Beast Of Nature | ITX Scratch build in wood!

Jokot · 26 Feb 2019 at 11:23

Hello,

Its time again for a new build and this time I am going to use my favorite material, wood! After lots of planning I decided it was going to be another ITX build that would still fit at least one 240mm radiator and long graphics cards if thats what I choose to go with.

The plan is to use closed watercooling loops for both CPU and GPU to make future upgrades easier. Ive seen quite a few wood builds over the years but nothing that really felt like me so this will be my version, should also be quite obvious what case I was inspired by

Huge thanks to bequiet! and Asrock for helping out with the hardware for this build!

And here are a few 3D renders

samcat · 26 Feb 2019 at 12:18

Very nice.

Make the front panel (that the fans are in, shown in white) out of a suitable dark wood (purple heart/bubinga/ebony).

LuckyBenski · 26 Feb 2019 at 18:02

samcat said:
Very nice.

Make the front panel (that the fans are in, shown in white) out of a suitable dark wood (purple heart/bubinga/ebony).

If we're getting geeky about the woods I'm throwing my 2p in - love wenge. Looks totally different flatsawn or quartersawn.

Interested to see how this goes - I made guitars in a former life!

Jokot · 26 Feb 2019 at 19:20

samcat said:
Very nice.

Make the front panel (that the fans are in, shown in white) out of a suitable dark wood (purple heart/bubinga/ebony).

Front, back and top will be made of aluminum, some darker wood would also work but doesn't really fit the look I am going for

LuckyBenski said:
If we're getting geeky about the woods I'm throwing my 2p in - love wenge. Looks totally different flatsawn or quartersawn.

Interested to see how this goes - I made guitars in a former life!

.
The fram will at least be flatsawn but not 100% sure about the handels yet because those are going to be made using thin plywood but thats most likely also flatsawn

samcat · 27 Feb 2019 at 09:22

LuckyBenski said:
If we're getting geeky about the woods I'm throwing my 2p in - love wenge. Looks totally different flatsawn or quartersawn.

Engrain bubinga suitably stained and oiled is my fave atm

InfiniteNoise · 2 Mar 2019 at 16:08

Ooh, nice, it's like a mini wooden Mac Pro case.

LewisRaz · 3 Mar 2019 at 07:47

Like a bitfenix prodigy. I like this a lot.

Look forward to seeing it progress

LuckyBenski · 3 Mar 2019 at 12:15

LewisRaz said:
Like a bitfenix prodigy. I like this a lot.

Look forward to seeing it progress

I was thinking Prodigy too and was sad to to realise it could be Mac

Vidar · 3 Mar 2019 at 17:41

That is sexy as hell, I wish I had the knowledge and creative flair to design stuff like this.

MaXxBoulton · 4 Mar 2019 at 07:37

This looks interesting.. Subed

Jokot · 4 Mar 2019 at 16:23

Vidar said:
That is sexy as hell, I wish I had the knowledge and creative flair to design stuff like this.

MaXxBoulton said:
This looks interesting.. Subed

Thanks guys.

So this is how I will be bending and making the top and bottom "handles"

I need something to bend the thin sheets around so that was part 1 of the process and that was easily done with some MDF scrap pieces.

Here is the template rounded and covered in tape to avoid the glue from sticking.

Here is the material I will be using.

I also made a outer part for the template by bending 5mm plywood, that will also help equalize the pressure along the curve.

And now ever thing is ready to be glued together and clamped down, the grain of each sheet is going against each other to get a stronger final product. You can also see the template was made with "shelves" to make clamping easier.

Here is a better picture of the layers.

And I also made a second one the next day.

MasterOC · 8 Mar 2019 at 15:57

As soon as I saw this I thought G5... This is right up my street.. . I know naff all about woodwork but the color contrast of a light wood and white metal / acrylic finish for the panels is Hella sexy, not personally a fan of dark finishes as it appears to ruin the modern look but I can't wait to see how this goes, subbed

Jokot · 10 Mar 2019 at 10:28

MasterOC said:
As soon as I saw this I thought G5... This is right up my street.. . I know naff all about woodwork but the color contrast of a light wood and white metal / acrylic finish for the panels is Hella sexy, not personally a fan of dark finishes as it appears to ruin the modern look but I can't wait to see how this goes, subbed

Yeah I am going for a modern/Nordic design so thats the main reason there is no darker wood in this one

Jokot · 10 Mar 2019 at 10:30

More work on the handles.

I made grooves in the handles using the big router in previous picture.

Now just cut both of those in half and I will have my four handels.

And a few pictures without tape.

famas · 10 Mar 2019 at 17:30

Looking good so far keep it coming.

Little tip for laminating work is to use ratchet straps. they give you more even pressure around the whole item while cutting down on the faff and bulk of cramps.
Only thing you have to note is to make your former longer than the laminates other wise the straps start to put an extra bend where they extend past the former.

Jokot · 19 Mar 2019 at 15:41

Making the frame.

Used the same big router for these parts.

Mik3 · 29 Mar 2019 at 16:02

I love these custom wood builds, they look incredible.

I think it would look great with a wood cover on the front protruding out a couple of centimeters to allow good air flow.

Something like this.

Cooler running · 30 Mar 2019 at 00:18

From what Ive seen, I would concider adding mesh to the top.

Jokot · 7 Apr 2019 at 20:31

Mik3 said:
I love these custom wood builds, they look incredible.

I think it would look great with a wood cover on the front protruding out a couple of centimeters to allow good air flow.

Something like this.

Yeah I thought about it but I will probable go with aluminum panels to get a more modern feeling

Cooler running said:
From what Ive seen, I would concider adding mesh to the top.

Yes there will be small air vents on the top panel.

Time to put every thing together for a test fit

Plec · 7 Apr 2019 at 22:06

Subbed - stunning attention to detail.

I like the stark contrast of natural wood meets industrial aluminium - looking forward to end result - great stuff.