View Full Version : Project custom wood case II- Danger Den
I built a custom wood case a few months ago (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=449062) that I have been using. I spent untold hours designing this case from the ground up with the specific goals in mind of making a case that would naturally deflect any leaks away from any hardware and that would like a piece of furniture and not just another computer case.
I enjoyed the project and learned a lot of techniques from it. I also found however after building that there were some things I didn’t like about the case. I particularly didn’t like not being able, no matter what I did, to really integrate the radiator into the case layout well. I also disliked that bleeding/filling was not as easy as I would have liked. And I also did not the like the fact that it is very heavy. I don’t go to LAN parties or such, but just picking it up to take it outside and blow out the dust takes some real oomph. Tubing routing also had a few challenges due to case layout and wiring routing. So, I have been chewing on the idea of making another case.
I have been looking more and more in recent months at the Danger Den custom wood cases that they have on their site (http://www.dangerdenstore.com/product.php?productid=201&cat=1&page=1) , and I like what I see. They look very classy and professional. I read in a thread sometime back that they start at about $800 and go up. Well, I don’t have $800, but I calculated that I can make a case very similar to those customized for my setup. In order to be able to integrate the rad well, I decided I would however have to change rads from my car rad. After doing some research on XS, I could see that the best rad on the market is the Thermochill PA line. DD had a 20% coupon going, so I bit the bullet and bought a new PA 120.3 with the coupon for $105 shipped (not a bad deal if you ask me).
I spent a lot of time magnifying and studying DD’s pics to figure out how they make their cases. I can’t go as tall as those due to the compartment in my oak roll top desk, so I settled on having the PS and Rad both on the top of the case, and just make the case deeper than theirs, which would fit my desk. The dimensions are 26 1/2" deep x 19" high x 9 1/4" wide.
Since I have worked the mostly with Pine, and since it is a lot less expensive than Oak or the like, I settled on using 1’x10” (actually ¾” x 9 ¼”) select Pine from Lowes. This is very nice wood that has no knots whatsoever.
By looking at the joints on the corners, I figured out that what they did is use what is called a mortise and tenon joint.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/25-mortise-and-tenon.gif
This kind of joint makes for increased gluing area and strength as the pieces fit into each other. It also makes for a very clean looking joint and allows for the way that the corners are rounded out to fit the acrylic side panels. I have never done this kind of joint before, so I figured this was a good time to leam. Fortunately, when I recommended to my wife the router that I wanted for Christmas a few years ago, I opted for one that has two interchangeable bases, one of which is a plunge base. I haven’t used the plunge base before, but it was pretty much common sense once I figured out how to get the main dust encrusted base out of the router.
I decided to go with a ¼” mortise. So, using the router, I set up a jig with pieces of wood clamped to my workshop table and plunged out a groove on all of the ends leaving 1” on both sides of the groove. I used a table saw to cut out the tenon joints, and used a rotary tool to round the tenon edges to match the groove for a tight fit.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/MortTen2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/MortTen1.jpg
It worked very well and to my pleasant surprise, I ended up with some nice joints. I did mess up the first one a bit, but I decided to put it at the bottom rear of the case where it won’t make a difference anyway. Later after I had cut all of my holes, I used a square and clamps to glue and clamp the case together making sure it is square and let it dry overnight.
I really like the look of the motherboard tray that they make, but the more I looked at it the more I realized there was just no practical way for me to make that in its entirety. So I decided to use just the PCI slots and MB connectors section from a MB tray that I ordered from performance-pcs (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210&products_id=3387) and make the back panel and actual tray out of acrylic. I had a sheet of 3/16” polycarbonate that I had bought off of ebay that I decided to use for this. This stuff is harder and less flexible than regular cast acrylic, so it is ideal for this. I wanted plenty of holes for wiring routing, so I cut holes in the tray. I used regular pop rivets to secure the metal PCI panel to the rear panel and the side panel, and drilled out and drove a few screws from the back panel into the side panel, and then also glued the joint with acrylic solvent. I am very pleased with how this turned out and it is very solid. I also cut out a 3/16” acrylic mount for the PSU to go with it.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/mb1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/mb2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/mb3.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/mb4.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/mb5.jpg
At this point I was trying to decide where to place the rest of my components before I started cutting holes. Using the handy dandy program Sketchup and parts from the sketchup components collection (http://scc.jazzle.co.uk/) and models from the last case, I modeled out a couple of possible scenarios. I wanted to make another 5” fan hole res like the one in my last case as I really like the look and function of it. So I drew out and placed my components keeping in mind tubing routing.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/sketchup.jpg
I then measured and cut out the holes for the MB tray, the PSU, and the rad on top. When I got to the front however, I had some decisions to make. I hadn’t included a fan intake into my sketch, and I decided that I wanted one to blow on the hard drives. I was going to cause a problem however cutting a fan hole as it really wouldn’t leave enough room for the depth of the rad and fans, the res in front, and the DVD drive. So I made the decision to move the power switches and go without a floppy drive. I just figure for the once in a blue moon when I need one I can just temporarily hook one up.
A friend of mine at work let me borrow his scroll saw. One big problems I had on the first case was in cutting out rectangular holes in the case with a jigsaw. A jigsaw works fine for plain, straight cuts with no corrections, but if you try to go back and slightly alter a hole or get a precision cut, the blade has a tendency to bend which results in holes with crooked sides.
This became a major headache when trying to cut precision holes like for the DVD drive. The scroll saw made it possible to cut very, very accurate holes. I used it the cut out the DVD drive slot. I used my drill press with an adjustable bit to drill the fan hole. I made a mistake however and drilled the hole on the wrong end of the front which messed up my measurements for the res hole. I had to have the res down far enough from the top to clear the rad and fans. So after much consternation, I decided to go ahead and drill the rad hole in the DVD slot hole and find a way to make it work. My drill press however wouldn’t reach the spot the res hole needed to go, so I used the scroll saw to cut out the round hole. After trying a couple of ideas, I ended up using a piece of the same smoked grey acrylic I am using for the sides to fill the entire res hole and corners. It took a lot of cutting and trimming to make this work.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/resCoverFront.jpg
I wanted to find switches like the ones DD uses. I used some buttons Radio Shack on the last case and they just look cheap. I looked everywhere. Most places call them “vandal resistant switches” and charge $20 ea for them (ouch!). After much searching to find out what they are called and where to find them, I found them from MNPCTECH.COM (http://www.mnpctech.com/Vandal_Resistant_Switch.html) for only $4 ea. I wanted mine gold, so I just simply painted them. These switches are very nice.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/switches.jpg
I used a trick I learned from the first case to mount these. Using a wood boring bit, you first drill out a hole large enough for the nut and just deep enough to be able to thread it onto the switch, and then drill out the smaller switch body hole in the middle of the larger hole. This way you can mount a switch that only has about ½” of thread into ¾” thick wood.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/switchHoles1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/switchHoles2.jpg
I used this same trick to mount the fillport. I bought a Delrin fillport from ebay as the seal screw in my Danger Den one in the first case started to corrode after on a couple of months. With the fillport however having such a large nut and the hole being right next to the rad cutout, I didn’t want to take out more wood than I had to. So I drilled out the large hole about 3/8” deep and then the small hole the rest of the way. I then traced the edges of the nut and reamed them out with the rotary tool with a drum sanding bit to make a hole that fits the nut. This also makes it easy to thread the fillport.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/fillport1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/fillport3.jpg
I made another res like the one in my last wood case for this one. When I had the pieces laser cut, I ordered 3 sets. I made it out of 1/4” acrylic solvent welded with IPS weld-on number 3. The bottom barbs each have a hole drilled through the threads to make draining easier. I cut off the top thread to the thickness of the acrylic so that all of the air will go out of the top. I again used wood thread inserts to make screw holes for the res to mount into.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/resMount.jpg
When I leaktest my reservoirs, I use a waterbed fill kit to hook them up to the kitchen sink and test them under faucet pressure. Standard faucet pressure here is about 50psi. I tested mine with the faucet about ½ open for 2 hours and even banged it around a bit. If it doesn't leak under this pressure, it isn't going to leak.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/LeaktestRes-1.jpg
My plunge router again came in handy to mount the USB/firewire board. I couldn’t just drill holes to get the right depth for the ports to come through the front due the board. They only stick out about ¼” from the board. So I took the plunge router and cut out a ½” deep inset for them. I bought one from Directron that mounts into a 3.5” bay, cut off the plastic front of the mount, and used that plastic front for a template on the wood. I drilled two holes used the wonderful scroll saw to make almost exact holes for the ports. I mounted a fan controller right behind the USB ports. I basically just wanted it to be able to get my fans down to 4v easily. I don't adjust fan speeds so I opted to just mount it internally instead of cutting more holes in the front.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/usbFront.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/usbFanContRearView.jpg
The crown jewel of this project is the front fanhole grill. I made one for it, but just wasn’t satisfied with it. I looked at the pics of the one DD cut out of the case wood itself (--pics of DD fan hole grill) and really like the looks of it. I however want mine to be removable from the front for easy cleaning. A neat idea came to mind to make an initial for the fan grill. Of course I was going to use “V”. I found a nice font, drew it up in Photoshop to match the size of the fanhole, printed it out, cut it out, and then traced it onto a round piece I cut using carbon paper.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/V.jpg
I drilled holes and used the wonderful scroll saw to cut out the letter, and with a bit of sanding using the rotary tool, the result is something I am very pleased with. I then just gorilla glued some mesh to the back of it to catch dust.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/Vfront.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/Vback.jpg
One other thing I never did like on the first case is that I never did stealth the DVD drive front. So using the scroll saw, I traced and cut out a wooden face complete with button onto ¼” wood and made a wooden DVD face. I am just going to use very strong double-sided tape to hold it onto the drive.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/dvdCover1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/dvdCover2.jpg
I also wanted to make a filtered air inlet in the bottom of the case. I probably won’t mount fans there, but I cut it to fit two fans anyway so that I can if I decide to later. The top and bottom fan mounts are made out of 3/8” pine. Since the fans are 1” thick and the case is only ¾” thick, I used the plunge router to cut just under ¼” out from the middle of the mounts so that fans and some foam would fit between them with the mounts on top and on bottom.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/fanCoverBottom.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/fanCoverTop.jpg
I used the router with the plain base on a router table to route out the slots in the sides for the acrylic side panels. I measured and made sure not to cut all the way to the ends on the front and back so that I could get a smooth round groove.
I wanted a way to be able to reliably hold the side panels to the wood. I used #6 screw wood inserts for the side panel mounting holes. I got some really slick knurled brass screws from mcmaster for this and they work great.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/knurledScrew.jpg
I made a top rad mount so that I could have the fans pushing. I got a great template from a guy on XS, and used it to cut out a mount out of acrylic. I then painted it black.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/radMount1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/radMount2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/radMount3.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/top.jpg
I also made some acrylic drive mounts. I don't have it pictured here, but I did drill out and cut out slots on the DVD mounts. I haven't cut the hard drive mounts because I don't know the exact spacing of my DD hard drive blocks. I will mark them and drill them out when I put things together.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/driveMounts.jpg
After a LOT of sanding, staining, resanding, restaining, resanding, polyurethane coat #1, more sanding, polyurethane coat #2, more sanding, polyurethane coat #3, and a good wipe down with furniture polish, the result is a nice smooth, shiny old English oak colored finish. I actually intended to use more of a golden oak color, but I decided to go with the English Oak stain as it came in water based form. Water based stain dries in like 3 hours vs. overnight with oil, and cleans up so much easier. I used left over water based poly from when I refinished my living room floor a while back.
An issue that was a real problem in the first wood case is that of wire management. I gave a lot of thought as to how to route and hide wires with this case. One advantage of having the case 9 1/4” wide is that with the PA120.3 centered, it gives me about 2” between it and the side of the case. On the back side of the case, this allows for me to route my wires all behind the rad. I wanted to make them out of view however. I made an L shaped piece out of 2 1/4” thick pieces of the same pine (ripped from a 3/4” board) to fit behind the rad on the backside to hide and support the wiring. I used nylon spacers glued together with gorilla glue to fit the 2 3/16” depth of the L so that I could use a 3” #6 screw through the L and nylon spacers into a wood thread insert to hold the L straight. I made another piece down the front side I_I shaped that uses wood inserts and 2 1/2” #6 screws to attach to the side to hide wires going down the back front side to the bottom of the case.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/Lside.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/LonSide.jpg
I have been debating about using my Fortron Blue Storm in this case as I want to change to red instead of blue as I think red will go better with the wood case color. I already bought 6-3 light led clusters and some red Toyota antifreeze (pentosin) for this. The cluster lights are a real improvement from cathodes as they are so much easier to wire, put out almost no heat, last about forever, and can be run continually. I saw last night on Anandtech deals an Antec Neopower 480 for only $60 from Outpost. The new version of this that Outpost is shipping has all of the cables sleeved in black. I also like the fact that the cables are very long, which will be great as this case is very long. I was going to run into the problem with my Fortron of some of the cables not being long enough, particularly the SATA power cables.
I also ordered a bunch of black male and female molex connectors from Ebay so that all cables can have black connectors. When I ordered the brass knurled screws from mcmaster, I also got a bunch of black heatshrink so that I can covered cables in black. They have it very cheap.
The case itself is finished. I now I have to wait a week or so before I get to start tearing apart my current case and move into this one. This case isn't perfect, but I am very pleased with the final product, and any flaws are minor at most and are barely visible. Making one like this really makes you appreciate the Danger Den wood cases a lot. They have the advantage of using laser cutting for all of the acrylic, which I don't have. But just from a wood working perspective, they have some really serious equiptment to make their cuts so straight and perfect.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/frontWdvdCover.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/rear.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/psuMount.jpg
So what do you folks think of it so far?
hainer36
09-03-06, 11:32 PM
looks amazing, great job...thats all i got :D
Thanks. How's life in Canada these days?
atomic ferret
09-03-06, 11:54 PM
That looks amazing. Great work voigts.
If you really don't want any wires showing, you could make strips of wood and glue them together at a 90 degree angle, forming gutters. You could them run all the wires inside these and stick them in corners of your case. Then maybe hold them down with some hidden clip. As you can see, I haven't thought very much about this. =)
SolidxSnake
09-04-06, 12:24 AM
can't say I've ever liked wood, but your case is almost convincing me man, I love it.
hainer36
09-04-06, 12:26 AM
Thanks. How's life in Canada these days?
its sweet, my watercooling turned to ice, the summers are that cold :D
if Asus rma's my P4P800, and i can find a cheap cpu, i may just have to build a wood case...more or less something that fits into my desk, but it will be wood. you case is one of the best woody's ive seen.... :D
That looks amazing. Great work voigts.
If you really don't want any wires showing, you could make strips of wood and glue them together at a 90 degree angle, forming gutters. You could them run all the wires inside these and stick them in corners of your case. Then maybe hold them down with some hidden clip. As you can see, I haven't thought very much about this. =)
Thanks a lot :)
If you look at the two pics on post #8, your idea is exactly what I am trying to do. I made an "L" shaped piece with 3-3" screws going through nylon spacers that screw into wood inserts on the back side of the case behind the rad, and a 3 sided box down the backside front corner. That way the only wiring visible should be whatever I run behind the MB, and the SATA and IDE cables from the MB to the drives. This "L" piece also will give me plenty of space to hide any excess wiring. Although I didn't take a picture of them, both sides of the case are out of clear acrylic.
its sweet, my watercooling turned to ice, the summers are that cold :D
Yikes, that COLD! Way too cold for a Tennessean! Can anyone say "ice" cooling?
Epox4life
09-04-06, 04:00 AM
Very nice, your craftsmanship is great. I like the custom wood fan grill.
Phrenetical
09-04-06, 05:31 AM
bloody awesome
can't wait to see it finished and the loop full.
clocker2
09-04-06, 05:42 AM
Very nice, V- your learning curve has been quite steep.
Now, what's #3 gonna be like?
ghettocomp
09-04-06, 06:13 AM
I like...I like!... I like!! wood cases can be awesome.
Junebug
09-04-06, 10:12 AM
Very nice job! I think wood cases are a nice change of pace (I have made two so far), but yours is nicer than either of mine so far. Nice job...
Junebug
Very nice, V- your learning curve has been quite steep.
Now, what's #3 gonna be like?
I really did learn a lot doing the first case. A lot of the little "tricks" that I used in this case I figured out doing the first one. It also was a lifesaver having the scroll saw to use as it made all of the difference when making precise cuts like the DVD drive hole, the cover for it, the USB and firewire holes, and especially the "V" fan grill. There is no way I could have gotten the little things done well without it as a jig saw is just too imprecise.
As for #3, I don't plan on that being any time soon. So far I really am pleased with how this case has turned out, which was not the case when I made the first one. I can't say however that I won't get the "bug" again at a later date...
Thanks for all of the other comments everyone. Of course I'll make sure to post pics when I get it all put together.
Well I got my Antec PSU in and the black male connectors I ordered. I ordered female connectors also but the seller is dragging their feet (from ebay) sending them. I have been working feverishly on it trying to get everything together. I am about worn out soldering and making wires long enough to be able to hide wiring neatly. I've also gone through an entire pack of black Vantec cable sleeving. I had to solder in a 2' extension on the sata power cable alone. I made a 3 pin Y cable going to the 2 fans in the floor so that I could hook them both up to one channel of the fan controller. I just made a 3 1/2' power cable today to feed the Video card so that I could run it around the backside of the MB. I also made an acrylic mount for my DDC & top so that I can mount it sideways (not on its bottom). I'm hoping to get it leaktesting this weekend. This is a lot of work but I must say that I am still very pleased with the results so far. I will post more pics shortly.
clocker2
09-17-06, 09:32 PM
Breath is bated.
Wiring/sleeving really is a PITA, my least favorite (thus, most neglected) part of a build.
Tell me about it! I have already sleeved and made way too many wires. I just got everything together and started to leaktest it and found a leak in the Aquadrive on one side. It is mounted kind of tight so that the mount may be pulling outward a bit, so I may just have to tighten down the screws some on the Aquadrive. But of course that means tearing out tubing and pump to get to it. Aaargh!
I am tempted to ditch the 7/16"ID and go back with 1/2"ID. I've got plenty of room and that 7/16" is a pain to work with getting it onto and off of barbs. I have been doing all of my work out in my work outbuilding and hence don't have any hot water to soak the tubing ends into to make it easier to get them on.
SolidxSnake
09-18-06, 05:56 AM
Tell me about it! I have already sleeved and made way too many wires. I just got everything together and started to leaktest it and found a leak in the Aquadrive on one side. It is mounted kind of tight so that the mount may be pulling outward a bit, so I may just have to tighten down the screws some on the Aquadrive. But of course that means tearing out tubing and pump to get to it. Aaargh!
I am tempted to ditch the 7/16"ID and go back with 1/2"ID. I've got plenty of room and that 7/16" is a pain to work with getting it onto and off of barbs. I have been doing all of my work out in my work outbuilding and hence don't have any hot water to soak the tubing ends into to make it easier to get them on.
Ouch, that's gotta be hard without the hot water. If that were the case I might move up to 1/2" masterkleer.
I finally got it all put together a couple of days ago. I ran into a number of problems to solve while routing tubing on this case. The main issue I had was how to easily fill and drain it. I know this sound easy, but having the top mounted res was an issue as I couldn't easily get to the small bleed screw without running the risk of spilling onto my MB if I filled it nearly full. I tried using ball valve drains as I have always done, but the small 1/4" ball valves were so small that the loop just wouldn't drain, and I didn't want to use a big clunky 1/2" ball valve. And filling the res became a problem as the air wouldn't escape because I had to use an elbow to go from the res to the fillport.
After much trial and error I finally added a 1/2" copper T with a small straight piece and a female 3/8" copper fitting coming out of the res for a drain. I have a 3/8" brass plug with an o-ring to seal it. I can simply remove the brass plug and drain the one half of the res out, put the plug back in, and then disconnect the line going from the T to the pump inlet. I then use my compressor to blow air into the T and everything pours out of the pump inlet line. This works very well as it makes the tubing a lot better than using drain valves and yet is very easy to drain out.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/T.jpg
I like to flush out my system after a build, and so I use a waterbed fill kit to hook it up to the kitchen sink and force flush it out. Its a good thing I did as a number of little bits of plastic and stuff flushed out. This pic is still when I was trying the drain ball valve idea.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/flushing.jpg
Here is another pic:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/side1.jpg
I am very pleased with the way the wood pieces worked out to hide most of the wiring on the mb side of the case:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/rightSide.jpg
More pics:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/flSide2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/frontRight.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/rear-1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/rearRightSide.jpg
With the clear sides on:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/flSide3.jpg
The camera just doesn't do the lighting justice. I used a total of six 3-light red LED clusters-2 for the res, and 4 for the inside of the case mounted behind a piece of wood by the res. My wife mentioned that the water looked a bit pink, but that with the lighting it doesn't matter. I am even pleased with the 2 red leds I wired with capacitors for the power and hd lights.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/flSideLights.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/frLights.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/frontLights.jpg
One thing that stinks is that for some reason the sata to ide adapter I tried to use on my DVD drive wouldn't work right, and somehow my DVD drive died. The BIOS recognizes it, but it won't read any disks at all. I'll probably order another one from Directron today, along with a single plug 18" black IDE cable.
Along with that, Windows' file system for some reason has just totally crapped out on me. I booted everything up just fine, installed a couple of updates, and now am getting nothing but file system error from corrupt files to whatever. I tested the Seagate with their utility and it passes fine. CHKDSK /r is driving me nuts as it keeps hanging up when verifying file data or just gives me an unknown error. I might have to just go back and run ghost and restore from a recent image. I messed all day yesterday with this. I can get it into Windows, but I keep getting errors. It makes you want to just stay in bed when stuff like this happens.
So, how does everything look?
redrumy3
09-25-06, 01:32 PM
awesome job wow i like that alot, wonder how it would look with green leds :)
awesome job red looks nice
SolidxSnake
09-25-06, 02:23 PM
What kinda water/dye are you using?
Sorry if you already mentioned it.
sephiroth_749
09-25-06, 02:53 PM
now that is the mark of true craftsman ship
What kinda water/dye are you using?
Sorry if you already mentioned it.
I am just using 10% Toyota antifreeze which makes it a dark pink color. The LEDs are doing the rest.
now that is the mark of true craftsman ship
I appreciate that :)
SolidxSnake
09-25-06, 03:45 PM
I am just using 10% Toyota antifreeze which makes it a dark pink color. The LEDs are doing the rest.
I appreciate that :)
Ah, that explains it. That's a common antifreeze I could pick up at any local auto-store, correct?
Also, is it UV reactive? That would be t3h s3xx :D
warlock110
09-25-06, 04:39 PM
it's a great looking case. more than anything that i can do with wood, that's real skill rite there...
but if it was me. i would refuse to stick to that traditional computer case shape. you're making a distint look. it'll probably better to have a redesign, stepping out of the traditional shape. maybe built it into some sort of funature in the house :)... that be real cool.
Just an example... maybe u shouldda built a whole computer desk with the computer parts hidden within the desk. so the desk = the computer lol... that wouldda been slick...
this is good none the less. best wood case i've seen so far. i just hate the traditional design of computer boxes, it's convient. but if i have the ablity to built something like that, i would built something that will fit me...
another thing... is this thing quiet? aside from building your own box. one thing that really bugs me is that i'm afraid that the boxes we built aren't gonna be as quiet as those gigantic steel case :)
Looks great Voigts! One of the nicest wood cases I've seen, I LOVE THE V-GRILL!
Albaholic
09-25-06, 05:19 PM
Wow, that is the best looking wood case ive ever seen. simply f'n amazin
Looks great Voigts! One of the nicest wood cases I've seen, I LOVE THE V-GRILL!
I am REALLY pleased with my "V" grill as it really personalizes it and gives it a classy touch. I had a friend of mine over today to drop off his broken PC for me to fix and he said that all I need to do is change the initial and give it to him. I told him he could have it when he pried it out of my cold dead hands!
Ah, that explains it. That's a common antifreeze I could pick up at any local auto-store, correct?
Also, is it UV reactive? That would be t3h s3xx :D
It is not UV reactive, and can only be bought at any Toyota dealer. It was about $15 I think for a gallon, which should last a long time. Toyota antifreeze is silicate free like Pentosin is and hence it doesn't cloud tubing like some other antifreezes do.
it's a great looking case. more than anything that i can do with wood, that's real skill rite there...
but if it was me. i would refuse to stick to that traditional computer case shape. you're making a distint look. it'll probably better to have a redesign, stepping out of the traditional shape. maybe built it into some sort of funature in the house :)... that be real cool.
Just an example... maybe u shouldda built a whole computer desk with the computer parts hidden within the desk. so the desk = the computer lol... that wouldda been slick...
this is good none the less. best wood case i've seen so far. i just hate the traditional design of computer boxes, it's convient. but if i have the ablity to built something like that, i would built something that will fit me...
another thing... is this thing quiet? aside from building your own box. one thing that really bugs me is that i'm afraid that the boxes we built aren't gonna be as quiet as those gigantic steel case :)
The previous wood case I built was anything but traditional, but I found that the "traditional" setup really is an efficient way to lay out components. As for the "computer in a desk" idea, I have seen that done, but I have never seen that done in a way that works well. I also want to be able to have easy access to everything and be able to take it outside once in a while to blow out the dust.
As far as quiet goes, I have 6 yate loon 120mm fans, 3 on the rad and 3 intake, all at 4 volts, the Antec PSU which uses a variable fan, and the DDC not mounted just sitting on a piece of memory foam. You can just barely hear the thing sitting next to it. Even my wife and daughter like the fact that it is so quiet. That is why I went into watercooling in the first place, so that I could put any high-end component I want and still have it quiet.
warlock110
09-26-06, 12:52 AM
I am REALLY pleased with my "V" grill as it really personalizes it and gives it a classy touch. I had a friend of mine over today to drop off his broken PC for me to fix and he said that all I need to do is change the initial and give it to him. I told him he could have it when he pried it out of my cold dead hands!
It is not UV reactive, and can only be bought at any Toyota dealer. It was about $15 I think for a gallon, which should last a long time. Toyota antifreeze is silicate free like Pentosin is and hence it doesn't cloud tubing like some other antifreezes do.
The previous wood case I built was anything but traditional, but I found that the "traditional" setup really is an efficient way to lay out components. As for the "computer in a desk" idea, I have seen that done, but I have never seen that done in a way that works well. I also want to be able to have easy access to everything and be able to take it outside once in a while to blow out the dust.
As far as quiet goes, I have 6 yate loon 120mm fans, 3 on the rad and 3 intake, all at 4 volts, the Antec PSU which uses a variable fan, and the DDC not mounted just sitting on a piece of memory foam. You can just barely hear the thing sitting next to it. Even my wife and daughter like the fact that it is so quiet. That is why I went into watercooling in the first place, so that I could put any high-end component I want and still have it quiet.
as long as it's quiet, you'll get my vote. after a few years of using computers (10 lol)... i've realized that power isn't everything. but quiet is a must... power can be replace by using multiple computers (or as now they have dual cores).. but quiet is not replacable... i've always thought of going water, but i'm scare out of my pants about water leak and such... i might have to go water one day though :)... well u do have a point, the case does have that convientcy advantage as i said before... but if there's a way to intergrate that box into sometihng useful it'll be awsome. i've thought about building a hollow chair with a computer inside and sit on it.. but the wires will be a mess... that's why i thought a desk wouldda been better hehe.
clocker2
09-27-06, 07:28 AM
As for the "computer in a desk" idea, I have seen that done, but I have never seen that done in a way that works well. I also want to be able to have easy access to everything and be able to take it outside once in a while to blow out the dust.
Sorry to threadjack V, but I couldn't resist.
Two years ago I participated in this project...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v78/clocker/mini-deskpc.jpg
...integrating a PC into a desk.
This was meant to be just the prototype but turned out so well that it was finished and has been in use since.
Not visible in this pic is the intake duct that mates to an AC vent in the customer's wall and keeps the P4 system running very well.
The righthand desktop is hinged for component access but obviously, moving the unit outside to blow it out is erm...a bit cumbersome.
/threadjack.
That is the first good implementation of that idea that I have seen. It looks pretty sweet.
I have spent time over several days trying to run chkdsk /r, system file checker, and you name it to get this thing to run right. But no matter what I do, I still get lock ups and an occasional blue screen. So I finally decided to go with what to me is a last resort and restore from a recent Norton Ghost image. I backed up my recent data before restoring the image so all I had to do was copy some data back after restoring. It seems to be behaving again as it should. I have my system set up to automatically back up my data 3 times a week and run a Ghost image at the first of each month for exactly this kind of thing. Backing up paid off!
I ordered two new 20" SATAII black cables from firefold.com as they have cables dirt cheap. I got two new locking cables for $3 ea + $1 shipping via first class mail. That is a deal you can't beat.
QuietIce
10-03-06, 06:01 AM
Fantastic case! Did you mention the outside dimensions somewhere? I'm curious how it compares to the Tt Eureka.
Hmmm, you didn't have to extend any of the data cables did you? Data cables are SO picky ...
Fantastic case! Did you mention the outside dimensions somewhere? I'm curious how it compares to the Tt Eureka.
Hmmm, you didn't have to extend any of the data cables did you? Data cables are SO picky ...
I did mention the dimensions, but they are 9 1/4" W x 19"H (without wheels, 21" wheels included) x 26 1/2" deep. Those are outside dimensions.
I extended and made a bunch of power cabling, but I wasn't going to mess with trying to extend data cabling. I didn't want to even go there. 18" cables did the trick with just a little cable showing on the MB side floor of the case.
QuietIce
10-05-06, 04:16 AM
The Eureka is ~8x21x25 deep - but I'd much rather have yours. :)
How good does the wood & acrylic dampen sound ...?
The Eureka is ~8x21x25 deep - but I'd much rather have yours. :)
How good does the wood & acrylic dampen sound ...?
I have my DDC 18w not screwed down sitting on a piece of memory foam, 6 yate loons at 4 volts, and an Antec modular PSU with a temp thermal 120mm fan. This system is very, very quiet which is just how I want it. I think this is quieter than it would be in a regular metal case, although I can't say I have taken this same setup and put it into a metal case to directly compare.
That Eureka case is almost the same size, although looking at pics of it makes me like my setup all the more. It would still take a good bit of modding to get watercooling to work well, whereas in making my own, I was able to lay it out just like I want to fit my watercooling.
Very interesting.
On another note, how would you rate your knowledge of woodworking before you undertook this project (1 to 10), this includes skill with using tools mainly, and knowing what to do.
I'm wondering if I can undertake something like this with just a little bit of effort on my part.
QuietIce
10-06-06, 03:28 AM
I have my DDC 18w not screwed down sitting on a piece of memory foam, 6 yate loons at 4 volts, and an Antec modular PSU with a temp thermal 120mm fan. This system is very, very quiet which is just how I want it. I think this is quieter than it would be in a regular metal case, although I can't say I have taken this same setup and put it into a metal case to directly compare.
That Eureka case is almost the same size, although looking at pics of it makes me like my setup all the more. It would still take a good bit of modding to get watercooling to work well, whereas in making my own, I was able to lay it out just like I want to fit my watercooling. Quiet components are great but I was thinking more about the HDD & DVD wind-up - that's what's loudest on my machine now. I always figured a wood case (and cover for the DVD) would absorb more of those noises we can't get rid of ...
Very interesting.
On another note, how would you rate your knowledge of woodworking before you undertook this project (1 to 10), this includes skill with using tools mainly, and knowing what to do.
I'm wondering if I can undertake something like this with just a little bit of effort on my part.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being a master, I would rate myself maybe a 4. I had never even done a mortise/tenon, but that really wasn't hard to figure out how to do. I have worked quite a bit with acrylic making reservoirs, and that helped just knowing how it behaves when cutting. As far as other tools, I know how to work them all well except for the router which I am still getting better aquainted with, and the scroll saw that I have never used before and borrowed from a friend. It is pretty self explanatory though.
Having a good workspace and the right tools is what really counts. For this project, I used a table saw, compound mitre saw, scroll saw, drill, drill press, variable orbit sander, belt sander, rotary tool, shop vac, router with plunge base and table, and tape measure, triangle, L straight edge, clamps, etc., none of which I could have done without.
If you have good tools and some common sense you can make something like this.
Quiet components are great but I was thinking more about the HDD & DVD wind-up - that's what's loudest on my machine now. I always figured a wood case (and cover for the DVD) would absorb more of those noises we can't get rid of ...
The loudest thing are the hard drives. The case does help with the noise over a metal case.
funnyperson1
10-11-06, 06:05 AM
Absolutely gorgeous, the V on the front adds a nice touch of class.
Absolutely gorgeous, the V on the front adds a nice touch of class.
Thanks. My wife said she agrees with you, and as long as she is happy, I'm happy! :)
Well so far I have to say that I am still very pleased with how this case turned out. I have had nothing but positive feedback both from here and from friends at work, etc. I had a friend come over along with his new wife who said that all I needed to do was change the initial from a V to his initial. I told him I could do that over my dead body! Especially given that he is the type that thinks that a computer should just run itself forever with no maintenance on either software or hardware.
I had someone ask me a few questions not long ago that led me to give a long reply which might be helpful to someone else doing this kind of thing, so I figured I would post it here.
questions to me: how did you go about your switches and LED's. i understand how to mount them on the actual case, but plugging them into the motherboard.
did you create your own plug, or did you just cut it out of an old case and splice them together? was all you had to do was just wire it into the resistant switch?
and same deal for LED's, did you just buy them online?
also...i would like to know how you mounted the vid cards and that stuff
My reply: What I did for this case was to order a switch/speaker assembly from performance-pcs (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210&products_id=3385) to make it easy. I then just cut off the switches. The power switches from MNPCTECH have screw down connectors so you just strip the end where you cut off the original switch and slide it into the connector and screw it down tight.
As for the LEDs, the assembly comes with leds prewired, but I wanted mine both red and I wanted them to match. I also didn't want really bright leds for these. The motherboard puts out 3.3v to the power and HD leds. I did some research and all red leds that aren't bright use less than 3.3v. So I looked at Radio Shack to see what they carry and found these 5mm red leds (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103802&cp=2032058.2032233.2032298&allCount=20&fbn=Type%2F4-7+mm+lens&f=PAD%2FProduct+Type%2F4-7+mm+lens&fbc=1&parentPage=family) that they carry in stock. I plugged the values into a resistor calculator (http://www.metku.net/index.html?path=mods/ledcalc/index_eng) to get an idea of what ohm resistor I would need. They carry only certain ohm resistors, so I found a 68 ohm resistor (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062314&cp=&pg=2&origkw=resistors&kw=resistors&parentPage=search) that puts the leds at 2.0v, which is right in line with their specs of 1.8v nominal with a max of 2.4v. I just them cut off the leds from the assembly, soldered in the resistors, heat shrinked everything, and soldered on the leds. I used these led holders from Radio Shack (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062558&cp=&origkw=led+holder&kw=led+holder&parentPage=search)).
I also ordered a motherboard tray from performance-pcs (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=210&products_id=3387) and used only the PCI bracket panel. I drilled out the rivets and used the metal back panel and MB tray as templates to cut mine out of acrylic. I just couldn't think of a good way to make a PCI bracket panel out of wood or acrylic and make it work.
Maybe this info will help someone else out.
ime for some updates.
I just changed over to a C2D setup, and made some changes to the way I have my watercooling setup. I also decided to go from a DDC+ back down to a DDC just to make things a little quieter.
Here first is an unfilled sideshot:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/Mar07Conroe/side.jpg
I had made a small hole in the front of the last res to allow air to escape while filling, but I never liked it. So this time I stole my same styled res from a previous setup and changed the way it bleeds and fills. This time the fill hole on top is now the bleed hole, and I added a fill barb at the top rear of the res going up to the fillport. This works a lot better for filling, and everything is hidden from the front. I just use a rubber vacuum hose stopper and clamp to seal the bleed hole at the top of the res.
I also changed the drain to a simple 5/8" x 3/8" brass T with a rubber vacuum stopper clamped on.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/Mar07Conroe/ResTubing2.jpg
I also made a number of changes in tubing routing, namely that i custom bent some 1/2" copper to make turn pieces to take stress off of the barbs and to ake things a lot neater. There is one going into the pump inlet, one from the CPU to rad, and another going from the rad to the res.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/Mar07Conroe/ResTubing.jpg
Since I switched to a 7900GT from a 6800GT, I needed to make another card support. I got some 3/8" polycarbonate cheap along with some other pieces off of ebay. I sanded the end where it screws into the PCI slots to be about 1/8" thick, and cut it out so that there are screws going through the screw holes in the card into the card support. I also painted it black as the label on the plastic was so old that it had yellowed the poly. This is a far better improvement over the much cruder one I had made for the last setup.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/Mar07Conroe/cardkeeper1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/Mar07Conroe/cardkeeper2.jpg
I also air leaktested this setup as I did my last before adding fluid, and I'm glad I did as there was initially a leak in one of the res barbs. It sure made it easier to fix without having to clean anything up and draining, etc.
This PSU isn't modular, so I had a real wiring mess to deal with.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/completed/Mar07Conroe/WiringMess.jpg
The wiring just BARELY fit in my place behind the rad, but it is all neatly stuffed away.
Now I'm having to RMA my brand new Corsair as one of the sticks is bad right out of the package. I'm having to buy another set so that I can RMA the first 2 as a set to make sure I get a matching pair back. Oh well, at least when it all comes in I will have plenty of RAM even for Vista later (4gb). I got Vista Business free through the Powertogether campaign, but plan on waiting a while to let the drivers and service pack catch up.
Well, I haven't posted any updates to this in a while. I still have the C2D setup, but have changed over to an 8800GT and made a new card support for it, re-rerouted the loop, and have now switched to 1/2" copper for tubing painted black. I had to use black vinyl for the lines coming in and out of the pump due to pump vibration. I also added a fan to blow directly onto the RAM and NB so that I can run a 24/7 overclock.
PS. The red background is some red posterboard so that you don't have to look at our messy bookshelf that was sitting behind the case when I took these pics!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/Dec07/side1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/Dec07/sideFan1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/Dec07/ramNBfan2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y167/voigts/CustomWoodCaseII/Dec07/ramNBfan1.jpg
=ACID RAIN=
03-19-08, 01:06 AM
Did you use a tube/pipe bender, or fill the copper with sand?
dsb1829
03-21-08, 01:00 PM
From how it flattened out I would say he just bent it w/o anything in it.
Great looking rig. One of the best wood builds I have seen ;)
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