacturers don't bother to remove them so when you go to glue something like the bosses back, oils from your fingers and the part act to block the bond.
Anyway, that was all probably a huge waste of time, because as you stated, you have no desire to do this... But I figured I'd put that out there... I often get calls from people looking for small projects to be done, and especially now that more people are aware of 3D printing, they seem to think that having a physical model or part made is somehow less difficult than the fantastical newfangled printing method... It is not, and to have that part made in my region would cost a very conservative minimum of $2400 with prints or diagrams... Without prints you would get dismissed as a time waster as that requires more time and effort.
If you were to go to a car body repair shop and say "I have this busted up fiberglass hood from a Corvette it's a very simple hood, not the one with the big ridge or details and I want to have you make a copy of so that someone else can machine me a copy of that, but since this is for my personal use I don't want to pay a lot" they would either laugh or show you to the door... They don't care what you do with the part, use it on your car or in place of a parachute when skydiving or whether it is for you or General Motors, their time is their time... It doesn't suddenly require less skill or effort because it is only for personal use... The same applies to what you are asking... You should also be aware that your request can come across as a bit insulting to someone who does have the skills to do this... Money is no object for the 3D printing part, but the manual part is somehow less worthy of equal compensation... I'm not trying to be a jerk and I say this in a friendly way, but I've handled hundreds of requests like that and it's annoying as hell. You should probably be aware of that if you post a request elsewhere or perhaps consider repairing the part yourself, since it really does not seem to be that badly warped or damaged and that's pretty much what I would do, despite being able to make a new part and or print the part myself.
Just sayin, that all... And trying to be helpful. Good luck.
If I came off as trying to scab someone, that was not my intent at all.
I understand the sentiment. Prople try to scab me for computer work all the time, and I consider my work to be a bit of an art. I'm not asking for it to be a $50 job as I understand that anyone who does this sort of work prides themselves in anything they do, but at the same time I'm not wanting to buy a comic book reprint frame for the cost of a Mona Lisa. I want modellers to look at it and we can talk about the finer points, but again I don't want to pay a huge amount for what is (IMO) a minor job.
But you have given me some ideas to lessen the overall cost of having this piece made by using these fillers. Currently I am working on the base design, but I still need some help getting the finer points done.