Custom Case Out Of Wood

[pc-gamer-dude]

i was on a quest to find the perfect case for me, and havnt found one yet, the lian-li cases have come the closest, but still not what i want. so im on another quest. to build the perfect pc case out wood. im wondering if it will be possible? i already know how to do it, and the dimensions, but will a wooden case hold up good (im going to be using pretty hard wood) and be able to withstand the heat (it will be pretty cool.... 30-40c max. and will everything work right if i do everything right.


questions/comments wanted..

[bigdawgfoxx]

yeah, it would work alright...the best cases are the ones you can BUY...there freaking GORGEOUS! lol but the heat wont be a problem i wouldnt think

These are nice (http://www.arborealtech.com/MahoganyCase.htm)

This is gorgeous (http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/exoticwoodcrafts_wood_case/index.shtml)

[clocker]

Yes, it will work.
Heat is not a real issue.
Wood is a great sound absorber so a properly designed case would be very quiet.
I've seen several very nice wooden cases.

Edit: Dawg, those are just standard cases veneered with wood. They are nice, but to me that's almost cheating....
Plus, I'd be concerned about the veneer splitting as the the sheetmetal that it's glued to is very flexible.

[_John_Lennon_]

Clocker you are right about the second link, the main give away is that they look EXACTLY like the enermax cases, and the cheiftec cases. We know that Cheiftec doesnt make a wood case of its dragon series, and you cant just copy their design, so thats the only expliation left.

As for wood cases, I have heard that they actually dissipate heat alot less easier than the aluminum cases. For once thing, most wood case designs dont allow enough room for all the fans, and air intakes and exhausts. Plus, im pretty sure wood holds in heat rather well. So I think temps would be a bit higher in wood cases.

[abu_has_the_power]

of course they work. they sell em on frozencpu.com

[clocker]

Originally posted by _John_Lennon_@26 January 2004 - 18:04


As for wood cases, I have heard that they actually dissipate heat alot less easier than the aluminum cases. For once thing, most wood case designs dont allow enough room for all the fans, and air intakes and exhausts. Plus, im pretty sure wood holds in heat rather well. So I think temps would be a bit higher in wood cases.
That would only be a problem if you didn't take your material's properties into account when you designed the case.
It would probably be a mistake to design a wooden case just like a standard steel one.
But, given the proper amount of thought and research I think you could make a kick-ass case out of wood.

[pc-gamer-dude]

one problem with wood being used for a case. for the case to be sturdy, it has to use strong wood, and using strong wood means a very heavy case. well im not gonna be using this thing for transport, but just a thought. i am going to build a computer case out of wood, if ya'all want ill draw up the layout for ya'all to check out in paint. so you can see what i want, and see why nobody has anything like it. im also gonna want opionins from clocker on the layout ive chosen, as he seems to know a lot about cooling.

heres the best i can do for now:

in the front, 3 5.25" drive bays, 1 floppy bay, and spots for 2 92mm fans. in the side panel on the right, theres gonna be a side window, and sopts for 2 80mm fans, one towards the front bottom, and the other towards the back top. in the other side panel, im gonna have a spot for a 120mm fan right behind the cpu socket. in the top panel theres going to be room for 2 80mm fans side by side, about an inch away from where the psu will mount, in the back panel theres is going to be room for 2 80mm fans. the bottom is going to be about 3/4" off from the desk/table/whatever its sitiing on, and will have room for 1 80mm fan towards the front, and 1 120mm fan where the agp/pci slots are going to be. im building this case with room in mind, so there will be helluva lot of room avaible, and there will even be enough room to mount a second powersupply (side-by-side) (not thatd id ever need it.. but useful none-the-less). im gonna try getting some layout plans in paint, and post them here, but im not sure im gonna know what im doing.

questions/comments wanted..


edit- btw, im going to be using these fan grilles for all the 80mm fans:
http://www.voyeurmods.com/accessories/fg/images/alienhead.jpg
i still need to find some cool ones for the front 92mm ones, and i still need one for the side panel 120mm one.

[clocker]

Forget the floppy bay and convert all your 80mm fans to 92s or 120s.

Now get drawing. :P

one problem with wood being used for a case. for the case to be sturdy, it has to use strong wood, and using strong wood means a very heavy case.
This is completely untrue. Proper design and attention to grain direction and wood species allows for a very sturdy case with a minimum of weight.
Do not confuse mass with strength.

[pc-gamer-dude]

ok bear with me on these pictures,
heres the front panel
http://www.geocities.com/tr1536/fontpanel.GIF
heres the back panel
http://www.geocities.com/tr1536/backpanel.GIF
heres the right side panel
http://www.geocities.com/tr1536/sidepanelr.GIF
heres the left side panel
http://www.geocities.com/tr1536/sidepanell.GIF
heres the top panel
http://www.geocities.com/tr1536/toppanel.GIF
and heres the bottom panel
http://www.geocities.com/tr1536/bottompanel.GIF


i know, no lines where the end of stuff is. but its a basic design (as u can tell nothing is lined up).

remember ya'all. you MUST copy & paste, cuz geocities dont allow hot linking.

[SciManAl]

You are avery special person.....


LOL looks nice, but are you sure you just want to make a case that looks like all the others???

[pc-gamer-dude]

its gonna look kinda like most cases, but its gonna be made from wood only, and have more spots for fans then you'd ever believe. plus this case is gonna be fricken huge. like clockers, only much wider, and possibly longer.

[bigdawgfoxx]

make some crazy ass weird design out of wood or something man!

[pc-gamer-dude]

if i was any good at cutting wood and stuff i would make a super weird desigh, but for now im gonna have enough trouble just making the plans for everything, and finding the right wood. im thinking something hot like cherry, sealed with mineral oil so keep the heat from absorbing into the board. and im gonna take a lot of damn time doing this case. prolly gonna take me anywheres from 4-6 weeks. (im going to do this for a woodshop project for school.

well peace out ya'all. and im looking forward to questions/comments.

[SciManAl]

I wiuld try to make it more so that it can handle the heat rather than just be a big bench...

[pc-gamer-dude]

its not gonna be like super huge, huge, just bigger then you'd normally see a case, and its already gonna have plenty of ways for airflow (basically removing the heat) to come into and escape from the case, so im not worried about the heat issue anymore, now i just have to figure out plans for every single peace of board. im going to be making my own drive bays and everything like that. except for a motherboard tray, im going to use the current one from my case, so i dont have to take an hour or 2 extra just trying to figure out what all im gonna need for it.

[SciManAl]

Have you thought about making it a desktop instead of a tower?? you could let the heat rise... less fans... or more fans!!! lol mobo laying on the bottom... heat going straight up... sound like plan to me!!!

[pc-gamer-dude]

whoa a desktop would be even harder, and id have to use more fans that way (well at least with how id plan it). and i hate the look of desktops. towers rule.

[SciManAl]

whoa a desktop would be even harder

Dude your still making a box... :blink:


i hate the look of desktops. towers rule.

Your choice i respect that, just making sure you look at all the options, of course this is your first case, and possibly your first big wood project your begger goal this time may just be to get the expierience of making stuff with wood... You might leave the more complex stuff for later...

[bigdawgfoxx]

what do you mean desktop or tower?? whats the diff huh?

You could make the box but leave the top off...and have 3 big fans blowing the air straight up..and heat rises anyways

[pc-gamer-dude]

nah.. i perfer to keep the case closed, and by desktop i mean like the really old pcs always were, like a tower lying on its side. ive done a couple of big wood projects in the past, but nothing thats gonna require this much time and effort. remember im talking about a case made only of wood (except for the motherboard tray).

[neevakee]

what would be really cool is if you took a lcd and made a matching case for it.

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by clocker@26 January 2004 - 21:12

one problem with wood being used for a case. for the case to be sturdy, it has to use strong wood, and using strong wood means a very heavy case.
This is completely untrue. Proper design and attention to grain direction and wood species allows for a very sturdy case with a minimum of weight.
Do not confuse mass with strength.
Yup, its all in design, take wicker chairs for instance.

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@26 January 2004 - 23:08
what do you mean desktop or tower?? whats the diff huh?

You could make the box but leave the top off...and have 3 big fans blowing the air straight up..and heat rises anyways
Oh, and big dawg, Desktops are basically towers on their side, though most desktop boxes are designed differently. It has its name because it goes on your desktop.....

http://img.dell.com/images/global/products/precn/ws450_dt_front_131x145.jpg

Like in this Dell image.

Towers, are self explinatory, their towers. Also, you cant turn your tower on end and have it work totally. For instance, your CD drive, wont except the CD's as easily being sideways.

[clocker]

PC,

Here is a project log of a wood case (http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=45154&page=1&pp=20) that you may find informative...

And here's another (http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=38878&page=1&pp=20) that's very interesting.

[100%]

Is this of any interest?

http://amiga.emugaming.com/diy/woodenlaptop.jpg

[pc-gamer-dude]

nope not really of intrest. guess what ppl. after i make the case, im gonna take my moniter apart and build a case for my moniter, and throw 2 120mm fans in it, then im gonna make a wood case for my keyboard. sounds crazy but thats me.

anybody with suggestions for a nice looking wood? im thinking cherry would look cool, but would like suggestions.

thx and peace.

[SciManAl]

Keyboard??? :blink:

[pc-gamer-dude]

yeah my keyboard. it will take the longest out of all of them, but im gonna do it. (after i do the pc case, then the moniter case). id do my mouse to, but not sure how id do that.

well, i have some simple plans on paper, i just gotta figure out exact dimesnions.

[clocker]

Originally posted by pc-gamer-dude@27 January 2004 - 17:13
nope not really of intrest. guess what ppl. after i make the case, im gonna take my moniter apart and build a case for my moniter, and throw 2 120mm fans in it, then im gonna make a wood case for my keyboard. sounds crazy but thats me.

anybody with suggestions for a nice looking wood? im thinking cherry would look cool, but would like suggestions.

thx and peace.
I have built several pieces out of padauk, it's one of my favorites.
Like cherry, it darkens ( considerably) with exposure to sunlight.
Unlike cherry, it doesn't warp and split so badly.
It is very dense and strong.
But expensive.

All right PC.
Time to stop telling us about your plans and start showing us the real thing.

[SciManAl]

actually i have to agree... Some evidence of work would be nice... ( i want to see this case going... i am also considering making one... easier to mess with than metals...)

[pc-gamer-dude]

well ur gonna have to give me about a week to finish what im doing right now in wood shop, then ill start working on the case.if only i had a way of building it at home...

but my plans (lol) are going to be: build the bottom panel first (cuz its what everything else rests on. then im gonna work on the 2 side panels (for now the one isnt gonna have a window, but will have the 2 fans holes for 80mm fans, then im gonna build the front, the back is going to be the hardest so im gonna make that last. then im gonna build the drive bays for it (3 5.25", and 2 HD bays), then im gonna work on the drive covers (1 for my cd-rw, then 2 for panel covers), then im gonna work on, then im gonna build the fan grilles meself for it(if it dont work out ill just buy standard chrome ones for the 3 sizes), and i also have to build a way of having about 1" between the mobo and back of case (airflow from the 120mm behind the socket), and still have the motherboard be stable, and held in place sturdy and safe. so i have a lot of work to do.

so peace out ya'all

and i need ideas for relativly cheap wood to be used for the case. im thinking mineral oiled knotless oak will do fine.

[clocker]

Originally posted by SciManAl@27 January 2004 - 18:51
easier to mess with than metals...
In some ways yes, in others, no.
Building/trimming/decorating the box is probably a little easier as most people have (or have access to) woodworking tools.
Mounting the drives might be a little trickier than with thin sheetmetal, but not impossible.
Most of the wooden cases that I've seen use the drive bays and mobo wall from a standard case to get around that problem.

[SciManAl]

Mounting the drives might be a little trickier than with thin sheetmetal, but not impossible.

I have a hammer that dissagrees... :P

[100%]

http://www.graphics.foxpop.com/pc/webb/ATMClassic.jpg
http://www.graphics.foxpop.com/pc/webb/mouse_c.jpg
http://www.graphics.foxpop.com/pc/webb/kb_beech-2.jpg
http://www.graphics.foxpop.com/pc/webb/Mahagany15a.jpg

http://www.foxpop.co.uk/pc/webb_01.htm

[SciManAl]

WOW nice finds!! Those lok kindsa cool... I mihght make a wood one afterall

[pc-gamer-dude]

whow that keyboard is hot! i want one.