Scratch Build – Complete ⭐ Jack Daniel's - #OnTheRocks

Special thank you to my sponsors
ASUS Republic Of Gamers
EK WaterBlocks
Cablemod
ADATA
AMD UK
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey


Project Background

During Lockdown, i got a little bored.
Contacted Jack Daniel's UK and asked about a possible partnership on a new build.
We spoke a little back and forth, they agree'd to send out some empty bottles, bar matt, glasses and some other merch.
I got to work on the design of the case + The Way it will loop.
I think the main feature will be the JD bottle, pouring liquid into the tumbler in the center front of the case.

When designing the case, i wanted to leave enough space on the rear, to allow for an open back.
Showing the loop, cables, and GPU which will be mounted on the back.

Once i had the case done, i reached out to my usual partners and showed them the progress and things just took flight from there.


SPEC LIST
At this moment in time, i'm not able to share the full parts list. Will update as they come in.
MEMORY: XPG Spectrix D60G DDR4 @3200mhz
SSD: XPG Spectrix D40G M.2 SSD 512GB
Cablemod: Custom made to order cables.
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3800X
Cooler Master: MasterFan SF360R ARGB 360mm


Work progress done so far....

First step was visual planning, i use Sketchup for all my designs, while it's not the best or prettiest, it's by far the easiest to use.



After i was happy with the initial designs, i grabbed my jigsaw, drill, electric screw driver, tape measure and got to work.




Once i had the shape i wanted, i sanded a little, and put down the initial staining i wanted.




Once i was happy with that, i took the case apart and out to my laser cutter/Engraver.





I done this for both sides.

Next i felt it was missing some sort of edge, a frame if you will.
So i went to my cutter, played around and after 2 days, finally settled with these black frames.



I also wanted this frame on the front, and inside.





Things begun to arrive from Jack Daniel's

Very early into the project, My bottles, glasses and matt arrived.
So... Back to work i went.




Yesterday i decided to test run the loop, to make sure everything was working as expected.

Was very very pleased with the results.





That's everything up to date as of right now.
Parts Are in the mail, i can only wait for those.

Next stages will be
1. Drilling out holes for the cables (Individual angled holes for each braided cable)
2. Bore holes for the loop
3. Strip down, sand down the case, re-stain using sponge.

Will update as and when progress continues.
Thank you for reading.
Appreciate your time <3
Craig

 

I've seen overflow tank made out of Jack Daniels bottle in old Corvette - in old tank plastic gone wrong and owner couldn't get hold of replacement. This was kinda fitting to be honest. Reservoir made out of bottle with matching color of fluid could work I guess.

 

Definitely be using fluid that's dyed to match JD.
As this is a show build, I'm also considering using real jack Daniel's in the loop at events (to really give off that authentic smell and look)

 

Update!

Woring on the rear of the case this weekend.
Need it be as simple as possible, as there's no cover. (Completely open)



While the back looks rough, i'll start with adding 2 slats to the bottom.



I then want to close this off, i use 3mm thick Plywood birch.



Also added a top bar to level the top off.

Once i was happy with that, i stained it to match




Rear will no go down for sanding to really smooth it all off, then re-stain.

Yes, i double stain. Gives it a nice effect having fading stains.

Will be replacing the top panels in the coming 24 hours.
Removing screws and replacing with plugs to make it even smoother.

Thanks for checking back!
Craig

 

Time has come to start filling the gaps and staining them. Pretty straight forward process.

Tested it first to make sure i had the right stuff.


This is just flexible wood filler.
Nothing fancy, £8 tube from B&Q Does the job.

Fill er up!


Yuck, such a horrible color lol



Ledge at the bottom still needs a touch up, but i'm slowly getting there.

Will update again tomorrow
Thanks for looking
Craig

 

Products from XPG / ADATA Have arrived today!
While these are white they will be orange when lit.

XPG sent out 16GB of Spectrix D60G @ 3200mhz DDR4 Memory
&
XPG 512GB M.2 SSD Spectrix S40G











Also have a delivery from Cablemod, will update shortly.
Thanks for looking
Craig

 

Fresh in from Cablemod.
Has these made to order to fit the case colors and the correct length.

Cablecombs will be cut from birchwood and installed at a later date.




Now all i'm waiting for the Motherboard and GPU in order to move forward.
Once they're here, i cn crack on with putting in the PSU + Drilling all the holes for cables.

Check back later
Craig

 

great concept...I'm a huge fan of Jack daniel's

 

Finally received my CoolerMaster SF360R ARGB Fans.
Bought these for £30 the other week.
As per CM world series rules, every scratch build bust contain at least 1 CM product.
So yeah... This will do




Will be cutting the vents on the case this week and fitting the fans.
Craig

 

Wait... Your location is Scotland...and you are using Jack?

 

Shhhhhhh...
Not everyone needs to know

 

After a long day, i decided to put more work into the build.
Started with messuring up the fans, lining up the laser cutter and cutting the circles.
I then put the fans in and screwed them on.



I'm putting these as intake, so i want to use some kind of dust filter.



After this, i was unhappy with all the screws and holes and lines.

So i done it all again on fresh wood, Re-cut the holes, this time i used no more nails, and made sure it was absolutely solid.
I also wanted to add some of the sponsor logos, so i laser cut them out of the same wood, and stuck them on the rear.



Overall, very happy, still some work to do, but happy with the progress this weekend.


WIll do some more cleaning and trimming over the next week.
Craig

 

Decided to crack on and do the cable combs while waiting for the last of the bits to arrive.
These look chunky, and they are. However for good reason. These will be attached to the case, so i needed more surface area to makesure they stayed attached.




Once cut, i glued the 3 pieces together and this is how they look before being stained.




After i stained the 24pins, i went to make the 8 pins too. Turned out rather nice



All i have for the time being i'm afraid.
Thanks for looking
Craig

 

Motherboard arrived today from ASUS UK.
Really nice bit of kit too.
The ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming







Put the RAM and SSD in







After this arrived, i got to work on the cables.
24pin + USB extensions to save needing to go inside the case.



This is how the cables look on the rear of the case




The USB extensions go from board, out back and up to the top.
I used some crappy brown sleeving and duct tape, because i'm cheap



MUCH more to follow, can't do it all in 1 post
thanks for looking
Craig

 

EK Waterblocks package made an appearance today too.
I'm only going to show the CPU block for now, i'm still very much in the deep end with figuring out the loop and how it's going to work.

This, is the EK Signature Edition Lignum CPU Block.
This block, is nothing short of breathtaking.









I also got to work on the coolant.
There's a reason it's darker in the bottle. This is because i'm running 10/12mm tubing, if i didn't make the coolant darker than normal, it'd look like piss instead of jack daniel's.




That's about all i have time for tonight.
Will have plenty to come this week. As everything is here, i just need to spread out my work, and not rush this. As i want to take apart everything at the end, and do a video of the whole build being put together and filled.

Thanks for looking!
Craig

 

That's a really nice block.

 

Decided to get to work on the GPU block's face plate.
Wanted something wooden ofc, but with 2 logo's (Ek + ROG)

This took me about 2 hours to design + Cut + Etch + Stain
Wood is Birch Ply and costs me about 30p per A4 sheet.

First, i use AutoLaser to do my cutting, and coraldraw12 to do all my designing.
So much easier to work on coral then export as an AI file.



The cutting and etching process takes about 45 minutes, i have the laser on a lower speed to get a deeper etch.
Once done, i test fitted and it's perfect.


The orange marks are from the smoke, unfortunetly, i cut in my shed with a large fan on, and the fan extracts the smoke out of the front of the laser instead of the back, which causes the smoke to run over the wood leaving horrible orange stains.
I really need to get my rear extractor fan set up properly.

But.... never the less, staining immediately takes this away.
and i'm left with finished parts like this



If anyone would like this file sent to them, feel free to message me.


Thanks for looking.
Craig

 

Did you just stumble onto it's favorite nickname?
Something has been bugging me for a while: This open glass and bottle will be in a separate loop, right? Occasionally when you have an open spot in the loop, the remaining coolant will flow back to the lowest point when the pump stops. You'd need a fairly large air gap /reservoir that the glass flows into.

 

Ha.

Nah, this is all 1 loop.
I've added filters and no return valves to the underside of the shroud.
Water can only go 1 way and cannot return.
Normally the no return valves are used for gas an air, however, there's some out there like mine that can be used with water and require less of a push to get the water through.

 

Just a quick update today.
Not really had a huge amount of time to get much done.
At the moment, i'm working on the rear of the case, placing everything where i want it.
Still tons of work to do, but for the time being, i'm very very happy with how it's starting to take shape.



Ignore the mess around it lol
This is basically how it will look when finished.

Still to do
1. GPU arrives tomorrow, will block it, and do the GPU cables.
2. Run the Tubes from bottom and top to the GPU.
3. Clean up the marks on the back.
4. Create a small shroud for the cables up top (USB's) with my logo on it.


Still to do inside.
1. Run the tubes from CPU to GPU (WIll be a parallel loop to keep it clean)
2. Re-do the reservoir (Bottle) tube.
3. Clean up

After all this is done, i will dissasemble the entier build, and do a video of it all going together and filling the loop.
Unfortunetly my CPU is still not here, so it's a waiting game.

As always, i appreciate all your replies and look forward to doing more.
Thanks for looking.
Craig.