Scratch Build – In Progress Project FiveWood - Complete!!

Nvidia sponsorship? Congrats if that's what you've secured. Nice work on the case, regardless of sponsorship.

 

Wow, I wish! Not quite THAT big! Thanks much!!

 

5.28.08

THIS PROJECT WILL NEVER END! There, I got that out. It's actually coming together, but it just moves slow. Can't predict an exact finish date, but I'm within 3 to 4 weeks anyway.

I've been methodically completing sections, staining and polycoating. Here is a preview of some finished pieces of the 3.5" and 5.25" drive bays and parts of the side door A 'swirlsh'.



and the drive bay support bracket.



Here, I had to mount the top rails to a board for polycoating so that I could get to them the right way. This is after coat#1.



and the top panel after coat#1



here's the 3.5" drive bay complete.



here's the 5.25 " drive bay complete.



here I am test mounting elements and testing the mounting methods to be sure that things will fit. A little preview of what's coming.



I've made some more parts for support of the front plate. More Mahogany.



I've also been putting time in on the power / reset button assembly. This is tedious work, but it's gonna be slick!!



a close-up of how this will work





roughed out, but you get the idea.



and with the smoked plexi



As for the Barkley panels, they've been shelved for a future project. I've gone to a sliding panel door. Works like this.





here's the corner of the left-side door system.



This is the framework for the right-side door.



And the left-side Swirlsh



Here is the left-side door system along with the panel for the swirlsh. (Copper is gone, traded for copper mesh)



Here is a closeup of one of the rails that fit into the slots. These rails will hold the plexi along with the swirlsh.



and a closeup of the T-slot rail system.



There will be one more update before I get quiet just before the final 'reveal' TA DA! Hopefully that will be VERY soon.

thanks for looking.

CC

 

I'm in awe!

your craftsmanship is amazing! It's a shame that computer components look out of place! (wooden stealthing for optical drive?)
Really is a spectacular piece of work.

 

Thank you. Not sure I want to put hardware in this thing anymore! Maybe I can make the components out of bubinga?

anybody want to sell me an all hardwood 780i motherboard?

 

Amazing.

 

I wish I had half the tools you have to try to make something out of wood. All I really have available is a router table and a miter saw.

And maybe a mill if the price is right if I can use it.

 

That and a handful of sandpaper and you've got all you need. They key for me, is that I found a local wood supplier that sells LARGE quantities of exotic wood. I buy they're scrap cans every other week. I've gotten about $2000 in exotic wood and have spent no more than $100 bucks up there. It's like a treasure.

Thanks

CC

Need to have a woodworking smiley!

 

Oh, wow! That T-rail looks delicate! I would be too skittish to even try to make it like that. (That's probably why I can't lift any of my cases...)
I like the new door design. It's simple and effective. You should fix the panels so you can hang them on the wall when the case is open.

 

Thanks. They do look delicate, but they're quite sturdy (and not as light as I'd like). Once the plexi is in the largest slot, they're supported quite well.

Good idea about hanging the panels. I have them so that I can
a) slide them to the top and they'll stay or
b) take them out completely

Thanks again for the props!

 

While your sliding door idea is nice looking, I would recommend not doing it. I made a wood case 3-4 years ago. Once the case was finished and had a computer running in it for ~6 months, some of the seems between boards (all cherry, stained with linseed oil) cracked because of expansion from heat.

You can see here: http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1001704hg5.jpg Look to the bottom of the front below the louvers. There is a crack above the louvers in the same spot, though it is not visible in the pic.

Your sliding door will have to be a fairly tight fit to function properly, and then when the wood expands, it'll either break some joints or just be hard to slide. That said, nice work.

 

realy great works i love the different wood color and the drive bay is whoa

 

Project Five Wood 6.15.08

Now for de feet! Things are closing up fast on this project and I hope July never sees any work on this project. I had an idea for how to do the feet of the case. This is an old technique for how to make many things (i.e. decoy ducks, etc).



I took several small pieces of wood: Padauk, mahogany, walnut, camala and maple. I cleaned these up so that I could stack glue them into two separate stacks.



Here, both stacks are getting the glue.



Here's a better idea of where I am going with this. These will provide all four feet (2 each).





Here's the template for the feet.



and how I'll cut them out.





This is one with just the rough cut finished.



Front feet after a little sanding work.



All four after a little more work.



I decided to place the feet to see if they would work. (a little late in the game huh?)









all four of de feet after finishing



Here is some sweet padauk I procured. Probably be for future projects. Some of it will make into P5W.





Here I am cutting some corner wings for the side panel. Here you can barley see the markings for the cut.



and the cut.





the fit.



and the glue up.



an idea of how this will work.



and with the swirlsh in the door.



a closeup of the padauk corner wing with a coat of poly.





So, after dropping (or knocking to the floor) the rear panel no less than three times and reassembling the pieces, I finally decided to start over on the rear panel. One thing that has delayed this project to no end? Re-work!! Let me go off on a tangent for a moment.

There's two reasons I end up doing re-work

1. I drop something over and over until it's more glue than wood.
2. I have so many ideas of how to make it better once I'm done that I re work the whole thing.

Both are due to bad planning. In the case of number one, it just takes a little more consciousness to keep from knocking everything around too much. So, plan to have things safe when you're not working on them. In the case of number two; I said in the beginning that I was going to shoot from the hip on this project and not start from a well laid-out plan. This is NEVER a good idea. I knew it was not conducive to meeting any type of schedule and it has proven true. Without all the tiny details worked out in advance, a lot of backtracking is necessary. I'm talking to myself here for the most part.

So, here's the beginnings of the rear panel V2.0. Some of the same woods used for the feet with a little cherry thrown in.



and the cutouts for the PSU and motherboard openings.



A little bigger trim work this go around.



Both the new and the old panel side by side.



and the placement of the panel.



Here is the inside of the rear panel where the expansion cards will rest. This is one of those tiny details that ends up taking more time than making the entire rear panel.



I have bored out an area for relief for the car anchor. I've got a plan for this, I'll update you later.



I removed the chassis base and started the process of finishing this part of the case.



This is the wire way below the case bottom.



as you can see here, the case bottom has access hoes for wires to drop below the flooring.



Here's the PSU cover with a single coat of sanding sealer.



and again after a couple of coats of poly. (different lighting is responsible for the color change)



Here are the PSU cover sides with almost all polycoating complete. .



Here's the motherboard tray with the standoffs attached. If you remember, this was the first component finished.



thanks for looking.

CC

 

1 word. Magnificent

 

You have skills! Not rookie skills for sure. Buddy I really Don't have any words to say

 

great idea,excellent craftmanship and very well chosen types of wood.i have been thinking of making a case from different types of wood,but this project drops my jaw

 

Hey cc3d, i have been working as a carpenter some years back, and i must say as a former wood-man, that your build almost brings out a little tear in my eyes. Not that im crying or anything... You know... a grown man and stuff... But you know what i mean, he he

This is without competetion, the best wood mod i have ever seen. Not just because i like the looks, but also because you do it the right way. No screws or other metal parts to join the pieces. It really shows that you dont cut any corners with your build.

A pure example of great craftmanship. And this might sound a bit wiered, but i really would have liked to smell your mod

 

agreed with the above comments.

It is a masterpiece. Nuff said.

 

Thank you to ALL for your comments. Had to quote Toxvaerd as my build may have sparked a first here (or any other mod forum).

Still not sure I can live up to the hype, but it's props like this that keep the good work going.

Toxvaerd, close your eyes and imagine the smell of sawdust, aromatic cedar and blood. That's what this mod smells like

 

Jesus... I think I'm in love!

(looks down..)

YUP!