Custom SSD Dock Build (Success! sorta)

[Lady Fitzgerald]

After contacting System 76 and they assured me a Thunderbolt hub that sends a charging current over the cable going to the computer won't burn out the port on the computer (and said they would fix the computer under warranty if the hub did toast the port), I tightened my belt and ordered the Thunderbolt hub I had been looking at.

A little while back, I used some...make that a lot of isopropyl alcohol and a Telco knife to pry apart the previous attempt at making a dock since the truncated enclosures will need to be spread further apart. That was fun and clean (lied Jeannie through her teeth).

I got the Thunderbolt hub on Monday afternoon but I was still in the middle of setting up the two "spare" laptops I got so I didn't check out the hub until Tuesday evening. I'm happy to report that the Thunderbolt port on the laptop didn't release any of its built in magic smoke. Equally important, I found it is TRIM compatible (if it wasn't, it was going to go back). I haven't tried four drives at once yet since manipulating the two enclosures I was testing like pushing a rope and herding cats at the same time while riding a dog.

I fiddled around with it some yesterday to see what combination of connectors would work best for connecting the truncated enclosures to the dock and to see what thickness spacers I was going to need to make to go between the enclosures since the port spacing on the Thunderbolt hub is wider than it was on the earlier hub. It was 3/8". I was starting to look online for some 3/8" plastic sheets I could use to make the spacers when it dawned on the one functioning brain cell I still have out of my remaining three that I might have some 3/8" square aluminum bar stock. I dug around in my scraps and found more than enough.

I was working on an unrelated project this morning that turned into another project from Hell, delaying working on a second project, so I didn't get around to fooling around with the dock some more until this evening. I cut six pieces of the bar stock a little over 3" long, cleaned up the ends with a file, then used some .006" 3M VHB tape to tape the bars and the spacers together, using the same techniques I used on the previous version of the hub. With the weird combination of connectors I settled on, I have the sandwich temporarily plugged into the Thunderbolt hub (its currently just a redneck engineered mock-up) and everything fits just fine but it's late so I'm not going to test it until late tomorrow (I have another little project for the morning).

I have't taken any pictures yet. It's past my bedtime.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I didn't get much done today. I slept in to 9AM this morning and worked on another project until lunchtime. After lunch, I watched three swashbuckler movies on TV (lately, there has been so little worth watching, I didn't want to miss these), then ate supper before getting back to this.

First, here are some of the photos I promised. I permanently taped the truncated enclosures and spacer bars together so they would be sturdy enough to allow all four to have drives inserted, supported, and removed without the aid of another pair of hands. The rest is just a redneck engineered mock-up with shims underneath the enclosure/spacer sandwich so i could plug it into the Thunderbolt dock.

The SSDs plugged in the dock are three 4TB and 8TB formatted to NTFS. Unfortunately, I do too good of a job of keeping my backup drives updated so I had only 802MB on one 4TB drive, 87.6GB on the 8TB drive, and nothing on the other two 4TB drives that needed backing up. Still, the dock allowed me to run all four at once without the problems I had run into previously on just the one cable going to the Thunderbolt 3 port on the laptop.

I found out in previous tests using just one drive that I can hot plug the drives into the dock the first time but not a second time. Either unplugging and replugging in the Thunderbolt cable or unplugging the power supply's AC power cable and plugging it back in will allow inserting a second batch of drives. To save wear and tear on dock or computer ports and on the AC socket, I'm going to get a little one outlet cube tap that has a power switch on the side from Home Depot next week. I'll be able to easily reach the switch from my chair.

This is a shot of the Thunderbolt hub itself. I have a piece of aluminum angle fastened to the back edge of the desk with double sided carpet tape so I don't accidentally push the hub off the back o the desk.

There are three Thunderbolt ports on the back but Thunderbolt 3 doesn't have enough bandwidth to support using them along with the four USB 3.0 ports on the front even though the hub supports Thunderbolt 4.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

This is a shot of the bottom of the "sandwich" after unplugging it from the hub showing the connector stacks I had to use to connect the dock to the hub.

I had to use two USB Type C extensions between the angle connector plugged into each enclosure and the USB Type C to Type A connector on the other end. I had wanted to stack the hub under the dock but port spacings, etc. just wouldn't let it work without making the dock higher than I wanted. With this arrangement, the dock isn't too high and I can remove it from the hub should I ever need to although it's most likely going to stay connected on my desk. This setup eats up far less room on my desk than what I've been using and leaves three ports on the left side of the computer free so I can use them for other things while updating up to four backup drives. It's also easier and faster to insert and remove bare drives instead of horsing around with enclosures and cables.

The major flaw with the connector stacks is they tend to disconnect in the wrong place when removing the dock from the hub. To fix that, I used some mastic (essentially, hot melt glue) lined heat shrink tubing. This is the tubing before being shrunk.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

This is what the connector stacks look like after shrinking the heat shrink sleeves with the cute little heat gun I have for shrinking heat shrink sleeves.

Here, the connector stacks are installed back on the sandwich.

Now, after I sleep on it (actually, I'm going to sleep on my bed), I need to work out the details on how to make a base and enclosure for the dock. I'll start by cutting a base from 1/4" aluminum plate, then go from there. I'll also have to come up with some kind of dust cover for the open top. For now, though, my bed beckons.

[MurphCID]

NICE!!! Very Nice!

[RollyShed]

To fix that, I used some mastic (essentially, hot melt glue) lined heat shrink tubing.

Is there a trade name for that? I haven't come across it and it could be handy, if available in this country.

A rather neat assembly you've come up with.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

NICE!!! Very Nice!

Thanks!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

To fix that, I used some mastic (essentially, hot melt glue) lined heat shrink tubing.

Is there a trade name for that? I haven't come across it and it could be handy, if available in this country.

A rather neat assembly you've come up with.

Thanks!

I've always known it as mastic lined heat shrink tubing. I always got mine from an industrial supplier called McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com). I just looked on Amazon here in the SSA and they refer to it as adhesive lined. Other adjectives I've seen are waterproof and moisture resistant.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Last night, like an idiot, I got ambitious and filed flat the sides where the spacer ends are and sanded the four sides of the assembly with my ROS (Random Orbital Sander). The ROS leaves a cool looking pattern on the aluminum. However, I didn't think to take pictures until after I had started working on it today. Sorry! After filing and sanding, the dock looked pretty rough.

I had already made a base for the dock yesterday or the day before. It's just a rectangle of 1/4" aluminum plate I cut from some scrap I had.

Nothing spectacular there. I haven't even bothered to remove the layout fluid yet.

Today, I started working on building a case to go around the dock. I decided to use some scrap 1/32" 6061 T6 aluminum I had knocking about instead of 1/16" thick since it would be easier to file to fit. As I made each side, I temporarily taped it to the assembly with double sided carpet tape. After cutting and filing each side and the front and taping them to the assembly, it dawned on me that I never took a picture of the dock after filing and sanding it so I took a picture of it the back before making the back piece.

The opposite side that has the front panel already taped in place looked even worse.

I'll spare you the details of all the measuring, cutting, and especially all the filing it took (and I hate, abhor, despise, and detest filing!). I had intended to remove all the temporarily taped panels before permanently taping them with 3M VHB tape but decided it would be easier to align each panel after putting the tape on if I left the other panels on since I got only one shot to to get it right. I had been dreading this part of the project but, even though I spent a lot of time getting every thing as just right as possible (did that even make sense?) and it was tedious work, especially all the filing (did I mention that I do not like filing?), and required some creative fixturing, everything went right without any problems or do-overs! I was stunned! I love it when a plan comes together!

This is what it looks like with the sides, front, and back panels in place.

I haven't installed the base yet.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

This is a view of the back of the dock with the base just setting inside. I'll have to dig out my drill press and set it up to drill two holes through each side and the front panel (a total of six) into the base to secure the dock to the base, then tap (thread) the holes in the base and open up the holes in the sides for screw clearance. I'll probably use 4-40 flat head screws (I already have some in black oxide but I'll have to cut them down to length). I'm only going to use screws to hold the dock to the base so I can remove the base if I ever have a problem with the connector stack. I still haven't figured out how I'm going to securely fasten the base inside the bottom of the dock for drilling.

I used my external optical drive to set this on since it was the first flat thing I saw within reach when I was taking the photo. This is the same shot with the connector stacks installed. It looks tight but there is a surprising amount of wiggle room there.

I'll also need to drill and tap holes into the ends of the 3/8" spacer bars (12 of them) to make sure the bars and the front and rear panels don't stray if the tape ever does let got.

Here is the dock sitting on my desk. I plugged a drive into each port, one at a time, to make sure I hadn't shorted anything out with aluminum filings (I thoroughly blew out everything first).

Once I drag out my drill press, set it up, get all the holes drilled and tapped, and the screws shortened and installed, I'll do some touch up filing ( ), sand all four sides and the bottom with the ROH, degrease it, then shoot some self-etching primer on the sides, sand, fill any cracks the primer didn't fill, shoot some more primer, then shoot on some color (probably black since I have plenty of it and my computer, etc. are all black). When I get to actually paint will depend on the weather. Strictly speaking, it's been too hot and/or too humid but I probably can set the dock on a board, take it outside to squirt on the paint, then haul it inside until time for the next coat.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I figured out how to secure the base to the dock for drilling. I found some short pieces of 3/8" square aluminum bar in my scrap stash to use for shims. I put some double stick carpet tape on opposite sides of the bars and used them to stick the base into the dock.

It will be fun to get that back off after drilling but it should hold just fine.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I next laid out all the holes to be drilled. It wasn't difficult but it was tedious and time consuming. I decided to use three holes per side and front to secure the base instead of just two. This is where the holes on the sides are.

This is the front.

And the rear.

That's only 21 holes . I'm pooped. I'll dig out and set up the drill press tomorrow or Tuesday.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I got ambitious this morning and lugged my little drill press out of storage and schlepped it to the top of my washing machine. I use it there because it's closer to eye level, making it much easier on my back.

I taped around the door in the top of the washing machine to keep chips out of the machine.

I used a #43 (.0890") wire number drill bit to drill holes to be tapped (threaded) for 4-40 screws. The depth stop on my drill press is the equivalent of a bad dad joke so I ran a 4-40 Nylok locking nut onto the drill bit to act as a depth stop that wouldn't scar up the face of the work any more than would get cut away when I countersunk the holes.

The exposed part of the drill bit is 1/2" long so, when the nut stopped up against the work, the holes would consistently be 1/2" deep, more so than when using the old piece of tape on the drill bit trick. The nut started slipping down the bit a little past halfway through the job so I had to use a second nut.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

When I got the drill press, it didn't have a work light on it (the main reason I got this one is it weighs only 43 lb., pretty much the maximum I can lift without blowing my back out) so I got an LED one designed for sewing machines that had a magnetic base with a switch in it and installed it on the drill press. I didn't trust the magnet alone to keep the light in place so I cleaned the magnetic base and the drill press casting where I wanted to mount the base with acetone, then put a layer of E6000 adhesive on the magnet and stuck in place, twisting it to get as thin and even a layer of adhesive as possible. That thing hasn't even thought about coming loose over the past few years. I also routed the power cord of the light to the drill press' switch box and wired it to the hot side of the switch so I won't have to plug in more than one power cord and I can turn on the light when the drill press isn't running.

I love that little light!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

When drilling aluminum, some kind of cutting fluid needs to used to keep the aluminum chips from fusing to the drill bit. For drilling and tapping, I like using Tap Magic EP-Extra Cutting Fluid. It's designed for use with all metals so I have to keep only one kind around. I got a kick out of the label. It lists 17 different kinds of metal, then, for number 18, it says "all metals".

It dawned on me while I was drilling the holes for the base that the oil might get into places it shouldn't so, for the rest of the holes in the dock, I drilled them dry. That was not easy. This drill press is really not meant for metal working. The slowest speed it has is 600 rpm, at least twice as fast as it should be for drilling in aluminum, especially when dry drilling. To keep chips from fusing to the bit too badly, I had to frequently back out the bit while drilling to hopefully clear the chips. Even then, I often had to stop the drill and pick the chips out of the flutes of the drill where they had fused. It was a slow, tedious process but I eventually finished.

After all the holes were drilled, I was going to countersink them but I didn't know how deeply I needed to go. I was going to cut some 4-40 screw I had down to 1/4" long but, after cutting the first one, I decided I wasn't crazy enough to do 20 more. I do have enough 4-40 x 3/16" screws but that was a little too short for my comfort so I ordered a box of 4-40 x 1/4" black oxide stainless screws from McMaster.com (you can't buy stuff like that in this miserable, misbegotten, stupid, one horse, Podunk, piddle squat, rinkydink, flea-bag, Mickey Mouse megalopolis). I should get them Tuesday. To make sure I countersink the screws to the correct depth, I'm going to wait until I get the screws. It's not like the world will end if I don't get this done right this minute.

This is the countersink I was going to use. It's 1/4" inch, more than big enough. I have several in larger sizes as well, but this one is less chatter-prone when cutting aluminum and it's easier to see under it.

Rather than twiddle my thumbs while waiting on the screws, I went ahead and tapped (threaded) the holes I just drilled. This is the tap and tap wrench I used.

When tapping any metal, cutting fluid is needed but, again, I was loath to use it since the oil might get into places it shouldn't so I tried tapping dry. That almost ended in disaster. On the first attempt, the tap got stuck. It took several minutes of carefully twisting the wrench back and forth until I was finally able to get the tap to back out. I was sweating bullets the whole time (anyone need any bullets?). Taps this small are really easy to break.

Since dry tapping was out of the question, I minimized the danger of cutting oil going where it shouldn't by using it really sparingly. I would put a drop on the tap, spread it over the tap with my fingers, blot up most of it onto a paper shop towel, then start tapping...very carefully (much like the way porcupines make love). When ever I noticed the drag increasing, I backed the tap out, cleared the chips from the flutes at the end, applied more oil, then went back to it. I would have to do this around three times per hole. Because of that and because I was going slowly and breaking chips more frequently than I normally would (you reverse a tap about 1/4 to 1/2 turn to break chips), it took about three or four more times longer than usual to tap a hole like this. And the whole time, I was as nervous as a squirrel in a treeless dog park.

Despite getting the tap stuck once, and drilling and tapping taking so long, everything worked out well. Now that it is done, I'm happy as a kitten under a leaky cow.

So, the project is on hold while I wait for the screws. At least my back is happy because I don't have to schlep the QE2's boat anchor...er... the drill press back to storage.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I figured out how to make a dust cover for the dock. I cut some 1/8" scrap black plastic (my guess is Plexiglas) into a rectangle a shade larger than the top of the dock so I would have something to grip when removing it. I originally polished the edges with sandpaper up to 600 grit, then toothpaste on a 3" x 5" note card, then did the final polishing on a clean card. To keep the cover position on the dock, I cut 4 little blocks from the scrap and fastened them to the underside of the cover to register into the openings on the top of the dock with carpet tape (it was easier to position than the VHB tape but is still strong enough. I was expecting positioning the blocks to be a real stinker (polite term) but it actually wasn't too difficult.

Sadly, the glossy surface collected fingerprints like bees to honey so I eventually sanded the top and edges so I can paint it when I paint the dock.

Here, the dust cover is on the dock. It's easy to lift off, then replace.

In this shot, you can see the blocks that keep the cover in place on the dock.

What looks like white edges on the blocks is actually light reflecting off where I chamfered the blocks to make putting the cover onto the top a bit easier.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I picked up the screws today and countersunk all the screw holes (that was tedious). I'll put the drill press away tomorrow.

I'll prep the dock (sans base) and the dust cover Thursday evening and, weather permitting, drag my ample asset out of bed early Friday morning and paint them.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I prepped the dock and dust cover for painting, hopefully tomorrow morning, weather permitting, by donning some nitrile gloves to avoid getting skin oils on the surfaces, sanding the surfaces with red Scotch-Brite, then cleaning off the sanding dust and degreasing the surfaces, first with contact cleaner, then with 99% IPA (isopropyl alcohol; IPA also helps to remove the oxide layer from aluminum).

After that, I masked off the top openings with blue painters' tape by sticking strips of the tape onto the top and trimming the edges with a new single edge razor blade, using a razor blade scraper to hold the blade. While a bit tedious, it went a lot better than I expected. After trimming the tape, I degreased again with IPA.

I'm limited to painting when the temperature is 90°F or lower and the humidity is 65% or less. Depending on if we get rain tonight, when we get it, and how much, hopefully I'll get to paint between 7AM and 11AM. Temperature is not likely to be too high before 11AM but the humidity may be a problem. And it's thundering right now. As long as it doesn't rain too much too late this night, the humidity should stay just low enough.

If I'm not able to paint tomorrow morning, I'll just have to put it off until I get a morning when conditions are acceptable. It shouldn't take much more than around 2 1/2 hours to shoot a couple of coats of primer, then two coats of color.

I have the dock setting on a block on a piece of plywood and the dust cover setting next to it. To paint, after cleaning with IPA again, I'll carefully carry the plywood outside, then, after squirting on the last coat, carefully bring the plywood inside and let it dry for a few days. I'm not going to remove and replace the masking tape between coats. Instead, I'll use the razor blade scraper to remove the tape once the paint is dry to the touch but not fully hardened yet.

This is a shot of the plywood, paint and the dock and dust cover, all ready to go in the morning.

[MurphCID]

Just so impressive!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Just so impressive!

Thanks!