Homebuilt acrylic case project part II

[3stars]

he nice plans if you want some more info on diy heater cores and stuff theres a guy on the atomicapc site hillbilly is his name bit of a guru on heater cores and such hes got a thread on how to convert a toyota camray heater core takes two 120mm fans and such should have a look

[General Septem]

Cool. If I get into watercooling, I'll check him out. In the mean time, I'm only considering watercooling as a possible option down the road, and so I am making accomodations should I decide to go down that path. If I do, though, I'll definitely check him out.

[General Septem]

I finally got some work done on the case.

 

Anyway, the final design:

 

 

Side view. The core pieces (the front and back bezel, top and bottom panel, and horizontal partition) are made out of wood. The bottom panel will be made out of some cheap wood (poplar maybe) with a walnut face frame as the bottom panel will not be seen.

 

That leaves four panels which will be a laminate of three walnut and two cherry pieces. We had some cherry stock that was already milled to the right dimensions, so I went by that when I designed the panels.

 

The stock:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1787.jpg

 

There are three pieces of walnut for each panel; one on each side and one in the middle. The two on each side are each 3 1/4" wide, and the one in the middle is 2 1/2" wide.

 

That makes four pieces 2 1/2" wide (two are 24" long and two are 28" long) and eight pieces 3 1/4" wide (four are 24" long and four are 28" long).

 

Today I cut all the pieces I'd need for the two shorter panels, which will be the top panel and the middle partition between the drive section and the main section. These pieces are all 24" long except in cases where the stock I had was short enough that I didn't have to cut it to length, as these will be final trimmed once the panels are glued together.

 

The short pieces I cut:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1789.jpg

 

As you can see, four wider pieces and two narrower pieces. The four wider pieces are further separated into the front pieces and the back pieces (or left and right, depending on your viewpoint).

 

This is because in order to not waste stock, I had to trim two of the wider pieces from rough stock that was only a tad wider to begin with, and as a result the rough edge was not completely cut off. These two pieces will be the right pieces as viewed from the "front" bezel, but as the actual front of this case is where the side is traditionally considered to be, the "right" panel will be the back panel and the rough edges will be facing the wall.

 

Here's the panel all together, and the last pic for this post. I haven't glued it up yet as I want to glue all four panels at the same time.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1791.jpg

 

 

Next time in the shop, I'll rip the boards to width for the two longer panels, and then glue the panels all up.

 

 

This case is going to be damn heavy by the way.

[225Slant6]

That is some nice looking wood you have there General, wish I had some nice wood like that for mine.

Looking forward to seeing some more progress, but I think you should integrate

watercooling into it.

[General Septem]

That is some nice looking wood you have there General, wish I had some nice wood like that for mine.

Looking forward to seeing some more progress, but I think you should integrate

watercooling into it.

 

I eventually will. The case is going to be huge, so if I want watercooling there won't be any problem at all for installing it. I'll also have room for a small secondary motherboard if I want one (or when I get one I should say).

 

We actually bought the wood for our kitchen remodeling, but we bought it in bulk to save money per board foot. Thanks for the interest. :nod:

[General Septem]

I got some more work done on the case today, so here goes.

 

I finished dimensioning the rest of the stock. Here it is:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1793.jpg

 

Apply yellow glue (I used Titebond III) to all mating edges and spread with a brush. I like to apply glue to both surfaces to ensure good coverage, and because that's how David Marks does it.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1796.jpg

 

And all glued up:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1799.jpg

 

Add clamps and let it cook:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1804.jpg

 

I practice the Norm Abram school of gluing. XD This next pic is very large, 2048x1536:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/akai-...er/IMG_1809.jpg

 

I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to get downstairs next. Next time I'm in the shop I will scrape the glue off, and either plane or sand the boards to thickness. Then cut the panels to length and begin to cut the dovetails on the ends.

[General Septem]

Last time, I glued up the panels and let them dry. I went back into the shop a while later to scrape the glue off of these panels, only to find that the glue dried so incredibly hard that I couldn't get them clean with anything other than a belt sander. Well that belt broke and I didn't get back into the shop for weeks after.

 

Well I got a new belt and finished removing all that glue squeeze-out, and I was ready to run the boards through the planer. If I had run them through the planer with beads of glue sticking up, I would've torn the knives up.

 

The planer leaves a real nice finish, and it also has a setting that lowers the feed speed of the rollers, allowing the blade to make twice the cuts per inch and leaving an even smoother finish. Unfortunately there was some kind of grain of sand or rock embedded in one of the panels (the wood must have grown around it). It was about the size of a grain of table salt, but it made a big nick in the blades. Not a big deal though; the cutter head has three blades, and if you slide one of these blades to the side, the nicks in each blade will overlap and still leave a smooth finish.

 

That's what I got done today. I also decided which boards go on which side, which side faces out and so on. Some of these boards had some defect as you'll see, and I decided that orienting them in a certain way will give the best chance of hiding these defects. I also took the time to write on each board all the cuts that need to be made on each one. I'll take care of that probably tomorrow.

 

And now for the pics (click for larger):

 

[Guest Pyro]

Looks very nice can't wait to see the results. This is definitely giving me hope to finish mine.

[General Septem]

Today I got all the panels cut to length and began cutting the pins for the half-blind dovetails on the ends of the panels. Again, the top and side panels will all have pins; they will be joined by a corner piece which will hold the sockets for the pins of both panels.

 

The process for cutting the pins is simple. Set the fence to where you need it, make your cut, flip the board around, make the second cut, flip the board end-for-end, make your third cut, and flip the board again for your final cut, and then repeat the process for the other boards. Then reset the fence for your next series of cuts. Doing it this way ensures that all boards will be symmetrical and consistent. I supported the piece by using a sled that rides along the fence.

 

And now, the pic (click for larger):

 

 

 

Looks very nice can't wait to see the results. This is definitely giving me hope to finish mine.

 

Awesome, do you have a work log too?

[225Slant6]

Seeing these pictures makes me want to have a nice woodworking workshop.

Nice work General.

[General Septem]

I finished the dovetail pins:

 

 

Next job is to get myself some wenge, cocobolo, ebony, or some other accenting wood for the corner pieces. I'm not going to find anything 12" wide at a reasonable price, so I'll probably have to get 4" or 6" boards and glue them together side-by-side.

[HarryTaco]

Wow, Hi Septum. Its been awhile. I see you are finally getting close now. You decided to go with wood. It looks very (hmm) Im searching for a word. Beautiful sounds a bit square, nice sounds too generic, Cool just doesnt do it justice. Well you get my drift. Your workshop is definately awesome. I wish mine was that pro.

 

If you want a straight line when using Mr Roto then clamp a straight edge alongside your work so the outside of the safety housing on the Roto tracks against it. Gets you a straight cut everytime. Freehand is impossible.