Scratch Build – Complete [Completed] Ham Theater PC - Update 9th Oct - Final Pictures (page 2)

To start things off, here's a SketchUp of the general concept...

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I know, not really "Ham Radio" style, it was just one of those random thoughts that popped into my head (and probably should have stayed there)...

Now, I'm no slipperyskip or Voigts, but I'm hoping that I can pull this off. My goal is to finish it in about 2 months time, as I've got an event that I am hoping to bring this to sometime in October.

This will be intended to be an HTPC that will go into my TV stand where my current HTPC is. I haven't completely decided on the design of the front yet, but I do intend to have fans on both sides of the front, with the optical drive and a VFD in the middle. The overall look is supposed to [loosely] resemble an older style radio.

I'll be using Oak for the sides, front, and rear, and Aspen for the top and bottom. I will probably continue to add tools to my arsenal as I go along, but for now all I've got is a drill, a Jigsaw, some squares, and some sand paper and files.

Since I'm not very advanced with woodworking (I would consider myself a beginner since this is my first actual project) I don't plan on this going smoothly all the way through. I'm sure I'll be re-making a few things, and fixing a couple dozen things after screwing them up. Any advice from anyone who knows more than I do about this (read as, "anyone") is always more than welcome!

With that, off we go!

 

First Update

Here's where I'm at so far, I've cut the sides to length, and the top and bottom to size.

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I've also done a quick lay-in of some parts that will be going in here, to double check my sizes... everything seems to be ok (the DVD drive will be mounted near the top)

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And some pictures of the pieces roughly put together. Nothing is joined yet, just set in place.

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That's all I was able to get done this weekend, as the weather wasn't exactly cooperative when I was able to work on it... It was quite warm and humid for the majority of when I could work...

I'm hoping to figure out what I want to do with the front soon, and may have a few other sketches of ideas for the front to throw in here.

 

I love wood mods. More please!

 

Update 17th, Aug 2011

A small update, because I'm excited...

In the front middle (bottom above power button) of the concept there is a small bracket looking thing. That is to hold a VFD display. I figured it would be a good opportunity to try something I've wanted to try for a bit... 3D printing!

Some of the pictures aren't so good, and I apologize for that, I will try to get some better ones later this week.

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I even went so far as to hook it up to a power supply in a test system and plugged it into my existing HTPC (with the same display, thus having drivers and software already installed) and it worked! Though I'll probably have to darken it at some point, as it's pretty bright...

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I've got the side pieces all drilled out and ready to be joined, so it's a matter of finishing the cuts and then getting things attached to each other. Hoping for some good time on this this weekend, and a better update then...


Thanks for looking!

 

looking good 3D printing? did you order that piece somewhere?
hmmm... seeing possibilites...
how's the feeling of the material? strong? flexy? feels like snapping or does it bend?

lot of questions...

 

Not a problem, I like to help where I can

I got it 3D printed from a place called Shapeways.
I made a model in Google SketchUp, and then (after some steps) uploaded it to the website. They have a tutorial for the steps here

Once it's uploaded and checked for problems (2-10 minute wait usually) it will give you an instant quote for price, based on material selected, and size/how much material it uses. A list of materials here

This was made with White Strong Flexible (WSF). The feeling is mostly smooth, but it does have a very slight rough texture to it. You can get it in a "polished" finish as well, which is a bit more money. I haven't done tons of stress testing with it, but in the thicknesses I've got (the 4 little "flaps" for example, are 1/8" thick) it isn't very flexible, nor does it feel like it's going to snap. I asked before I did this, and it's non-conductive (the WSF) but has a melting point of 180*F I shouldn't have an issue with that, but that's something worth knowing.

Here are a couple of youtube videos showing some people testing the WSF material:
about 1mm thick, flexing it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NbnrTVO0vI

Here's one of someone hitting WSF against a table, no idea how thick:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hNa2_vvYzg

Hope that helps

 

Update 18, Aug. - Dowel holes drilled

Back again with a quick update before this weekend when I hopefully have a better update...

I have drilled the sides and readied them for dowel pins for when I get around to gluing them together. I've also drawn out the patterns that I'm going to cut out of the rear panel. I'm hoping to make big headway this weekend, including finishing the top and bottom, and cutting out the back panel pieces... for now, this is what I've got:

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That's all, nothing major, just wanted to get up to date before this weekend's work...

 

Update 20th Aug.

Right, so I said I was hoping to get a lot done this weekend, and so far... I have
I spent all afternoon working on this, so I am proud to say I've made considerable progress.

First up the work I did Friday evening...

I used the router to cut 3/4" wide 1/4" deep slots for the sides to sit in

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After that I used a 1/4" round over bit in the router to round off the edges and make it look a little cleaner

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This afternoon I did the same treatment to the top panel as I did to the bottom, I don't have any pictures of that, since it's just more of the same... What I do have pictures of, however, is the work on the back side piece for the motherboard backplate, and the PSU. I drilled some starting holes in the corners and then used the jigsaw to cut out the openings I wanted. I also used the same 1/4" round over router bit for these as well.

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Here are some shots of the top and bottom pieces. As you can see, on one of the pieces (the top) the front slot is a lot wider than the other one... this is intentional, and the reason as to why, can be seen further down...

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The top will slide backwards to keep it in place. How exactly I will do this, I haven't decided yet, but it's there...

Some more "final shots" for this update

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Thanks for checking it out!

 

Nice project, and some very neat finishing. Looking forward to seeing this finished. I wonder if there is a UK equivalent to the company you used for your 3D printing?

 

I'm sure there is somewhere in the UK that does good quality 3D printing, but I wouldn't be too well researched on them... I know that the place I did mine through ships internationally, though I honestly have no idea what shipping is like elsewhere...

EDIT:

A quick search brought this up: http://www.3dcreationlab.co.uk/ I have no idea the quality, but it seems to be a fairly similar place to shapeways, hope it helps some

 

Update 3rd September

Time for another update... I bought some goodies to go with this build, and I was happy that they arrived this past week... I will show them off later though

What I've done since the last update is cut out some perforated steel sheet to use as a grate for the airflow opening in the back panel.

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I think that will do nicely... especially since it's in the back and won't be seen for more than pictures anyway.

I also made most of the cuts on the front panel as well, including fitting the middle opening to the VFD bracket...

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As you can see I cut out the two fan ports, the VFD hole, and also drilled holes for power button, power LED, and HDD LED... which brings me to some of the goodies I got in the mail this week... The switch, and the two LEDs (one Blue and one Red). The switch has a white ring around the center, but I don't think I will be using that at this point...

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Yeah... in that last picture you can see where the buttons are mounted, that my free-hand router skills are somewhat lacking... Oh well, good thing it's hidden

I will try to get some better pictures taken tomorrow if all goes well....
Thanks for checking it out
-Mos

 

Update 6th Sept - Fan Grills

I managed some more work with having Monday off...

First I drilled some recessed holes to hold some threaded wood inserts for fan mounting.

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I managed to finish (except painting and gluing) probably the most tedious part of this build... the front fan grills. 26 pieces cut, 104 holes drilled, and 52 mini dowels cut from toothpicks... Bit of a pain, but so far it's worked out to look alright.

After cutting them I took some pictures of them just sitting on the front to see if this was the look I was going to stick with...

I think that'll work.... So I went ahead and drilled the holes and cut up the toothpicks














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Then I decided to throw it together and get a couple shots

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I also drilled and screwed on the rear vent mesh

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That's all for now, thanks for looking!
-Mos

 

i like wooden cases, looks good

 

Thanks RichCreedy

This is my first major project in wood, so I'm excited and doing a lot of fast learning...

 

Please use thumbnails, makes it so much better to read.

Im also gonna do a wood case :3 Just gotta get stuff under the roof. Might create something like yours for a HTPC aswell

 

switched back to thumbs

Yeah, the cost of materials for this project hasn't been too bad, probably only around $75-$100 for everything (wood, motherboard tray, etc) but the overall cost of doing this project is a lot higher due to buying tools and such...

 

Yeah, but buying tools is pretty much something you do once every couple of years. Got my salary today so tomorrow I might go shopping for tools. How does a router work btw? Cause I have a 12mm plate I need to dig 6mm down, in the center, so I can put some acrylic glass in it

Thinking about it... I could just wait for my birthday and hope for tools, and just order the things I need for the build. Where do you buy your things? Atm I'm gonna buy from MNPC, frozenCpu and MountainMods.

Are you gonna use this computer for streaming? Or just a normal HTPC?

 

Nice work Mosquito, you've made a very neat finish on all the wood

 

Thanks! I try... admittedly some pictures are taken at angles that will hide certain... "learning experiences" shall we say...

 

lol