Scratch Build – Complete [Intel NUC Competition] - Hanging in the Balance by Mosquito - Final Pictures!

Hanging in the Balance

Hanging in the Balance was my entry into the 2014 Intel NUC competition. The design is inspired by a balancing clock that I've seen several woodworking friends make before. The main NUC case will be hanging from a cantilevered arm extending up from a base.

The case will be from scratch by hand and by eye, using solid wood for the arms and base, and plywood with veneer for the main case itself. It will be done largely by hand tool work in traditional methods, and no fancy machinery.

There will be a few tweaks to the design as submitted, due to changes in the competition requirements post-submission. The case will come apart into 3 pieces for shipping, which will require a little rework. That wasn’t a requirement in the original contest requirements, but once it was added I became weary of my design being shipped in one piece (let alone arriving that way ).

The Design:







The Kit:

 

Since I’m building this thing by hand, I’d better get a move on!
Given that finish will take at least a week to get done, I hope to make a lot of progress early.





Started out with this horribly cupped, bowed, and twisted board
(about the only thing it wasn’t is split lol)




The price was right (free when I bought something else, to fill the shipping box instead of packing material)
and the figure is good, so it should do.




I’ve marked out a few cuts for some pieces I hope to get out of this board.
I’m going to cut two blanks for the upper arm, so I can screw it up once and
still have another one ready to go




There was quite a bit of flattening that had to be done, due to the cup and twist.
It took a little while, but I got it flat on both sides.
I spent probably half an hour with hand planes to get there.




Next I cut the piece to the final dimensions I needed.




I planed all the edges so they would be square to each face, and square to each other.




I put some layout lines down, 3/8” from the edge all the way around, and
3/8” from the top all the way around.




Again with the handplane to plane down to those layout lines.




This results in a chamfer all the way around the top.




This will be the base for the arm to go into. I’ll have to chop a mortise
into it for the lower arm to go into. It looks quite good as is in the shop light,
it should look fantastic once I get some finish applied to it later.


That’s all for this one, thanks for taking the time to check it out!

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Looking great Mosquito - and loving looking at your tools again!

 

Didn't realise you was one of the entries Mos, nice start.

Awesomely tiny aren't they.

Is the pillow a wrist rest for a mouse? looks about the right size.

 

Hey hey hey that's two off the starting blocks now, already loving the wood and shaping. Figured wood looks so fantastic on this smaller scale, with large items it can look a bit too busy. Also your tools are glorious.

 

Thanks! I might have to throw in a shot of the tool storage behind me sometime

haha, thanks Waynio. They are gloriously small. I've wanted to build a case for one ever since they released the first ones.

It could be, I used it to set the NUC on to take it apart. The top plastic cover is VERY easy to scratch if you remove the protective film... Good thing I'm making a case for the hardware anyway

Thanks Maki role! I got excited, what can I say I 100% agree on the figured woods. I love them for accents, but I don't see myself ever building a table or something out of it. Too busy for me too. I love me some good ol' tools, and I guess it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say that collecting vintage tools is another hobby of mine lol

 

Alright!

 

Sweet! Love the concept.

 

Thanks guys!

 

I took cut off I made when I cut the base, and ripped it in half.




A spare, just in case




I planed one down to about 1/2" thick, which is what I was planning for the upper arm.




I laid out the design of the upper arm on the blank I planed down.




I cut it out using my scroll saw.




I did a similar process with a piece of African Wenge for the lower arm. This one was left at 3/4" thck.




Next I marked out the mortise for the lower arm in the base.




I chopped it out using a mortise chisel by hand.




I cleaned it out with a regular chisel, and now it’s ready for the lower arm.




Lower arm can now be attached to the base.


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I’ll have to cut the joinery to connect the two arms later. I plan to do that after I get the chassis made and glued up. That way I can see where the arms need to be so that the case hangs correctly in the middle.

Thanks for checking it out, as always

-Mos

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Nice.

 

Looks pretty good

 

Thanks guys

 

The whole chassis will be hanging from an arch that I made out of the off cut of Wenge when I made the arm.




Both the arch and the arm got a notch cut in them so they’d seat correctly, and not have the ability to tiwst.







Typical with many of my other cases using plywood for the chassis, I use square dowel to glue the pieces together, adding some strength to the joints.




I cut out holes for the front ports, and also chiseled out some of the waste so the ports would sit closer to the front.




I used packing tape to hold the bottom and side pieces together so I could position the dowels to glue down to the base piece by folding it up. This works great with mitered joints.




Then it was a matter of adding more square dowels for the various panels to use for glue ups. I’ve also added a runner on both the top and bottom, in the middle.




Next up were some brackets to mount the NUC to.




The pieces are meant to be slide rails to hold the NUC in place.




They fit between the lower square dowel and the middle runner.


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That's really neat!

Do you chisel out the waste from the front panely before or after cutting the openings?

 

Thanks! Usually I would chisel out the waste first, and then cut the openings. In this instance, however, I didn't know I wanted the extra space until I cut the holes out so I ended up doing it afterwards

 

Looks great so far.

 

Thanks man

 

I also got a chance to mark out and make an I/O plate for the NUC.
I traced the original NUC case I/O onto a piece of aluminum.




I got it cut, filed, and sanded the front.
I glued it to a piece that will fit in the back of the case.


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I'm actually a bit further along on the project as well, and have included it in a "shop update" of sorts



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Almost complete & looks nice quality.