Scratch Build – In Progress Skyscraper

Im going to follow this one closely,i have see all your prior builds in wood and they are all very well done.

 

Thanks TapperSwe! I'm glad to see some of my Swedish friends stop by. My work must be popular there because I have always gotten a lot of web traffic from Sweclocker.com and Techsweden.org. Fact is, the Swedes and Australians gave me the most support during Intel's computer design People's Choice Award contest earlier this year.



I'm shifting gears for a while in this project to concentrate on the hardware side. This photo shows a rough layout of equipment in order to measure the back panel dimensions. The width is set in stone but the height is still "adjustable".

The mini-ITX board's I/O panel will be facing straight down and the 60mm fan will at the top. You can see my pencil marks where I'm going to cut the 3/16" sheet of Birch plywood.

The actual mini-ITX board I'll be using is fanless. I might not need the 60mm fan but I have to make sure there is room for it.

 

I cut out the plywood back panel, installed brass motherboard standoffs and fit the motherboard.

I will be using this computer as a "stand alone" digital picture frame (with wireless network connectivity) so I won't need access to the I/O ports except for maintenance, etc. However, it could be used as a regular desktop computer because the gap created in the lower back of the unit (that allows for cooling air to enter) would allow cables to pass thru.

Something like this.....



The power switch and power jack will be installed onto the back panel for easy access.

 

Sweden contains alot of wood So we feel at home with this great wood-work! Thumbs up

 

this is a great looking digi frame. keep up the great work, and i know i wouldnt have thought of mounting the mobo that way.

 

w00t!! A Slipperyskip project! Good to see you here, Jeffrey. I almost never get over to that 'other' forum.

Great work on the framing. So you didn't use any fasteners?

PS: love that hand held miter cutter! I always like seeing the secret tools of the modders, like Greensabbath's Japanese hand saws.

 

Thanks Dira and 500mph! I appreciate your comments.

Hey Brian! What the hell are you doing over on this side of the pond? I'm just hiding.

I don't use fasteners. I don't use power tools other than a Dremel and a cordless drill now and then.

You have a project going on here?



Here is my frame-up of the I/O shield. The key here is the use of countervailing, asynchronous mini-clamps.

 

Yes I do, although you'd have to go back quite a few pages to find it!
I haven't have much time to work on it since the baby (our 2nd one). One of these days I'll get an update posted.

But until then I can live vicariously through you and your project!

 

True, LOL i wonder why im using aluminum

 

Wood AND aluminum is an awesome combo. I believe it started in the art deco era when designers tried combining the new materials (for them) such as chrome, aluminum and Lucite with old-school materials such as wood, stone and glass.

Here is one of my favorite wood/aluminum combo designs. It is a Yamaha audio amplifier from the 70's.



I'm currently struggling to come up with some idea to add something "shiny" to this project. It has too much wood, in my opinion, that needs to be broken up with some contrast.

Anyway...the latest pics:

 

I love this project. I'm Italian and this is the kind of stuff I saw growing up (art deco). We actually referred to it as Art Dego....LOL. You'll have to put that in a room with some really ugly flock wallpaper and blue shag carpet. Ha Ha.
Keep up the great work.

 

Me too. When I was very young I traveled with my family to Miami Beach and saw the art deco hotels of South Beach. It is the only memory I have of that trip. Later in life I lived in New York City and San Francisco where I existed under the shadows of two of the great art deco shrines, The Chrysler Building and the Golden Gate Bridge.

I still worship at the art deco "Vatican" whenever I visit my in-laws in Miami.

You should visit my site 'cause most of my work is influenced by art deco. Imagine that!

 

Finished the face plate veneer. Mitre work is always an adventure. I then sanded the project down with 220 grit sandpaper.

Since mahogany is photoreactive, I'm going to set the frame outside in the Florida sun for a while. It should darken up nicely as most things do here. It will really darken when I later apply the clear lacquer finish.

The mahogany I'm using is from the same batch I used on the Decomatic. Since I'm finishing it in the same manner it should look much like these corner pieces:

 

looks great. nice job with the veneer.

 

Thanks! I count a total of 49 pieces of mahogany veneer used in this project.

I placed the case outside today for about 4 hours. This is the result:



Compare it to the picture above (same camera settings) and you can see the effect the sun has on mahogany. Mahogany will naturally get darker over time, I'm just speeding things up a little.

Some panels are lighter than others. What I'll do is mask off darker panels in order to get the lighter ones to "catch up".

 

Sun bathing on my deck. I have to rotate it now and then to get an even coverage.



Here is a photo after the first coat of clear lacquer. The interior has also gotten a first coat of pewter gray paint. The back panel is being sprayed with an industrial aluminum paint that actually contains real aluminum paste.

It is hard (for me) to photograph mahogany. It reflects light in a very unusual way. I equate it to trying to take a picture of a hologram. The color matches fairly close in this photo although the rest of the lighting is a disaster.

 

this is very interesting indeed! I must say it is quite stylish yet tasteful. it really does capture the look of that artdeco era.
If you want something shiny maybe you should add a tiny analog clock to the top. one that has a shiny rim and backface. It could be that extra touch you were looking for without ruining the look.

Anyways a good idea to complete the look is get some sort of matching DesktopEnvironment theme for your OS.

 

Thanks for the idea Sandwich....I'll keep it in mind.



Attached the I/O plate support to the backplate and painted it with aluminum paint.



Assembled the motherboard, 60mm Vantec Stealth fan, power switch, and power jack onto the the backplate. This is not the motherboard I'll be using. I should be receiving it in the post soon.



Displaying the backplate as it will be shown to the public. That is a Bulgin switch. This entire assembly is self-contained and can operate independently from the case.

 

looking really good.

 

I installed brass screw inserts into each corner and secured the backpanel with knurled thumb screws. The exposed holes are the back of the motherboard standoffs and I'll have to dress those up somehow.

I have also sanded the case back down to wood because I wasn't happy with the quality of the finish. I'll probably do this several times until I'm satisfied with the result.