I finished this recently and thought some of you might like to see.
Finished picture first:
So, earlier last year I picked up a couple of DE10 Nanos. I originally ordered a RMC MiSTer Multisystem to put one of them in but after hearing cools thoughts on the one he bought I cancelled the order. cools then found the [MiSTer Mini-ITX Ironclad Plus] which is basically a Mini ITX form factor IO board. This looked to fit the bill much better and so I picked one up too.
Looking back I ordered the Ironclad at the start of March last year :wtf: However I didn't actually receive it until September so I guess four months isn't too bad to complete a project once I had received the main parts, certainly better than 10 months I guess!
I was looking for a Mini ITX case for it and coudn't really find anything to suit my needs exactly and thought it might be fun to try and make something. I couldn't do too much until I actually received the Ironclad board but I started to mock up what it might look like. This was a bit of very early development:
[tube]ICiLlHDbLjM[/tube]
The ITX mobo, SSD, USBs and button are just some random .stp's I found online to get started.
The plan was a 3D printed frame with a mixture of printed panels and tinted acrylic for the top, front and bottom. I wanted to see if I could fit and mount a SSD in under the Ironclad and I planned on adding a couple of USB ports on the front and a LED ring power button.
That's most of the spiel done. I did take a fair few more pictures whilst working on lots of the parts. If I get time and there is any interest I will upload them along with some notes. Otherwise most of these pictures are of final assembly.
Ironclad mobo the day I received it and sat on one of my 3D printer sheets. As you can see it just fits with room around it to print the frame:
Printing the corner pieces:
I had previously built a press for inserting threaded brass inserts. I actually built it with this project in mind as I knew I would have loads to insert and they all needed to be perpendicular to the printed parts:
A load of other parts printed:
Assembled:
Acrylic top and bottom panels. These were made on my router table and hand polished:
Front panel. Once again made on my router table. I've got lots more info on these steps I can post later. I used some 2m USB extensions for the USB ports:
Side panels. I originally printed the two left hand panels. Just before Christmas I visited a laser manufacturer and had access to a machine for the afternoon so I cut the panels on the right. The whole design is fairly modular so the panels can be swapped out fairly easily:
I had some issues with the MiSTer stickers curling up at the corners. I managed to make them adhere a little better using some 3M spray mount but they're still not perfect and I'm trying to source some better ones.
1TB SSD with a SATA>USB cable that I cut off and added a pin header connector to:
Top removed and side panels added. These pictures are with the 3D printed side panels. I swapped them out for the laser cut ones later. I fitted a PWM fan to the LHS side. There are PWM fan headers on the Ironclad and there is a temperature sensor under the DE10 so the fans will run at the minimum speed required to keep the DE10 cool:
I made a couple of mods to the underside of the Ironclad. I added a jumper to bridge two pins for use with adding a I2S DAC to the top side of the motherboard. As I was mounting the SSD under the mobo I added a connector to the USB through holes rather than run a cable from the top side to the bottom. I also tapped composite sync at the top of the board so I can add a composite sync phono jack for use with Guncons:
One part of the undertray fitted to the mobo:
SSD and tie wraps added. The tie wraps were actually added before the under tray was bolted down:
Wired up:
Bottom cover fitted:
Bottom panel fitted:
Top side. The I2S DAC is just to the left of the MiSTer logo with the green wiring:
12v in and composite sync phono jack. Due to how the phono jack needed to be bolted to the case I wasn't able to fit it once the case was assembled so I added a 2 pin header so I could just plug it in once assembled:
Top panel on. Excuse the dust :roll:
A few assembled pictures with the 3D printed side panels:
Swapped in the laser cut side panels:
In it's main resting place in my office. It's quite easy to take downstairs though and plug into the living room TV too:
All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Not pictured is multiple redsign/reprints of parts, buying the wrong tint acrylic and a load of other f**k ups along the way. Maybe more on those later
It would have been faaaaaar easier and cheaper to buy something off the shelf but where is the fun in that
FrancoB2023-01-15 22:44:09
Finished picture first:
So, earlier last year I picked up a couple of DE10 Nanos. I originally ordered a RMC MiSTer Multisystem to put one of them in but after hearing cools thoughts on the one he bought I cancelled the order. cools then found the [MiSTer Mini-ITX Ironclad Plus] which is basically a Mini ITX form factor IO board. This looked to fit the bill much better and so I picked one up too.
Looking back I ordered the Ironclad at the start of March last year :wtf: However I didn't actually receive it until September so I guess four months isn't too bad to complete a project once I had received the main parts, certainly better than 10 months I guess!
I was looking for a Mini ITX case for it and coudn't really find anything to suit my needs exactly and thought it might be fun to try and make something. I couldn't do too much until I actually received the Ironclad board but I started to mock up what it might look like. This was a bit of very early development:
[tube]ICiLlHDbLjM[/tube]
The ITX mobo, SSD, USBs and button are just some random .stp's I found online to get started.
The plan was a 3D printed frame with a mixture of printed panels and tinted acrylic for the top, front and bottom. I wanted to see if I could fit and mount a SSD in under the Ironclad and I planned on adding a couple of USB ports on the front and a LED ring power button.
That's most of the spiel done. I did take a fair few more pictures whilst working on lots of the parts. If I get time and there is any interest I will upload them along with some notes. Otherwise most of these pictures are of final assembly.
Ironclad mobo the day I received it and sat on one of my 3D printer sheets. As you can see it just fits with room around it to print the frame:
Printing the corner pieces:
I had previously built a press for inserting threaded brass inserts. I actually built it with this project in mind as I knew I would have loads to insert and they all needed to be perpendicular to the printed parts:
A load of other parts printed:
Assembled:
Acrylic top and bottom panels. These were made on my router table and hand polished:
Front panel. Once again made on my router table. I've got lots more info on these steps I can post later. I used some 2m USB extensions for the USB ports:
Side panels. I originally printed the two left hand panels. Just before Christmas I visited a laser manufacturer and had access to a machine for the afternoon so I cut the panels on the right. The whole design is fairly modular so the panels can be swapped out fairly easily:
I had some issues with the MiSTer stickers curling up at the corners. I managed to make them adhere a little better using some 3M spray mount but they're still not perfect and I'm trying to source some better ones.
1TB SSD with a SATA>USB cable that I cut off and added a pin header connector to:
Top removed and side panels added. These pictures are with the 3D printed side panels. I swapped them out for the laser cut ones later. I fitted a PWM fan to the LHS side. There are PWM fan headers on the Ironclad and there is a temperature sensor under the DE10 so the fans will run at the minimum speed required to keep the DE10 cool:
I made a couple of mods to the underside of the Ironclad. I added a jumper to bridge two pins for use with adding a I2S DAC to the top side of the motherboard. As I was mounting the SSD under the mobo I added a connector to the USB through holes rather than run a cable from the top side to the bottom. I also tapped composite sync at the top of the board so I can add a composite sync phono jack for use with Guncons:
One part of the undertray fitted to the mobo:
SSD and tie wraps added. The tie wraps were actually added before the under tray was bolted down:
Wired up:
Bottom cover fitted:
Bottom panel fitted:
Top side. The I2S DAC is just to the left of the MiSTer logo with the green wiring:
12v in and composite sync phono jack. Due to how the phono jack needed to be bolted to the case I wasn't able to fit it once the case was assembled so I added a 2 pin header so I could just plug it in once assembled:
Top panel on. Excuse the dust :roll:
A few assembled pictures with the 3D printed side panels:
Swapped in the laser cut side panels:
In it's main resting place in my office. It's quite easy to take downstairs though and plug into the living room TV too:
All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Not pictured is multiple redsign/reprints of parts, buying the wrong tint acrylic and a load of other f**k ups along the way. Maybe more on those later
It would have been faaaaaar easier and cheaper to buy something off the shelf but where is the fun in that
FrancoB2023-01-15 22:44:09
