Case Mod - Complete Dancing Iridescence - PC-Q30 - Update 4th, March 2014 - Final Assembly

So I had this crazy idea for something to do with the Lian-Li PC-Q30 case that I reviewed at The Mod Zoo.

I decided I wanted to go with some wood on it somewhere. I mean, that's just how I roll. I thought replacing the stock Lian-Li front with a big chunk of figured maple would be a sweet place to start. Beyond that, I'm hoping to have a little fun with the side panels, upgrade the case feet, and see what kind of an HTPC I can throw together.

As with most of my other woodworking projects, I'll be doing as much of this with hand tools as I can. At least the woodworking portion of it. Even using a bit and brace for drilling holes. It's just more relaxing that way.

That and I'm doing this in my apartments spare bedroom, so noise is the other consideration lol



Some of the stuff I'm using in this build:

Lian-Li PC-Q30 ITX Case


MNPCTech White Delrin Case Feet


3M 4010 Tape


ADATA 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 2400 XPG v2 RAM


ADATA 128GB XPG SX900 SSD

 

Let’s start out by throwing a big chunk of curly maple at it, and see what happens…

Cutting the 2-5/8” thick curly maple slab by hand.


Little bit of a work out here, but got the job done.


Marked the lines out based on the existing Q30 front frame.
Cut with a marking knife, and chiseled to have better guidelines.


Using a router plane to make some slots for the frame to sit in.


After finishing the horizontal grooves I made some narrower grooves for the side pieces.


These were a little tricky, in that I had to get them to arc similar to the side frames.


2 of the cross bars done, and one of the side grooves down to depth.


Sits flush enough for me.


Rinse and repeat.


Now it is a friction fit to the front of the case.


Good ol’ curly maple.




Had to more out on the top to make room for the top panel.


Like a glove.


Had to do the same for the bottom as well.


Now fits flush, as intended.






Must have gotten all the grooves right, it looks pretty parallel with the back to me ​

Thanks for checking it out guys. Next update will be working on the cutout for the window.

As always, any questions or comments are welcome

 

That is just, just awesome workmanship

Love the choice of wood. Will be following this one.

 

looks nice but im far more interested in you hand tools.
I see a Stanley router plane, narex chisel, a nice hold fast in a nice looking work bench with wagon vise and leg vise, marking gauge, a stanley scraper, i want to say that may be a Disston saw and I dont know that brand the other chisels are.

and on top of that it is in a carpeted room... a man after my own heart lol

 

Thanks craig. I really like curly maple. Probably one of my favorites.

I put down a canvas drop cloth over the carpet, thank you

The Narex is a mortise chisel, but I'm in the [slow] process of replacing those with Ray Iles English Pigstickers. Have a 1/4", and will hopefully be expanding with a 3/8" next month, and see if I have a need for more than that down the road. It is a Disston, a No. 7, a Stanley #71 router plane, a Stanley #80 scraper, a Stanley #77 mortising gauge. The other chisels are Ashley Iles bevel edge chisels.

I do have a soft spot for vintage hand tools... This is the last time I took an all encompassinggroup shot of my planes. It was about a year ago, and I've added a "few" more since...

 

nice. i really wish i had a collection like that but I guess I have been trying to make up for it by slowly making my own tools. I have made a small smother plane, dovetail saw, 3 bevel edge chisels, marking knife but i still have things like a stanley block plane, jack plane, a set of 4 narex bevel edge chisels, crown jents saw and other things like that. I have gotten to the point that I feel making my own tools to be more fun then buying them lol

 

Nice! Shop made tools may not always be the highest quality, but they definitely are more fun to use. I've got a few that I've made and kept, and a few that we've had group exchanges through a woodworking site I'm on. So much fun

 

I just got a degree in sculpture so even my half ass tools still are not that bad lol now if only I could get a job. http://i.imgur.com/b7rq32F.jpg

 

Lot of respect for the skeels required for nice woodwork!

 

Very nice mosquito, love the wood choise, and that's quite an awesome tool collection. Can't wait to see where this is going

What is this?! A workbench for ants?!

 

Nice, the mini workbench is pretty sweet too

Thanks AvJaB. I'm always working on trying new things, and trying old things new ways. Always trying to better my work as I go. I have only been at this for a little under 2 years, so still a lot left to learn

Thanks Meelobee. I have an idea in store for side panels that I hope will bump it up another notch or two, but that's still a ways down the road


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Thanks for checking it out and commenting

 

Next update, I'm getting pretty close to done with the front panel. Still now power tools yet, and going strong

Used a brace and bit to drill holes for mounting the window and front panel to the Lian-Li sub-chassis



Traced out the window, then used a straight edge to mark the area that I was going to recess with a knife. The lines on the inside aren't really important, mostly just visualizing things for now. The interior knife lines are for later.



Starting with a chisel to get down to the knife line. Makes me less prone to accidents with the router plane tearing up an outside edge.



Then go at it with the router plane, same as before. Few bits of tearout on the outside, but will hopefully be able to clean that up later. Inside doesn't matter, as it'll be gone eventually



After I got the recess for the window to sit on, I then re-marked the inside lines 3/4" from the edge. Then I started using the router plane to make another groove, deeper.



Test fit.



Bit and brace to drill a larger hole, then cut with a coping saw, using the groove from earlier as a slight guide.



Was having issues with the cross grain cuts. Didn't manage to stay very close to my guide edge. Oh well, that's what floats, rasps, and files are for. After all, measure twice, cut once... and sneak up on it anyway



Little cleanup work on the inside edges



And another test fit.




Yes, I'll be replacing the philips head screws that are currently holding the bottom of the window on. It's all I had on hand, and only had 2 long enough for the bottom. The top requires longer screws.​

Well, that's that for now. I'm still going to do some further cleaning of the window area, and do a few chamfers here and there.

Thanks for checking it out

 

Not a whole lot of progress in this update. I just made some little details on the front piece, and then began work on the side panels…

I made a few refinements on the piece of maple. Doesn’t look like much from this far away though.


Eased into the window top and bottom



Chamfers were also added to all the edges as well.[/indent]


Then it was time to change things up a bit; Out with the wood and hand tools, in with the metal and power.

I kept the angle for the bottom and top to be horizontal while the case is standing on a flat surface.



I then copied the curve of the old front to the back of the panel.





This is roughly what it’ll look like, sort of. The panels will be up a little higher than this.​

I’ve still got a little more work to do on the side panels. I am going to mount them to the side of the case, over the original side panels, using spacers. This will allow me to keep the existing ventilation useful, and will bring the side panels out to be closer to the width of the front piece of maple.

Thanks again for checking it, until next time.​

 

I like the side panel mounting idea, will give a very clean look.

 

Thanks Craig I wanted to keep the vents, but didn't like looking at them. That and I didn't feel like trying to make 1/4" thick side panel covers lol

I have something else planned for these side panels as well, but that will have to wait a little while longer

 

Little bit of a sneak peak at what's coming up... with Visible Contrast done on Thursday, I picked up on this one again on Friday

 

Alright, I think I’ve kept everyone waiting on this one for long enough. Unfortunately I was gone all weekend, so I was unable to upload the videos at this point, but I will do that tonight when I get home from work.

On a day I took off from work, I went with Bill from MNPCTech on a little field trip to Dirt Designs Graphic to see Brad about getting some side panels done for this thing.

I don’t have a ton of pictures of the process, as I was busy working while Bill was taking pictures for me, and shooting some video, so I’ll try to explain as I go.



So just a quick recap, this is where we’re at with these side panels.



I started out with 2 fresh steel panels, on the road trip to Brad’s shop.



Brad giving me a few pointers and practicing on a trash can.



First I used the grinder with a 3M Scotch-Brite disc to lay down a base layer of grinding marks from end to end.
The grinder was mostly flat on the surface for this part.



After the base was ground into the metal, I started to use the edge of the grinding disk to make some deeper marks.












Here we have the first panel done and waiting for paint.



I had Brad mix up a custom shade of Kandy Root Beer, adding a little Brandy Wine red to make it a little more orange, and a little less brown. This is coat #1.



Coat #2



After 3 coats of the Kandy Root Beer it was hit with 2 coats of clear and left to dry.


In these next few pictures, the camera stays in (mostly) the same spot, while I move the lamp from left to right over the side panels, to show the effect.






This was the first panel.







This was the second panel.


I still need to come up with a means to mount these panels to the sides of the case, so that should come in the next update, so I shall close out this one with following



Again, thanks for checking it out. Hopefully I’ll have the video posted soon, as it better shows the effect
​

 

very nice paint job!

 

Those sidepanels look really really good!

 

Thanks!

Thank you very much