Project Ethos & Cube - Desk Awesomeness
- Thread starter SavellM
- Start date
Thanks guys 
Im really loving this project and taking my time to do things right.
Im stuck at the moment waiting for some more bitspower fittings and what not.
Mercutio thanks for your suggestions
Ye a bit late now, but will keep it in mind for future.
Weight of the desk itself isn't too heavy.
But no idea really
With hardware and liquid in the desk and draws full, it will be pretty heavy.
Im really loving this project and taking my time to do things right.
Im stuck at the moment waiting for some more bitspower fittings and what not.
Mercutio thanks for your suggestions
Ye a bit late now, but will keep it in mind for future.
Weight of the desk itself isn't too heavy.
But no idea really
With hardware and liquid in the desk and draws full, it will be pretty heavy.
Sorry there hasnt been much of an update.
Life has been hectic!
But here is a small one from last night.
Sanding down the side, getting rid of the filler
Stained the Drive bay cover
Doing mounts for PSU
It actually hold the PSU in really well!
How it will look with the other PSU once I get it
Side is stained, but you can see the join unfortunately.
In person it doesn't look so bad
Screwed down the mounts for Mobo tray
With the tray
Then we had another issue to take care of, my Chair...
I needed to remove the arms, as they were not allowing the chair to slide under the desk fully.
So one would think it would be simple as removing a screw or bold.
But no... This one had an double lock mechanism.
So after some sweat and frustration the head got stripped.
Next thing... Drill it out, as I was over it!
Phew it came off!
After that it was finish fitting the middle rad
Had to counter sink the screws again
All fitted nicely
Life has been hectic!
But here is a small one from last night.
Sanding down the side, getting rid of the filler
Stained the Drive bay cover
Doing mounts for PSU
It actually hold the PSU in really well!
How it will look with the other PSU once I get it
Side is stained, but you can see the join unfortunately.
In person it doesn't look so bad
Screwed down the mounts for Mobo tray
With the tray
Then we had another issue to take care of, my Chair...
I needed to remove the arms, as they were not allowing the chair to slide under the desk fully.
So one would think it would be simple as removing a screw or bold.
But no... This one had an double lock mechanism.
So after some sweat and frustration the head got stripped.
Next thing... Drill it out, as I was over it!
Phew it came off!
After that it was finish fitting the middle rad
Had to counter sink the screws again
All fitted nicely
After that we made some little risers for the Res so that they stay above the pumps
Then back to finishing off the staining
After the stain is dry its varnishing time
Even the little risers get the treatment
Last thing we did was to fit the handles for the draws:
Measuring out
All done
That's it for now...
Hopefully do a bit more here and there.
Then back to finishing off the staining
After the stain is dry its varnishing time
Even the little risers get the treatment
Last thing we did was to fit the handles for the draws:
Measuring out
All done
That's it for now...
Hopefully do a bit more here and there.
Found a bit of time the other night.
Decided I would try laying the Vinyl...
Oh man it was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Took about 3 and a half hours.
Prep, removing everything form the desk and making space
Rad mounts removed
Sanded down the desk, not much but just so its silky smooth
Put the vinyl over the desk just to make 100% sure its large enough
Did a quick cut out of the corner, thinking I can then just push it up and cut it closer after
Didn't go like I had imagined
Figured out another solution, make a template
Cutting out the vinyl... (In hindsight I should have made a template for the whole desk!)
Fits much better now
Laying it out
Going over the little back part
Not too bad, but unfortunately the wood had a cut mark, which shows in the photo.
It doesn't show in real life unless you look really hard
Carrying on, and going down
Finishing off the bottom section
Cut out for the middle Rad
With Rad cover fitted
And the mess that is perfection!
Next step is to run some black silicon around the edges to make it look finished around the edges, and to fix a few of my balls ups!
That's all for now
Decided I would try laying the Vinyl...
Oh man it was a lot harder than I thought it would be.
Took about 3 and a half hours.
Prep, removing everything form the desk and making space
Rad mounts removed
Sanded down the desk, not much but just so its silky smooth
Put the vinyl over the desk just to make 100% sure its large enough
Did a quick cut out of the corner, thinking I can then just push it up and cut it closer after
Didn't go like I had imagined
Figured out another solution, make a template
Cutting out the vinyl... (In hindsight I should have made a template for the whole desk!)
Fits much better now
Laying it out
Going over the little back part
Not too bad, but unfortunately the wood had a cut mark, which shows in the photo.
It doesn't show in real life unless you look really hard
Carrying on, and going down
Finishing off the bottom section
Cut out for the middle Rad
With Rad cover fitted
And the mess that is perfection!
Next step is to run some black silicon around the edges to make it look finished around the edges, and to fix a few of my balls ups!
That's all for now
So started a bit with the fan assembly and silicone the edges of the desk so it looks better.
I didn't take to many pics while doing the silicone so will finish it first and then show you pics.
But here is a sneak so far:
So anyway got to joining all the fans.
This was my first time ever Soldering... So go easy on me
Cutting fan wires to length
Then joined them up
Just need to shrink wrap around the joins, and put the fan connector on the other side.
Test and should be good to go... Hopefully...
I didn't take to many pics while doing the silicone so will finish it first and then show you pics.
But here is a sneak so far:
So anyway got to joining all the fans.
This was my first time ever Soldering... So go easy on me
Cutting fan wires to length
Then joined them up
Just need to shrink wrap around the joins, and put the fan connector on the other side.
Test and should be good to go... Hopefully...
So I went back after some advice and removed the extra 2 yellow wires.
This is so that I can get a clean RPM readout on the fan controller.
Also fixed up the solder so it looks better and is cleaner.
Then shrink wrapped the joins.
After that I decided to de-solder the yellow wire from the fans themselves.
Just to keep a clean line.
Next up gotta fit them in place and check the fittings and make sure they work.
Then sleeve them and run the cables around the desk.
This is so that I can get a clean RPM readout on the fan controller.
Also fixed up the solder so it looks better and is cleaner.
Then shrink wrapped the joins.
After that I decided to de-solder the yellow wire from the fans themselves.
Just to keep a clean line.
Next up gotta fit them in place and check the fittings and make sure they work.
Then sleeve them and run the cables around the desk.
So mate got back and so it was time to get back to the desk.
First things first, to clean up and do another silicone seal around the edges.
Man that Mobo tray needs a bit of a clean, sorry
All prepared!
Measured out to sink in the mobo standoffs
Down she goes!
You can see how deep we are sinking the server standoffs
Cut through the carbon OK
All cleaned and all 6 standoffs in
Tray fitting
Nice!
You can see how close it measures up with the lid on
Silicone re-done
All done
PS. that back wall got another coat of stain last night.
To make it look more even, as it was a bit blotchy when we made the hole cut outs.
That's all for now.
Waiting for my other parts to come into stock!
First things first, to clean up and do another silicone seal around the edges.
Man that Mobo tray needs a bit of a clean, sorry
All prepared!
Measured out to sink in the mobo standoffs
Down she goes!
You can see how deep we are sinking the server standoffs
Cut through the carbon OK
All cleaned and all 6 standoffs in
Tray fitting
Nice!
You can see how close it measures up with the lid on
Silicone re-done
All done
PS. that back wall got another coat of stain last night.
To make it look more even, as it was a bit blotchy when we made the hole cut outs.
That's all for now.
Waiting for my other parts to come into stock!
Off the top of my head without the actual PC hardware:
Real American Oak Veneered MDF, about 2 and a half sheets
1x Solid Oak post for the legs
1x Solid Oak for the lid and to hold the glass
1x MDF to make the template for glass
1x Toughened glass cut to the template
Stain and Varnish
Last edited:
So...
I have been having strong thoughts of changing out the copper and using Acrylic tubing instead...
This will be used with White Pastel Mayhems coolant.
Dont forget that I am currently using crystal links to join up the pumps and reservoirs.
But I just wanted to get your general opinions on using Ultra clear acrylic tube instead of copper/nickel?
The main reason why I was going to go with copper is so that I could run clean long lines between the 2 pc's across the desk.
But now with acrylic I can achieve the same thing and still have the liquid visible.
With the white coolant it may look pretty awesome against the carbon base a good contrast.
Also the general theme is White/Black.
Hence my sleeving is White.
What do you guys think of that instead?
I have been having strong thoughts of changing out the copper and using Acrylic tubing instead...
This will be used with White Pastel Mayhems coolant.
Dont forget that I am currently using crystal links to join up the pumps and reservoirs.
But I just wanted to get your general opinions on using Ultra clear acrylic tube instead of copper/nickel?
The main reason why I was going to go with copper is so that I could run clean long lines between the 2 pc's across the desk.
But now with acrylic I can achieve the same thing and still have the liquid visible.
With the white coolant it may look pretty awesome against the carbon base a good contrast.
Also the general theme is White/Black.
Hence my sleeving is White.
What do you guys think of that instead?