Scratch Build – In Progress Valve Radio Conversion: Thermionic Logic - 26/01/14

Maybe you could cut another mounting tray and put it on top of the PSU aswell, i reckon would kinda finish it off..
Just a thought.
Enjoy your trade show

 

So you're going to have the psu venting straight out of the case, right? How much space is between the psu vent plate and the back of the case? If it's more than, say, 2cm you could duct it out with a sort of wooden frame on the back of the psu. Would work wonders for the temps.

If your meaning that the fan is blowing into the case, then the fan must be mounted backwards. If memory serves it blows nice, cool air onto the psu, not pull it across.

 

PSU fan is blowing into the case unfortunately. Will be checking temps once I get it all up and running but will certainly bear in mind changing the airflow direction, thanks for the advice. Back panel will be made out of perforated aluminium as well as having a couple of Corsair high flow 120mm exhaust fans on the rear. Hoping that will help keep temps in check.

 

No problem, bud.

 

Ok, few more pics to keep you all updated on my progress. Fixed the PSU mount in place within the case and started installing components to check how it all fits together.

First of all I added a couple of bolts with spacers to fix the motherboard tray to the inner compartment. Once that was done it was stable enough to attach the motherboard itself.




Got myself some brass 6mm M3 machine screws to fix the mobo to the standoffs but thread isn't a perfect match so may need to go back to chrome unless any of you know where to source a set of PC mounting screws in brass/gold?




Then added the GPU - a Sapphire 7850 2Gb OC.






Cable management isn't too bad (on the inside) but could do with removing the CPU power cable connector and running it through one of the holes in the mobo tray.






Got an engraved brass name plate to add a nice finishing touch to the valve mount. What do you think?






I/O panel on underside of the inner compartment. Some brass paint chipped off around screws which will need to be touched up.




Components all fitting in nicely with space at top of compartment for the two 120mm exhaust fans I have sitting in the shed. Should really sleeve the ATX cable as it doesn't look the best but I'm not confident in my sleeving skills at the moment!




So there you go. Getting the components in place really makes it feel like I'm getting somewhere at last.
On a sour note though the wooden bezel that I made up for the speaker hole on the front of the cabinet fell off the shelf it was sitting on a couple of days ago and broke so will need to make a new one unless I can glue it accurately. AAARRGH!!!

 

In general I love this build.

However, here's what ticks me off:

1) Not made from solid wood.
2) I/O panel sits on the outside.

Now, I suspect that "2)" is a direct result of "1)". IF you had built it from "real" wood from the start, it would have looked better with the I/O panel sitting on the inside.

Am I right?

 

Agree with you that it wouId be better in wood, build has evolved over time and there are a few things I would change. Wouldn't change the I/O panel placement though. It will be effectively invisible as there will be a wooden skirt around the bottom raising the cabinet by about 50mm thus giving room for the cables to come in attach underneath.
If you mean having the I/O panel mounted from the inside rather than from the outside then I prefer it this way. Only way of improving it in my opinion would be to add another veneer of wood on the outside to disguise the screws and overhang.

 

Great to see an update

 

Looking good.

 

Right guys I need your advice. Not sure how best to fit my pair of 120mm exhaust fans. Should l make a bracket out of wood or brass and fit them inside the inner compartment (was thinking to mount them side by side above the mobo) or should I just mount them directly onto the rear panel?

 

I like the sound of a wood or brass bracket - but I'm by no means an expert in this kind of build.

 

Another wee update:

Postman arrived today with another parcel of goodness. Yum!!




Also got the cutting discs onto the dremel and cut my rear panel to size.





Will need to cut out a section for the PSU and contemplating a clear perspex panel so that you can see the valves. Not sure if that will look ok though. Will experiment with a couple of off-cuts too to see if I can get a decent finish with the bronze spray paint, don't wan't to make the perforations any smaller though.

 

Yay progress !

 

looking good man!

 

Cheers guys. Not too far from completion now.

 

Looking good. I'm interested in seeing what you do with that rear panel, there's going to be a very fine line between it making the project look awesome or tacky.

No pressure.

 

Yep, l am starting to realise that and as a result l can't decide on my best course of action. Leaning towards matt black finish and no window at the mo.

 

This looks so neat. I personally think that you could either go with the perforated sheet in bronze for the back plate, or acrylic all depending on what you want to do with lighting.

 

Only lighting will be the heater elements if the valves which will be on a switchable circuit. May add a couple of LEDs if the valves themselves aren't bright enough.

Appreciate your reply as your Zenith build is amazing!

 

I like the back but it needs to be in copper or brass IMO. Steel just doesn't look right against wood.

Are you going to paint it? if not I would look at a bit of copper sheet.