Wood Stove mod

[BS Mods]

For a while I have been going into a friends store that sells wood stoves and stuff. So, because I am always looking at things to see if they could be modded into a computer something caught my eye.

He had a small electric wood stove that blows heat, and there is no real fire, just a fake visual.

I measured it, stared at it, measured it again, etc. I thought "why not, winter's just around the corner".

So I finally picked one up and here we go...


The Victim...

Out of the box you can see the fake logs, electric heater is attached to the bottom.

Here is a shot of the unit turned on and you can barely see the fake flames.

Here's how it works.. There is a light inside the back that shines onto a rotating wheel with strips of metal that reflect onto a backer that has flames cut out. Then it projects onto the backside of a glass piece creating the illusion of flames.

So begins the tear down phase..

Man I LUV tearing stuff apart!!


I think by now you can see where this is headed...

[SXRguyinMA]

this should be neat!

[RogueOpportunist]

You should stick a P4 in it with some seagate hard drives, that way you can have your modded computer case and keep the flames!

[x88x]

Heheh, interesting.

[BS Mods]

You should stick a P4 in it with some seagate hard drives, that way you can have your modded computer case and keep the flames!

Hahahaha -- nice!

[msmrx57]

This has me intrigued. We have a very similar unit next to my wifes desk.
The only problem I would have is that she uses it in the winter so the heat would have to stay functional.
Heat + computer = not good.
Oh I also made a fake chimney for it out of pvc pipe.

When I went in to take this picture I was told I'm NOT turning it into a computer.

[BS Mods]

This has me intrigued. We have a very similar unit next to my wifes desk.
The only problem I would have is that she uses it in the winter so the heat would have to stay functional.
Heat + computer = not good.
Oh I also made a fake chimney for it out of pvc pipe.


When I went in to take this picture I was told I'm NOT turning it into a computer.

My wife tells me that about everything..hehe


Everything I look at pretty much gets a good once over to see if I can mod it. I can't leave anything alone.

This will most likely have a real short stack coming out of the top with a cap that I will use for air movement and a surprise at the end of the build.

[d_stilgar]

Wait, this is going to be a computer mod? I was thinking you were going to mod it to heat more efficiently, or more realistic looking flames, or cook stuff or something. Where is my head?

[BS Mods]

lol d_stilger - where is your head??

Thanks for watching the thread.

Monitor time -
I started on mounting the monitor. I decided to leave the original window in the stove and then back the monitor off about 1/4" from that window to give it some depth.

I had to use some 1/4" rod that I had laying around as a shim and then glued it to the front window.

Now the monitor sits flat and is ready for mounting.

I decided to utilize the screws that hold the front panel to the side panels on each side. This will be the anchor point for the bracket I'm making. I needed a bracket that will hold the monitor and also double as a place to bolt the mobo tray.
I decided to use some aluminum square tubing.

I had to stack it 2 pieces high and screw it together. This will leave a space for some spacers between the cross bars I'll show in a bit.

Drilling holes always leaves a burr so an easy way to remove them is with this -

I layed the cross pieces across the monitor and marked their position for mounting.

I'm using the factory mounting locations on the back of the monitor so this will be easy.

I just needed some 3/8" tall bushings but I only had 3/4" bushings so it was time for some grinding. I decided to use a hose clamp and group them together so I can grind them at the same time and they all end up the same.

Bushings in, screwed on, monitor mounted!!

All these parts will be painted with stove black so they match everything else. I will be mounting the mobo tray to the back of the cross bars so it will look really clean and I'll have room around it for air movement, wire management, etc.

I plugged in the monitor and it looks really cool. It definitely has some depth to it and you can look at it from an angle and see more of the screen. This will come into play later :wink:

[billygoat333]

now you need to get a flaming logs screensaver for it. -_-