Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Tube Radio PC -- 20 October -- Back From The Dead

That CD/DVD drive is SO cool. I love this man, always wanted to do a mod like this!

CC

 

haha nice man. What are you going to but in the brass-rectanglehole?

 

Part 3

Today on the way home from work I stopped by Home Depot and picked up some sealant and some foam brushes to apply it with. I am certian I won't need to cut any new holes, or enlarge any existing ones so its time to get it refinished. I gave it a once over with some 220 grit sandpaper to clear off the oils my handd had left on it while fitting the mobo tray, then wiped it down with a damp cloth and put on the first thin layer. I think it came out looking pretty sweeeeet.



While that was drying, I removed all the hardware from the motherboard tray so I could drill the holes that will hold the hard drive in. While I was at it, I used one of the etching bits with my dremel to countersink the holes on the power supply and for the hard drive.







Now, when I started this mod, I never had any intention of making this into any kind of performance pc. It was going to be for basic office use, and maybe some light gaming with the onboard video. Mostly, it was just going to look good. However, as I stood there looking at my handiwork, I had me an idea. I could fairly easily make this into a gaming case. So I grabbed my 8800GTS out of my gaming rig and tossed it in this thing. (In case anyone is wondering why I keep tearing stuff out of my gaming rig, its cause the motherboard died on me and i am waiting on the RMA to arrive so I can put it back together )







The new plan is no fan in the front. The slot load dvd drive will still fit up high, but with a video card in there, the fan would never work. I figure I can fit a 120mm fan above the the motherboard ports perfectly, and with it exhausting along with the power supply fan, it will draw nice cool air in from the font and everyone will be happy. Other pluses to this plan are I get to use a quieter 120mm fan like I originally wanted, and it is not in the front of the case anymore so that should help make sure it is nice and quiet.

That is all I have for now. This morning I ordered all of the hardware for this rig, everything I have been using so far is borrowed from other computers. The motherboard, hard drive and ram belong in my moms new computer which I will be delivering to her this weekend, so this case will need its own soon. The slot load dvd player should be here Wedensday so I can figure out exactly how i will get that set up. As I will be driving to Idaho this weekend I wont be able to get a lot done, but I think by the end of the weekend after I should have the computer part of this mod wrapped up. I did get a little package in the mail for the next thing to be modded though, heres a pic =)



@tm36usa
Thanks for the link! Those would work great, I just can find anywhere in the US to buy them. Even the supplier Mashie got them from is out of stock now. Not that it really matters, I only need one switch anyways, I discovered that the motherboard is blocking the 2 holes on the left, so I will have to cover those with dummy dials, and just use the right one for a power button.

@ConKbot of Doom
I looked into a tube headphone amp kit, but have you seen how much they want for those things? Its insane! Even the crappiest it is $150, and most are MUCH more expensive. It would be sweet though

@Abom
Thanks for the idea! That is pretty much the direction I am going to go. There are no buy it now auctions, so I will keep my eye on a couple, and if the price dosent get too crazy I will get a set of 3 and use those.

@NysoO
I am really not sure yet. Some kind of radio dial probably, to make it look like it is still a tube radio, or maybe something else I have some time to think about that one and look around some more.

@Everyone
Thanks for looking and for all of your comments! You guys rock.

 

Looking awesome man. That 8800 is a beast.

But then again, aren't they all?

 

Nice work on that case. I love the finish. Great work on that MB tray. I can envision what youre going to do with those keytops. Keep up the great work.

 

Small Update

Not much has happened the last couple of days, I am waiting on quite a few parts to show up, though I did recieve the monitor supports in the mail today



Its not such a bad thing though, because my motherboard FINALLY got back from RMA. So I spent last night sleeving and rewiring everything in to place as clean as I could. This is my gaming rig / file server. Not too bad for six hard drives a dvd burner and water cooling trying to clutter it up.



Thats about it for now. Some parts will be arriving tomorrow, and some on friday, so next week I should be able to wrap this part of the mod up and move on to the monitor and keyboard

 

I like your project. It looks awesome.
If you really tried I bet you could fit a full atx board and still use that 620w psu. Just attach it on top of the case horizontally inside. If you tried you could integrate cpu cooling with water as well. believe me its not impossible. The 120 rad could fit in the brass bracket and cover it with cloth to make it look like a speaker.

In any case, here is a cheep tube amp for you.

http://www.svc.com/rf-5ad-bk-19.html

35bux isnt bad. I own one and it sound very good too.

 

I am positive that I could fit most of my gaming rig into this case, I have been doing some drawings in AutoCAD and it looks feasable. I could definatly fit a full siz atx board, atx power supply, an SLI setup, and the watercooling in there, it would just get really tight with the six hard drives. I am definatly thinking about it =)

 

Do it! The coolness factor would be EXTREME. Maybe even X-TREME. I mean, people see this nice looking 40's radio, you press a button, and they hear a jet-plane taking off. Soon after, on comes Oblivion on full graphical detail.

 

Go for the silent media player option, not a gaming rig, your gaming rig looks pretty good (under-statement of the year ) as it is.
Can't believe how tidy that thing is with all that stuff in it....mines no where near that!

Love how this is going , esp the dvd / cd drive, just stealthy!

I thought you were going to put a 7-8" lcd in the gap available tho

 

i say go for the gaming rig it would be ohhhh so sweet

 

Today I recieved the power supply and slot load slimline dvd drive! After work I headed home and measured everything out for the dvd mount. Got it all put together, hit the power switch ... and nothing. So I pull it back open, and jumper the PSU. Nothing. I cant believe I got a dead PSU ... the pure horror of it. Soooooo I look at it a little more, and I see that it is switched over to 230 instead of 115 on the back. Flipped the switch, and it fired right up, life is good, no dead power supply =) Out of the many computers I have built over the years, I have never had the PSU come like that. First time for everything I suppose. No pictures of the progress today, I was in a bit of a hurry to use up the available daylight, but I have something better, a video of the dvd drive in action =D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7NA5jF93l8

I will be leaving tomorrow at noon, so no more progress till Monday. Hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

 

That DVD burner looks great man. The whole thing is looking amazing.

 

Looking very good.

I'd just turn this one into an as-silent-as-possible pc, keep your other rig for gaming purposes. It also looks nice.

 

Looking really good! I've always wanted to try one of these mods, but could never find a decent case. Great idea with the interior shell to support all the components...

I vote also for the silent media player option.. that case is gonna look so cool when its finished, you could put it anywhere in the house..

So I'm intrigued - was that a bunch of old typewriter key-buttons for your next mod? What the heck are you gonna do with them??

 

i dont think you should put the gaming computer inside the case. what you had going was a great idea.
and i love the idea of the slot load dvd drive, may i ask where you got it?

 

Back from Nowhere

Made it back from Idaho safe and sound. The thing is, when you do 20 hours of driving in a 52 hour span, there is quite a bit of time to think. Anything to keep from thinking how much farther you have to go lol. I have decided to completely redo the internal case. The one I have constructed is functional, it dosent look great and it isnt the best it could be. If you look in some of the earlier pics, you can see that the internal case is sticking out of the radio case by about a quarter of an inch. The new backplate is going to match the outline of the radio, and actually screw into it to secure the internals. I have also decided to re-arrange everything to fit a full size atx board. That way in the future I need to upgrade or feel like upgrading it, I can. On to the pics =)

Here is the design for the power supply and the 120mm fan. Also have the location for the motherboard panel marked out.


Here it is with the fan holes cut, and the power supply drilled.


Powersupply cut out and checked for fit. Notice the extra set of mounting holes 1/4" too high. I should have measured 3 times, bugger it all =)


Here is the old assembly next to the new backplate. it is considerably larger so that it can cover the entire back of the radio. The location for the expansion cards have not been marked yet, that is the next step. Dont mind the horrific looking holder under the burner, they have been risted and pitted like that since the day I moved in. I keep bugging the landlord to replace em, but it has yet to happen.


That is the direction this in now headed in. Just as functional, but considerably more ornate. I am only going to do this once, and I want to be REALLY happy with it, not just kinda happy.

@evilgreenie
Check out the links in my first post, you will see what I am planning on doing =)

@500mph
I got the slot load from www.pcalchemy.com =)

 

Good work! The only thing I wonder is the fingerguard of the PSU, doesn't seem too necessary tbh The new finish looks awesome.

 

It was raining in Oregon today, so I wasnt able to get a whole lot done. I cut the IO plate into the backplane and got that fitted, and finished final assembly on the dvd holder. That part screws directly into the top of the radio case, and is the only piece that isnt atached to the inner shell. I made it a bit wider than the dvd drive, so that I would be able to do some fine adjustments before cutting wood spacers to block it in right where it should be. On to the pics =)





This weekend I will have the internal shell completely rebuilt, and weather permitting have it stained and sealed. I have decided to go with an LCD screen in the front, but I am going to try placing it behind some smoked plexi so that when it is off you can't even tell that it is there. Thanks for looking everyone =)

@Jipa
Yeah, the guard on the psu isnt so much of a guard as it is decoration. I am just kind of trying to avoid large pieces of negative space and make it look more interesting =)

 

Hmm... nothing is better then maple syrup inside a maple glass bottle. BTW your out of paper towel.

Great work! I really can't wait to see the final stages :exited: !