When [LouisVW] decided to build a new gaming rig, he wanted to try something different. So instead of buying a pre-built tower, he made one — out of wood!
Coming from someone who has no experience in woodworking (or computer building) we’re seriously impressed with what he’s made. He was originally inspired to build the case when he saw boxes made by stacking pieces of plywood together — he got one and decided to turn it into a case.
Using a jigsaw, chisel and Dremel he was able to cut out all of the fan holes and drive bays fairly easily, and thanks to overlapping plastic covers it wasn’t that hard to make everything look perfect.
The part we’re most impressed with is that he made the motherboard mounting panel himself, instead of salvaging the panel from an old tower. Some acrylic side panels and LEDs later, and the rig is done!
When it comes to custom tower builds, this desk / computer tower combination has got to be one of our favorites!
[via r/DIY]
Rather nice looking I must say
very nice looking
There is no EMI/RFI sheilding? Is this a problem?!
“Ra-di-a-tion. Yes, indeed. You hear the most outrageous lies about it. Half-baked goggle-box do-gooders telling everybody it’s bad for you. Pernicious nonsense. Everybody could stand a hundred chest X-rays a year. They ought to have them, too.”
;)
Um… no. The purpose of shielding is to prevent the computer from interfering with other devices, especially rf ones and to protect it from interference from other devices. It’s neither irational nor does it have anything to do with health effects and a fear of “Ra-di-a-tion”.
Only if he wants to meet emc standards.
He MIGHT create a slight increase in the noise floor for the Ham next door. But pcs are pretty good. An arduino uno sitting on your bench possible would create as much if not more radiated noise.
I should measure it one day …..
The CPU and motherboard are quite shielded on it’s own, but once my phone using an GSM caused a reboot when put too close to PSU with no ATX cover. The ATX standard do not mention shielding as far as I remember, but I suspect that a metal (metal+wood here) case would help.
Refreshing to see a project like this without laser scorched edges.
That’s jigsaw burn, and very little
I don’t understand why people don’t sand their lasered wood. It looks SOOOO much better
There are other ways to avoid “burning” the wood with your laser (leaving edge residue).
http://lasercuttinglab.com/laser-cutting-without-burn-marks-using-application-tape/
Is one example that uses low tack masking tape.
I used to think that the burnt edge left by a laser cutter looked good. You don’t usually see that in commercial products so it gave it character while at the same time it is uniform all around the edge so it doesn’t look accidental like a wavy cut line, paint blob, etc… other things that give home-made projects ‘character’. Besides.. what did people often do with hand-cut projects.. they darekend them with stain. For a project like this where the edges become the main outer surface that would mean there is no stain required. I would recommend a clear coat then though as you don’t want to leave ash marks on everything it touches.
I also think that popular culture tends to discourage objects where one can see how it was produced. Screws are hidden or replaced with internal clips, seams are glued shut, laser cut edges are sanded… That sounds pretty anti-hack to me! As a kid I really loved to go to museums and look at old, turn of the century (I mean ~1900) machines because you could see how they were made and how they worked just by looking at them. I used to apreciate laser cut marks the same way.
Of course now.. just about everybody either has access to a laser cutter or has a friend that does. Where once I saw such things and thought.. oh, cool.. that person used a laser cutter… now it’s just mundane. Even if you don’t have access to a laser you can walk into any craft store and choose from isles and isles of laser cut plywood decorations to incorporate into your projects and they all have burnt edges. It’s not character anymore.. it’s just common. So.. yah… it is nice to see something different. If I were making something like this I might use a laser still but I would consider sanding it and staining it some other color that does not look like a laser burn myself.
Nice case – It’s a bit of a shame you didn’t put a wooden keyboard with it (Bamboo Keyboard).
like: http://www.banggood.com/24GHz-Wireless-100-pencent-Bamboo-Keyboard-Mouse-Set-p-84802.html
Pretty, but wood is terrible at containing RFI and rather good at containing heat. It’s really the last material you want to use for a computer case.
On the RFI point I agree although that could be rectified by lining the inside with something conductive.
He almost completely replaced the wood of the top and bottom with fans. It’s really only the sides that contain a lot of wood. I don’t think he is going to have a problem with too much thermal insulation!
If you rely on your computer’s case as a heatsink, you’re doing it absolutely wrong.
A correctly designed computer case could be made out of styrofoam with no cooling issues.
It’s hard to imagine making something so nice with little experience and such low end tools. I can totally see someone doing this with a cheap jigsaw if they already had a lot of exerience or a newbie doing it on a shop bot. If he really made this thing with those tools and no exerpiece then he must have a ton of natural woodworking talent and really needs to keep making more!
I meant to also say in that comment.. after taking the effort to cut out all those layers with the jigsaw and so carefully glue them together… next he had to make all the cutouts for the fans and other accessories. That would take a lot of confidence to know you aren’t going to ruin this beautiful box you spent so much time building. That kind of confidence normally comes with having already completed other succesful projects. But he says he has little experience….
That’s got to either a lot of guts… on top of natural talent or he has more woodworking experience than he lets on. I think if I made a box like that I would chicken out when it came time to cut the holes and I would just end up making something else out of it, maybe some sort of display case or something!
He did not build the case, he just made a few holes in it…
From TFA :
“Last summer i worked in a carpentry for a few weeks. I saw how they used several plywood sheets stacked on top of eachother, with the inside cut out, to make small boxes. I liked the way it looked and asked if they could make me a larger one (420x420mm).
A few weeks later one of the guys dropped this piece of at my house and my project started.”
Very nice build, I suck @ woodwork. I doff my hat to your skilz…. :)