Case Mod - In Progress Level Twelve

Congrats on MOTM, got my vote!

 

This is sick, end of story.

Thanks for posting and doing this beautiful project.

 

Congrats on MOTM nomination! This is one amazing build!

 

Congrats for the MOTM nominee! So cool mod slipperyskip!

 

Thanks a lot guys. It is always nice to have your work recognized and I do appreciate your kind words.


The bottom gets faced with 1/32" plywood. Before gluing the piece on I counted 16 individual pieces of wood that made up the bottom section. Adding this facing piece literally ties all these together. This is as far as the bottom section will go. It will not be veneered as it is completely hidden from view from any angle.


The cover gets faced with two spliced pieces of 1/32" birch plywood. The downside of having your wife read your work log is that she busts you for using her kitchen utensils. I had to replace using her rolling pin with this medieval torture-looking device called a laminate roller.


I'm working on my veneering strategy by arraigning pieces and marking them. The only thing left to do in this project is the birdseye maple veneering. I cannot express how difficult and technically challenging this work is. What you are about to see is approx. 12 hours of work. Birdseye maple is very, very hard and very, very brittle. It eats sandpaper for breakfast and yet will shatter like glass. I love it.


While glue drys I play with some finish samples. This is teak oil on teak and boiled linseed oil on maple. I'm trying to get the maple to a more amber-like appearance.


The first rule in veneering is to start with the most inaccessible, boring parts first and work your way out to the showcase stuff last. Instead of clamping these pieces I make custom blocks that wedge up against the glued-in pieces.


They are not "single-use" blocks as I can reverse them to use on the other side.


I keep several bags of scrap handy to use for this kind of stuff.


Simple and effective.


A single piece glued across the vent opening.


The hole is carved out using my Olfa razor knife. 20 seconds after I took this photo the knife slipped and sliced out a section it shouldn't. I found the sliced piece and reattached it. This stuff is not forgiving of any error. Luckily the damage was easily (and invisibly) fixed.








The last piece is spliced onto the back edge to connect the other two pieces. Can't see the splice marks? The trick here is to sand the piece while the glue is still tacky. The sawdust combines with the glue and helps hide the cut edges.


Edges that will have another piece of veneer crossing over it are finished with what I call a Tupperware edge, I leave a tiny, tiny lip protruding out to help provide a better seal with the crossing piece.

Yes that was 12 hours. The pile of exhausted fingernail files and sandpaper is impressive. And it doesn't look like I did anything because of the lack of contrast between the birch and maple.

Thanks for looking and reading through this longish post.

 

Still the Wood Meister. Scary nice this

john

 

Stunning, wish I could mod that fast and well!

 

Hey...thats my username on pr0n sites.
Thanks John!

Cool! Thanks Sven.

Last update. Work complete!


Under all this clampage is a piece of birds eye maple.


And again for the front piece. The top piece can be seen facing the camera.


Cut up some custom-sized clamping boards from plywood. Preparing for the cover piece installation.


The cover veneer is in two pieces. It is matched so the two pieces are a mirror image. To align the edge between them I lay down a single piece of blue tape and arrange the edge until satisified. I then turn it over and lay down multiple tape pieces filling up the entire two-piece section.




Turn it back over and remove the original aligning tape piece. The expanse of tape keeps the completed piece the same thickness throughout. A piece of tape is thin but not when compared to the veneer.


Final clampage. I brought the whole family including the cousins.


Teaser photo.

Next up...final photos.

 

very nice wood skills,
i can hardly make a straight saw cut

 

Awesome, I really like how the veneer is so seemless, the corners blend together so well, Mad skills

Already voted for ya !!!!

 

thanks for my new quote

 

Birdseye Maple is just so god damn sexy man... I wish it wasn't so effin' expensive! That veneer is real slick though mate, came out looking sweet.

You got my vote though mate! Congratz on the build and props to the quality build skillz

 

Thanks and welcome to the forums.

Thanks James. I appreciate that. Good luck with your build. Looking great.

You are welcome.

Thanks! BEM looks better in person because it has that holographic effect you can't photograph.

 

Yummy, looks cheesy Great work!

 

Itz da chedda



Trying out my new watermark. What do you think? Too much?

 

Dude... Your works are amazing... I hope to one day be able to put out something that's a tenth the awesomeness of what you do....
On the watermark; it's not too much. I would personally go with a semi-transparent watermark that spans across a larger percentage of the image (maybe something on a diagonal) and faint enough that it won't obscure the actual work too much, but big enough that thieves won't be able to just crop it out. Your WM as it stands could be cropped out and most of the image would still be there for them to steal.

 

@ xXSebaSXx I was only joking dude. That is however how I send photos to journalists. It pisses them off.

I'm going with something like this...



Better than nothing I guess.




So I'm having issues with the stark minimalism of this thing. I'm calling it Mid-Century Modern so that should allow me to get away with it. I can't help but think it looks unfinished...or not. A little bling maybe? I dunno. My insiders have given me a few suggestions, including leaving it alone. Anyone with an opinion? All input is welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

I think it look fantastic, but i get what you mean, it does look slightly unfinished. Maybe it could do with something on the front of the light wood. Maybe some laser cut alli polished up.

 

That has been a common recommendation. Something to think about. Thanks!

Here is the back. Common criticism is that I should have painted the back of the computer black and use black screws and thumbscrews. I agree but I'm not sure I have the time for painting right now. I haven't had a chance to properly test the equipment so it's all about priorities right now. It could still happen.

 

For some reason the first time I glanced at this picture, the name Frank Lloyd Wright popped into my head.

That's not a bad thing.

john