Scratch Build – In Progress AMPC (8/3 Final pictures)

Hi guys

Time for another wooden build of mine. The build is titled AMPC, as in amp+pc. AMPC is a smaller gaming rig hiding inside a case inspired by retro amps. My goal with the build is to visually hide all common PC attributes, to mimic a minimalistic amp. To have you all fooled that is! So don't expect any USB's on the front panel.

I'm going to use walnut and aluminium for materials, and will start building around measurements of an amp for standard racks, 43.5, 16.5, 33 cm

If interested in my work, please visit my official facebook page


PC-specs:
Sapphire PURE Platinum H61
Intel i5
Asus GTX 750TI
Corsair RM650
Corsair Force 256GB
Corsair H75
Corsair Dominators 4x2GB

Others:
Slot-in-DVD
Arduino Leonardo


I want to thank Inet.se for the GPU


And also Johan at Corsair for these yummy parts


Inspiration pic


Analog meters and an Arduino Leonardo board


Cheap China USB-slot-in-DVD


12mm sheets veneered and cut


Used a laser for ventilation, but it didnt got all the way through and I had to remove some material from behind


Pieces ready for gluing


But before gluing, I mounted these fat springback drawer slides. A nice detail for future upgrading etc.


Gluing under pressure


12mm pieces for inner chassis, with some cut tracks for the bottom piece


I stained the inner parts darker for a nice contrast


Gluing again


This is my mean (!) ghetto router table, constructed from junkyard parts.


Removed some material for the slides


And here's the front panel, in brushed alu. Im real happy with the design. A bit costy when you dont have access to a CNC yourself. Worth it though!




//Quizz

 

Great minds think alike. I'm just planning a HTPC with an Arduino driven analogue meter (the old one is starting to develop issues in the PSU and frankly it can't keep up with HD video).

 

Hell yes!! SUBBED!

 

threads like this make me think I should have taken a job involving wood work rather than sheet metal, looking good !

 

Oooo, subbed for sure. I've loved your previous logs.

 

like the idea very much!
consider me subbed

 

A new Quizz project? How do you keep it going man, you never seem to stop.

This looks like it's going to be another good one. What am I saying? You're always good man.

 

So they seem!

Looking forward to that HTPC build of yours... But finish what you've started first =)

Thanks!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Looks of an amp + functions of a PC... Simple as that!

Thank you!

Thanks Wisdom! Well, I just do what I want to do 247... Building stuff that is!



Update

Two layers of teak oil is all I need for the finish, don't want it too shiny


Some 35mm alu round bar slices ready for turning


45's


Hole for screw


A set of alu feet finished


Mounting


Looks good IMO


Another angle


MB and cooling installed


A sort of fragile front bezel is glued onto the inner chassis. This is for lighting, but more about that later.


A small gpu plate, laser cut


This is the 650 PSU. I wanted to mount my SSD on to of it, but there are no options here...


Unless you take it apart... And remove the PCB screws...


... and replace them with longer ones. TADA! Now you got yourself a mounting system.


PSU mounted from bottom.


Laser cut SSD plate for two disks


I just got one for the moment, here installed with black stand offs


This is how it looks mounted on top of the PSU


Another angle... Quite happy with the solution


Started on some dial knobs for the front panel. My lathe parting tool is in bad shape, so used a saw instead


I wanted some separate the dials from the panel a bit, visually. Got the idea to use some black acrylic for a nice contrast, here glued with epoxy


I love to insert half-ugly pieces into my lathe and make them... Fancy!!


Drilled holes for the dial pots


These three knobs will controll lighting later


As you might have noticed, I will use a flex riser for the GPU card. This is how to make good looking standoffs when all you have is a lot of them short hex spacers. You just put some fancy clothes around them and...


... TADA!

 

Awesome! That thing you did with the psu pcb screws is cheeky, and brilliant.
There's a joke in there somewhere about how bad it is to get excited about someone working their knob... -Ah, I think I found it.

Also, Holy cow! I got in before you finished this time!!!!

Edit: ^That last bit should not be in the same post as the statement above it, but it's too late. I posted it.

 

yes, aw, yes yes yes!

*major sploosh*

this is really looking nice


//** EDIT **//
650 watt seems absurdly overkill in this situation, no?!

 

wow.
Wish I had the tools and skills to make something that looks even half as awesome as this!

 

Using the lathe for parting does indeed seem to be a dark art. A good indexable tool seems to give the most consistent results. The tool also needs to be absolutely squared up to the work piece, the saddle locked down and pressure applied at just the right RPM. It takes practice, I find.

As for extended stand-offs, just make your own from some brass bar!

 

Q,

Just luuurve your skills with the wid- absolutely second to none

Giving me some ideas about something similar for a file server for my music collection maybe

 

It really freaks me out how seeing a new thread of yours gets me into some weird state of arousal.

Not far from becoming my main source of inspiration - really awesome builds, all quite innovative in some way or another. Subbed for sure.

 

Thanks Cheaps!

Thank you

Overkill maybe, I had another GPU in mind from the beginning. Never hurts to have some POWER though =)

Thank you!

Ive got a new parting tool ordered. But yeah, it's tricky parting sometimes, especially with these small china lathes.

Thank you!

Thank you for those very kind words faxiij!

 

Yay, another Quiz build, and it's looking beautiful as usual. The front Aluminium piece is gorgeous! Can't wait to see more...

 

Awesome work, very fresh and clean, you have a great touch.

 

Well, i should know
bought a 1000w psu because i got it dirt cheap
had sli 660ti running off of it
now that one card has died on me, i'm stuck with 3570k and a 660ti on 1kw, talk about headroom

 

Thank you Morgansk!

Thanks noobas4urus

Small update, but almost finished now

Made a small front panel extension for audio out


A little bit of soldering for the arduino module


Probably the shortest power extension I've made so far...



I lasercut a new design for the analog meters on three types of wood veneer; walnut, cheery and ash


I went for the one in the middle, cherry. Looks best IMO


The front piece of acrylic and the screws/spacers keeps the veneer straight and in position.


Some epoxy applied on the front panel for the meters


With everything mounted onto the panel, I glued the panel onto the inner chassis. I had some issues getting it into position, but with a variety of different clamps, I finally managed.


Next update will be final. Mounting the DVD-drive, some lighting, and final cable management.

//Quizz