Beast Of Nature | ITX Scratch build in wood!

[Jokot]

Hello,

Its time again for a new build and this time I am going to use my favorite material, wood! After lots of planning I decided it was going to be another ITX build that would still fit at least one 240mm radiator and long graphics cards if thats what I choose to go with.

 

The plan is to use closed watercooling loops for both CPU and GPU to make future upgrades easier. Ive seen quite a few wood builds over the years but nothing that really felt like me so this will be my version, should also be quite obvious what case I was inspired by

 

Huge thanks to bequiet! and Asrock for helping out with the hardware for this build!

 

And here are a few 3D renders

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BeardRex]

Looks like what would be my dream Mini ITX case!

[Jokot]

3 hours ago, BeardRex said:

Looks like what would be my dream Mini ITX case!

Glad you like it!

Its basically every thing I want in a build and in my favorite material aswell just to top things off 

[Jokot]

9 hours ago, PacketMan said:

Woah, that's a really nice concept, I'd like to see a grey metal plate on top and front

I will actually be using 4mm aluminum that is probable going to be painted white 

[Jokot]

So this is how I will be bending and making the top and bottom "handles"

 

I need something to bend the thin sheets around so that was part 1 of the process and that was easily done with some MDF scrap pieces.

 

 

Here is the template rounded and covered in tape to avoid the glue from sticking.

 

 

Here is the material I will be using.

 

 

I also made a outer part for the template by bending 5mm plywood, that will also help equalize the pressure along the curve.

 

 

And now ever thing is ready to be glued together and clamped down, the grain of each sheet is going against each other to get a stronger final product. You can also see the template was made with "shelves" to make clamping easier.

 

 

Here is a better picture of the layers.

 

 

And I also made a second one the next day.

 

[mxk]

holy shit this is crazy

[Jokot]

2 hours ago, mxk. said:

holy shit this is crazy

Thanks 

[Jokot]

More work on the handles.

 

 

 

 

 

I made grooves in the handles using the big router in previous picture.

 

 

 

 

Now just cut both of those in half and I will have my four handels.

 

 

 

 

And a few pictures without tape.

 

 

[Jokot]

Making the frame.

 

Used the same big router for these parts.

[CiBi]

Sweet project, is it based of the old Mac Pro or the Bitfenix Prodigy? Reminds me of both.

[Jokot]

On 3/19/2019 at 7:17 PM, CiBi said:

Sweet project, is it based of the old Mac Pro or the Bitfenix Prodigy? Reminds me of both.

Its not really based one any previous cases but Ive always loved the Bitfenix prodigy

[Jokot]

Time to put every thing together for a test fit 

[Jokot]

Long time since last update, will try and make up for it with a longer one then usual 

 

First of I finished all the wood working and added the corner pieces that will be holding the front and back pieces in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not a single screw will be used for the wood frame itself its all held together with wood joints so it was really solid even before applying glue.

 

 

 

Here is plexi for the side windows.

 

 

 

This is what it looked like when it was all clamped in for the glue to dry.

 

 

 

 

 

I really like how the bends turned out with the different layers.

 

 

 

Front and back are made of some spare material I found, actually have no idea what its called. But Its made up of some kind of plastic in the middle and very thin aluminum on both sides, that made if very easy to machine with wood tools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made a wooden jig to help with cutting the holes for the front intake fans, and it worked really well. And thanks Mnpctech for the awesome template 

 

 

 

[Mbowen]

Looks sick so far!!!! 

[unsungheroist]

[Mbowen]

Any updates?

[Ross Siggers]

The craftsmanship in this build is A*   Followed!

 

[Rehmat]

Dont leave us hanging!!!

[Jokot]

Long time no update

But its finally time to finish this project.







Moterboard tray fresh of the printer.



I used inserts for the screws that will be holding the motherboard in place.





And here is the backplate in place.





Radiator brackets and every thing put together inside the case.

[For Science!]

On 7/23/2020 at 7:32 PM, Jokot said:

 

Wow, I love the motherboard tray and rear/io panel. Is that publically available somewhere to try out?

[Jokot]

On 7/27/2020 at 1:38 PM, For Science! said:

Wow, I love the motherboard tray and rear/io panel. Is that publically available somewhere to try out?

Thanks, and no I haven't published the files since its specifically made for this one of build 

[PriitM]

Awesome re-imagining of the Apple case. Tho you are going to need some forced air over motherboard components.

 

Why didnt you make the side panels out of a single sheet of plywood? Because the project theme required joinery? 

 

Dust filter or some mesh fabric over the PSU intake.