Beginning the breakdown

Day 5

Today I'm going to begin a focus on specific parts of the computer and my thoughts on how it works and what my build will need along with just general thoughts on things. 

The Cabinets

     Each of the cabinets in the Harry Porter computer are 26" x 38" and framed in Mahogany, this is fairly robust and quite pretty though I do believe I will go with either a different type of wood or possibly another material altogether the backs are constructed of  melamine with an acrylic front plate for ease of inspection I may go with acrylic on both sides. The front and back panel are slid into a groove routed around the boards of the frame and the relays and all components are affixed to the front acrylic which is sectioned for ease of handling. A part of me would like to mount an extra piece in the center of the to only hold the components then hinge the front acrylic and allow only the switches and gear necessary come to its level, time will tell if this instinct is correct or nuts but I believe it would allow greater freedom for maintenance and cleaning tasks. the boards are slid in through the top which is then screwed down and this I know can be easily improved with a hinge and clasp system. Butt splices are mentioned as the method of combining the various modules but I believe terminal boards would be a neater method. I understand the additional failure points these will introduce but the increased readability of where everything is going will likely greatly outweigh the reduced reliability. Terminal strips are used extensively in the equipment I work on every day and they rarely give issue unless someone has been dinking around with them, and many of them have been running for 20+ years and through several moves with no issue plus they have dozens of motors and bearings and belts rattling things constantly. The other option would be to use a molex type connector between modules with a backbone wiring harness running where needed. I think some combination of the 2 will be the final answer as these all work well together. In the end and for neatness sake I will be trying to avoid butt connectors and splicing wherever possible though I know at times it will be unavoidable but this seems to be the biggest gain I can make to not only improve the robustness but the maintenance ease of this beast of a machine.

     I think that's about all I can cover for today Monday we'll finish up the case designs and talk about the parts list. Then from there I'm thinking the ALU.