Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Kenwood HTPC, Update 26th September - Done!

Looks great. Bet it should make an interesting contrast with the alu. Havent' seen walnut+alu before.

 

How should I finish the veneer? I don't want it to be too glossy, so like a really light stain? Polyurethane? Can anybody help me out?

 

Wax or oil can look really nice but it takes a while to work a good coat into the wood, also you need to reapply it every couple of years.

Moriquendi

 

I think I'll go down to the local hardware store and check out there wood finishes and see see what I like. I'll have to see what I currently have in my work area already. I think there's some stain, but it's probably not the right color.

 

Usually (I don't know where you're from, but here in the US anyway) at the larger home improvement places, they'll open a can of stain and let you smear some on a scrap. So take some scraps of the veneer with you. Also try some finishes. There are some satin finish polyurethanes that won't make it too glossy.

Make sure that if you use an oil stain you use an oil finish. With a water based stain, you can use a water based finish, and usually an oil based as well, but test it first.

Basically, the first rule is always test before you do it on the real thing!

 

holy sexy Mod wooooooooot this is a kickass idea.. wooooooot Kenwood going down hehehe nice work buddy

keep it up and take care and good luck

 

Keep the front HOW IT IS!!!!! PLEASE DONT RUIN IT!!!!

 

@dacust, Yeah, I'm in the US.
I bought some Minwax oil based stuff at Home Depot(stain and polyurethane), I've got to try it out. Update tomorrow...hopefully...

 

I won't! That's my number one goal, to keep it exactly the same. It's cool enough as it is!

 

O SWEET LORD THANK YOU!!!!! O AND U CAN ALSO TRY AND USE THE NEEDLES FOR LIKE HARDRIVE ACTIVITY AND LIKE MAYBE FAN SPEEEEED!!!!! THAT WOULD BE SWEET AND INCORPERATE THE KNOBS ON THE FRONT SO U CAN CHANGE THE SPEED OF THE FAN/S!!!!!! u CAN USE MY IDEAS IF U WANT... O AND THANKS FORKEEPING IT HOW IT IS AND U COULD POLISH THE FRONT TO AMIRROR SHINE THANKS!!!!! Ace

 

O AND YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE SWEET????? u NOT USING CAPS AND EXCESSIVE PUNCTUATION!!!11!!!! Duste

 

I'd like to see the FM-tuner scale turned as a processor load indicator...

 

I'd like to use the signal strength needle for processor load...I just don't know how to do it! I have to check out the electrical guts of the receiver to see how those needles work. But then how to get the information from the computer to that needle? That's the hard part...don't know how one would go about doing that. If anybody knows, let me know.

 

Mini-Update:
I cut the wood that I had (that veneered plywood) and drilled the holes to start putting the thing together.

Starting to come together​

But then I put the screws in and the plywood split badly....

​

So, tomorrow it's off to buy some MDF and then stuff should start to come together. I ordered all my components from Newegg and they should be here by mid-week. I also got a vandal switch from Performance-PCs. Hopefully some serious updates by the end of the week.

 

Try to verify an end face of plywood a drill is more thin, than your furniture coupler or a screw then plywood will not burst if to do it dremel it will "burn" almost, that will probably allow to fasten panels better

 

You could always screw both peaces into a block.

 

MDF For-The-Win; plywood is always warped anyways.

 

Yeah, don't use plywood. You need solid pieces of hardwood or go with fiber board. Like radodrill said, the plywood WILL warp in no time with changing humidity. In about a month you'll have a combo PC and salad bowl.

 

Diresnake beat me to it, but I recommend pre-drilling holes before setting the screws to avoid splitting the plywood. Even with MDF you might run into a situation with chips or cracks without drilling holes first.

 

Yeah, I did pre-drill the holes...and yet it split anyway. The reason I used the plywood in the first place was because I wanted hardwood, but couldn't find large enough pieces to make the case, so I decided to use hardwood veneered plywood. Then I didn't particularly like the way it looked, plus the joints weren't going to look nice, so I decided to veneer the whole thing. If I'd decided to do that originally I would have used MDF. So that's what I'll do now.