Wood Case (First self made) [Finished 11/09]

[gylmir]

Hey everybody.
 
i'm here since a while and noticed that you people have some realy nice builds etc.
so i wanted to make my own aswell and i always loved wooden pc cases and you can't find the so often.
 
i made some simple and easy plans and i would like to here your opinion.
i still need to modify the outside with stuff i have in my head but can't draw them.
 
thanks to take your time and tell me what you like or what you can't understand.
 




 
 
[Edit: 11/08]
i got some more items for the looks and instead of drawing what i'm not great at i'm going to show with pictures.
for the side panel not much special a window and my name cut out of the wood, but the name is going to be overlayed with a mesh and a white ccfl.
 
About the front there is alot more going on
 
the on/off (on/reset) switches are just the normal you can find in any store.
The old school temp meter like this
On top there will be a another pressure meter that i need to get stuck on a higher number than 0 :P
 
[edit: 17/08]
Ok today i worked 5 hours on the case and i have already a few things that will change on the design.
 
[edit: 26/08]
since the topic is getting to long i upload pictures on google you can find them on the link below
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106133681440893996843/albums/5916500043571522209
Also i love the corsair fans they have nice flow.
 
 
[EDIT:11/09]
The project is finaly finished in the link below you can find all the pictures how it went
i spend around 16+ hours on this.
 
the temps are 15 to 25 degrees lower so thumbs up.

on full load the system runs GPU 48° and CPU 44° instead around 74° on both.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/106133681440893996843/albums/5916500043571522209

 

Edited September 11, 2013 by gylmir

[legopc]

you could custumise the case for water cooling so it would look realy cool :D 

[gylmir]

Yeah I'll agree with @legopc and say you should put some water cooling support in there, or at the very least some fans along the front and an exhaust fan in the back :D

there will be 2 fans in the top and 2 in the bottom. (i choose this set-up because hot air go upwards and cold air go down so to push the hot air out and take cold air in ;)

 

@legopc yeah watercooling would be nice but thats in the future you will see when i put it all togheter i will keep this up-to-date with pics etc

 

tanks for the great response

[Le Reaper]

Looks like a really cool idea, hope it works out for you. 

[gylmir]

Updated new pictures added

 

is there a way to smaller the image tor to make thumbnails orsomething what bbcode can i use for it?

faster loading and less scrolling and only need to click open the picture you realy wanne see.

[whatthe_fuzz]

so is there any use for the pressure gauge or is it strictly cosmetic? 

 

also, i dont see many fan holes...why is that?

 

P.S. is that a jacket on the front panel?

[gylmir]

yes the pressure gauge is cosmetic.

I gonna use 2x 120mm in top and bottom still need to make the holes.

(at the moment i have no fans in my case and at max load it climbs up to 70° on cpu and gpu)

and yes that is correct it is, a jacket was cheaper than buying the materials.

at this point i spend around 30€ already on this case.

[FckCarrots]

Are there any concerns in terms of safety?  I've been contemplating a wood case build for the past week or so.  Mind if I join you in your quest?  We could give each other help and input to each others progress as our projects continue.

[gylmir]

Are there any concerns in terms of safety?  I've been contemplating a wood case build for the past week or so.  Mind if I join you in your quest?  We could give each other help and input to each others progress as our projects continue.

yes i would be glad to help you in you epic quest for casing ;).

if you have any question you may ask them on the topic or even in a pm.

 

terms of safety

1. yes always wear eye protection even when i cut out holes in wood there are chips flying around and they are small enough to poke your eye.

2. if you want to be sure to have right angle corners you will need a sawtable (mine where cut in the store also cheap thats why and doens't required a sawtable)

3. use the right tools for the right things don't use metal disc for wood unless you wanne have a burned look or don't use a screwdriver to make a hole (i have seen this doing by people)

 

@Armagedda thanks for the positive reaction, i hope we can see your project here aswell one day (it takes up a long time before i started mine i had like 2 week prepairing)

[FckCarrots]

I was talking about safety as in would hot electronics inside a computer cause a wooden case to combust lol.

[TheSLSAMG]

Cool idea, but I'd be afraid that it would catch on fire!

[gylmir]

@FckCarrots and @TheSLSAMG

haha no it would never catch fire why would it ?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120914132439AAUKOBN

and if you spray it with anti heat paint on the inside it would even need to be higher.

 

always check what the heatresistant of the material you use.

 

my pc has now only a cpu fan and gpu fan and the highest temp they go on full load is 70° and that is in the summer so it must be a huge leap to increase the value with 55°.

and i will have more fans in the new case and later water cooling ;).

but thanks for your concerns about it.

[Kiwiandapple]

This is kickass! Goodluck with the build!

[concinnity]

Looks promising! IMHO there needs to be more ventilation for the PSU though.

[FckCarrots]

I don't know exactly why it would catch fire lol.  It's just a common concern I always see when seeing wooden cases being built.  Maybe bad wiring or something along those lines?

[gylmir]

@concinnity you think there need to be more ? I drilled holes op 13mm in a square of 140 mm x 140mm i don't know but will try to make it bigger. Thx for the tip.

@Kiwiandapple thx, probably tomorrow i will update again.

@FckCarrots idd bad wiring but i don't realy have to wire anything than power and reset switch and i used old case cables. And to be sure i used heatshrink on the connection points.

And if it will catch fire i will keep you people up to date with fire pictures and how to put it out :)

[crudefallout]

You could add more holes with a smaller bit. You'll probably want to use a pressure optimized fan.

[gylmir]

thx crudle i tought of that so i use 4 corsair fans air series af 120

http://www.alternate.be/Corsair/Corsair+Air_Series_AF120_Quiet_Edition/html/product/999895/?tk=7&lk=3889

[gylmir]

finaly the build is compleet if you have any questions about it just shoot

 

i hope you all enjoy it !

[Blackterror25]

where are the pics

[gylmir]

click on the link in the first post

makes more easy for everybody instead finding the post on page 1316

[gylmir]

Here is a picture after a lanparty with the temps.

the room temp lowest was around 23.5° and highest 30°.

also my pc was running 48+ hours.

 

[SpamBrie]

Well done! Itried to do something like this but it went horribly wrong.

[Jaydon]

Hey man, i love the deisgn, im going to have to pinch your plans for my new chassis

[Henry]

Why on earth wood (ba dum tss) you want to make a wooden case?

it looks weird, lego cases are so much cooler