Scratch Build – In Progress Project: Kenwood HTPC, Update 26th September - Done!

you don't need new wood.

Plywood is good stuff, just pour in some wood glue in the crack and remove the screw, then use a clamp to compress it back to shape and let it dry. Plywood unfortunately is the closest thing your going to get in the size you want unless you want to spend 300bux building the case out of one piece hardwood.

Also plywood warping is bs, you just need to seal it properly with some sealant. Not to mention that if you sand is smothly it will look like furniture.

I like this project.

 

Ditto. Good suggestions, all.

Plywood should warp LESS than solid wood. Try using a syringe to get glue down into the cracks. Air pockets can form when glue is poured keeping the glue from getting as deep as needed.

The wood split formed because the pilot hole was too small, or not deep enough.

 

I'm really liking this project and LOLing at Duste and the sheer space Kenwood left in the original tuner.

What hardware is going in it?

Front USB ports? Mod for the know on the front?

 

Darn...I already bought the MDF...oh well. I can always use the plywood for something else. I am veneering it anyway, so the look of the plywood I had wasn't going to matter.

That's what I thought. I'm pretty sure I didn't drill the pilot hole large enough. Doh. Oh well.

Ah, as to hardware, there should be an update tonight, according Newegg my stuff should be here tonight. I plan on posting some pics and hardware specs then (plus I should be working at the moment ). I bought a Griffin Powermate that I plan on modding into the knob. I thought about doing front USB ports, but I don't want to change the asthetic of the original case. I don't think with how I'll be using it I'll need USB ports in the front. I suppose I'm comfortable climbing behind my TV stand to plug something in so that it looks better in the front . The original power switch will control LEDS in the spots of the original lights (more on that later), and one of those cool aluminum switches from Performance-PCs will be on the top (in the wood) to control computer power.
EDIT: Yeah, I was surprised by all the space Kenwood left in the original tuner too! I dunno what all that space was for. I was expecting there to be a huge board in there when I opened it up, not that tiny thing.

 

MDF will work fine. While under the right (bad) circumstances plywood can warp, MDF won't, unless a horizontal span is too large. Just that MDF is heavier and then you got to veneer it.

But, you can end up with a project that will be just as great either way you do it! Go with which ever way suits you.

 

Another Mini Update:
I got most of my components from Newegg (unfortunately a couple things got left out, hopefully they can remedy it quickly).

Components​

From left to right: Griffin PowerMate (to be modded into the original knob), An MSI K9AGM2 690G HDMI board, a 500GB Samsung SATA HDD, 2 Vantec Stealth 60mm 12CFM 20dBA fans, 2GB of AData DDR2 800 memory, 2 Sapphire ATI Theater 650 NTSC/ATSC tuners.
What I don't have yet: In-Win 300W TFX power supply, AMD X2 4000 processor, and an ABit PCI-E Wi-Fi card. I'm gonna get a remote as well, not sure what kind yet.

 

I was going to suggest the Griffin Powermate. I see you got one. I've done two of these mods in the past if you need pointers. See Le Bouton and Decomatic.

Analog VU meters also work well and would look great on this project. Nothing like watching bouncing needles to keep oneself entertained. lol

Nice progress.

 

There are two analog VU meters on the front casing, I just found a mod on Gideontech that showed how to use one for hard drive activity. I was going to use the space for the FM light to put in the hard drive activity LED, but I think I'll put something else there instead and use the Signal VU meter (the left one) for hard drive activity. Thanks for the comment, I love your cases, especially Decomatic .

 

I added a couple of VU meters to Le Bouton and ran the audio thru them so now I get left and right stereo levels.

Performance PCs has an internal USB adapter so you can plug the Powermate straight into the motherboard. Better than trying to splice those tiny USB wires or running it out the back.

 

Hmm...I can't seem to find it on their site. That would be rather helpful, I was just going to splice the wires.

 

HERE

 

A lot of people are having trouble getting the Powermate to work with Vista. I never got it to work but that's not saying much. It works like a charm in XP.

 

@slipperskip
Thanks for the link. Ouch, that's a bit expensive. I suppose I'll probably just splice the wires myself...plus I enjoy screwing up electronics things 8 or 9 times until I get it right...
They have a Vista beta driver on their website, I was hoping it was working at least a little bit...I'll have to test it after I get Vista up and running. It would certainly be a bummer if spent the money to get Vista when I might have to end up using my old copy of MCE 2005. Sigh. We'll see, I suppose.

 

Warning: The wires in that USB cable are very, very small. I spliced mine but it was an adventure. The beta driver is probably new. I was working with the Powermate back in Feb so hopefully things have changed. The problem is that the Powermate was intended for Macs so the software support for MS is flaky.

I bought XP MCE with a Vista upgrade coupon. I passed on the upgrade because of the Powermate.

Good luck.

 

Nice Sexy hardware! Well done that start look very nice now, Waiting the update soon Well done buddy.

Good luck and Take care.

 

Looks cool! IF you connect the VU meters to the hard drives, they might be a bit distracting if the HTPC is in your field of view under the TV though.........

 

OK, finally a serious update.

MDF all cut on the table saw


Side 1 glued


Side 2 glued


Holes Pre-Drilled


Wood Screws Countersunk


Starting to come together!


A little teaser for what's to come​

So, I got the top part put together. The bottom part is going to be put together with a hinge so the top and front can be swung forward to reveal all the components. More on that later. So, that's all for now!

 

Nice work! Wow, Well done I love this very very much, It's the best case for HTPC really

Well done and Good luck, Waiting your updates

 

Looking good mate! Just one question, how are you planning on cooling the internals?

 

Thanks! I've still got a lot to do and hopefully I'll have a bunch more updates next week.

I'm planning on using 2 60mm exhaust fans out the back and I'll drill holes for intake, probably through the bottom, as the case will be on feet. If that's not enough I'll figure something else out.