Project NoName
- Thread starter KiNgPiN83
- Start date
Seriously impressive build, can't wait to see the finished article! Personally I'd have mounted the fans inside of the case, but then I'd have been wrong, they're going to look great once the shrouds are in place
Originally that was going to be the case but due to the way I’ve mounted the HDD’s they wouldn’t quite have fit inside.
However all is not lost as there is more to be added on. 
So had to take a brief break from the PC to build this: (Although i have designed the motherboard level and have been taking lots of measurements and things to make sure it comes out ok first time. I've also had some ideas that mean I'll have to change the HDD level but I'll go back to that later. From staring at it over the past few days and rebuilding bits in my head i believe I've worked out a way to make it a lot more accessible. Mainly because connecting and disconnecting cables is going to be a nightmare made even worse by the fact that my PSU isn't modular so i can't cable them back as it were. Still, watch this space...)
Its a gate to stop our Pug getting to our cats food and litter tray...
(Dirty girl ) Its made of 2 sets of plywood sheets glued together but overlapping so that they create one big firm door. I know i could've just went and bought one but this was more fun and in the spirit of the laser built PC case. Plus this helps me work on my design/measuring skills. 
And a door sign so the cats know that they can come in. (Not that anything stops the little buggers going where they want! Haha!)
I know its not strictly the PC project but as it was all made with the laser i thought I'd share it anyway. Hopefully I'll have a proper PC case update tonight.
Its a gate to stop our Pug getting to our cats food and litter tray...
(Dirty girl ) Its made of 2 sets of plywood sheets glued together but overlapping so that they create one big firm door. I know i could've just went and bought one but this was more fun and in the spirit of the laser built PC case. Plus this helps me work on my design/measuring skills. And a door sign so the cats know that they can come in. (Not that anything stops the little buggers going where they want! Haha!)
I know its not strictly the PC project but as it was all made with the laser i thought I'd share it anyway. Hopefully I'll have a proper PC case update tonight.
Please excuse the late update. It's been a busy couple of weeks with various other stuff stealing my project time.
I'd made a fair few changes to the design, notably the HDD level is basically being completely re-designed. However i'm happy to actually cut those bits at a later date as i'd rather continue with the rest at the moment. My main focus has been redoing the controller level and the motherboard section. The controller section has been designed and cut. (See below) and the motherboard level will be the next part to be cut out.
All the re-designed pieces for the controller level:
Some positive words from my new glue gun:
I then proceeded to glue all the bits above together. Bearing in mind it was between 1 and 2 in the morning...
All looks good right? Wrong...
I glued the panel on the PSU side the wrong way up...
Which meant that i had to use a combination of swearing, finesse, heavy handedness and luck to remove just the glued together side panel as i really didn't want to waste all that wood re-cutting the whole thing.
This left the edges in a bit of a mess but after cleaning them up with a scalpel and sand paper to remove the old glue, we were good to go:
So here it is re-cut: The PSU now lines up, there is no longer a gap at the front of the box at the top of the controller's screen and we have holes for the wires ready in the bottom to feed down to the HDD's.
And lastly i looked at my idea for the door on the side for this level. I already have some hinges kicking about and think they look quite good. I've already got a latch designed for the top of the door to keep it shut too. I also think i will rivet the hinges as the screws seem to make a mess on the other side of the wood as its only 3mm thick.
I'm not putting it all together yet as I'm trying to decide whether to paint it or just varnish/lacquer it. I'll probably decide tomorrow when I'm in the range looking at spray-paints/primers.
Once again, thanks for looking. The next update hopefully won't take as long.
I'd made a fair few changes to the design, notably the HDD level is basically being completely re-designed. However i'm happy to actually cut those bits at a later date as i'd rather continue with the rest at the moment. My main focus has been redoing the controller level and the motherboard section. The controller section has been designed and cut. (See below) and the motherboard level will be the next part to be cut out.
All the re-designed pieces for the controller level:
Some positive words from my new glue gun:
I then proceeded to glue all the bits above together. Bearing in mind it was between 1 and 2 in the morning...
All looks good right? Wrong...
I glued the panel on the PSU side the wrong way up...
Which meant that i had to use a combination of swearing, finesse, heavy handedness and luck to remove just the glued together side panel as i really didn't want to waste all that wood re-cutting the whole thing.
This left the edges in a bit of a mess but after cleaning them up with a scalpel and sand paper to remove the old glue, we were good to go:
So here it is re-cut: The PSU now lines up, there is no longer a gap at the front of the box at the top of the controller's screen and we have holes for the wires ready in the bottom to feed down to the HDD's.
And lastly i looked at my idea for the door on the side for this level. I already have some hinges kicking about and think they look quite good. I've already got a latch designed for the top of the door to keep it shut too. I also think i will rivet the hinges as the screws seem to make a mess on the other side of the wood as its only 3mm thick.
I'm not putting it all together yet as I'm trying to decide whether to paint it or just varnish/lacquer it. I'll probably decide tomorrow when I'm in the range looking at spray-paints/primers.
Once again, thanks for looking. The next update hopefully won't take as long.
Another little update for you guys.
Decided that now the control layer/level was together that i would sand an prime it. I was going to leave it bare wood but i haven't painted anything for a while so thought now would be a good time to start back up!
I also varnished the inside. I was hoping that it would aid dust removal and cleaning as there wouldn't be the grain of the wood to grab the dust. It was only two coats that were then sanded slightly so nothing special but a good flat satin finish now which will hopefully help. The other idea i had in my head was to paint it matt black but i think it then would've needed varnishing anyway.
I also came up with a great little plinth/turntable to use while painting it from stuff laying about. Take two chopping boards and some ball bearings:
And stick together! Boom, a turntable!
Once the primer dried i sanded it and then sprayed another layer which i then also sanded. Its now waiting for paint but i think i'll wait until all my levels are ready before i do this so that i get the same finish across all of them. This takes me back to my HDD level. As you saw earlier and may have read i didn't like the design of the HDD level and had made some changes to the design since putting it together. I was annoyed at the prospect of wasting wood but also didn't want to miss out on the changes i made... So i carefully removed the sides to cut the versions with doors in them. (To allow access to the HDD's from either side) Here it is after gently removing the old sides:
It left a bit of a mess and i had to scrape the old glue/broken bits of wood off the best i could but to be fair I'm surprised it turned out so well. I then fitted the new sides and top support:
I then cut out the plates to go on the inside of the sides that are there to stop the door falling inwards. (There will be a latch to stop it going outwards.) Also it creates a better seal around the door itself. Luckily i was able to use the old sides as they were just about big enough. Which was a good saving and minimised the amount of new wood needed for the design change:
I then cut the new supports for the HDD's which will give me a lot more wiggle room when installing and removing drives as well as save a bit of weight. I think this will be a heavy old beast once its finished. So here is what the HDD level now looks like:
Basically i just need to cut the fan shrouds to cover them up and then this can be taped up and primed. I'll then try and get a picture of these two layers together to give a feel of what it looks like so far. (A massive grey box...
) Still, once the motherboard layer gets started that's where the design/my design skills will hopefully start to get tested and pay off. Or at least slightly resemble the drawings in my head.
Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!
Decided that now the control layer/level was together that i would sand an prime it. I was going to leave it bare wood but i haven't painted anything for a while so thought now would be a good time to start back up!
I also varnished the inside. I was hoping that it would aid dust removal and cleaning as there wouldn't be the grain of the wood to grab the dust. It was only two coats that were then sanded slightly so nothing special but a good flat satin finish now which will hopefully help. The other idea i had in my head was to paint it matt black but i think it then would've needed varnishing anyway.
I also came up with a great little plinth/turntable to use while painting it from stuff laying about. Take two chopping boards and some ball bearings:
And stick together! Boom, a turntable!
Once the primer dried i sanded it and then sprayed another layer which i then also sanded. Its now waiting for paint but i think i'll wait until all my levels are ready before i do this so that i get the same finish across all of them. This takes me back to my HDD level. As you saw earlier and may have read i didn't like the design of the HDD level and had made some changes to the design since putting it together. I was annoyed at the prospect of wasting wood but also didn't want to miss out on the changes i made... So i carefully removed the sides to cut the versions with doors in them. (To allow access to the HDD's from either side) Here it is after gently removing the old sides:
It left a bit of a mess and i had to scrape the old glue/broken bits of wood off the best i could but to be fair I'm surprised it turned out so well. I then fitted the new sides and top support:
I then cut out the plates to go on the inside of the sides that are there to stop the door falling inwards. (There will be a latch to stop it going outwards.) Also it creates a better seal around the door itself. Luckily i was able to use the old sides as they were just about big enough. Which was a good saving and minimised the amount of new wood needed for the design change:
I then cut the new supports for the HDD's which will give me a lot more wiggle room when installing and removing drives as well as save a bit of weight. I think this will be a heavy old beast once its finished.
So here is what the HDD level now looks like:Basically i just need to cut the fan shrouds to cover them up and then this can be taped up and primed. I'll then try and get a picture of these two layers together to give a feel of what it looks like so far. (A massive grey box...
) Still, once the motherboard layer gets started that's where the design/my design skills will hopefully start to get tested and pay off. Or at least slightly resemble the drawings in my head.Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!
Man of Honour
Great project
Any updates?
Any updates?
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Aug 2018
- Posts
- 3,565
Me too, very interesting project. Is the picture in post 2 the very latest state?
Great project
Any updates?
Hi guys. Sorry, Christmas has been a bit of a whirlwind and I've had other things pop up and steal my attention away from this project..
However I've picked up some bits that i needed (Paint, tools etc) so i should be ready with an update early next week. I'll also update post 2 shortly as i have a slightly newer phot since priming and test fitting stuff. Thanks for your interest though!
Yo OCUK'ers. First of all, sorry for the extreme lack of updates. I know how frustrating it is to be watching a project and it go quiet... However things have been very busy recently and life has been getting in the way of all my fun things like this. However i have a small update:
I finished masking and primering for the first two levels of the case:
And then set to work on spraying the final colour:
The photo really doesn't do it justice. Paint wise i went for a dark grey stone flecked paint from PlastiKote. This gives a nice textured finish and also means i don't have to worry about glossing and subsequent polishing/wetsanding etc. Lol!
Here are another couple of photos with the masking tape removed:
This brings me on to why the next update is taking a while... I'm currently designing the Mobo level which will sit on top of these two finished levels. What is taking the time is that i'm self taught with this whole design stuff in illustrator and i struggle to visualise my flat drawing on the screen into how it will look cut in the real world. (Everything is designed in Illustrator in 2D and then converted to a .dxf which the laser understands.) So with that in mind i can kind of see what i want in 3D in my head but then i have try and realise this in a 2D design whilst bearing in mind how this 2D design translates to the real world. If that makes sense... Haha! Needless to say i'm slowly getting there and once designed the updates will come thick and fast as i'm able to cut, build and then paint etc. So please bear with me.
I just hope i can do my minds designs justice. But even if i don't quite get there this process has taught me a lot with regards to the design aspect of things plus i can take all this and use it in the next project!
Thanks for reading/looking.
Andy
I know how frustrating it is to be watching a project and it go quiet... However things have been very busy recently and life has been getting in the way of all my fun things like this. However i have a small update:I finished masking and primering for the first two levels of the case:
And then set to work on spraying the final colour:
The photo really doesn't do it justice. Paint wise i went for a dark grey stone flecked paint from PlastiKote. This gives a nice textured finish and also means i don't have to worry about glossing and subsequent polishing/wetsanding etc. Lol!
Here are another couple of photos with the masking tape removed:
This brings me on to why the next update is taking a while... I'm currently designing the Mobo level which will sit on top of these two finished levels. What is taking the time is that i'm self taught with this whole design stuff in illustrator and i struggle to visualise my flat drawing on the screen into how it will look cut in the real world. (Everything is designed in Illustrator in 2D and then converted to a .dxf which the laser understands.) So with that in mind i can kind of see what i want in 3D in my head but then i have try and realise this in a 2D design whilst bearing in mind how this 2D design translates to the real world. If that makes sense... Haha! Needless to say i'm slowly getting there and once designed the updates will come thick and fast as i'm able to cut, build and then paint etc. So please bear with me.
I just hope i can do my minds designs justice. But even if i don't quite get there this process has taught me a lot with regards to the design aspect of things plus i can take all this and use it in the next project!
Thanks for reading/looking.
Andy
Soldato
Nice to see an update These ambitious projects always take their time.
I'm pretty confident working with 2D and 3D relationships and dimensions, thanks to previous experience with fine carpentry and similar. My partner bought a laser so I've been tinkering occasionally. I've had some good successes! My main weakness is definitely the software - I can visualise the parts, and draw them on paper, but no idea how to draw much more than a square!
Keep at it, as you say, the design skills are very much reusable for other projects.
These ambitious projects always take their time.I'm pretty confident working with 2D and 3D relationships and dimensions, thanks to previous experience with fine carpentry and similar. My partner bought a laser so I've been tinkering occasionally. I've had some good successes! My main weakness is definitely the software - I can visualise the parts, and draw them on paper, but no idea how to draw much more than a square!
Keep at it, as you say, the design skills are very much reusable for other projects.
Funnily enough I've been really getting into my carpentry at the moment too and contemplating getting a CNC to go with the laser to open up new ideas. (Obviously its another software but still, haha!) I know these are pretty basic but I've made these recently too:
Projector screen holder:
Racing seat: (Needs sanding/painting) (Also excuse the mess.. Lol!)
Projector screen holder:
Racing seat: (Needs sanding/painting) (Also excuse the mess.. Lol!)
Nice to see an update
I'm pretty confident working with 2D and 3D relationships and dimensions, thanks to previous experience with fine carpentry and similar. My partner bought a laser so I've been tinkering occasionally. I've had some good successes! My main weakness is definitely the software - I can visualise the parts, and draw them on paper, but no idea how to draw much more than a square!
Keep at it, as you say, the design skills are very much reusable for other projects.
Exactly. When i started out i could pretty much only cut out shapes like hearts and things, so I've come quite far already.
A little update for you guys...
So i'd been stuck into the design aspect of various parts and got myself to the point where i could do a lot of cutting in bulk and guess what happens? Yep, the laser had died.. Well, the PSU had. 2 weeks later i finally get the new psu, fit it and we are back up and running again. So here are the updates:
Measuring up how the mobo will fit with regards to the sides:
Made a few calculations based on this so the hole in the side will hopefully line up with the mobo...
Had to cut a new lid as the one in my hand had no holes in it for things to go through: (It also doubles up as a mechanism to position the motherboard section that will sit on top. i.e. the panel supporting the back of the mobo will sit in this recess.)
The mobo support/base of the mobo section being glued together. As you can see i've moved on from random tins of paint and now use weights instead! Haha!
And lastly all the panels cut for the mobo box as it were. We have intake fans on the back and exit fans on the roof. These roof ones will also be where the radiator for the AIO will be mounted. On preparing this post i've noticed i missed a piece which is a shroud for mounting the fans on the radiator. I'll cut this tomorrow when i go to assemble it all.
I was also thinking of mounting a touch screen TFT in the front but i cant afford it at the moment and it doesn't really add too much other than looking cool i guess. (And saving monitor space?) However it could always be added later.
I'm hoping to have another update tomorrow of this lot being assembled and the mobo added. Then i can look at priming and painting it to match the other two levels.
So i'd been stuck into the design aspect of various parts and got myself to the point where i could do a lot of cutting in bulk and guess what happens? Yep, the laser had died.. Well, the PSU had. 2 weeks later i finally get the new psu, fit it and we are back up and running again.
So here are the updates:Measuring up how the mobo will fit with regards to the sides:
Made a few calculations based on this so the hole in the side will hopefully line up with the mobo...
Had to cut a new lid as the one in my hand had no holes in it for things to go through: (It also doubles up as a mechanism to position the motherboard section that will sit on top. i.e. the panel supporting the back of the mobo will sit in this recess.)
The mobo support/base of the mobo section being glued together. As you can see i've moved on from random tins of paint and now use weights instead! Haha!
And lastly all the panels cut for the mobo box as it were. We have intake fans on the back and exit fans on the roof. These roof ones will also be where the radiator for the AIO will be mounted. On preparing this post i've noticed i missed a piece which is a shroud for mounting the fans on the radiator. I'll cut this tomorrow when i go to assemble it all.
I was also thinking of mounting a touch screen TFT in the front but i cant afford it at the moment and it doesn't really add too much other than looking cool i guess. (And saving monitor space?) However it could always be added later.
I'm hoping to have another update tomorrow of this lot being assembled and the mobo added. Then i can look at priming and painting it to match the other two levels.
Final update of the evening. (Decided to glue the base to the other bits as i guess it had pretty much dried itself..)
All the panels together:
Base in situ on the lid below:
All the panels glued together:
Hopefully i can start mocking up the bits tomorrow and see where it is before priming/painting this level.
All the panels together:
Base in situ on the lid below:
All the panels glued together:
Hopefully i can start mocking up the bits tomorrow and see where it is before priming/painting this level.
Associate
Damn, only thing I could do of this sort is try to assemble basic ikea desk. Great work.
Very impressive skills. Looks like you a someone with many talents!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6tcNdbspAM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6tcNdbspAM
Thanks.
I've basically taught myself how to do the designing and stuff over the last 3 years. Its not too difficult once you get used to it although i still struggle with designing the pieces and imagining how they are going to fit together although i am getting better at this.So another little update for you guys. Test fitted the motherboard to see how the ports lined up:
It isn't perfect but its good enough. I may tweak the design so that if i ever cut it out again it will be better. Looks like it could do with moving 1mm to the right and maybe .5 down? Probably down to the 3mm wood not always being 3mm.
I then placed this on top of the other levels to see where we are:
So around 580mm tall right now.
And some other views of it:
I then decided to take it all apart.. Lol! I was never going to paint the insides of the boxes/levels as it wouldn't really be seen and theres nothing exciting like cable management or RGB to show off. However i had a think and thought that maybe it would be best to at least varnish them to make dust removal easier as it seems to get stuck on all the little wood fibres and splinters. So i gave them all a light sand inside and then put a coat of varnish on them:
The wood seems to have soaked this first coat in quite well so i think it may take another coat or two for a nice soft finish. Next coat at 17:00. I've also ordered some more plywood as i was running low and theres still a lot more to cut.
It isn't perfect but its good enough. I may tweak the design so that if i ever cut it out again it will be better. Looks like it could do with moving 1mm to the right and maybe .5 down? Probably down to the 3mm wood not always being 3mm.
I then placed this on top of the other levels to see where we are:
So around 580mm tall right now.
And some other views of it:
I then decided to take it all apart.. Lol! I was never going to paint the insides of the boxes/levels as it wouldn't really be seen and theres nothing exciting like cable management or RGB to show off. However i had a think and thought that maybe it would be best to at least varnish them to make dust removal easier as it seems to get stuck on all the little wood fibres and splinters. So i gave them all a light sand inside and then put a coat of varnish on them:
The wood seems to have soaked this first coat in quite well so i think it may take another coat or two for a nice soft finish. Next coat at 17:00.
I've also ordered some more plywood as i was running low and theres still a lot more to cut.