Fully custom case

[CookiezFort]

My family decided that if I make a custom working case as a 3D model they will give me money to get parts to use the case with, and use their money to also find a place that will 3D print that case for use. Or they will help me build it out of wood

 

However I am not sure about the size, or even how I should go at making it. Does anybody know where I can find measurements for the motherboard standoffs, etc?

 

What do you think is the best way to go doing this? Wood or 3D printing, should I be careful of something specific. I may make this a whole build log from the ground up, starting the 3d model to building the case and computer.

 

Finally what wood or plastic material should I use?

[Bittenfleax]

My family decided that if I make a custom working case as a 3D model they will give me money to get parts to use the case with, and use their money to also find a place that will 3D print that case for use. Or they will help me build it out of wood

 

However I am not sure about the size, or even how I should go at making it. Does anybody know where I can find measurements for the motherboard standoffs, etc?

 

What do you think is the best way to go doing this? Wood or 3D printing, should I be careful of something specific. I may make this a whole build log from the ground up, starting the 3d model to building the case and computer.

 

Finally what wood or plastic material should I use?

Use a high temp plastic (not sure what types). I am not sure about wood.... I mean, you would have to go for a hard wood like Sapele (that would look amazing) or Oak, Alder, or Birch. Then maybe a soft wood (or a light color wood) for a trim around the outside for contrast? 

 

 

EDIT

 

Found this on Google, it is really good:

 

 

Here you can see the sizes for the different motherboard standards/types. 

 

EDIT 2

 

For the standoff positions. Just put a motherboard on it, get a pencil. Mark the holes and drill it. Then you do not have to mess around with measurements. (even though they are on the diagram) 

[givingtnt]

OOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK shall now be your wood of choice



or id use abs for plastic

[Bittenfleax]

OOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK shall now be your wood of choice

or id use abs for plastic

@CookiezFort depends how expensive the wood is. 

[CookiezFort]

depends how expensive the wood is. 

I guess I will have to find out different prices then. I know it will have to be hard wood ofc

OOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK shall now be your wood of choice

or id use abs for plastic

Thank you

 

What should I start making first? I guess the skeleton then add everything onto that

[Bittenfleax]

I guess I will have to find out different prices then. I know it will have to be hard wood ofc

Thank you

 

What should I start making first? I guess the skeleton then add everything onto that

I would first:

 

1.) Decide what you are making it from

2.) Price is up from measurements (make sure that your have a bit extra in-case (pun intended) you mess it up)

3.) Design it roughly on paper

4.) Then make the internals because those need to be kinda accurate, then just make a frame for it all to go around it. 

5.) Post pics of it 

[Enderman]

custom cases are usually made with aluminum sheets that are laser cut and CNC machined

and its not going to be cheap...

[CookiezFort]

custom cases are usually made with aluminum sheets that are laser cut and CNC machined

and its not going to be cheap...

I will propably go for wood then, I dont think plastic is strong enough...

 

 

Anyways I have slowly started to get templates of pc parts to get aproximate sizes.

 

Red is an ATX motherboard, Green is a GTX 980 sized GPU and the gray is the hard drive that is sized according to the wikipedia 3.5 inch hard drives that have a 1 inch 'depth' or what you want to call it

 

 

 

 

P.S I will hand draw the pc design after I get all the parts in blender, I wanna be sure I have everything ready

[kkpatel87]

I will propably go for wood then, I dont think plastic is strong enough...

 

 

Anyways I have slowly started to get templates of pc parts to get aproximate sizes.

 

Red is an ATX motherboard, Green is a GTX 980 sized GPU and the gray is the hard drive that is sized according to the wikipedia 3.5 inch hard drives that have a 1 inch 'depth' or what you want to call it

 

 

 

 

P.S I will hand draw the pc design after I get all the parts in blender, I wanna be sure I have everything ready

 

I would recommend you use a real CAD program, even AutoCAD is better than blender for dimensional modelling.

 

Also, use the ATX and SFF specifications for what you need...dont grab nominal dimensions from wikipedia or some forum post because they dont take tolerances into account.

 

I would also recommend learning about dimensioning and tolerances before going about something custom. This is going to be a fairly large investment, take the time to learn the background so that the financial investment is not squandered. /endrant.

 

Let me know if you need help finding the specifications or anything.

[Bittenfleax]

I would recommend you use a real CAD program, even AutoCAD is better than blender for dimensional modelling.

 

Also, use the ATX and SFF specifications for what you need...dont grab nominal dimensions from wikipedia or some forum post because they dont take tolerances into account.

 

I would also recommend learning about dimensioning and tolerances before going about something custom. This is going to be a fairly large investment, take the time to learn the background so that the financial investment is not squandered. /endrant.

 

Let me know if you need help finding the specifications or anything.

@CookiezFort Nahh, I would wing it (I still see where you are coming from though). It is only wood, if he needed something to be bigger then he just chops more up, it will not be as expensive as CNC cutting aluminum, all he needs his a hand saw and some wood (and sand paper)  :lol:

[Rooah]

JayzTwoCents has a video where he shows some of a case he is working with which I believe is an all acrylic case, it's pretty interesting. So plastic would be fine to work with if. Maybe start by considerinng the components you want to put into the case and building around those as well as considering possible future upgrades? Make sure you leave enough space for things like cables and the connectors and especially airflow, don't wanna overheat. This would just be how I would attack this though

[CookiezFort]

I would recommend you use a real CAD program, even AutoCAD is better than blender for dimensional modelling.

 

Also, use the ATX and SFF specifications for what you need...dont grab nominal dimensions from wikipedia or some forum post because they dont take tolerances into account.

 

I would also recommend learning about dimensioning and tolerances before going about something custom. This is going to be a fairly large investment, take the time to learn the background so that the financial investment is not squandered. /endrant.

 

Let me know if you need help finding the specifications or anything.

Thing is, i cant afford to buy a CAD program

 

I may just measure my hard drives, use one of my friends gpu's etc.

 

I will propably design the case so I can see what it will be like, but that is it, everything else I will propably do on the go

[Rooah]

Thing is, i cant afford to buy a CAD program

 

I may just measure my hard drives, use one of my friends gpu's etc.

 

I will propably design the case so I can see what it will be like, but that is it, everything else I will propably do on the go

You could always grab a 30-day free trial off their website http://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad/overview

[JSind11]

Personally I would figure out exactly what you want from this case first,

Shape, size, and also what parts you want inside, mainly because you don't want to go to the trouble of making this amazing case to not have the parts you want fit.

Then I would get some standard measurements from a standard case, such as mobo layouts, stand-off heights, I/O placement,

You could even just hack up an old case to use as a build template?

This is really interesting though and refreshing to see a scratch build.

Check this link out for inspiration/tips, the build logs on here are normally pretty good for how to's etc.

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/

[CookiezFort]

Personally I would figure out exactly what you want from this case first,

Shape, size, and also what parts you want inside, mainly because you don't want to go to the trouble of making this amazing case to not have the parts you want fit.

Then I would get some standard measurements from a standard case, such as mobo layouts, stand-off heights, I/O placement,

You could even just hack up an old case to use as a build template?

This is really interesting though and refreshing to see a scratch build.

Check this link out for inspiration/tips, the build logs on here are normally pretty good for how to's etc.

http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/

What I am thinking of is:

 

measure the height of pci-e slots first of all so I can know what to cut out. I will always stick with one gpu so I can cut out like all that is needed, and have a 'slab of wood' coming out of the side to screw the gpu in.

 

for standoffs, I may just go with a on the go approach. For the size of the motherboard part, I will get like a standard ATX size, increase every direction by like 5-10cm and then put the cutouts. I have a basic Idea of the layout, however I am not very sure if it actually any descent.

 

For aesthetics, I will try and see if I can use my schools laser cutter to get some stuff printed on at the front.

 

I will soon upload a picture of the internal layout of what I am thinking of it to be, and the parts that will potentially be installed on it

 

EDIT:

 

here is the basic internal layout, the final specs will be an I5, any mobo that will be decent at the time of the final upgrade, GTX 980 or bigger gpu's, dual 120 or 140 AIO cooler, or custom water cooler. SSD and 2 HDD's

 

However, for the start I will have a MSI HD R7770, a g3258 with a 212 evo, one HDD and maybe one ssd, and a pc mate z97 mobo so the I5 that i would get is a 4690k