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Great looking case, kurplop. I really like the brushed aluminum look. Would you mind posting some information on how you were able to get it to look like that? And what tool you used to round the edges.
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Thanks. I like the finish that way too. I originally had a mirror finish similar to Rknize's case but decided the more
subtle brushed satin finish would look better in my office. It's also a lot less work.
The finish is very quick and easy but getting it shaped for finishing is another matter. After arriving at the desired shape, sand with successively finer wet and dry sandpaper, starting with 220, then 320, 400 and finally 600 grit.
For the first sanding (220), I laid the wet sandpaper on a flat surface, I used a granite surface plate but any flat table will work, and stroked the case across it to flatten the surface. This removes high spots from any drilling, countersinking or edge burrs left when sanding the sides flush on the five layers. Sand in the same direction because it's hard to remove cross scratches and make sure any cross scratches are gone before going to the next grit. Sanding with the remaining grits are best done holding the paper around a sponge sanding block. Make sure to keep the work wet, I use a spray bottle when the slurry produced gets too thick and use plenty of water. Yes it is messy but cleans up easily. It starts to look pretty good when the 400 grit sanding is finished. Stopping at 600 grit looked right to my eye.
I rough chamfered the edges with a 1" benchtop belt sander holding the case at a 45º angle and using a light touch. Hand sanding followed. It's best to do this before face sanding to avoid cross grain scratches.
I tried posting a short tutorial last week but I think I may have had too many pictures. I'll try just a few now. If it works I'll add a few more later.
I used a stationary belt sander to square the sides. I once used this to sand some steel and accidentally started a fire in the dust port. Be careful using wood tools for metal!
After squaring I used this $20.00 air die grinder to smooth the corners. (Would you let that hand touch your keyboard?)
The initial squaring gave me a reference to grind the corners square. Ain't it beautiful? To bad the tolerances in the screw holes doesn't necessarily make it reassemble in the same alignment.
More in another post.
