Baudouin Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 MiniHack, on 14 March 2013 - 10:00 PM, said: Ira Aduro. There is another option open to you that you could follow - which is to cut from perforated aluminium with a pattern "close" to the original pattern. That is one option my aluminium cutting guy gave me when I started down this route myself a year or more ago. I rejected that one at the time as it would need too much finishing by hand around the cut out areas to make a smooth look and so is not a saleable "off the shelf" kit, BUT it occurs to me that a custom design could be made that'd look quite good and would be a heck of a lot cheaper to produce and an enthusiastic modder might enjoy the extra hours smoothing out areas around the latch/ fan cut outs etc. I tought about that too, found the right pattern but the alu plate is shining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Aduro Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 I rejected that one at the time as it would need too much finishing by hand around the cut out areas to make a smooth look If the pattern is close but not an exact fit how would you go about making it blend with the original parts of the back? I'm attaching an image to this post which shows why I'm designing the backplate how I am. I have a UD5h motherboard and my power supply is mounted where the HDDs were. Because of this the motherboard sits lower than mods that place the PSU in the original PSU enclosure. I've marked the two areas where the IO ports would be and the three PCI slots that match up with the bottom three expansion slots of the G5. In the end I plan on making a few variants of this and one would conform to ATX standards for those that want to place the PSU on the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiftysamurai Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 What about water jet and/or laser cutting? Either way should give you fairly good definition/precision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Aduro Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 sadly no, water jet is to $$ due to all the starting and stopping. Laser cutting would cause warping due to all the 3mm holes cut in close proximity. I'm contacting a second water jet company in town to get another quote. Talking this over with the guy on [H]ardForums, most likely when apple made the G5 they used punches for the holes. Punches are cheap for large production but setup cost would be at least $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniHack Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 [/size][/font][/color] If the pattern is close but not an exact fit how would you go about making it blend with the original parts of the back? I'm attaching an image to this post which shows why I'm designing the backplate how I am. I have a UD5h motherboard and my power supply is mounted where the HDDs were. Because of this the motherboard sits lower than mods that place the PSU in the original PSU enclosure. I've marked the two areas where the IO ports would be and the three PCI slots that match up with the bottom three expansion slots of the G5. In the end I plan on making a few variants of this and one would conform to ATX standards for those that want to place the PSU on the bottom. Okay, that sort of explains it. Sorry if you said that somewhere else but I didn't see it. I get it now, you want the top 4 of the seven PCI slots to be used and are happy to keep the bottom 3 not externally accessible. I have my first production batch of low sitting aluminium ATX backplates arriving at The Laser Hive next week for the full ATX low solution. Still though obviously avoiding too many small holes cose together because of the 'warp' factor (nowt to do with Star Trek ). These though will only be available in the 120 style as bringing the lower three slots down the case means not enough room for the dual 92s to sit on the flat area of the panel. And yes for new backplate made from a 'close' but not identical hole pattern you need either to make the panel full height/width or have a replacement patch that has a nice horizontal crisp dividing line at the point where the original G5 holes and the new ones meet - make a small styling feature of it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Aduro Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 Gotcha. Have you tried a completely flush backplate? I've been told the aluminum is .05" thick and that is a readily available thickness. Just curious if you or anyone has tried to make a completely flush backplate and how it went. With the cost of producing new mesh, it would be cheaper to buy a second G5 and "donate" its mesh to the main G5. If you get a second one that works you could easily recoup the cost of it by parting out the things you don't need. I happen to have a second one. Hmmm..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniHack Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Gotcha. Have you tried a completely flush backplate? I've been told the aluminum is .05" thick and that is a readily available thickness. Just curious if you or anyone has tried to make a completely flush backplate and how it went. With the cost of producing new mesh, it would be cheaper to buy a second G5 and "donate" its mesh to the main G5. If you get a second one that works you could easily recoup the cost of it by parting out the things you don't need. I happen to have a second one. Hmmm..... Yes, I did a flush one: http://www.thelaserhive.com/forum/?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=2 It was a lot of work, but worth it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.D. Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 Yes, I did a flush one: http://www.thelaserh...n=viewtopic&t=2 It was a lot of work, but worth it. so that was YOUR mod... that is a nice clean mod - very seamless! if it wasn't so much work, I'd consider something like that for a redo on my G5... alas I am lazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baudouin Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 This is a neat and pro job. Congratz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Aduro Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 I'm stuck at work so I cna't see the pics but I'll take a look at it tonight, thanks for sharing that. EDIT: Took a look and that backplate is very very sexy. The holes are enough that it blends with the original design of the G5. So I'm guessing with just a few holes like that there wouldn't be any problem with warping while laser cutting? This week ends my 5 weeks from Gehenna so expect actual progress now. I'm going to start fabricating the pieces I do have final designs for, the PSU holder, middle shelf, and start working on a top shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniHack Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Took a look and that backplate is very very sexy. The holes are enough that it blends with the original design of the G5. So I'm guessing with just a few holes like that there wouldn't be any problem with warping while laser cutting? Exactly right. A few holes close together is okay, start making a mesh design though and that's when you run into warping. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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