Meet ikigai (生き甲斐) (pronounced (ikiɡai) a Japanese concept meaning “a reason for being” The word refers to having a meaningful direction or purpose in life, constituting the sense of one’s life being made worthwhile, with actions (spontaneous and willing) taken towards achieving one’s ikigai resulting in satisfaction and sense of meaning to life. Ikigai is my entry into the Cooler Master World Series 2020. It’s a small form factor scratch build case in tower format. The case features hand cut wood joinery, hard piped water cooling, and an open component design comprising primarily of Wenge wood, acrylic, spruce and black aluminum. I'm looking forward to sharing the process and photos of the build with you soon!. A special shout out to MSI for providing the B550I Gaming Edge Motherboard and the AMD Radeon 5700 video card provided for this build and Cooler Master for their continued support. Build List: Motherboard: MSI B550I Gaming Edge Wifi (Sponsored) CPU: AMD 5600X GPU: MSI AMD Radeon 5700 Gaming X (Sponsored) PSU: Cooler Master 650 SFX Memory: G Skill Ripjaws V 3600mhz 32GB Storage: Western Digital SN750 1 TB, SN550 1 TB Watercooling: Alphacool GPU Block and Radiator Optiumus CPU Block, EKWB fittings and tubing Fans: Cooler Master SF360R To kick off this work log I’ll start with some basic, non-functional wooden models. While the models might not be functional, they are to scale. Since this is a small form factor I needed to be sure to make use of every MM of space, deciding to go for a tower configuration with a central panel containing wiring and water cooling. After this jumping off point I refined the model in CAD and made a few more scale models. The details in this case are incredibly important to the success of the design meaning I needed to think about and work out how everything came together before building it, which is not my strong suit normally. Before I get ahead of myself, here are some photos of the sponsored hardware provided by MSI that the case is built around More to come soon...
Cool. Will you use Japanese wood joinery? These guys are absolute artists with hand tools and there are some crazy types of joints... It would fit your theme perfectly. Looking forward to see that
I won't be using any of the crazy Japanese joints unfortunately but I am making a traditional Japanese Kumiko design and I'm doing lots of dovetail joints. It will be fun! Updates coming soon.
After studying the mock-up and working out some sizing issues, it was time to rebuild it. At that point I also had more of the hardware that I could incorporate. I put the waterblock on the GPU, using the Cooler Master fans and radiator to help see where the watercooling tubing would go, also checking for clearances. The distribution plate and power supply will go above the motherboard: The power supply will be visible on both sides; here above the GPU: Both the GPU and Motherboard will be offset from the bottom to allow for easier connections underneath: Lastly, the fans and radiator will be on the back panel, blowing air onto the components from the outside:
Nice How are you going to elevate the case? If you stick with the tower format, all these GPU and I/O cables exit on the bottom
Welcome back! I'm not sure if a 3x120 radiator counts a SFF. Who cares though, I bet it'll look fantastic. I'm not going to cheat and check the CM contest pics.
Compared to Morphosis this thing is tiny (and the CM contest for sff was under 20l and this is 19.9 or something.) I’ll make this quick so you don’t have to wait that long as the contest results are announced this week. I hope you like it!
Good point! I debated this vs flipping it like the evolv shift? cases and I liked this better. The plan eventually is to build a desk with a integrated wiring harnesses on the bottom of the top and hatch under the case for the cables to go so there won’t be any on top of the desk at all. Until then I’ll just put some little feet on it.
The case features mitered dovetail joints, which are trickier than they look. I haven’t done too many of these joints which meant I needed to get some practice in before I went any farther. Luckily I had some cherry pieces in my scrap pile that were just the right size! First things first, cut the pieces to the right length. It’s also extra important that the pieces are square and straight. Next, mark the thickness of the pieces all the way around with a marking gauge. This is the line we will be chiseling too so its important it is accurate: Next it was time to lay out the dovetails themselves. I used my Veritas magnetic saw guide with matching saw to make the cutting easier. After making the first cuts in the tails, it’s time to mark the corresponding lines on the other piece. I used my marking knife which fits right into the saw kerf. With these marked, I cut out the waste materials, used my coping saw and then chiseled out any remaining waste with the help of a wood guide: First side almost complete: The last thing to do is cut the miter. I did this with a cross cut saw: Once that was done it was time to move to other side. Provided I marked everything correctly, I should be able to put the guide right on the line and get an accurate cut. Removing the waste is similar to the first side: To make sure I got perfect miter joints, I made a 45 degree guide, clamped it to the work piece and used this to chisel right to the line: Practice joints done, it was time to prep the wenge for the real thing:
Ahhh...don't you just love good woodworking craftsmanship. And the Veritas stuff is just georgeous. I hope you have good sharpening tools at hand though. Wenge is very exclusive, but it is also extremely hard and it tends to just splinter away. So your chisels need to be razor sharp. It is also rather dark and your excellent dove tails may not be so prominent on the finished product. They are more adorable on contrast wood mixtures, or wood where the end grain becomes much darker than the face grain after waxing/oiling. I guess the doves will be on the front side, not top and bottom. I love how the grain flows around the corner. Did you cut all 3 boards that form the C from one longer board? A bloody shame to cut the fan openings in there
My original design called for using some of my Curly Koa stash but I just couldn't do it so I went with Wenge (mostly I can actually buy it) and I think it works better in the design too. Yes, I hate working with it with hand tools, its like concrete and charcoal at the same time. Lots and lots of sharpening will happen. I was surprised with how cool the dovetails look with the end grain and face grain together although with the finish darkening everything a bit, some of that was lost but I'm still happy with it. And yes, the C was all one piece and I used the fan cutout wood for small bits around the case too. Stay tuned!
With the practice over it was time to commence to the real thing. I chose this piece of wenge because I liked the way the grain flowed and wanted to feature this around the case. I cut each piece with minimal kerf ensuring a seamless look. Before starting any big projects it’s always a good idea to start by sharpening your tools, especially when the wood is a touch as this. I used my trusty waterstone setup and Veritas guide: Turns out pencil lines are particularly tough to see on wenge, this made for an extra challenge. With the first side cut, I transferred the lines again with the marking knife: Next, I cut the other side of the dovetails: Once they were all cut, I cut the waste out just like the practice joint: Then I cut the miter joints on both sides: Time to test fit the joint to make sure we’re on track: I used the same technique to clean up the miters: This wood ended up being very challenging to work with. Seemingly a cross between concrete and charcoal it ate up chisels like they were made of plastic and I had to sharpen them very often. One tool I used to trim the joints was this combination of a rasp and a planer which takes small shearing cuts:
Well done ! It already looks stunning just with the raw wood. Can't wait to see it once the finish is applied...
^Ah, what he said. Even unfinished the joins disappear. I need that file in my life, but I suspect it's hella-'spensive.
After making the dovetail joints I started the nerve wracking task of cutting the first of many holes in the Wenge. I did test cuts of everything but you never know when a gremlin will ruin your day. First up is the fan/radiator holes including countersinks for the socket head screws. I did the countersinks first with a 2mm single flute bit: Next, flipped the piece over and used a double flute 1/4inch bit to do the main cutout: Next, I wanted to lighten the visual weight of the edges of the Wenge so I used a 30 degree chamfer bit on the router table to take down the edge: Of course I did a test piece first. The 30 degree angle allows me to save more space inside while enhancing the chamfer's size:
