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Scratch Build – In Progress Junior - Wood ITX Media Center - COMPLETE!

Discussion in 'Project Logs' started by WoodGuy, 10 Jul 2013.

  1. WoodGuy

    WoodGuy It's just a flesh wound!

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    Junior

    This is my first submission to Bit-Tech.net for a scratch build. Two of my passions are woodworking and computers, so I thought it was fitting to bring the two together.

    My goal is to create a one-of-a-kind box that in no way looks like a computer. I want to hide the computer aspects of my project, so away with the power/HDD LEDs, and hide the power/eject buttons as well as the optical tray cover. There will also be some lighting effects.

    My build is inspired by the Greene and Greene motif, made with quarter-sawn mahogany and some ebony accents. It will be the home for a mini-ITX system.

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    The wood was in my garage acclimating for a couple of weeks prior to cutting.

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    I started by running the rough stock through the jointer then the thickness planer. This will be a small case, so all of the pieces here are ½” thick. It’s a frame and panel design, so the rails and stiles were cut to rough dimensions.

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    Finger joints and pegs laid out for the corners of the frames.

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    Front, sides, back and top grouped together and ready for cutting. The rough-cut wood in back will be used for the top panel and other miscellaneous parts.

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    Mortising the holes for the square pegs.

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    The frames will be joined with tongues and rabbets. The rabbets will also accept the mica panels.

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    Finally, the case is starting to take shape.
     
    Last edited: 29 Oct 2013
  2. WoodGuy

    WoodGuy It's just a flesh wound!

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    More Frame Work

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    Cutting the fingers on the table saw with a dado blade.

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    Mortising puts quite a bit of stress on small parts, so I drilled those prior to cutting the fingers.

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    The fingers fit nice and snug (no glue yet, still much to be done). I also finished up the square holes for the ebony pegs. The center dividers are dry fit as well, since they will be removed and shaped later.

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    Routed the slot for the optical drive.

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    Routed a rabbet in the sides for the plywood bottom, then cleaned it up with a chisel.

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    Rounding the corners of the fingers with 100, 150 and 220 grit sandpaper. I found this is a much easier job by attaching the sandpaper to a 1/8” strip of wood with spray adhesive. When possible, I also prefer to sand pieces prior to gluing.

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    Here are the center dividers removed from their frames and ready for shaping. Each divider got pinned to the slot in the jig (left) and then routed with a flush-template bit.

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    OK, so the jig in the previous picture was a good idea, but didn’t work so well. Strangely, I simply couldn’t get accurate results. Instead, I set up reference lines on the router fence and shaped each divider with a straight bit.

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    Here’s the second set of three dividers. I’m much happier with the results.

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    Dividers shaped and glued in place, all surfaces sanded (frame corners still not glued).
     
    General_Confusion likes this.
  3. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    This is giving me wood. :naughty:

    Nice start, I can't wait to see more!
     
    GeorgeK likes this.
  4. Mosquito

    Mosquito Just 'Plane' Crazy

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    Very nice start, I am definitely partial to wooden builds, though ;-)

    I wasn't a fan of G&G, but it's kind of been growing on me. At least for smaller stuff like this. Still not quite sure I'd want my furniture G&G style...


    Too bad about all the power tools though :p
     
  5. quizz_kid

    quizz_kid Squid

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    Looks good man. Like the joinery, wish I had the patience for that
     
  6. Subway

    Subway What's a Dremel?

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    It's looks very interesting and complicated!
    I also build a wooden case for a contest. If me thread a approved you can take a look at it, it's called "TheCube"
     
  7. Pfaffen

    Pfaffen What's a Dremel?

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    Great start!
     
  8. Darkwisdom

    Darkwisdom Level 99 Retro Nerd

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    You shouldn't promote your own mod on other people's pages. It isn't fair and i'm pretty sure it's against forum rules.
     
  9. timmmay

    timmmay What's a Dremel?

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    Nice work! Greene and Greene is a lofty style to try to emulate!
     
  10. WoodGuy

    WoodGuy It's just a flesh wound!

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    Thanks guys for the comments and for looking!
     
  11. General_Confusion

    General_Confusion Now Where was I?

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  12. perplekks45

    perplekks45 LIKE AN ANIMAL!

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    Got wood?! (sorry :worried:)
     
  13. WoodGuy

    WoodGuy It's just a flesh wound!

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    Ebony Pegs

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    Here’s my sanding station with sanding blocks up to 320 grit. In all, 31 ebony pegs will be needed. As shown above, the strip was held at 45 degrees, then sanded to produce the bevels (shown below).

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    These pegs are ¼” by ¼” square. Even at 320 grit, ebony still shows the sand marks at close up.

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    Cutting small parts can remove digits, so I took the safe route. Once the ebony pegs were sanded/beveled, I inserted the strip into the square hole of the oak jig, press them against the bandsaw fence and cut the peg off. This not only cuts the part safely, cuts a consistent depth every time, but also captures the peg so I don’t have to hunt for it on the shop floor.

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    Here’s what happens when you try to insert a peg into a hole with little support. I should have known better. No worries, this is a finger for the back of the case and it’s easily corrected.

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    Clamp it first, then drive the peg in. That worked for me every time. In the case of the broken finger, I glued the finger and drove peg at the same time. Most pegs were tight enough they didn’t need glue – applying glue to a tight peg would have caused problems. So I simply pounded them in with a mallet and recessed scrap piece of wood to ensure all pegs stuck out a uniform thickness from the surface. Slightly sanding the edges of the back of each peg allowed them to go in much easier. Don't read my checklist in the background. There are some really neat things coming! :hip:

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    Finally gluing the case frames together. Care was taken not to damage the pegs with the clamps. Little blocks were made to work around the pegs.
     
    Last edited: 19 Jul 2013
  14. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Oh, my, money.
     
  15. Cheapskate

    Cheapskate Insane? or just stupid?

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    That's a really attractive design. Welcome to bit-tech.:D
    I thought at first you were using the ebony for strengthening the join or maybe hiding a dowel. That probably would have been overkill, though.:lol:

    Thank you, by the way! I thought of this as an unnamed period style until now. A search of Greene and Greene brings up mountains of stuff that was an early influence on me.
     
  16. WoodGuy

    WoodGuy It's just a flesh wound!

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    Thanks Cheapskate. I believe Greene and Greene is pure eye-candy and when done properly, gives the builder freedom to express creativity that would be difficult in other furniture styles. As mentioned in a previous post, I don't know that I would do large furniture in this style, but in small items like jewelry boxes or computer cases, I think it looks great.
     
  17. mansueto

    mansueto Too broke to mod

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    I like how this is shaping up. I know nothing of wood working but it looks super awesome and the little details with the pegs and interlocking is awesome!
     
  18. C4B12

    C4B12 Minimalistic PC's

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    Wow thats truly awesome! Wood + scratchbuilds cant go wrong!
     
  19. Charger

    Charger What's a Dremel?

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    I have been trying to register for 6 days just to say how nice this is looking and that I will keep an eye on this thread. I love Greene and Greene. You seem to be going for the over all look and not the construction method but still good. I believe the ebony plugs should cover screws.
     
  20. WoodGuy

    WoodGuy It's just a flesh wound!

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    Thanks Charger. Yes, ebony plugs would cover structural fastners for furniture. But in my case it's purely decorative.

    Thanks everyone for your comments.
     

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