Case Mod - In Progress Project: Mission

Thanks guys!

Was that some sort of Aussie mid-winter holiday thingy?

My Walmart trash can (dust bin) that I chop up for mesh isn't big enough to accommodate this project and I couldn't find a viable alternative so I went ahead and ordered two 3 x 120 stainless steel radiator grills.

This update is all about cutting up pieces of wood and gluing them to the frame. This adds a lot of weigh and strength. It also starts to look like a piece of Mission furniture according to the wife. Lots of exciting action-packed photos of glue drying.



I attached pieces to either side of the front legs. The excess material sticking out past the face must be removed down to the same plane as the face.






I draw squiggly lines on the surface that I don't want disturbed by my sanding. I call these tell tale lines. I want to use this surface to guide my sanding without removing any material. When the lines start to disappear then I know I have to stop. On top of these lines you might see some transparent Scotch tape that I use to "lubricate" the sanding. This whole nonsense is meant to keep the corner sharp and at a perfect 90 degree angle.






The result. I stop sanding just as I start to scuff up the tell tales.






Then do it all over again after applying strips of wood across the front of the legs. This creates an interlocking corner something like Lincoln Logs or whatever they are called in your part of the world.






Clamping action. Since I'm being preachy...the rule is to never clamp directly to the surface being glued. Instead, use another piece of wood as a spacer to help evenly distribute the clamping force across your work.






How many pieces of wood does it take to create a 1 1/2" square leg? Ten. Some of these are the ends of short pieces and some are the ends of pieces that run the length of the structure.






Glue drying.






3-way






Symmetry - an imprecise sense of harmonious or aesthetically pleasing proportionality and balance.

 

June/July is the end of first semester here in Australia so yeah it kinda is a mid winter holiday thingy lol. We have a few weeks off and then go back onto semester 2. Realistically I had 2 months off almost cos I am at Uni.

Some more really good work mate.

 

That looks great, even without the PC . Depending on the glue you're using, those legs
should be stronger than a single piece.

 

Thanks. I like to use fresh yellow carpenters glue. The modern formula has some wicked new bonding strength. This is NOT your father's wood glue yet it is still water-based and non-toxic.



Measured and cut up some panels from a piece of fiberboard I got from my art supply store.






I need to beef up the wood thicknesses in the front panel area including the bezel area. They don't appear to be in scale with the rest of the case. I want to add some bling to the front somewhere but the wife is resisting. I'll probably come up with something.






The waster pieces were 3/16" thick and these panels are 1/8" leaving me 1/16" additional space for a decorative element. I've got my eye on some vintage Fender amplifier grill cloth. I dunno. Maybe.






The additional wood thickness I'll add to the front panel will cur into the depth the case will set into the back of the shell.






It doesn't look too bad sitting flush to the back.

Thanks for looking.

 

The structure is looking great, very strong. Nice work.

 

looks really great man!

 

Here comes more...



I was mocking up some ideas for the front and came up with this one. It seems to create an illusion that the face is much narrower. I saw this technique used on a Thirties radio once.






Stainless steel motorcycle spokes that would match with the 3 x 120 stainless steel rad grills.






I like it enough to also try out extending the spokes into the upper face. It might give the illusion of "suspending" the DVD drive bezel. I might also try out different sized spokes spaced at wider intervals. Any thoughts or ideas? One big selling feature of this design is that I can mount something to it like a logo plate or some shiny bit.

 

I like the wooden frame

 

I like the spoke idea, looks like it will work really well.

 

yeah spoke idea looks great

 

You sure you didn't buy this? you are not tricking us by making us think that you built this factory bought case?

Jk

those are some great wood skilz you have!

 

Go with the spokes. An emblem would look better in the drive bezel area IMO.

 

That looks really clean - great work. What wood are you using?

 

That was my original thought.

Thanks. Basswood and birch plywood so far.



To help in cutting my legs to even lengths I cut these two references. One is 100mm and represents the upper supports. The other is 55mm long and it represents the lower legs.






I'm more interested in consistency in length than accuracy. Here I'm using the 55mm block to help set up my straightedge. I'll make my marks along the straightedge instead of directly off the reference.






Here's the 100mm reference being used to set up the straightedge. Marks are made on all four surfaces of each leg.






I want to get some veneering done in this exhaust vent area because it will become much less accessible as the build contnues. I laid out a couple of sheets of walnut.






Pulled out all the side stanchions.






Measured and marked up the veneer.






Making sure that every cut is too long. Here I actually pulled the straightedge back a small bit so that the pencil line would be marked long.






I changed out my Easy Cutter's razor-sharp cutting blade for a fresh one. It's been four years.






Made some cuts and did a test fitting.






Glued everything up and set aside to dry.


Thanks for looking.

 

Drilled out some pilot holes in the veneer covering the side stanchion slots. An X-Acto knife was used to carve out the bulk of the material. Emory boards were used to finish the slots.





The three pilot holes can be seen for the opposite stanchions. The end of the legs are slowly being eaten down to the red mark.






The grill is being sized up. I think it might look better in a wood frame. The tabletop is a 12" X 24" piece of 3/4" birch plywood I bought at a supply store for architecture students.






Action display sequence.

 

insane mate.. i really like this one.

 

It is pretty crazy isn't it?



On the back left you can see the 1/8" sheet of brown hardboard that is shimming the case. It slides straight out the back just like the case.






A couple of action photos while testing clearances.






The system will work with or without the case's original side panels. Originally the panels were kept on to give it more support but I might need an internal light source and that means losing them. Either way I'm good to go.






Checking the length of the table top after mocking up some pieces. The width is perfect but I know I'll have to trim some length. There is an optical illusion going on that allows me to extend the length overhang while still looking like I'm using the same overhang as the sides.






Building a simple frame for the grills. First I lay down some wax paper onto a flat working surface. The wax paper keeps me from gluing the piece to my working surface.






Bring in the grill to measure, cut and test fit the pieces. Each layer of wood is cut in a pin-wheel fashion so that the butt joints all face in the same clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.






Glue stuff up. Remember to reverse the direction of the butt joints for each layer of wood. A three layer structure will turn out very strong










Set the frame in place to check the look.








Fail! The frame is too large and bulky IMO. I'm going to either scrap it or use it for the bottom vent. Later I'll build another frame using smaller dimension boards.






On to some veneering. I'm targeting the four stanchion support boards that feature the three cutouts. Glue and clamp the pieces without regard to the cutouts. My rule for veneering...do the difficult and boring first.






While I'm waiting for glue to dry I whipped up a few shim pieces from basswood to narrow the front face by a 1/4". Each is 1/8" wide and will fit inside the front two legs. This will allow me to properly fit some chrome trim pieces that I'm considering for the front.






Using my X-Acto razor knife I carve out most of the material in the cutouts. Emory boards are used to finish up the slots. The wife has noticed her nail files are coming up missing. Time to duck and cover.






Both sides done. Time to flip it over and do the other two.






The front face shim pieces are being fitted and glued up.






Some excess material is sticking out front so it will need to be knocked down with wood files and sandpaper.






Some scavenged chrome bits that I dug up to see if they could be used.










I'm still "squinting" at this look. I don't know. I'll work around all this for now to see what else might pop up. Opinions are welcome.

Thanks for looking.

 

That's a pretty darned snug fit on those "scavenged chrome bits" lol. Perfect.... too perfect!

I think it looks good, and will probably look awesome once you stain/veneer the whole front.

 

Awesome combo of wood and metal. I really like it that you "hide" the pc.

 

... ok.. this is wicked!