Scratch Build – In Progress Zenith Antique Radio Complete Case Build- Update 24Nov10

That little router cutter bit saved my bacon. I wasn't sure how in the world I was going to make those thin cuts.

 

This is a really cool mod, you have awesome mood working skills.

I will definitely be keeping my eye on this one.

 

Thank you.

Unfortunately I have to go out of town tomorrow morning for a couple of weeks. I hate leaving with an unfinished project like this when I am motivated to get it done.

 

Res Mounts and Dual Pumps

Time for a few updates after my 2+ weeks out of town. This is a small update, but there should be more to follow next week.

Here is a pic of the case all glued together right now.



I spent a good bit of time bending, adjusting, etc. to get the MB tray mounted to the rad mount/air chamber and it all mounted into the case as intended. I used an old MB and GPU to test mount with to make sure the MB tray and back panel line up right. It of course isn't staying there yet since there is more sanding to do and it has to still be stained, etc., but these had to be placed to make sure it is all fitting as planned, and so that I could make the reservoir mounts.

Reservoir Mounts

I made two mounts out of 3/16" cast acrylic to support the res so that there is no weight on the top fittings but on the mounts. Granted this is not a big reservoir (2 1/4"dia x 5"L), but I still want to make sure it is properly supported and secured.



This is what the res looks like mounted.



I've next got some sanding to do on the top of the case, and then get the top and front edge trim pieces glued down.

Dual Pumps

I've made a slight change in how I think I am going to do my watercooling loop. I have been running a DDC1 now for 2yrs and 3 months, so I bought a new DDC3.1 with XSPC top. However for the sake of redundancy should my faithful DDC1 die, I think I am going to use both pumps in the loop. There is a slight difference in the head pressure between these two (the DDC1 has about 1'-2' higher head pressure), but I don't think that it is enough to matter. The way I plan on routing them both, if one should fail, it would be very easy to remove and bypass.

This is the new routing with both pumps. The bottom pump will be on some foam, and I will have to make a mount for the top pump, probably out of acrylic.



This is how it will look still with the hard drive cage installed.

 

Welcome back!
The glueup of the case looks great. With your res mounts, I can see that you glued the little screw holes onto each end of the gap in the circle, but are the mounts also separately glued pieces, or did you bend them?
need pics of mb tray, I have no idea what you're talking about!

 

I cut out the circular parts of the res mounts and glued on the little pieces for the gap as well as the piece that screws the mount into the metal air chamber to support them.

I'll have to take some pics of the MB area monday. I've got to go out of town tomorrow morning for the weekend.

 

Top Trim, Front Trim, Side Panels and Mounts

MB Tray Mounted

I mentioned in the last post that I got the MB tray mounted to the air chamber. Here is a better pic. The MB tray mounts directly to the radiator air chamber. This way it is stable. I originally didn't plan on the air chamber idea, so I was going to be leaving some room behind the MB tray for wiring. With the air chamber however, that space is gone. I however am not too worried about it though as I think it won't be a big deal as far as wiring goes, and the benefit of having the rad air isolated far outweighs this.



Top Trim

I got the top sanded the way I wanted and have glued down the front curve and top trim pieces.



Front Grillcloth Mount

I made a piece to fit inside of the front grill to use to mount the grillcloth with. It completely hides the area where I routed the thickness down. I spent too much time on this piece as it really was a pain to make.





This is how it will look in place.



Front Oval Trim

I made the front oval trimpiece. This is made out of 3 pieces so that I could route the edges of the curves. I used a 1/8" cove router bit to cut the edges of the curved pieces, and then glued them to the center trim piece.





Since taking this photo I've gone ahead and glued the oval piece on the front and used 2 small screws on the backside for extra reinforcement.

Side Panels Mount Strips

I cut and glued in all of the 1/2" x 1/2" strips that the side panels mount to. I had to do some cutting and measuring to make sure that the metal air chamber would still properly mount with them in place. I was thinking about just having the side panels stick on with magnetic strips, but I decided against it and am using threaded inserts to screw the sides on instead.



I've cut both side panels. Here is a pic of the panel partially mounted. Instead of using the round head brass screws on the panel, I've got brass flat head screws in the mail coming my way so that the screws will sit flush with the sides.



Rads and Fans Mounted

In order to know exactly where the holes need to be cut into the side panel for the radiators, I needed to mount the radiators and fans onto the mount. I took both rads, cleaned them with hot soapy water, then DOW Scrubbing Bubbles, then more soapy water, then lots of rinsing, then distilled water rinses, and baked them both at 170f for a few hours to dry them out. I cut and soldered in wires for the fans, cut a hole and mounted a grommet in the air chamber, and mounted the fans and rads.

While I was screwing in the Bitspower fittings, I noticed that the metal on the fittings was going all the way down against the rads. The o-rings are too thin to seal properly on the MCR rads. So I took a trip to ACE hardware and got some thicker o-rings. I'm really glad I noticed this as I am pretty sure it would otherwise end up leaking, and taking this back apart later would be a real pain.







I plan on cutting out the grills for the rads and fan on both sides tomorrow. I have a few more knick knacks still to do, but I should be ready to start staining soon.

 

It's loverly, V.

 

Thanks Steve. I was kind of wondering what happened to you.

 

Summertime is for working on cars, or in your case, the woodshop.

 

real nice cant wait till yo paint it

 

Side Grill for Rads

Rads Grill

Instead of going with just plain rectangles for the radiators in the side panel, I opted for a arched design. I had to drill every one of these 1/2"dia holes first with a forstner bit in order to get clean cuts.



Then I had to cut each one out with my scroll saw, and sand and clean up each arch. I wanted as much air space as possible, but I probably should have made the dividers between the arches wider than 1/4" as this is only 3/16" thick plywood. Some of them are a little fragile.



Here is what it looks like held on the side of the case.



One issue I am wrestling with is what to do for a filter of some kind on the rads. I'm not worried about dust, but I would like something enough to filter out my wife and daughter's long hairs. Between the two of them, I find long hairs everywhere in this house! I want to keep those out of the rads, but I don't want to add much restriction. I have some modder's mesh, and I thought about painting it hammered copper or something and putting that behind the side panel grill. I don't think I can use fabric here as fabric of any kind is going to be just too restrictive to good airflow for the rads. I've also thought about panty hose, but I'm concerned that will be too restrictive too.

I'm open to any suggestions.

I should have taken pictures of the other side, but I cut out a much smaller grill area for the side intake fan. I also made mounts out of acrylic for fabric on the left side fan intake and top air vent.

I finally was able to start staining today. The first coat of walnut is on and drying, and I think it looks sweet!

 

It looks so nice. But about your dont-have-to-clean-your-rad idea. Maybe you can use a panty? Or 2 layers of panty. They are darn cheap and work like a charm. Also no need to clean them because they are so cheap, just put another one on it.

 

looks so cool

i love it

 

This is looking friken awesome, absolutely love this mod.

 

My concern with something like that is that it is going to be very restrictive to airflow for the rads. Especially since the rads are isolated from the case, I'm not that worried about a bit of dust, but I don't want to "choke" the rads. I wouldn't care putting pantyhose on just fans, but I'm not so sure when it comes to rads.

Thank you guys.

I just put the second coat of walnut stain on and the color is coming out really, really nice.

 

Amazing build voigts! I love the hand cut details.

 

It's absolutely beautiful. I can't wait to see it with the stain.
The bitspower barbs should be OK stock. The metal seating is to keep the O-rings from getting too compressed and breaking.

 

This is amazing voigts,you've inspired me to try a wooden case,though I don't know if my woodworking skills will match yours,can't wait to see it with all the hardware installed

 

sweet