Scratch Build – In Progress Mondrian

I built this project in April/May of this year but never published an official project log. Instead I used it as a Facebook experiment to see if a project would translate to the FB format and audience. A few months ago I posted final photos of Mondrian in the Modding section of these forums but I have since been wanting to post an actual build log.



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Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) was an influential Dutch abstract painter who worked with simple lines, right angles, geometric figures and primary colors. This scratch built computer case is my tribute to his art.





















Building a frame for the I/O shield.





Mini-ITX motherboard with Scythe Kozuti heatsink. The CPU fan is located below the fins where it pulls air in through the fins/heatpipes.



This is my panel cutting setup. A fixed fence, a floating fence and an X-acto razer saw.



Locate and install the motherboard standoffs. I'm using aircraft grade birch plywood.



Mark and cut-out the hole for the CPU heatsink.









Cut the second panel to the exact same dimensions and do a test fit. This design allows cool external air to be drawn into the case through the heatsink making overheating nearly impossible.






Building the corner supports. These supports also function as spacers for the edge vents.











Dry-fitting my edge vent system.





Dry fitting the back panel components.







Hot internal air escapes through the edge vents without the use of a fan.

Thanks for looking!

 

Oh, you had me at "frame for the I/O shield".

 

It seems like all my scratch builds start with that same sentence. Must be something to it.

 

Love Mondrian, love the case... really great job translating his work. Bravo

 

Thanks Editor!

Three stars after one post! LOL It seems the haters and cowards are out in force tonight.

 

Looking good man. The style is reminiscent of the PS2 - awesome job

 

Thanks FatPanda. I get the PS2 thing all the time. I'm not sure I agree but I can assure you it wasn't intentional. I've never owned or played on a gaming console. PC gaming rules!

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Drew out the Mondrian-styled pattern on a full-sized side panel mock-up. Assigned colors to each block based on my analysis of the artist's past work.




Created a matrix based on the above design. At this point, all the lines are equal width. This will change later to four different line widths.




I bought numerous cast acrylic samples from TAP Plastics. These come in 4" squares and are very cheap because they are supposed to be samples and not actual final product. Here are the four primary colors that Mondrian-inspired designs are known for.




The large central red piece is exactly 4" square and doesn't require cutting. This square corresponds with the exposed heatsink on the other side which also happens to be 4" square.




This is my acrylic tile cutting set-up.




Cut various sized tiles to fit and kept the protective paper on as long as possible to prevent scratching of the acrylic.




Painted the matrix, interior and edge vents flat black.








Peeled some protective paper back. These tiles are all friction fit at the moment.















Did the same thing for the other side using a slightly different color combination.











Dry fit everything together to check the progress.






Thanks for looking!

 

Between-coat sanding of the flat black paint.




At this point I widened some of the lines by shimming them.






Cut sections out of the edge vent to make room for the front-mounted USB ports. Added small pieces of wood to frame the ports.








Fresh coat of flat black makes it easier to see the four different line widths in the matrix.








Pieces cut for the 256GB Crucial M4 SSD mount.






Components cut for the footer. From left...birch plywood, solid red oak and three pieces of basswood. The basswood is three different thicknesses so when glued together they form the perfect thickness required for the job.










The center part is made out of solid red oak because it is a stressed component that supports the weight of the system.






The end result is a floating effect. This footer design also allows for some airflow through the bottom of the case.






Built a support for the power switch.






Built a cover plate for the front USB ports.






These two parts installed and a final coat of paint.








Thanks for looking!

 

Specs:
Intel Core i3-2105 CPU
Intel HD3000 Graphics
Crucial 256GB M4 SSD
8GB Crucial DDR3 system memory
120W mini-box.com PicoPSU
Scythe Kozuti CPU Heatsink/Fan











Official Web Page

Boing Boing article

Kotaku article

Mashable's Top 10 Tech this Week

Thanks for looking!

 

Love it! I saw the final pictures on facebook, happy to see the project log here...

I'll do my part to help with the stars... I'm not sure what people's problems are... I mean seriously.

 

Thanks Mosquito! I appreciate that. The Facebook experiment was a bust, at least the way I did it. The stars thing is no big deal and actually kinda funny. Getting 1 or 2 stars 15 minutes after posting a new thread is hilarious. Haters gotta hate and cowards gotta hide.

 

Wow, you always impress with your woodwork, and this one looks stunning as always!

 

Really sweet project skip & a big droning booooooo & kick up the rear to haters aka tiny minded people.

I can barely believe it hasn't happened to me yet, but I think it will.

I guess there is some awesome things on facebook afterall I might well sign back up to it & keep it for modding, not "friends" I have nothing in common with.
Whoops, just noticed you say it was a bust, oh well.

Have 5 & rep, you make this look so easy because you are an awesome modder, experience still produces faults still but less or even none sometimes, I look forward to getting that good in time.

Ahhh, 5 stars

 

great job...love it

 

after wooden ssd cage i want to see wooden screws!!!

 

I expect it should be doable with great care & the right wood & treatment, not a great idea when you can have some super durable screws but it's a fun one.

One nice thing about when a project gets plucked of it's rating is the people who give a rats restore it fast, I like that.

 

It is doable, you can use a die on wooden dowels, or they have specific screw boxes for wooden threads when making large wooden screws, but for something this small I bet it would probably have issues with the threads...

Still so much awesome...

 

Thanks Balder! Good to hear from another old-timer.

Thanks Waynio. The thing I like about Facebook is that 22% of my "fans" are female and I like having that perspective now and then. Forums tend to be a sausage fest. On Facebook I don't have to worry too much about my work being dismissed simply because it won't play Crysis or doesn't have an Aliens riding Dragons in Space theme.

Thanks Kier! I'm guessing I should at least get a few Dutchmen onboard with this build. LOL You guys are very artistic as evidenced by all the great modding work coming out the NL these days.

If the rule is no metal screws then I would have to go with small dowels friction fit in from the sides like some of the tool-less hard drive mounts these days. It would be a fun challenge for sure.

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Although this design is simple its execution was not. 30 pieces of acrylic were hand cut using a razor saw and then sanded down to fit as perfectly as possible into position. I remember finishing 2-3 a day. That was all before I decided to widen a lot of the black lines. After that I had to hand sand the tiles down to fit the new matrix. Sanding an 1/8"(3 mm) off the edge of a piece of cast acrylic is not an easy task. I built Mondrian because I wanted to work with acrylic and boy did I get my wish.

Here is Mondrian with a few friends...

 

QFT, Jeffrey! And Waynio's right too. Children are going to be children. Some of us come here for the craft; not the crap. There's a difference between informed and uninformed opinions.

All politics aside, I think B-T should seriously consider adding the ability for a log's author to disable the ability for others to star-rate to begin with. I think it's wantonly abused and pointless in some fashion.

I for one believe this latest build, like always with your builds, is a thing of beauty. You have amazed me for all these years and continue to do so. So original! And masterful!

You keep pumping out the works of art and those of us that appreciate the work put into it will continue to be awed.

There's some stars for ya, as flawed as that rating system seems to be.

 

Very true that about getting some alternative perspective, the Aliens riding Dragons in Space theme sounds like my project ahh, what can I say, wanted to give the new saw something OTT to feast on.

Awesome group photo. And 100% agree with EEL.