Project: Custom Wood HTPC Case

[1twelve2]

i know what your saying, "wow HTPC this, HTPC that"... Yea, its a HTPC thread, but this is here because i will be building a custom wood case to house my HTPC. Not one of those wood-grain cases, but a case that is made of wood, but you wouldnt know that from looking at it.

i'll start with a parts list (very budgeted, i know)

CPU - socket 478 p4 (free)
MOBO - ECS Socket 478 AGP 8x (free)
RAM - Kingston Value 512Mb (42.00)
VIDEO - ASUS nVidia MX4000 64Mb AGP Video Card ($24.00)
TV - Hauppauge WinTV-401 (free)
HDD - Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 80GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 ($45.00)
OPTICAL - SAMSUNG Combo Drive Black IDE Mode CD-RW/DVD ROM ($26.00)
SOUND - Chaintech 5.1 PCI card ($10.00)
INPUT - Microsoft Wireless Keyboard and Mouse combo (free)
SPEAKERS - Off-Brand 5.1 Speakers (30.00)
SOFTWARE - Snapstream Beyond TV 4 (free)

 

[1twelve2]

Now for some fun!


My buddie's Workshop/Garage


My Master Plan hahahaha


The wood... 1/2'' Baltic Birch plywood.


Cuttin' the peices...


Marked the ATX screw pattern for my motherboard


A test fit for the mobo and PSU


Here's the front panel "rough draft. i'll have two 80mm fan grilles as part of the front peice... with green LEDs and a nice paintjob, this is getting me excited!

 

[=ACID RAIN=]

Lookin good!

 

[1twelve2]

I should have put this in the first post, but oh well.

This will be my HTPC for my room. I am doing this for 3 reasons.
1) I'm tired of my parents complaining about all of the Ultimate Fighting on our DVR.
2) Ive been intrigued with HTPCs lately.
3) I needed something to keep me busy.

The finished product will be painted Black with a high gloss finish, have a green "aura" around it, and will be fully functional as both a HTPC and my "backup" computer.

Lookin good!

Thanks!


and i have a question for anybody who has had any experience with custom building a case... What do you think about having the optical drive face the side of the case, as opposed to the front? Would that be more of a hassle? Im trying to make the cleanest case (looks) possible.

 

[=ACID RAIN=]

It's going to be subjective... Having the optical drive on the side, while giving you a cleaner look up front, can really limit where you put the case (in a TV stand, for instance, that would be a no-go unless the stand is extra wide). If your cuts are clean and the lines ultra-straight, I think a stealthed drive could look awesome - like "yeah it looks like a plain box, but wait, watch this" kinda thing.

 

[1twelve2]

haha "stealthed" ... i like it! let me understand this. The drive would mount to the front of the case, but the tray would'nt show? Like there would be a wood peice i put on the front of the drive? if so... cool!

 

[=ACID RAIN=]

Yes exactly

If you do that, you could have a piece or two of double-sided tape (or something else suitable) under it so that you push directly on the plate, and the squish of the material underneath allows it to hit the optical drive tray button and open the tray. I've seen it done on various forums many times, so it should work fine for you if you go that route.

 

[1twelve2]

sweetness. ill be doing more work on it this weekend, so anything i talk about until then is in the "development" stage.

oh, and by the way... i love 2 person threads!

 

[autolex84]

thats one of the nices shops ive seen in a while, and thats a REALLY good idea on the HTPC, nice man, keep it up!

 

[-aDaM^]

sweet keep the pics coming!

 

[flamerail]

I want to make a wood pc now..

 

[1twelve2]

Sorry, no updates yet, im going to the hardware store to find ways to mount stuff... ill have something to put up here on Sunday.

I want to make a wood pc now..

 

[1twelve2]

i wasnt able to do any WORK on my project this weekend, but i did buy paint, threaded inserts for mounting the motherboard, and mounting brackets for my drives.


Also, i came across this

this SketchUp program helped me kill some time here at work (its SO slow here in the printshop)

 

[1twelve2]

Small update...

I ran into some difficulties when mounting the motherboard. Instead of the threaded inserts, i used little 1/2'' blocks, attached by some double-sided tape.



Then i cut and routed the back panel. I say cut and routed, because i had to make a groove so the motherboard ports could be flush with the back surface.


Then cut for the PSU (which wil be painted black to match the case)

 

[1twelve2]

 

[-aDaM^]

Instead of double sided tape, carpenters glue would probably be a more permanent solution.

 

[1twelve2]

Instead of double sided tape, carpenters glue would probably be a more permanent solution.

very true. but in this case, im thinking of the "what if" factor... omfglahax! the motherboard is fried!!!1!! then i wouldnt have such a hard time trying to pry it off. Also, this tape that im using is like superglue! some kind of a urethane sticky substance held together with threads (like in duct tape)

 

[1twelve2]

UPDATE

even though there are only 4 people who are interested... i'll update the thread.

i was able to get the back panel completed tonight, as i cut slots for add-in cards. i also routed for the tops of the cards (you'll see in pix).



With the top of the slot routed, it let me mount the cards flush to the back of the panel.


Also, i used a jigsaw to cut out the two 80mm fan holes ion the front. I had to abandon my original idea. but with 2 shiney fan grills, who's gonna care? Along with the fanholes, i drilled a hole (5/16'') and used my buddies chisel set to mount the power button also on the front of the case... you can see in the pix that the button is small and shiney!!





and here's just another close shot of the space i gave the mobo from the bottom of the case...

 

[1twelve2]

seeing as how nobody wants to read a thread with HTPC in it... Would it be THAT hard to make a HTPC section? so that people that enjoy this stuff can have a place to hang out?


im thinking that this thread is just a waste of my time...

 

[thedragon7786]

seeing as how nobody wants to read a thread with HTPC in it... Would it be THAT hard to make a HTPC section? so that people that enjoy this stuff can have a place to hang out?


im thinking that this thread is just a waste of my time...

haha, looks good! nice woodwork. sorry for the noob question but what is htpc