Project: custom oak case

[shiltz]

currently working on making a new case for my new computer i'm putting together.

first the computer specs:
CPU: Athlon 64 3000+ Venice
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Premium
Memory: 2X Corsair XMS 512mb PC3200
Video card: BFG 7800GTX
HDD's: WD Raptor 74GB/WD Raptor 36.7GB/Maxtor 120GB SATA
PSU: Antec TruePower 2.0 TPII-550
Sound card: Audigy 2
Monitor: Dell FP2001
Radiator: Danger Den double heater core
CPU block: Swiftech Storm
GPU block: Maze 4 GPU
Pump: Eheim 1250

next here's some shots of the model when I designed it. most of the parts in the case are made out of oak except for the rear panel which will be aluminum and the motherboard tray which i'm gona cut out of another case.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case_render1.JPG

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case_render2.JPG

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case_render3.JPG

[shiltz]

now here's the pictures of my progress so far, first the bottom panel where the radiator is going, still need to cut the hole for the PSU to intake air from but waiting for that to come in the mail still.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case1.jpg

here's the top panel with the danger den fill port installed, had to route out the bottom of the opening to make the wood thin enough to actualy get the nut on that holds in in place.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case2.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case3.jpg

here's the front panel of the case, I still need to cut out the bottom opening which will hide a multifunction drive bay with USB / firewire / card reader / fan control / etc behind a hinged panel. for a while I was trying to decide what I wanted to do for the power button, mostly it's going to be the oak and i'm going to paint other components with one of those spray paints that make it look like antique brass and posibly a few things black but most of the buttons I saw were chrome or just cheapo plastic ones which would match so I decided to make my own.

for the button I took the switch mechinism from an old case then I designed the button to fit on it, the button is .125" thick oak with the power button symbol cut out all the way thru, then I cut a piece of acrylic and drilled a hole to put an LED in it and glued it to the oak piece and then I made the mating piece to mate it onto the switch mechinism, the LED will be the power on LED so the power symbol will glow blue when the computer is on.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case4.jpg

and here's a close up on the actual button.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case5.jpg

[ghettocomp]

OK, Im Hooked....
*subscribed*

Maybe use something different for that power button?
Like I had done for my HTPC server here (http://www.ocforums.com/showpost.php?p=3681393&postcount=15)
I only say so because to me it does not seem quite right for a wood button.
Its just me :)

[P4mustangtime]

Definely...line,hook and sinker!
subcrised

I got to say - you're doing a nice job with the wood! Oak is great when all stained out, I've alway love these wood look. A wooden button?! How did you get it like that - with a dermal?

I've got some red oak wood stowed at my mom's - maybe that's what I should do for my next PC project (HMM! my mind churgin along...) :)

[BioTuned]

nice nice...i will soon be working on a case like this but different. I don't know much about wood and its tools, but maybe you can help. what kind of tools did you use to cut the wood i.e. making big holes, making that power button and all. I am planning on installing either a motorized 7-8" LCD or Regular LCD (non-motorized). And i am also planning making some designed cuts on the case on it as well. get back at me.

[Wwing49]

I think the wood button is bad ass... Id keep it, I think it will be one of the things that sets this wood box apart

[silentdebuggers]

Nice job. I agree that the wood button is pretty tight.

[k3nshin]

are you going to stain the wood?

[damarble]

Looks good so far!

I gave up on my wood case, it wasnt tyrning out too well. I dont have enough tools to make it really nice. If I ever try again I will just make some wood panels for a regular steel case frame.

[DerekDRP]

nice work so far ( but be 4 warned ) that thing youl need a crane to take it to a land party.

[Sshadow]

No he is taking it to a lawnparty... j/k
Looking good so far, keep us updated. My g/f was just looking over it and she went aaah i want something looking like that..

//Christian

[Wwing49]

Yea, Itll be heavy, but if he gets it there everyone will be staring at the case while he blows their head off.

[laynlow]

Excellent progress so far. I can't wait to see the final result. :cool:

[Son1990]

Keep the button!

[shiltz]

here's some more shots of my progress.

here's the front panel with the door to cover the front USB/firewire/memory car reader/etc, I am keeping the wooden button, just took it off while I was working on the panel.
http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case6.jpg

and here's a close up with the door open.
http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case7.jpg

here's the drive bay filler panels, i'll also be doing a stealth mod to the DVD with one of these panels as the front.
http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case8.jpg

and here's the top which I just finished glueing the drive brackets onto it.
http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case9.jpg

A wooden button?! How did you get it like that - with a dermal?
yup, holesaw to make the button and then a dremel to cut out the power symbol and make the button concave.

what kind of tools did you use to cut the wood i.e. making big holes, making that power button and all
power button see above, for the larger openings I used a sabersaw and then a file to finish the openings.

are you going to stain the wood?
yeah, haven't decided on the exact stain yet though, I do want to keep the red oak look like it is now, but a bit darker, not to dark though.

nice work so far ( but be 4 warned ) that thing youl need a crane to take it to a land party.
never actualy been to a lan party so not an issue at least yet, my current case isn't much better anyways though, it's a very large steel case.


posibly been thinking about seeing if I can make a keyboard top out of the oak and a monitor front bezel as well so those will match too, don't think i'll be able to do it for the mouse though.

[-maddog-]

Nice button, could use some plastic the holes(not neccisary). I think it would look cooler if were concave or convex.

[Fathom1990]

Looks nice.

[OCS911]

is this like Lian Li Oak-Series? :p

[flamerail]

is this like Lian Li Oak-Series? :p


Its better than Lian Li :clap:

[voigts]

And I've joked about the UFO cases being a piece of furniture...

This is really a neat concept. The only disadvantage I see is that of weight. But I bet it will look really sweet when it is done.

[Electron Chaser]

This is really looking great. Looking forward to more updates. Very nice craftsmanship.

[shiltz]

here's the latest, have the frame together and the baffle panel in and started on the panels, the panels are just resting in place atm, haven't decided on what to use to mount them yet, just know I want to mount them in a way that the only visable hardware on the face is the brass knob to pull the panels open.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case10.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case11.jpg

[Nexus Realized]

Beautiful case, but I don't think I'm digging the 1970's brass kitchen cupboard handle in the front. :shrug:

[DerekDRP]

Very Nice so far keep the good work up. thats an order :p

[shiltz]

here's the latest update finishing up staining the case and painting what I needed to.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case12.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case13.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case14.jpg

the side panels were completely done but I had used heavy duty double sided carpet tape to hold the acrylic panel on, it didn't hold though and when I went to epoxy it on I acidentaly got epoxy on the middle of the panel so have to get another one now.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case15.jpg

here's the motherboard tray painted, as well as the pump. the pictures unfortunatly don't show the paint detail well, it looks like hammered metal.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case16.jpg

and here's the back panel, I bought a cheapo case to cut up for it and the motherboard tray and I epoxyed it on and then bondoed it so it didn't look like two panels stuck together.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case17.jpg

[pcgamer4life]

Incredible progress, makes me want to make a wooden case.

[Son1990]

Very nice. he only wooden PC thats worth looking at GREAT JOB!!

~Ken

[shiltz]

starting to put everything together now so here's a few more pictures. hopefully will have the computer in it and running this week, still need to sleeve the PSU and replace all the connectors on it with blue UV reactive sleeving and connectors and sleeve all the other various cables and wires as well plus a few other little things I haven't finished up yet.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case18.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case19.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case20.jpg

[Electron Chaser]

Wow that looks fantastic! Very nice work and craftsmanship. Definately one of the nicest custom PC cases made out of wood that I have seen.

[kayson]

Wow. That looks amazing. It almost makes me want to make a wood case. Except I have no idea how to make one and they're just way too heavy.

[SniperXX]

Wow that looks nice. I always wanted to make a wood case but I like to go to lan parties and would be afraid of dinging the wood. I may make one for my regular home pc. :D

[shiltz]

finaly got it all together and up and running now, have a few problems to fix though, the power LED doesn't work, have a feeling the MB doesn't put out enough voltage for it, that or it's a bad LED, also the CPU's temp is high for being on the water cooling loop, was 30C idle on the boxed heatsink, and only 28C on the water cooling, the MB is also measuring the case temp kind of high at 39C, though the seperate temp sensor I have in the MB area says it's only 24C, wondering if it measure the MB temp at the heatsink for the voltage regulators and chipset which now doesn't have the CPU's fan cooling it. also couldn't get the connectors off the PSU to put the blue UV reactive ones I got on. well anyways, here's the pictures.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case21.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case22.jpg

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case23.jpg

[shiltz]

unfortunatly my camera doesn't do good at all with pics without the flash so this one to show the UV lighting didn't come out all that good.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case24.jpg

here's my stealth modded DVD drive

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case25.jpg

and here's my front I/O panel

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case26.jpg

and last in the middle of the PSU wiring there is a drain valve for the water cooling loop.

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case27.jpg

[sicloan]

Looks great man. Seriously very nice job.

[pcgamer4life]

simply amazing....

[Benvanz]

That is the best wooden case I have EVER seen!!!!! but im not diggin the old style handles :shrug:

[flamerail]

The water tubes look a little out of place.... other than that... amazing job!! Well done man! My grandpal would be proud of that!

[maxxoverclocker]

That is the best wooden case I have EVER seen!!!!! but im not diggin the old style handles :shrug:

WOW :O looks amazing but ^ i agree i think it might look better without the handles and have it completely stealthed

[Who]

I'm not a big fan of the handles either, but still awesome work man.

[RMT99e]

looks great!! im with the other guy above though, im not diggin' the handles.

[SniperXX]

I like it but Im the same w/ the handles but since you like it thats all that matters since its ur mod not ours. :D

[Turtle Shell]

very nice job and personally i really like the handles

[shiltz]

thanks, originaly I wasn't going to do it with handles but I need at least one to open the bottom panel for the I/O bay, and decided to carry up to all the others to match and give it a cabinet look, like it was a bunch of drawers to store stuff in.

hmm, now that I think of it maybe I should mod one to actualy be a drawer to store stuff in, lol, I only actualy need 2 of those top 6 bays, the others are just incase.

[Son1990]

Thats the best wooden case...everyone ealse is talk..YOU DA MAN!

~Ken

[P4mustangtime]

Real NICE job! The stained look is great - gives its looks a classic style. Through I'm not sure about the handles, but hey it's your mod! Yeah one drawer built in would be cool (keeps your floppy discs and whatever you put in there). :)

[[OC]Lucifer]

Nice job.. reminds me of the suitcase PC I built out of Baltic Birch and stained.

[Fr3@k3r]

now make one for me :)

other than that, very very nice job :)

[informalmyx]

i would go with the handle actualy carved into the wood like on cabinets. IMO metal handles dont look right on finshed wood

[shiltz]

one more little update, had this planned to go in but I just got it the mail the day after I got the computer together and had to make the face plate for it, it's a musketeer 2 bay device, just to add a little more to the older looking style with the analog gauges, left and right ones are left and right audio and the center is HD activity :)

http://pages.prodigy.net/shiltz/case28.jpg

[informalmyx]

have you thought about carving a desing into it like you find on the arms of wooden accented furninture

[shiltz]

yeah, was thinking about etching a design in it in the space below the power button with my dremel, but couldn't find any design I liked so didn't bother, and it's kind of late now cause if I screw up i'm screwed because it's not like I can really just take the front panel off and make a new one.

[Big_Baller]

Very nice case. Absolutely kick ass job. I think this has sparked my interest and I will finally try a wooden case in awhile. Since I have the tools and someone skilled available to help me.

How many hours do you think you put into the project?

[shiltz]

a lot? lol, probably 60-80 hours I would guess counting the time I took to design it too, maybe more but didn't really keep track of if, just worked on it whenever I had some free time.

[Aaron Burton]

dude, ignore the noobs telling you that the handles aren't cool. That case is the balls. I don't think I've ever seen a wooden case as well implemented as this.

kudos.

[SatanSkin]

That's one damn good looking case! Great work man!

[4GHZ_or_bust]

Great looking case! If the power LED still won't work, try flipping the plug around. LED is polarity specific and won't light up in reverse.

Just one thing: since there's not much metal (mobo tray and back ports) how is the RF interference? If the PC's causing your TV to pick up pron web site through antenna, you may want to watch out for FCC van patrolling the street looking for a noisy machine.

[Numbstruck]

Wow, you did an amazing job on that case. Looks VERY good. :)

Would be a cool thing to do to match your entertainment center with an HTPC or the like.

hmmm...

*edited for useless negativity

[jdrake90]

Way to go man...
Looks awesome... bet it weights a ton!

jdrake90

[johnny5c]

that is the best wooden case I've seen, very nice job. I wish I had the time to build one because my black Antec now seems ugly next to my oak desk.

[Electron Chaser]

that is the best wooden case I've seen, very nice job.


QFE :thup:

An all around outstanding job!!!

[Sneaky]

nice job so far... makes me wonder what a case made out of birdseye maple burl would look like :drool:

[blackhawk397]

thats a really beautiful case! :)

[thegreek]

wow this is one of the best wood cases I've seen