Pre-planning for my LinuxCube mod

I have been scrolling these forums for a while, and this is the first mod I am posting about.

I am enrolled in a computer repair and networking class at my high school. I have also built a computer for myself otherwise.

During December, the teacher is holding a week where we can bring in parts we have and he will aid us in building the system. I didn't just want to bring in regualr parts for it, I wanted to do a nano-ITX system with Ubuntu Linux running on it.

The first things I need to do are:
1) Find out if I actually have the money to do it
2) What my budget is (if step 1 goes through)
3) Gather materials
4) Use school's resources to cut materials (Thats a benefit of working on stage crew for theater)
5) Get copies of Linux

Right now my ideas for the case body is to use MDF (I believe that is what it is called). All I know is that it is thick, kind of heavy, but sturdy. I want this case to be a semi-cube with base pieces on the top and bottom. I also want holes in it for the I/O ports and (maybe) a hole for a small case fan.

Has anyone here used MDF in a case? Is it heat conductive or grounded or anything (those might sound like dumb questions but I know little about those aspects)? What tools would I use to cut it?

Don't know if I am the first person to say this but WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!!

With regard to your questions, Don't think MDF is conductive , use a saw to cut it and don't think that it will conduct heat that well. I am 90% sure of this

I like the idea. Where do you plan on getting a Nano-iTX board? I'm simply curious. Take care.

- Jim

Welcome to the Forums! I can answer all of your questions...

ThePotatoe said:

Has anyone here used MDF in a case?

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A few people, but it's not a popular material due to weight, thickness, and poor machinability. It shreads easily since it's basically just REALLY thick sheets of recycled paper. It's also mildly hazardous to breath in MDF dust from tooling so you must wear a filter mask when working with it.

ThePotatoe said:

Is it heat conductive or grounded or anything (those might sound like dumb questions but I know little about those aspects)?

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No and no. Computer hardware is grounded through the power supply so the case doesn't need to be grounded as well.

ThePotatoe said:

What tools would I use to cut it?

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Anything meant for cutting wood. But I don't recommend MDF as a building material for a case. Call some local plastics shops and find one that sells off cuts and pick up a few sheets of polycarbonate.

Nano-ITX boards are expensive ($299 retail) and hard to come by. They also require specialized power supplies which are expensive as well. I would go with this board instead. It's much faster, much cheaper ($75 + Shipping), and more likely to be compatible with Linux.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Small-Tiny-Inte...ryZ31496QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

As the captain stated above, MDF isnt really a fun material to work with. Unless you got a vacuum extraction system on the tool (tablesaw?) that you will be using, their will be a very large ammount of very fine dust covering EVERYTHING! (I say this from experience)

to the forums

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks for the response guys

Benvanz said:

As the captain stated above, MDF isnt really a fun material to work with. Unless you got a vacuum extraction system on the tool (tablesaw?) that you will be using, their will be a very large ammount of very fine dust covering EVERYTHING! (I say this from experience)

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The place that I will be doing all the cutting has everything I need including a panel saw, many vaccums, and a table saw, so I should be set on that

ThePCGuy said:

I like the idea. Where do you plan on getting a Nano-iTX board? I'm simply curious. Take care.

- Jim

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I was considering purchasing it from http://www.linitx.com/, because through conversion from euros to dollars, it was the best price for the board I wanted. I have dumped the idea of getting a nano-itx board with a VIA C3 processor just because even though it will not be used for gaming or anything (I'm putting Ubuntu on it), I still want a negligible amount of performance for playing video, converting video, and playing and converting music. I will probably get one for a Pentium M processor, although I am going to have to delay this project until at least next summer so that I can fund it. Has anyone heard of http://www.linitx.com/ and/or had any good or bad experience with them?

Captain Slug said:

Nano-ITX boards are expensive ($299 retail) and hard to come by. They also require specialized power supplies which are expensive as well. I would go with this board instead. It's much faster, much cheaper ($75 + Shipping), and more likely to be compatible with Linux.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Small-Tiny-Inte...1QQcmdZViewItem
10-19-05 04:21 PM

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They are not always 300 dollars, as shown by the fact that a Fry's Electronics near me sells one for $169 with a 1Ghz Transmeta processor, although that one doesn't have nearly as many features as the ones made by VIA.

I had also thought that I could use a smaller ATX power supply. Is that not true with most of the boards on the market?

Thanks for the help so far.

I got some new ideas for it (like making it with quiet full size hardware and flooding it with some sort of sound dampening material, and making a little section out of the top for the power supply), but nothing is secure yet. I am wondering, though, what is a good place to get buttons or switches from? I am definetely going to get some cathode lights and I need a power button, but I don't know where to get the switches and buttons from. Thanks in advance.

ThePotatoe said:

I am wondering, though, what is a good place to get buttons or switches from? I am definetely going to get some cathode lights and I need a power button, but I don't know where to get the switches and buttons from. Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

www.mcmaster.com
www.mouser.com
www.radioshack.com

I have given up on nano-itx. I am going to go with (hopefully) an asus AMD uATX board even if it is a little bit bigger.

I also would like to know: is there any way to use a clear coat of paing to glossify some MDF? If not, I will just go with a matte black vinyl dye coat (unless that won't work).