My first SERIOUS mod, My first Wooden case!

[SatanSkin]

Ok, earlier today I went and picked up some wood to get started on building my own custom case. This is my first major mod and also first time building a case. I still haven't really thought out the design and what not too thoroughly, but oh well. Let's see what kind of **** I can come up with and throw together. I should be getting a camera soon and will be putting up pics detailing my progress. Good luck to me.

[musawi]

Good Luck.

[z0n3]

Wood huh. Will you still use a metal motherboard try?

[Daewood]

personally i hate wood cases cause there are already to much wood in a house not like you need more...

but anyways i still want to see it keep up the posts.

[SatanSkin]

Just to pop in real quick, I will be trying to make the entire thing out of wood except for things such as hinges, brackets, etc. to hold the case together. But as far as mobo tray, Drive cages, etc, i will be trying to do that all in wood.

[Ad Rock]

Wow this could be very interesting if you have the woodworking skillz to pull this off properly. You got one follower :).

[iNterBeiNg]

sounds sweet to me, looking forward to seeing it completed

[Skeen]

I've wanted to do the same thing. It'd be nice with a good finish, more like a piece of furniture rather than some appliance with windows and bling bling (no offense to folks who like that sort of thing) :D

[ryanmartini]

im looking into doing the exact same thing. tell me how it goes! =)

[Maximus Faticus]

In my opinion here this probably the best wood case out there. It wqas what inspired me to make a wood case of my own.

http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=45154

Another great case made out of wood.

http://bit-tech.net/article/115/

I didn't make a work log for my case, but you can see the beta version of it here I guess

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=3065247#post3065247


I made a few mistakes along the way that may help you.

First, paint and spackle at the very end. I spackled over my screws and can no longer take the case apart if I really need too. The more you work on it the more idea's you come up with, and it sucks if you can't go back and change something. There are also some excellent tips in my thread that have helped me a ton. Another thing to remember is that wood is very easy to mod, and you are really only limited by your imagination. Don't make something that looks like one of those store bought cookie cutter cases. You can make it whatever shape or size you want too.

[SatanSkin]

Hey guys, sorry it's been a couple of days with no news. The first day I started, I learned an important lesson: ALWAYS CHECK YOUR TOOLS BEFORE USING THEM! The only saw I had that day was an old jigsaw and I cut out my first piece before I noticed the blade was bent. So the cuts were all angled, making that piece pretty useless. So I had to wait a couple days on a table saw. So today I cut out a few of the pieces. That's about it. I'm working on getting some more of the tools I need rounded up as well as some other things for the aesthetics of the case. I should have some pics up as soon as I get a little more progress made. I'm pretty busy these days so progress comes slowly for me, but hang in there!

[SatanSkin]

I should have a couple pics up within the next couple of days. There is one thing I need to work out so if anyone is skilled in AutoCAD please PM me. Thanks.

[sunrunner20]

Don't you have to worry about EMI and sheilding if you make an all wooden case?

[SatanSkin]

Hey all. About pics: I can't find the cable for the camera (****ing parents)! As far as progress, I've been looking into being allowed to use the CNC machine at the local high school. I will be using it to cut out the back panel and the I/O ports. I have also been working on doing up some drawings in AutoCAD for the panel. Other than that I haven't had much time or money to work on it.

[SatanSkin]

OH and I don't think i have anything to worry about with the EMI shielding. I haven't heard of anything of that sort from the others that have made there own wooden cases. Let me know if you see anything that suggests i should.

[sunrunner20]

Ask them if they can watch TV with the computer in the woden case on. computers put out a HEAVY HEAVY... level of EMI. I have the side panel of a computer off with it faceing AWAY from the TV and I get CRAPPY picture on the tv untill the case is back on or the computer turned off.