Project: Charlie Wood - Worklog

[archibaw]

Hi All,
Project Name: Charlie Wood.
I’ve been thinking about building a wooden case for some time. When I was given an old machine it seemed the perfect opportunity to give it a go.
The components are fairly low spec. Celeron 2.6, Socket 478, 80Gig HD, and 256Meg of RAM. which, I will upgrade to 1Gig.
This build is for my wife and these specs are more than adequate for her needs.
I should be able, at some point in the future to upgrade components if necessary, and finances permit.
I should point out that my power tools are few, drill, jigsaw, orbital sander and mouse sander, and that’s it! Hand tools will be the order of the day.
The build will be fairly straight forward i.e. no fancy joints.

Okay let’s begin.

This is the box I created in Google SketchUp and is a representation rather than the final design. I'm thinking the design could be a little rounded.

29th September 2008
Off to Bunning’s today to buy timber for the frame.

1st November

Cut timber for frame sides. The top, back and base will be solid timber. Assembled and glued frame sides using butt joints.
Clamped frame together. Thought some gussets in the corner of the frame would look cool. Cut timber for gussets and shaped with a ½ round rasp and ½ round file.
Not sure if I will actually use them.


2nd November

Unclamped frame and screwed ends for additional strength. The screws are at the top and bottom of frame and will not be seen when case is finished.

Cut the base, the back and the front of case. Not enough timber for top.
Screwed frames to the base. Screwed the back to the base and sides and checked for fit. Fit was good. It even slightly resembles a box.
Case is only screwed together at the moment so that it can be dismantled for sanding and lacquering.


3rd November

Cut hole for back plate. Looks a little rough at the moment but should clean up okay.
The timber was a little thick which made it difficult to gain access to the screws in the expansion slots.
Had to cut out a little more wood to gain access to mounting screws.
Had no problem fitting a card but will need to tighten screw with spanner. The motherboard in this shot is from an old HP Pavilion 6611 circa 1999.

Once I was sure the fit was right I switched the HP board for the board that I will be using in this build.
For those interested it’s a Gigabyte 8VM533M-RZ.
View from the other side. No the top is not bowed, just the angle from which I took the photo and possible distortion of the lens.

Size comparison with a desktop ATX case. The dimensions of the case when complete will be about
H 410mm
W 240mm
L 450mm
The width and length shouldn’t change but the height may. I’m thinking of adding another level to accommodate a top fan and combined USB, card reader and audio I/O. Somewhat similar to the Antec Nine Hundred.
That’s it for this post will be back as soon as I can. Certainly no more than 7 days.
Thank You for looking.

[slamaa]

Nice design, I will be following this one.

[Damianb]

i'd like to hear how hot it gets in the wooden case.

[flyingracoon72]

Bloody fine job, like to do something like that except all i have is cinder blocks and some lego.

[Damianb]

i'd pay to see a lego case that looks good.

[de_overfiend]

Originally Posted by Damianb

i'd pay to see a lego case that looks good.

so would i

[archibaw]

Originally Posted by slamaa

Nice design, I will be following this one.

Thanks I hope you enjoy it

[Dexamenus]

Originally Posted by Damianb

i'd pay to see a lego case that looks good.

hmmmm, *looks at lego.....* could be fun...

but nice work archibaw, i was tempted to build a wooden pc case a while ago, there are some awesome designs around, but yours is following the normal case basics, but a bit different. cant wait to see this progress

[mrmas]

Nice carpentry skillz! Very green case indeed

[archibaw]

Originally Posted by Damianb

i'd like to hear how hot it gets in the wooden case.

Will let you know. I don't think it will be too hot, due to the low specs. My initial concern was the case catching on fire. I have since discovered timber ignites at about 350°C http://virtual.vtt.fi/virtual/innofi...g/burning.html

[archibaw]

Originally Posted by flyingracoon72

Bloody fine job, like to do something like that except all i have is cinder blocks and some lego.

Wouldn't the Lego melt. cinder blocks might be a good look, regards.

[archibaw]

Originally Posted by Dexamenus

hmmmm, *looks at lego.....* could be fun...

but nice work archibaw, i was tempted to build a wooden pc case a while ago, there are some awesome designs around, but yours is following the normal case basics, but a bit different. cant wait to see this progress

My intention was to keep to a basic case design as I thought it would be simpler. And yes there are some great wooden cases around, This is one of my favourites http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2008...wood-by-cc3e/1
Regards

[archibaw]

Originally Posted by mrmas

Nice carpentry skillz! Very green case indeed

I think its the builder that's green. Hope you enjoy the build
Regards

[archibaw]

Hi again,
Some details not included in my last post.
Timber for the frame is Pine, 20mm by 40mm.
Timber for the base, back, and front is Pine 20mm thick by 240mm wide.
Side panels and case divider are 3 ply, which was originally the back of an old cupboard circa 1950. The ply had been behind a work bench for the past few years.
Support for case divider is from off cuts.
Was away for the weekend, which severely limited my build time. Most of my spare time was taken up with planning, measuring, re-measuring and good old thinking. Some considerable thought has also gone into design of the drive cages. I had originally wanted to make the cages entirely of timber. But after much thought have decided to use the cages from the case I was given. These will then be covered / hidden with some decorative timber.

4th November

Painted motherboard mounting plate brown, as per my wife’s instruction.
I really like the look of the horizontally divided cases. Decided that was the way I wanted to go. Made a support frame for the case divider from off cuts. As the divider won't need to support too much weight I have used 3 ply.

5th November

Cut out slot for PSU and did a quick fit up to see how things were looking. I found by turning the PSU upside I could gain a little more needed cable length. So upside down it stays.

10th November

Dismantled the old computer
Cut front off the old case. Cut off the lower section as I only needed the drive cages.
Cut slot in timber case for the DVD drive.








Cut slots in case for power switch & light, and HDD activity light.
Did a test fit for switch & light assembly and DVD burner. It all fits well.
I will also be cutting a slot for 3 ½ inch drive. This will be offset from centre.
I will also be putting a red led fan in the lower front of the case to provide some airflow to the PSU and hopefully some subdued lighting. I'm not sure of the grill design at the moment. Should have it sorted by next week.
That’s it for this week. I have a free weekend so should have more to show next week.
Thanks for looking.

[ford ftw]

Good work I'll keep my eye on this.