To make a long story short, I've decided to build a wooden case from scratch, first version being mostly a prototype in which I will use spare parts. First off, the whole idea was to make it look more like a piece of furniture, instead of a state-of-the-art monster with cathodes, windows and crazy fan grills To give an idea how it would look: Please excuse the quality, I've not bothered figuring out how to work texture maps in Rhinoceros yet. And it's all wood, the translucency is just to show how I'd worked out the innards (duh). Not counting cooling solutions I've yet to make, I'm completely unsure on how I'd best hide the ugly cd-rom panel from view. The diskette drive (ok so it just for the prototype, ok?) will look acceptably after I replace the front with a wooden replica. A front panel might be acceptable, but it would not look very good because of the seams. Another choice would be to build a front panel from wood, but I'm not so sure it will suit the looks otherwise. Any ideas/opinions would be very much appreciated. By the way, if you look at the image closely you'll notice that the cd slightly overlaps the fan, which will not be an issue later since I intend to make a 5mm recess in the wood for it (I will be using 10mm thick veneer most likely as the building material). The grey block next to it is the size of my current case (Enlight 7247), which measures at 190 x 425 x 480mm. Cheers.
Hmm, I see that I'll have to go with the wooden front plate then? Admittedly, there really aren't too many ways to hide a part which you have to access often. It will take a while to get the case done, so any suggestions and comments are still welcome.
love the design man always like the idea where you try to make it look like something normal instead of a computer... always nice... a good idea might be for you to get a slot-load DVD-ROM or something and just have a nice slit in the wood... if you need like other options on the CD-ROM and have to stick to tray-load then hmm.... you could make some sort of slide in the wood where it would go over the drive and you could slide it over to reveal the drive... i dunno but i really like your design... i hope to see you doing this project, i know i got some great ideas from just looking at it...
Thanks The process of building the chassis itself is not too comlicated or unique, but I will likely post some pics and info when I've put the case together. Will be getting the materials tomorrow - hopefully I'll have enough time to get most of it done this week.
