Scratch Build – Complete ⭐ Al-CONH Desk

Hello!

Let me introduce my new mod, a deskmod made of wood (pine), with two watercooling loops, nickel plated copper tubes mixed with acrylic tubes, and some aluminium touch.
Al-CONH refers to atoms of aluminium and wood, which is mainly made of carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen (wikipedia says it...).

This project is supported by EKWB and Gamers Industry.

​

I would like to thanks EKWB for trusting me again, especially Atila for his time!
I also thanks Gamers Industry for their help (it's a french retailler for MDPC-X, but also Singularity Computers and soon Bitspower).

Here is the concept :











The structure is really classic, two chambers, the main one for the MB/GPU/PSU, some radiators and pumps, and the other one to hide the tubbing, put some more radiators, a more technical chamber.

Now, the hardware :

• AMD R7 1700X
• Asus Crosshair Extreme VI
• Asus 1080ti Strix OC
• 4*8Go Corsair Vengeance RGB RAM 2666MHz
• Corsair RM650
• Corsair MP500 120Go
• Crucial MX200 500Go
• Corsair lighning node pro
• Cooler Master Riser

And the cooling :

• WB CPU : Monoblock C6H
• WB GPU : Full cover 1080ti Strix acrylic/nickel
• Rad : EK- XE480 2* EK-PE360 and EK- XE240
• Fittings : EK-HDC 12mm (nickel/black)
• Pump : two D5
• Watertank : EK-X3 40cm
• Fans : EK-Vardar RGB, Corsair HD120
• Flowmeters : home made

Sleeveing :

• MDPC-X sleeve and connectors

I'm close to the end of the big wood work (the desk is nearly done), i'll soon make a big post one the wood job.
It was new for me, but really interesting, i'm now planning to do a lot of custom furniture (my wife will be happy).
See you soon.

 

Hello,

I've been a bit long to do this post, lot of work, but here I am !

So here is the big post on the wood work i've done so far (main part is done, i've got few things to finish).

First of all, DISCLAIMER : this is the first time i'm using wood, so i'll tell you my feelings, the things i've done that were crap, the things i do that were fine ect... I'm not a pro!
And of course, always think safety!! Be carefull, further more while using electrical tools.


To realise this work i used :

• A plunging router (mine was a Bosch)
• A router bit set
• A Jigsaw
• A drill machine
• A set of guides (iron bars)
• A set of clamps (i really like the ratchet bar clamps)
• A Pocket Hole Woodjoining Jig Kit (Wolfcraft for mine)

I think that those tools are a very good start to make furnitures (the last one is not really mandatory, but helps a lot).

I could have add a circular saw, but i do not own one, so i did my best without it.

Of course, i made a sketch to get the pattern of the differents parts.

Now, to realise those parts, the first thing is to put your wood piece to the good size.

The best way to do that, is to have a circular saw, this tool does really nice cuts... But as said before, i don't have this thing, so.....

What i've done, is getting close to the good measure with a jigsaw (horrible cut here, i do not use guide)



And then i place a guide and i use the router to get the final size.
To place the guide, you have to know the distance beetween the center of rotation of the drill and the flat side of the router, then substract the half of diameter of the router bit, and you have the distance beetween your final measure and your guide.



Don't forget to clamp your wood piece AND your guide, it should not move, i used at least 4 clamps each time, sometimes 6 to be sure everything won't move.



If it moves, you can easily ruin your job and have to restart!

After that, i choosed a router bit long enought, then move your router against the rotation of the bit (using your guide).

Now you have a perfect shape cut, with precise size (i'm at less than a millimeter on each parts). And...

TONS OF WOOD SHIPS AND DUST!

So yes, you need to work in a adapted place.

After that, i used exactly the same technic for each cuts.

When doing polygonial holes, to get a nice finish you have to watch carefully where you stop/begin using the router.



There is also bits with rollers, i used them to shape borders, to chamfer or make borders round. It's really easy to do, and the result is awesome (this is clearly my favorite moment).



To mount each part, is used the woodjoining jig kit, wich allow you to make a hole with a angle in your wood, so you can use a screw to fix two parts together. It's easy to use, i highly recommend it!





I'll just detail a bit the work done of the top of the desk, wich is the hardest part i had to do.

I would like to have a hole for the glass panel (logic....) and i wanted it to be supported all around by a groove AND by reinforcement at the 4 corners, all of that in the same wood piece.

So i first i used jigsaw to make the main hole, make the good size/good finish with router, as always.

Then, at the reinforcement place, i used the router to remove 10mm (the glass thickness).

After, i did the holes in the corners, the groove everywhere.





Doing the things in the right order is really important, if i had done the holes in the corners, i would not have been able to properly remove the 10mm on the reinforcements, as there would have been no more wood to support the router.

Always think twice, make the moves in you head, is it possible, is it painfull ? You often can find a way to make it better/easier !

Now here is the result !



Better picts soon

I’m really happy, and now, I’m working on the watercooling part (wich means also a bit of wood work to make everything fit well).

A little tease :



Bye, thanks for passing by!

 

That was quick. Looks pretty good. Any plans for the wood finish yet?

 

Yep, I'll use wood stain (grey one) for the wood, here is the test (middle the natural wood, right, the color i will use, left was a try, but it's too dark and it's "shining":



And no, it tooks me quite a long time since i had a lot of work, and now i've to take care of my son. I started early august (first try, pieces are not in the desk), during this time i was looking for sponsors, and ordering the glass panel, the desk without the top was mount in mid september, glass panel received early october then i did the top panel. My main problem is that i was doing plenty of things on the project, tests (like the stain), training for copper tubbing, cutting some aluminium plates like MB tray, but it was hard to make a good story with the job done. Now i'll be able to organize workblogs better (ar least that's my aim, but maybe i won't succeed )

 

Don't see why you woudn't succeed...you always posted quality threads and built great mods, so far. I personaly love the desks (i'v got one in my future projects too), what you've done already with the wood is very clean and the shape is beautiful, I'm following

 

Thanks a lot.

At least i do my best, but i'm always hesitant beeween pure presentation, showcase, and explanation of how to. Finding a good balance is not easy.
For me, explanation are more important. To continue modding, showcase has to be improved (mainly by taking better pictures at some stages).

 

yes, I see what you mean, I 'm one of those who read explanations, and it's important to figure out all stages of the build, the modding tips, trials to cross, etc, but pictures or videos are the main part of the thread success IMO, and it's another point where the modder's skills in photography or camera shot, video editing or whatever can make it an epic adventure, makes the difference...

 

I have better luck with sponsors after I start a project. Make sure to check the stain on the cross-cuts. It has a habit of being really dark on the edges.

 

Hello,

Today i will introduce the watercooling part.

Obviously, the first thing is to thanks again my sponsor EKWB (and Atila) for all this mighty stuff!



As you might see, there is a Velocity block inside, i rushed on it, and really, the block is really cool (even without water)



I placed pumps :





Quite fun to see how it fit with the sketch :



Then the huuuuuge res... the tubbing is a bit different from the 3d model, but like this, res will play better there role of bubble trap :







I also did a small wood plate, but here is only a tease, i got to finish it... :



I also milled flow meters, since EK do not provide such things yet :





Wheel is 3D printed with EK logo on it. Those flow meter will be used as pass throught on the right side, above the 360mm rads.

And few words for the RGB build wich lighted up for the last time :





All the block were super clean after one year of use





I'll be back ASAP for a post on sleeeeving!

Thanks for reading.

PS : A big thanks to Bit-tech and Corsair for the prize i get, but do not deserve, from the MOTM. It will be probably used in a futur mod or in my pro rig

 

Big Brass flow meter: Yum!

 

Yeah, they look a bit bulk, but once in place, it will be better

 

hello!
I'll show you the job done on the sleeving part, and once again, i'll begin with a big thanks to Gamers Industry, for those who do not know them, it's a french store that makes customs PC and retail brands hard to find in France like Bitspower, Singularity Computers and Team Group.
All the sleeve use here is MDPC-X Small.
I won't explain how to sleeve, there is a ton of tutorials, I follow one myself, so it won't be revelant to write one.
What i can say, is that i really enjoyed doing this, this is not that long and do not requiere too many tools.
I used a lamptron modding tool, a molex hand crimp tool, and a small tool for the heatshrink (http://cableorganizer.fr/torche-micro-therm-mj-600.html).





I choosed natural white, white carbon, blue carbon, carbon and blue magic
For the wire i've used a 1.34mm² of section cable ( 16 awg), i think it's absolutly perfect with this sleeve.
I first tried with fans :


And with the block :



For each RGB connector, i removed with cutter the SIL part :




marked the 12v, unsolder, put the sleeve + heatshrink, resolder.
Now the result for the main cables :









Next time, i'll show you the best part i've done so far, a distribution plate.

Have a nice day!

 

Hello,

I'm a bit late, but I'll explain how i built my distroplate

You already saw those pieces in mods, you can also buy those kind of things from barrow, EKWB showed a nice one at CES!

Considering I can only use conventionnel machining, I decided to try something a bit different, because i won't be able to produce something good enought, when you see all the pro like JR23 or P0pe doing impressive CNC work.

So i tried this way, and here is the result without paint/finish :



Idea is simple, but a bit costy in fittings

I did my own 90° adaptators by taping them in acrylic cubes, but you can use any 90° adaptators you want (but square ones are maybe easy to use, like the T EKWB).



Then, you drill holes for your fittings (just check well the position of your input/output)



I choosed wood, but you can use aluminium

Then you put spacer (i uses wood too) just a bit less thick than your adaptator, in my case, adaptators were 20mm thick and my wood was 19mm.

After, i cut a counter plate in aluminium



and by screwing this plate in the spacer, you will fix the adaptator (you make a kind of sandwich)

Then you can do standard tubing, choose fittings, adaptator you want, or bend the tubes, let the front plate full to hide everything, or make hole to let see your pro tubing.



In place :



And a few words, as the mod should be finished by the end of the next week (SHOULD), i'll be able to show you more in workblogs

Those who follow me on facebook have seen much more, but with less explanation.

See you, thanks for reading!

 

Hello,
Once the distro plate done, everything was nearly finished.
The last things to do were :
Varnishing the desk :






There is 8 layers of varnish.... it was long and a bit painfull.

Making a rad cover for the two 360mm rads :





once varnished

Integrate flowmeters :




Set a place above MB to put two Vardars :



With a cover plate in aluminium (cut with jigsaw)



Then do the last tubes :







And leak test, the cool way!



In the backroom (yeah, got to find another name... But... you know...)





There is a ton of cables, and the tubing is soft, but to get something clean, i 3D printed guides.

After that, i made a test with liquid :





But as i was tired and sick, i decided that it was the best idea ever to try the collant i've got :



I really loved it, but it was not sober enought.

At this moment, i decided to not nickel plated the copper tubes, but leaving it like that was not an option since it was lacking of copper colour.
So i bought 12mm ID copper tubes (14mm OD) and "sleeved" some acrylic tubes with those copper tubes :







So next time will be about the filling of the desk, and more pictures of the beast running !!
Thanks for passing by!

 

impressive work the desk is awesome

 

Looks fantastic.
Can't mill a distro plate? There's gotta be a way with router jigs or even just milling sloooow. I mean, getting the O-ring channel the right height would be the big challenge, but that's why there's silicone glue.

 

Thanks, I did my best

I am able to mill a distroplate, i did it for RGB project. I also milled flowmeter for this one, but here, i wanted someting different, mainly because this distroplate is not really visible.

 

Hello,
The desk survived to his trip to home.

It's good to play again!

Here is some pictures, others will come (better ones), but the project is finished now.

Enjoy!



























Thanks a lot to my sponsors, EKWB and Gamers Industry, i couldn't even imagine having such a beast at home (the mod, not my son or wife!), this mod belongs to you!
See you soon for more pictures and after for a new project!

 

That came out fantastic.

 

Thank you, it was my secret goal all along!

More seriously, i really enjoyed building this, wood is a fantastic material.