Hello all modders! This is my first thread and also my first custom case. Thats right, I intend to build my own case (very basic and small.) Nothing fancy, just a basic frame. I have some experience working with wood and I believe I will be using it to build this case - it has great sound dampening. I will of course treat it somehow for flame/fire safety. Below are some quick 3d drawings of my design (again very basic, I want to keep it as clean and simple as possible for my first project.)



The 3d images would be right here but I cant figure out how to mount an image and dont have the time right now to find out. Im leaving for a one week vacation so I guess in the meantime telling me how you do pictures in these forums would help. Thanks.

A few specs:
Motherboard: ABIT KV7-v 305 x 195mm (known to be quite small)
Video Card: Gigabyte ATI Radeon 9250

ya kno . . . . that is a good Q. I know hardware backward and forward, but the only software I really know is Firefox and Unreal 2k4. Sorry. Welcome to PimpRig, home of the best mods and modders around. nice to meet you. I'm certain our Q's will be answered.

Alright I figured it out, pics arent too hard to add. These are some 3d renderings I scratched out in Blender.

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BTW.. Welcome to Pimprig..
nice concept drawings.. however i would like to suggest some ideas...
first off.. one of the easiest mods to do is making stealth drives..
click here for a picture of an example of stealth drives.
I would either paint the drives to look like wood.. or make a skinny faceplate out of wood for the front of the drive.. I think this little touch would make it really cool..
Im actually planning to do that for my castle modd.. found here
It would make it look really cool..
btw.. what kinda stain are you going to use on this wood?

That last pick gives a good view of the heart of this project, the duct system. Its the "white fence" in the pic (sorry quick renderings equals crappy textures.) I will construct it out of acrylic or something. So, first air enters through a 92mm fan in the front and passes through my power supply (with its enclosure taken off.) The duct guides the air strait through the PSU heat sinks and CPU heat sink and exaust exits through the back by another 92mm fan.

First things are first, what kind of wood should I use? plywood or polyboard(kitchen counter stuff)?
Where can I purchase standoffs that can screw in to the wood to support the mobo?
Is there any way I can use my i/o shield or must I have holes cut in the wood?
Links to any type of guide or tips would be greatly appreciated. I have yet to find any on the web (concerning building your own case.)
Thanks

Quote: Originally Posted by DavidVaini BTW.. Welcome to Pimprig.. nice concept drawings.. however i would like to suggest some ideas... first off.. one of the easiest mods to do is making stealth drives.. click here for a picture of an example of stealth drives. I would either paint the drives to look like wood.. or make a skinny faceplate out of wood for the front of the drive.. I think this little touch would make it really cool.. Im actually planning to do that for my castle modd.. found here It would make it look really cool.. btw.. what kinda stain are you going to use on this wood?

The stealth drive idea is great. That way the mod could lurk in the forest all day waiting for ewoks and devour them

As for the wood, I would prefer to splurge and get 100% solid, real wood. I have done research and found that red cedar has great sound dampening (and smells great too )
I like rich, dark earth tones. I dont know much about staining; will it prevent or worsen the fire hazard concern of the project? I also need to know how thick the wood should be.

I wouldn't be terribly concerned about the fire issue. I'm certain many people here have laid entire systems minus the case on a table or newspaper or something and fired her up. I know I have. Never had a spark come from my computer, although I have a fire extinguisher on hand, I have yet to need it. For the wood, coming from a framer who has built all of his own desks, I highly recommend either 1x12 (3/4" actual thickness) or ply (not mdf or other fiber board) 3/4" or thicker. Stain is great stuff, but it should be used on cheap wood to make it look more expensive. Why spend a buttload of hard earned cash on cedar or more expensive wood if you are gonna change the color? Are you using it to hold a monitor as well? If not, then you could use thinner wood for the sides/ top. Honestly it comes down to the artist- you. If you have probs, keep posting, but aesthetics is the one thing you must choose yourself. Thats what makes each modder as unique as their mods!

you sound ike you have alot of questions.. I wouldnt know how thick the would should be but i would assume it would have to be thick enough so that the wood could support the componets inside the case.. another thing to think about it that when you uncover a PSU you may run into the problem of grounding and shieldig the electic radiation.. however i like your ideas.. For the I/O faceplate it depends on the motherboard.. cause most faceplates would be propritary and making a faceplate out of wood could be a tough challange.. however if you have the mad wood working skillz you might be able to pull it off.. one question i would have is how would you make the door on the case work..

also i would suggest looking at these site for some cool wood cases..

• http://www.exoticwoodcrafts.com/
• http://www.silentpcreview.com/article237-page1.html

so yeah does that help?

Thanks, I really liked that second web link. Also special thanks to wrath for the wood thickness and type tips. This is going to be a small, portable (sort of) PC, one that's ideal for taking back and forth between two workstations (which I do about every week). My whole motivation for this case comes from 2 things:

• The tower case my computer is currently in (and all mid/full tower cases for that matter) are VERY innefficient space-wise. They are designed for good cooling and easy installation (which is great) but not practical for mobile pc's.

• I want a handle (or two) to be able to carry it easily. Perhaps wheels.

Just a few more quickies . . . . you can use the I/O shield to trace onto the back and cut a hole, then hot glue it in place. Did it to my briefcase computer. You need to figure out where the mobo will be mounted before you can trace or it wont line up. the dimensions of your case are astoundigly similar to my own project . . . . you peekin in my window??? LOL I'm kidding. If you take the front bezel off of your cd drives you can glue a piece of wood to the disk tray. It only needs to be a hair larger than the tray, not as big as the drive. Don't see too many stealth jobs like that, but I bet you can pull it off. I'll try n get a pic of what I mean.

Does having an open power supply mounted in my case give off harmful electric radiation? I dont see how the absence of a thin aluminum enclosure would allow so.

not really for humans, you really have to worry about it against the electronics in the case that may not be sheilded from extra bursts. the case does help contain the field a bit and you notice that no hard drives are near the psu... these days i think that has something to do with it. these days i really dont think its any worry anyway since everything is built shielded or just beefy for overclocking that you dont really have to worry with good components.

Pretty cool project. Saw some other pretty sweet wood mods in my day, and it just doesn't do much for me. But, to each his own.

My only suggestion would be for you to be sure to seal everything up, and dampen vibration. This could be done by using pieces of rubber between the edges, where each piece meets each piece, you know? Your cooling idea seems alright, so not much there.

Another thing you need to make sure is that you get treated wood. You wouldn't want your case swelling or shrinking, just generally changing shape at any time. You also wouldn't want it to rot. I'm sure you know this, since you said you had experience working with wood. I myself don't have much, so I can't reccomend a type, really. However, I built a speaker box once from MDF (I think) board from Lowes. It's great for sound dampening, since it allows the base from the speakers to radiate out and not get all jacked up in the box. Consider a blowhole opening in the top of the case for better airflow.

Since you're working with wood, and doing a complete custom design, the possibilities are endless. The drive stealthing is a good idea for the optical drive, but I would also reccomend going a step further and stealth your floppy drive! You don't see that done too much, but it would be cool if you could hide a small little clasp or something over the floppy drive, fastening it at the top of the 3.5" slot. Then, when unclasped, allow it to hinge from the bottom, and maybe put some metal chain-type things on the side, for the neatness factor. That would be nice. You could even stealth the drive like that, too!

I don't know if anyone answered your question about the motherboard stand-offs, but if you don't have some spare PCs laying around that you can get some out of, try visiting your local computer shop and see if they will sell you or even give you some spares. Shouldn't be a problem!

Looks like a pretty sweet project!

I have decided to use the frame (or part of) an old sturdy case and mount wood to it. Or I may just take the motherboard/ioshield/pci ports structure out. However it is held in place with rivets. Can I just drill those out?

One way to do it, and there are several. My personal favorite is to cdut off the rivet at the end where it is crimped over with a dremel tool as to not potentially harm the part in working with I put the case in a wood vise. if you want drilling is just as easy, but do be careful and support the case well on the inside where you are applying pressure with a 2x4 or something so you do not bend the metal as your pushing the drill down.

to adhere it to the case silicone works good, itll hold damn near anything together as long as the silicone itself is not under direct pressure without support. otherwords slather the metal with it then set it on the wood inner case, leave it to dry, then always lift the case by the wood not by the metal.

also jb weld works good as does a myriad of other glues/adhesives. I prefer silicone myself since it is clear or black (and being a aquarium guy) and i prefer to see the parts not any glue, plus if you screw up silicone hardens in 24 hours and cures totally in around 48 so, you have alot longer to monkey around with the parts and make it just right.

I have taken out the rivets and removed the 'guts' from another case like this guy did. Tonight I am goin out to get some wood (pine probably) with the help of WrathofSocrus' dimensions.

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Sorry for the long wait guys...

I finally got some wood - a premium 2' x 4' red oak 12-ply sheet ($17 Home Depot.)

I then spent long hours brainstorming how to design the case. My goal was to use the least space possible. I came up with two designs - one a 3" profile desktop-style case, the other a slightly odd looking long case (pictures coming soon.) I have decided to go with the long-style case. Ive got all the measurements - check back, i will post my brainstorming art.

Here are the dimensions.

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Ok couple things, I would not recommend treated wood, simply cuz it looks like poopoo and is not necessary, unless of course you plan on leaving your computer outside... in the dirt).

Don't waste your money on hard wood either. In my opinion, the absolute best way to go would be with plywood. Plywood is waaaay more stable than many solid woods. Of course unless you wanna fork over some dough, by all means go with the hardwood, but its not necessary.

Then what you do is buy wood veneer. This can be purchased at your local Lowe's in Oak, or special ordered in tons of different species. (would actually be nice if you ordered a few different kinds, and mix and matched them to add some contrast.) This allows you to stealth your drives very easily, and also have the grain match.

As for the inside, I am sure you can buy some kind of fire retardant to spray on the inside of the case.

Edit: looks like you already bought the wood, I didn't notice that before, I would still go with what I recommended though, it will work the best for you. Sounds like its gonna be a nice case!