Scratch Build – In Progress Scratch Build - Vogel Haus

We'll I'm at it again. After the Molesworth Mod, I decided to take a break. So I took Jan and most of February off.

I found a wood worker's heaven. I took a long lunch one day and paid a visit. They had everything you could imagine and at great prices. They had Mahagony, Cherry, Purple Heart, Teak, Cypress, Birds Eye Maple, Spaulted Maple, Oak, Hickory, you name it and it was there. After about 15min of small talk, they asked if I could use any firewood. I figured sure, why not. Well they too me over to the other warehouse, and there piled in the corner, perhaps 15ft high was all the bits and pieces. Not shavings, but 4x4x5 pieces of mahogany, 3x2x4 piece of cherry, these were choice pieces to a wood turner or a wood worker, but alas, they were firewood. Needless to say, I will have to stop by again and soon.

Anyway, back to my current mod. I plan on re-vamping my Win 2000 server, it has been sitting in the same plastic case for nearly 7 years. So I've decided to give it a make over. I'm calling this one Vogel Haus (German for Bird House) because I have some beautiful Birds Eye Maple and Cherry. I also plan on using some dark Walnut for the inlay work. I also have some Spanish Cedar to use for the fan grills.

Here are the first shots. Here is the Bird's Eye Maple on the left, the Cherry in the middle and the Walnut on the end. The Cherry is 4/4 rough cut lumber. 4/4 means just over 1 inch thick. and you can still see the rough saw marks on the Cherry, so it will take some work to turn them into manageable pieces. The BE Maple is also 4/4. Some very nice color and figure with that one.




here is a close up of the maple




After I cut some of the Cherry down to size it was time for the planer.




When I was done I had 1" square blanks 72" long.




Now time to cut them down to size. Sorry but no pics of this, just the finished pieces



I also made the curved top pieces out of BE Maple and the rails and stiles out of Cherry. Here are a few pics of the front and back



Here is a shot of the frame so far.



Now with the top rails in.




Well that is enough for this weekend. It did take a little longer than I thought. I am experimenting with half lap tenons for the corners, they need alot more precision than I had given them credit for. Hope you enjoy.

 

Nice selection of woods and a nice start on the case.
John

 

Woo, thats a great looking frame.

 

I agree with that too

 

Thank you very much. I hope to have pictures of the joints this weekend, as well as, the front done.

 

I love the name...

It's also looking very promising so far.

 

me too xD

keep on modding

 

Thank you very much. I had to use all that German I learned somewhere. Don't be surprise if I throw in a little Russian or Arabic.

Here is a shot of one of the corners. Where the BE Maple meets the Cherry.



Here is a shot of the Back Right (BR) lower rail meeting the BR stile. I use Front Right, Front Left, Back Right and Back Left as I view the piece to keep everything straight. After a while all the pieces start looking the same.



I had to shave off about a 1/16th of an inch from the rails so that the would meet the rounded corners.



Here is just another shot of the back.

 

Here are some updates from today.

Here is a shot with the grooves and rabbets in the rails and stiles



Here is the front and back of the case.



Here is a shot with it still dry fit.



Here is a side shot with the templates for the PSU, Mobo, DVD and HDDs.




And here is a shot of the front.



I'm gluing up the mobo side. We'll see how it shapes up as it dries overnight. Well that is all for today.

 

Beautiful work, as always.

 

Thanks... On a roll!!!

 

Well its on to the home stretch...

Today I spent time on the plexi side for the mobo and finished upt the panel I glued together last night for the access door. I also bent the plexi roof to conform to the curves of the BE Maple rails.



Here is another shot




Here is a head on shot, you can see the sublte curve of the plexi.




Here is a shot from the front.



And here is a shot of the door. I made a cherry handle. I put in 2 brass hinges at the bottom for access.




A few more things and this room will be ready for the finishing room. Well not so fast... I still have to make the access panels for the DVD, build the internal drive mounts, add the lights, add the power and reset buttons, migrate all the hardware from the existing box, test, rebuild, test, find out I forgot to jumper the DVD player to slave ...

So... I guess there still is alot to get done. I'm just happy to have the carcass built and still have all my digits.

Have a great week!!!

 

very nice, the top plexi looks very sleek with those nice curves and bends...

 

Not much this week. I finished the wooden latches for the door. Made them out of Cherry and Ebony. Should have pictures later this week.

 

i wish i had these carpentry skills someday!

You are a carpentry master

 

One of my favorite builds this one. Subscribed.

 

Andrew,

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoy it.

 

Here a few quick shots of the wooden latches.



I used Cherry Dowels and Cherry blocks for the inside. The Outside blocks are Madagascar Ebony. Here is a closeup of the latches.



Here is another perspective.

 

Well it has been a while and I have not made a lot of progress, but here are some shots of the case. I finished the horizontal pieces today and dry-fitted the entire case together.

Here are a few shots...






Here is a shot of the inside of the case.


Here is another shot.

 

*envious*