On the last post, you saw the completed gattlings.  They came out pretty nice.  Now I needed to focus my attention on the stand for the sentry.  The two biggest challenges that I face are (1) Weight of the computer, and (2) Distributing the load.   The design of the in game sentry turret seem to have the weight evenly distributed over six legs.  It would be too difficult to translate this to the case mod, so I redesigned the legs a bit and did my own interpretation.  The weight of the sentry turret will be distributed on 3 legs like a tripod.  So lets check it out.

With the case standing approximate 40” tall and 24” wide, I had to make sure to the stand was sturdy enough.  The main support legs were cut from a piece of 2’x4’x1” wood.

[IMG]www.ironmods.com/ForumImages/CaseMods/TF2Sentry/Post03/IM_TF2_Post3_01.jpg[/IMG]

For the 3rd leg, I am using a 2” ABS pipe.  The pipe will be supported by a 3 part collar made from the same 1” wood.

For the collar, I clamped the blocks to my drill press and brought out the hole saw.

Once the collars were drilled, I attached them to the two wood legs, and then slipped the PVC pipe.  Here is a close up of the how the 3 legs are attached.

Since I am not sure how much the case will weigh, or the weight distribution, I wanted to incorporate a way to shift the weight on the stand.  By being able to shift the weight slightly, I can prevent the case from toppling over.  To achieve this, I attached an adjustable PVC Colar to the foot of the pipe.  It has two thread portion, which will allow me to either lengthen or shorten the leg.  Effectively shifting the weight forward or back.

The ammo canister, gattlings, and rocket launcher, will all be attached to a single piece of wood on top of the stand.  To securely attached the wood platform to the stand, I used an ABS drain flange.  Yup, this is the same type of flange you would find in your shower.

After the steel grate was removed, I drilled 6 additional holes to help attached the wood plank to the flange.

I then cut the arms that will be holding the rocket launcher as well as the ammo canister.  Here is a pic of the arms that will be attached to the platform and hold uping the ammo canister.

Here is a picture of the stand about 85% completed.  I placed a shuttle shell on top to show where the rocket launcher will be placed, and to give the case mod a bit of scale.

There is still more work to be done on the stand to keep it from tipping over from left to right, but that part will come later when I see how much the computer will weigh.

I hope everyone enjoyed this update.  I should have another update in a few days. 

Ton