first home made case-wood

[blakdart]

Description my project


I built this in my sophomore year
...yes the year after freshmen HS
of high school...now I'm senior

I want to build a case with the color wood combination like this, yet its going be combination of an drawer unit which has additional space for my liquid cooling pumps and PSU....All accessible by an access panel.

This lower part will be around 7 inches tall to fit CD's in it.

the upper part will be the actual computer case. Each part will be seperated by an lazy Susann.

http://www.pvcworkshop.com/Lazy%20Susan%20002.jpg

Since my cabinet will weigh like hell ,and my counter top is nice and i don't want the case damaging the counter top. I will have the upper and lower parts rotate.

All electrical and liquid cooling plumbing will be snaked thru an hole in the wood ,in which all the "guts" will snake thru that large hollow space you see in this

http://www.pvcworkshop.com/Lazy%20Susan%20002.jpg


The case parts will rotate due to that, i could access all the parts without rotating the case it's self entirely.

this is my case design...so far

3 ft tall (includes legs)
9 in wide and
18 in deep


--------------------------------------
questions

Can i get a joint for water cooling tubing ,that allows 2 halfs to be joined, and allow the joints and tubeing to rotate in an 360 degree manner without worrying about brake age?



What do you guys recommended to mount mother boards too wood,with?

Any tips for obtaining cheap hd and cd drives mounts for cases,with out ripping apart old cases?........I just don't want to spend so much on sooo few mounts......

[x88x]

Sounds interesting. The only thing I would worry about is moisture in the air, and heat from the computer, warping the wood.

Very nice job on the desk, btw.

I have seen people using watercooling connectors kinda like what you're looking for, but I've also seen parts (made for plumbing, not watercooling, but hey) designed exactly for what you're trying to do. I'll look later tonight and see if I can find them.

For mounting the MBB to wood, I used these things a while ago that let you just screw them into a hole in the wood, and they expanded in the wood, and had a threaded, metal hole for a machine screw to go into. However, after dealing with them, and trying to line them up...and discovering that it was a whole lot harder than I thought it was be...I'd personally recommend getting a MBB tray, and then mounting that to the wood.

EDIT: I just noticed this thread too, but it looks like beat me to it

[blakdart]

Ya thanks very much ill look into getting an tray...

also,do you got any idea for cheap as heck internal hd bays and cd bays? I want to spend less then 15 dollars in getting them....it make my life sooooo much easier..

[Mach]

Cool concept and nice work on the desk. You could try compression fitting rotaries or quick disconnects. Bitspower also makes an anti-twist adapter that might be exactly what you're looking for. Gary at Sidewinder stocks em all. Send him an email at his contact details, he's a great guy and will give you the low down on what works best.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/bishsig14ana.html

[blakdart]

hey Im going to make my first copy of case for my self...If it turns out well...would you guys like to buy another copy of the case? (same design........) I might make 2 in the second batch b4 i grad school.............

It is going to have plenty of space for water cooling!

[mDust]

Any tips for obtaining cheap hd and cd drives mounts for cases,with out ripping apart old cases?........I just don't want to spend so much on sooo few mounts......

Why not build them out of wood as well? It's apparent that you have access to the tools, it would look better than scavenged parts, and it's cheaper than buying them as well. Just figure out how many drives you want and then sketch it out on a piece of wood. Clamp an identical piece on the back and cut them out together. Route out some narrow slots where the drive mounting screws can fit through, unclamp, and voila!..two identical sides. Set them either 5 7/8" or 4 1/8" apart and put a top and bottom on to form a sturdy box...then that can be mounted in the case. You'll need some longer screws to bolt through the wood depending on it's thickness, so find some #6-32 machine screws that fit. Just be certain not to turn 'long' screws too far into the drive...put a nut between the wood and the head, turn the screw into the drives only a few threads, then tighten the nut to secure the drive...that works very well for me in other applications as well.

[chaksq]

I have a thought for mounting hard drives and optical drives without buying off the shelf racks. Get two boards that will go on either side of the drive, then make horizontal grooves in them. Attach normal mounting screws to the drives and then you can slide the drives in with the screw resting in the grooves. Basically a simple semi-tool less mount design made out of wood. I might make a sketch-up model of this to give a visual for the idea.

[x88x]

Sounds interesting; the problems I forsee with that design would be getting drives in and out and vibration of the drives during operation.

[dazarooney]

I know this is an old thread but this is exactly what I'm planning to do, I've been meaning to build myself a desk for a while and now I'm going to do it. Got some good ideas from here so many thanks.