After a bit of a hiatus, I'm back to trying to build that case I have been meaning to. Fiberglass is proving too big a pain to work with. I think I need some professional instruction. But seeing a 140mm case in the local computer store spurred me back to the project. I need to see if a 140mm fan, and an active CPU HSF will keep the system happy, so I need to do an airflow test. Because I need this to function, at least for a little while, I needed something a little more robust than cardboard. I found something at the local hardware store called "hard board", it is the same material pegboard is made from, but does not have all the holes. I picked up a 4'x8'x1/8" thick piece. I also grabbed some 1"x2" luber to try and strategically reinforce the hardboard which will be important for the main board tray since the heat sink causes the main board to flex. I have had to deviate a bit from my original drawing to account for all this though. I was planning on using MDF if the fiberglass didn't work out and reinforce it with metal angle if needed. But what I am doing now looks to be sturdier than I thought it would be, maybe enough that I can use it for the internal support structure of the case. The internal support will be a sled that pulls out the back of the outer chassis so, other than the back panel, it will not normally be visible. Has anyone tried to use a method like this for something intended to last more than a month? Any ideas on making it look nice if I do find I like it, and can reuse it? I've started on construction a little bit, I have cut the base piece for the sled and glued a piece of reinforcing lumber to it. The battery in my cordless drill was dead which I need to drill the pilots for screws, and it my neighbors don't appreciate noise very late at night so I stopped for now. But here is is the tiny bit I got done with the CD-ROM and PSU set on there to get an idea of how things will fit. The scribbles are my thinking about how to fit all this together since I need to deviate from my previous plan. Next, I need to cut the MB tray and reinforce it. I then need to drill the holes for the MB mounting lugs, mount that to the base, add a fan mount to the front for the 140mm fan, then make the back plate. My intal drawings are still guidelines, so I am still shooting fro those dimensions, but I am rearranging the internals a bit to account for reinforcing lumber.
So, here is a rough idea on the layout: I have not figured out exactly how I want to mount the CD-ROM and hard drive yet. I also have not done the work to mount the standoffs for the mainboard. The glue has only been setting for a few hours now. I will need to drill some pilot holes, then bore out some holes on one of the support pieces so I can use some nuts to mount the standoffs rather than try and count on the wood to hold. That's one of the reasons for the asymmetrical screw layout, I needed to keep them away from the mounting holes. Eyeballing the positions for them might have something to do with it too If I do use this sled in the final product, I should be able to remove the screws ewntirly if I want to try and the wood glue, that or just swap them out with countersunk screws and cover them with wood filler and paint everything There will be a 140mm cooling fan on the front above the CD-ROM. I am not sure if it will intake or exhaust yet (I need to make sure I mount it so that I can easily change it). I also am looking to get a 2u , right angle PCIe riser as the system has an x16 slot, but there is a cap that blocks longer cards. I want to use this as a media box since I'm using a Barton based system for mine at the moment. A video card that can help with the video decoding would be nice. I am going for a square profile from the front, so there will be some empty space at the top. It should give me some space to try a fan at the rear if the 140mm fan can't handle things on its own. The last piece of the puzzle is a USB audio adapter. Running the ports to the rear in a way that lets me change the box could be a problem, that's one design aspect I still need to work on.
I've been chugging along, and have the mainboard tray set up to take standard threaded standoffs. I used some nuts as the mounts fot he standoffs that I am gluing to the backside of the tray. I had to make some holes in one of the support pieces for three screw holes. It's a bit messy, but this is supposed to be just a prototype. Looking at what is going on here, I think it's time to start a project log. So I will do that once I can take some photos of the mobo tray, and I get the CD-ROM mount done. The speed at which I can work with these materials is very nice. If I did not have to wait fro the glue to dry whenever I use it, I would be running on a lot less sleep
