Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Glass On Lumber, DONE! Mother's Day '08

Glasson Lumber? Hey, nothing says Mothers Day like a little Pine molding on Lexan, so I decided to piece together a bunch of parts I had laying around for Mom

My prioritized design requirements for the project are simple:

1. Use what I have
2. Make it small
3. Reasonably quiet
4. It can be simple, but it needs to look 'finished'

The last requirement might sound odd, but frankly other then maybe a doghouse, I've never really 'made' anything from scratch, so while this will be a learning experience, I don't want this to end up looking hacked together. To that end thanks everyone around here for your project logs. Tons of great ideas, and some just unbelievably phenomenal designs!

As it happens, I've got a bunch of extra parts from a few years of upgrading and just adding a CPU and a PSU and presto I've got a great rig which Mom can use as an internet box. On top of that I've also got some freebie leftover 1/4" acrylic sheets from work.

​

After a lot of part-shuffling about what to fit where, this unusual configuration is the smallest size I could figure. Yah it puts the 'back panel' on top. On top? Huh? Weird? So? I'm ok with weird. This design also sits the power supply on top of the AGP and PCI slots which just can't be right, eh? But the on-board graphics, sound and network are all Mom will need, and expandable isn't one of my design criteria!

​

So I know how big it needs to be, and a little cardstock gives me some confidence that it will be small enough... Bigger then I was hoping, but it'll do.

On to cutting the box with my trusty 7 1/2" skilsaw...

​

...which cuts a nice straight line, but the edges don't exactly scream 'finished'.

​

To get a pure acrylic case, I'd need a router as sandpaper wasn't giving me a square enough edge... So after the first couple of cuts I knew I'd need some form of border for the edges. A trip to Home Depot to see what's available, and some time with a dry erase board (sketchup file here) puts the design right about here:

​

Corners first, and this is about as uniform as I can hope for with my skill level and tools available.

​

Good thing for sandpaper and 5 year old sons right?

​

After a little diversion it's back to work:

​

Yes, I got to know these stupid little boxes much more then I would have liked...

​

and eventually got the corners pretty clean.

​

Not perfect, but good.

​

Good enough for a first mock-up:

​

I've posted here basically the outline stage which really didn't take that long, but as all of you know I'm sure better then me the Devil is in the details. I have a fair amount of that detail work already completed, but you'll have to tune in tomorrow for some more images of that work, and a solution to the 'how in the heck am I going to cut out this panel'? problem.

​

 

you made your son a shark fin‽ you are my hero!

you should teach him to sand with the grain though.

 

it looks like companion cube?

 

I'd be thrilled if this one turned out nearly as cool as the Weighted Companion so I like the comparison! The design was born more out of a need to hide the edges then anything else though That and getting my micro-ATX, full size DvD, and PSU into the smallest box possible... .

 

I was thinking the same thing actually.
But its still looking great.

 

oh yeah, and lookin good btw

 

Very nice, i like it
I'll give my usual suggestion of having a 2 or 3 different colors of lighting available via a couple of switches, hidden at the back maybe, so that a fair few different combinations of light can be had. This was done on a really large scale and by usb control no less on the fantastic sinuskurve.

 

So about 10 minutes with a Dremel and I knew I wouldn't be able to get this where I wanted it to be. I was planning a little Dremel / file / sand three step till it worked out, but my work just suqt, giving me plenty of respect for those of you who do it this way.

​

I was lamenting these woes to some friends when they pointed me towards Tom S from LasEngS (laserguy@lasengs.com) who was super helpful in working this out with me. A little time with Corel:

​

and little printing, cutting, re-measuring,

​

and prest0-chang0: All of a sudden this little hack job of a project has taken a turn for the kewlness

​

It looks as though Tom (laserguy@lasengs.com) has started a nice little business with his laser engraver working primarily with Lexan, and wood. I was going to have him engrave a few designs into the case, but decided for this project just to keep it simple. My next go I think mebbe some tribal tattoos or something... Didn't figure mom would have much use for them though~

 

After seeing how nice the laser work comes out I thought about changing the design, but I kind of like the wood border and since I had already done a fair amount of work on the current design it stays. So back to work on the wood!

The corners are pretty square, again not perfect, but about as good as I can do:

Cut and check the molding length:


I dont have a biscuit joiner, and since its not really structural I figured glue and clamping would be fine.

I Had troubles keeping it square though, so the clamping got more complex:

and more complex:

and stupidly more complex:

Then a stroke of genius struck and simple proved >>>> complicated.
This was by far the best way to marry my little corners to the molding.

A little more sand:

Added a little poly and so far so good:


What else we got? Well, lets see. During the first test run of the parts, the power supply proved too noisy, and frankly a looked a little dopey too.

So I swapped out the fans.

Cut the grill out and replaced it with the one that came w/ the fan. I've got these enlobal fans in another box, and I like'm. Reasonable quiet / price ratio. Two 80's in the PSU, and one 120 on the side of the case.

Pealed the stickers and polished the HD a wee bit... not a mirror finnish but plenty good enough for me. The brasso didn't really do anything, but the dremel rubbing compound and cloth wheel worked ok.

The way the HD will sit, it will help reflect some LED light from the CPU fan:

 

i will be doing a server/secondary pc with a similar small case, like this one.

thanks for some ideas, and good luck with the rest of the build.

 

That's impressive that you found someone who would laser cut Lexan. Most cutters won't do it because the fumes are extremely toxic, (wussies!)

The outer frame is looking good, but it reminds me of the weighted companion cube a bit.

 

With any luck Magnus wont be insulted by the comparison~

 

Well... So, Mother's Day is tomorrow, and this was supposed to be a Mother's day gift, so I've been working pretty much non-stop to try and get it over the goal line for tomorrow!

The design calls for the HD and DvD to be on stacked on the bottom where there's not alot of spare room.

dremel'd out part of the front corners to fit the DvD bezel and tray

and a little microplaning w/ a razor

My original design, called for just using the stock bezel

but frankly it looked better w/o the bezel

More Dremel work to cut my little wood corners to fit the PS2 inputs, and the powerswitch...






Maybe I'll ask Tom lazer cut me a new wooden bezel / tray cover. This is the one spot of the case right now that I'm kind of at a loss for, and while I've avoided last minute design changes by telling myself - next project... I just don't like the look w/ the stock bezel, so for now it'll stay off.

More on the CD / DvD. Removed the stickers with a razor, and the paint from the tins with dilute sodium hydroxide overnight (aka Lye, don't use liquid plumr) The ziploc didn't work, and I had to find a bucket. This step seems kind of dangerous... If your not used to handling chemicals I'd recommend not doing it. I wore gloves and goggles, let it sit overnight, and before dumping the waste I neutralized w/ vinegar to pH 7 and filtered through a paper towel.

Sanded the tins clean, and to a 'brushed aluminum' look... Not enough patience for the mirror finish... And in another stroke of either Genius or Folly, I tapped a few 6-32's into the DvD tins, and mounted the HD directly to the top.


Then tapped the base of the DvD with 4 more 6-32's and mounted it to the base Lexan through a piece of corner molding.


CPU power switch? I so wanted to figure out some kind of signature power switch that would really make this poject pop... instead:

Back to the molding to build up the sides

Tom gave me something of a sample to show me the kind of results I could expect before he cut the actual pieces... I've been using them to practice glueing, drilling and now tapping the edges.... its a little trixy. My kingdom for a drillpress?

Tapped, and screwed the top plate into place.


Which worked great except for......... ewwwwwwwww:

But I'm not really a perfectionist, and a) the tap is holding, and b) the corner is covered by a wooden block.

A little more glue:

The top wooden 'bracket' will slide ontop and is held on by pressure to the screws in the corners.


One of my fears with this project is that once I get it all up and running - How will the noise be? I know the fans and drives are all reasonably quiet, but I was less certain about my brilliant little tap-job mounting the hard drive to the DvD. Will a little vibration rattle the cage?

Next post has the shots of the finished product.

 

Happy Mothers day Mom!




















I worked on this project over the last 2 months, with most of the actual labor occurring over the last week. The project as I've said is for mom and it'll make a nice present for mothers day from mostly spare parts I've had just laying around. I posted the log as a thank you to Tom S (pharmtom1@comcast.net) who incidentally would like to hear from you if your interested in getting something done that involves cutting, or engraving, mostly wood and Lexan. I also posted the log because I'm pretty proud of the work. Sure its not perfect, but it does go to show that even a hack with a 7 1/2" circular saw, and a Dremel can put together a pretty decent little box ~ Thanks for reading.

 

Nice work KingKinase.
I like it, hope your mother does too.

 

Very nice work. I'm sure your mother will like it a bunch, it's quite cute.

 

Theres a couple of things i would change... First i would put the cables to back... Actually, if i could, i wouldn't use any cables

Second, it sort of breaks my heart to see that wood being cutted to fit the DVD. I know it's not easy to fit things in a scratch build that small, but i would put that on the place of the 120 fan.

But the overall idea AND building are really nice! and some ideas i'll surelly be using as a HUGE fan of acrylics AND carpentry

Cheers mate!

 

Thanks Scirocco!

& thanks too Yemerich, I agree on the DVD, I'm hoping that even though the project is being delivered as is, that I'll be able to update the tray/bezel. For this project I was going for small as humanly possible with the parts that I had. As for the cables. I'm just not sure yet. This gives easier access to the USB ports, and like most any computer this one will sit under mom's desk.

 

If she's anything like my mom, It will drive her crazy when it gets dust inside, and she can see it.

 

is your mom a modder on the forums?
(owned)