DIY Low Cost Benching Station

DIY Station #30



So it has been a while, but recently I got request for building a new DIY Station. This would be Station #30, what with my VLC (Very Low Cost) Stations, I’ve now built over 40!


This build request was for a fairly classic station with a couple of tweaks.
Going for the upgraded paint job.
Some custom watercooling pass thru cutouts.
Layout to include 2 power supplies and a radiator built into the lower deck.


First step was to start assembling all the components. Here were most of the raw materials for this build.













Next we settled on the layout of the cutouts. The client wanted a special cross shaped cutout for passing thru watercooling tubing.




(The finished panel on the left is my personal station, which I put in the picture for comparison and scale).







And proceeded to mill out top panel:












For milling out the passthrus and the under-cpu fan mount, I use a router with a ⅞” flush bit and a template bushing.

For all my traditional pass thrus and the cpu socket, I keep on hand some template jigs that mount to the motherboard socket holes, so that I can reproduce these slots quickly and repeatedly. For the custom cross shape, I used a straight edge clamp to guide the router.

Something like what I was doing in this pic:

30?? Holy cow!

Sub'd!

Very nice Navig. I'd like to see more too.

30 I know! Look at the first post in this thread. 2007.




Next I started the paint process. We went with the same paint job as my personal station: stained with a Sherman Williams Cordovan stain, which is a deep dark reddish stain:







I added just a hint o grain pattern by lightly dragging a brush at a diagonal.





After letting that dry I started laying down my top coat, oil based quick dry glossy Varathane polyurethane. Actually had to shop around a couple of hardware stores to find this--Home Depot and Lowe’s stock a “high use” wood floor version which doesn’t lay down nearly as smooth. Had to find this specific product at my local OSH.






The paint process is pretty slow and time consuming. Laid down 3 coats of polyurethane, but between each coat I had to let it dry for a day and then sanded lightly with 220 grit. Then flip both panels and repeat for the other side--not to mention time to lay down masking tape to prevent drip-over.

So whilst working on the paint, I went to work on the rest of the parts of the station.





These aluminum components got assembled into the corner posts:




















And these parts here:












Assembled into the switching panel.

And finally, the panels had their final coats and dried:















If you look carefully, I put my logo onto each of the plates, at the bottom right. I’ve been using the same stencil since 2009:






After the 2nd top coat of clear polyurethane (second of three coats) has fully dried and sanded, I position the stencil and mask everything else off. Then I hit it very lightly with metal flake. After that dries, it’s off for the final top coat of clear.













It was time to start the final assembly.












Posts and plates assembled:












Attached the rest of the brackets and it was complete:

Looks really good Navig! Love how glossy it is now. Looks very clean with the aluminum as well!

Time to finalize the layouts of the components. I started with the bottom level, which was going to be jam packed.







On the left side, you can see the radiator mount. This is a bracket I created a while back for my DIY radiator shroud project.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...hroud-Navig-Style/page2?p=7440110#post7440110



You can also make out brackets to mount 2 different power supplies.


And on the right, I’ve set in the 5.25 bay.

Next to the 5.25 bay, I’ve put in the hard drive tray (Corsair variety), and then arranged dual power supplies in their spots.














Next I threw in a mockup radiator. And in this space in the foreground is area for a pump/reservoir.












Finally, dropped the top back on and made sure the Brollock’s fan bracket fit.

And a series of final pics:



















Actually took the time and brushed all the aluminum trim pieces.









Ghost’d in logo.








- - - Updated - - -
























And this one is off to a (hopefully) soon to be satisfied customer!


On to the next project!

looks nice

Love it Navig!!
Nice work!

i like the cardboard stations