*casually whips out a drum sander. Are there any more high-end toys you have been hiding? Rebuilds: Do what you want, as long as you don't burn them... or paint the wood. Seeing a hardware upgrade using your new toys would be cool.
Theres a big lathe and a very nice drill press... thats about all though. My shop is actually pretty small but I've crammed lots of things in it. I'd probably keep Sangaku air cooled as it would be my shop computer probably but we'll see.
With my stock cut to thickness and the model adjusted I started cutting out the real thing. I used a double flute 1/4 inch bit: From here I started on the cover piece. I used a 2mm Single Flute bit and a 1/4 inch bit for this: I forgot about the pump wire cover so at the last minute I added it into the model and cut it out of the same piece: And both together: To attach the two halves I made threads in the Wenge. I tested this first to make sure the threads would work well: From there, I hand drilled some holes into the acrylic to attach it to the main plate: Lastly I did a V-Carve of the Kanji for Ikigai:
A monumental moment came when I could finally glue up the big wood pieces. I started by sanding the insides of the pieces to be glued. I mixed some wood glue and dye together to make a dark glue just in case the joints weren't perfect. I did the same for the PSU caddy: Then it was time to start gluing: Once the glue was dry I sanded the joints smooth
With everything sanded I could start the finishing process. I used Danish Oil then a top coat over that with everything being a wipe-on then wipe-off kind of finish. Making progress!
My CNC machine made a decent but not perfect finish on the acrylic edges. To clean this up I just used sandpaper. I do not want a polished edge as I like how the polish/satin look together so I'm just aiming to get an even matte surface. I put some sheets of 220, 320, and 600 grit sand paper on my table saw, since it is a flat surface, and went to town. How it started: After 320grit: After 600grit I used a Wenge sanding block for some of the smaller pieces:
I decided to add some black A.C. Ryan mesh on the outside where the Kumiko covers the fans, for the extra contrast. This might hurt performance a little, but it looks slick so its an acceptable trade-off. At first I tried to machine it on my CNC but since it is steel, and a bit wavy at that, it went about as well as I expected. Instead I decided to use some tin snips and this worked great: Once cut to size, I used a template I made for the radiator shroud to mark and drill the holes to allow the bolts to go through:
I went back and forth on whether to make a shroud for the radiator and fan setup and decided to do it since it would clean up the inside of the case a bit. I made a model to make sure it would work with the other components. It would be made out of a combination of Wenge and brushed black aluminum from A.C.Ryan. I resawed some Wenge on the bandsaw and ran it through the drum sander to make it smooth: I then cut the pieces to length: For the joinery I wanted something simple but strong so I decided on one big dovetail. I did these the same way I did the ones on the PSU holder. Test fitting: Looking good: One last piece of CNC machine work on this. I needed to route a relief area for fan wires: Dovetails all done and tested with the practice piece: Glueup started after that: While the glue was drying I went to work on the aluminum part of the shroud. This attaches to the radiator itself. Ready to go. This is a 3/16 inch single flute bit: Tested with the Wenge, it is a snug friction fit:
Gluing it together on wood, with wood bracing. -Now see, If that was one of us, that would all be one part now.
Nothing a bit of brute force and good luck wont fix. I was sparse on the glue for just that reason. I also realized theres a lot of the log left.
I wanted a bit of Pizazzzz in the center acrylic panel so I decided to route a groove and add an Alphacool LED strip in there. Luckily these are super thin so the groove could be small. I used the router table with a spiral carbide bit:
Watercooling: I chose 12mm clear PETG for this case, using some bends also. I have not done bending before so this was a new challenge and I have more respect for people who do this often, its not easy. I first laid out all the fittings to see where they'd need to go. And got my tools ready: I used a cheap Barrow tubing cutter and a Primochill tube trimmer to get all the tubes dialed. Luckily I bought lots of extra tubing since there were a few misshaps, especially on the double bend. I got it though and it turned out pretty good.
I wanted to simplify the look of the motherboard a bit to match the clean design of the case. For this I used a combination of Wenge and brushed black aluminum. First up is the ram: I then drew up the motherboard pieces in cad and cut out samples to make sure my measurements were correct: Then I cut out the real thing is 2mm aluminum. Then I sanded the edges and attached them to the aluminum pieces. I actually remade these in Wenge later but I forgot to take photos of that apparently.
I hate wiring so I wanted to make as easy as possible in this case and try to think ahead. I made many models of the wiring and mocked it up as much as I could before embarking on the real thing. The cables that came with the Cooler Master SFX PSU were also really nice so this made it easier although I made most of the cables myself. One of the big cables is the 24pin which turned out to be exactly the right length: This design eventually would change but it started like this. I also wanted to make custom cable combs out of wenge. This also went through many iterations to find the best solution. I decided to not use sleeving to keep the cables as small as possible. Started with this: then went to this: Finally this where I got rid of the single holes and made it one big one: More mockup shots. I made about 6 versions of this main panel. The first versions had the wiring access from the motherboard side but I switched that around to make it make more sense: One of the later mockups, checking for clearance issues: Looking at where the 16 cables for the GPU would need to go: Gotta figure out the pump wiring too. Two cables will go to the PSU for power, two will go to the motherboard for PWM control. Its show time. Making the GPU cables first. First step is to cut a bunch of wires and put atx pins on the ends:
Lots of pins: I made some double cable combs to keep things tidy: Trying to get the length right: A while later everything looks good. Fingers crossed that I put things in the right holes: Next I routed the CPU power cable and made some more cable combs for it: I then put more pins and attached it to the power supply. Next is time to work on the front panel wiring caddy thing. First thing is to install it: And hope that the motherboard 24 pin still works well in it. Its a bit tight but thats ok:
Routing wires through the front plat and trying to keep them flat is fun: Wiring through the acrylic panel is fun too: I needed to do both wires on the pump so that was next. I was nervous abut screwing this up but it turned out ok: Sleeved: More wiring: All buttoned up! Now I started routing the GPU power cable. There is actually an LED strip right under this too: Clean floor connection: Lastly I wanted to clean up the front of the riser cable. I made a little plate that would cover the PCB:
I wanted to make something to hide the PSU a bit and tie this section of the case in with the rest. I decided on some more Kumiko reminiscent of the design on the fan grill. It will go here: I played with some scraps to get a design I liked. This will also cover the wires entering the PSU: I got to cutting, making the pieces slightly thinner than the fan grille pieces so they would fit: Testing fitment: Gluing it together: With the main frames done I could start on the Hemp pattern. I made the pieces thinner still to lighten their weight visually:
Its been a long time coming but its finally time to assemble the loop for the final time. Starting with making the final O-rings for the distro plate: Cut with a razer and glued together: Before attaching the pump, I decided to make some Wenge spacers since the bolts were a little too long: Then I attached the inside fan grill to the radiator: The clearance was super close on the fittings to the radiator: Installed: Installed for the final time. I took the cover off to avoid any wet mishaps: Close is a theme on this case: And installed the rest of the loop just like it was before but making it tight this time
I wanted to finish up the Kumiko on the PSU side. I did this the same way as the fan grille. Only the outside frame has glue, the rest is simply friction fitted in place. Angle guide blocks: Getting pieces cut and fit: Main pieces all done: Now for a small Spruce panel to cover the wires: It was late so I mostly used hand tools: Fitted: A few shots of the progress so far. The loop is filled but has quite a few bubbles so I'm working on getting those out:
