Hello. This is my second wood case. I started this one back in 2005 but put it on hold due to remodeling my kitchen. The main wood frame has been sitting in my basement for over three years. This case will have an Arts & Crafts design. I will be using Cherry wood – I don’t really like the look of quarter sawn Oak. On the first case I had the cables coming out the back, like your typical mid-tower case. For this one I wanted to find a way to hide the cables, so I figured that I would try to have them come out the bottom. I accomplished this by taking an existing case and modifying it by rotating it ninety degrees so the motherboard tray would open from the bottom. I also have the power supply plug in from the bottom of the case now (which used to be the back of the case). Fan openings had to be made. There is a 120mm intake in the front bottom, and soon there will a 120mm exhaust in the back top. The will also be one for the power supply. The power supply will vent directly out the back. The metal case slides into the wood frame from the top. The side panels attach to the wood frame via press-fit connectors, like the ones used to attach stereo speaker grilles. The side panels will have windows. I originally was going to use some green opaque stained glass but later on found some amber translucent glass that is slightly wavy. The windows will be backlit by some CCFLs that I received a while ago. More to follow.
coming along really nicely, I love the idea of incorporating a pc into furniture and yours is looking great so far, you get a system and a table all in one
Yeah, the inverted leg look has a nice effect. The subtle curves are good too. -D*mn, Clocker... It does sound dirty!
Very nice design. I like the idea or rotating the case 90 degrees for the bottom connections. This would make a great HTPC.
Yeah, I was checking out its legs... ohbaby: I like the table idea and design, will it have a glass/plexi top to protect against spills, etc?
No, but the top will have no openings, so when it is stained and sealed it should be okay if any drinks are put on top and they spill. Better use coasters!
Update - started staining the panels: Also, I was thinking that I would stain the top frame and the legs a natural stain: .
Update: Glass has been cut. The glass can be removed and replaced with different glass if desired. --- Pic of new switch panel (on the left) with the switch panel from my old case. --- Finished cutting fan holes for the top exhaust fan and the PSU fan. The PSU takes in air from the bottom. I flipped it so the fan exhausts out the back. --- Also started on the back panel. I needed to have it open in the back for the exhaust. Originally I had thought about using metal mesh then came up with the idea of using wood grilles. The grilles are made of 1/8" wood strips. They will be stained to match the panels.
ahh, i was REALLLLYYYY hoping you would use some sort of wooden grills instead of metal. Great look mate, really looking nice. Eventually i would like to build a Table top style PC as well, fantastic that your getting back to an old project also best of luck mate and looking forward to progress!
It looks fantastic Bob, the wood grill adds much more too the "arts & crafts" design than modders mesh would have. I'll keep my eyes out for future updates.
Another update. I decided to put the switches on the front panel instead of putting them on the metal frame. Part of the front panel had to be removed - this was done by using a router to remove the plywood portion: --- Thankfully I have a big enough piece of quartersawn cherry (looks better than I originally thought) that I can use to replace the wood that was removed. It came from the same piece used for the optical drive door. Also finished the wood grills for the back panel.
More updates. Stained the legs: --- Here is the underside of the top panel: --- Also finished sleeving the cables for the front panel. They are detachable in the middle for when the metal case needs to be removed: --- I seriously overestimated the length the cables needed to be for inside the case: --- The top has splines made out of Walnut, and I added Walnut dowels to the panels where the vertical and horizontal pieces meet: The Walnut should really pop once the panels are clearcoated.
More updates. I am almost done. I thought that I better get a computer put in this case, otherwise it would be just a piece of furniture! There are CCFLs near the top but I am not sure if they will stay in there. --- The motherboard I bought has the USB connectors right where the intake fan is located. I had to move the fan to the outside of the case. Unfortunately this caused an issue that there might not be enough air coming in from the bottom front: --- What I did to "fix" this was to open up the front panel. This also solved an issue of wanting the rear grills to match the front: --- Front: --- Rear: ---
