Sparhawk

Thanks,

Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to get the rest of the cutting done.

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Raptors06

Nice work man. I've wanted to do this for an HTPC for our living room with cherry and dovetail joints (I'm a woodworker in addition to a PC enthusiast). Consider me subbed as well.

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Crucial Ballistix Club

Sparhawk

Thanks!

I'm going to be adding to the wireless PC starter and making the actual transmitter more aesthetically pleasing.
eg: painting or perhaps fashioning a small box out of wood that it can go in. I'm thinking a tiny wooden box for the transmitter would probably match the rest of the case quite well.

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Raptors06

For that wireless starter, did you just use a standard PCB from Radio Shack or something like that or a breadboard and just solder to it?

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Crucial Ballistix Club

Sparhawk

I bought a $14 wireless doorbell from Home Depot and yes, a standard PCB from Radio Shack. I also bought a 5V reed relay SPST similar to this

This is the PCB i bought. Mine is just from "The Source" which is the company that bought all the Canadian Radio Shacks

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Sparhawk

Hurray! the motherboard tray I ordered is in at the post office. I have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up though , damn not having a real address.

This means a big update should be coming either tomorrow or Saturday.

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Sparhawk

Small update this morning. (from work using remote desktop)

I received the motherboard tray and hacked it apart into a slightly more usable form.

I removed the rivets holding the extended back-plate on and hacksawed off about 1 1/4" off the bottom at the front.

Tomorrow I have most of the day free so I'll be working on this as much as possible, gotta get it done before I have to leave for university.

The first two pics are the before shots and the last three are the after ones.

Attached Thumbnails

         

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Sparhawk

Update 4 - Putting the pieces together

Here it is... the moment of truth... I have assembled the main part of the case/table.

Cut the 80mm and 92mm holes and cut the notches in the bottom piece to allow legs to come up through into the box.



Disk drive tray slot cut out.

It took way too much fidling to get that piece out without destroying it.

There is only about a 1/16" gap around the piece. It'll be practically invisible.



I'm using insert nuts paired with bolts to attach the legs, motherboard tray and HD rack to the computer.




Finished cutting holes in the back panel... it is now about half the weight of the front panel.

The bottom panel sits 1/4" above the bottoms of the side and front/back panels and is notched into the side pieces 3/16".

To hold it all together we need.....

Wood glue... lots and lots of wood glue



It all fits together, glue is now drying, the case is pretty square (actually only about a 1/32" off by way of corner to corner measurement) and it is being held in position by dual straps.



Dual straps... sounds like a bad movie name...

Attached Thumbnails

         

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Sparhawk

Some may notice that the power supply is in a different orientation than it was originally. This is due to some measuring errors and mostly me not remembering that 2" material is 1 1/2" in reality... hurray for companies making measurements on green lumber.

Anyway, did a mock-up last night and all parts should fit(I'll post pics later when I get home). The CD drive gets a little close to the power supply but there is still room for cables so it should be fine.

The next thing I have to do is finish drilling fan mounting holes which should be simple enough as long as I can drill straight.

After those holes are done it'll be prep time and then staining time.

I'm probably going to stain it with a dark red color(see) and then do a polyurethane coat on top of that to give it a really hard finish.

I've seen a combination product that is both stain and polyurethane in one. Sounds pretty sketchy just wondering if anyone has had any experience with staining etc.

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Sparhawk

Going to check Rona for stain and Varathane. Also going to look for some small bolts I can use to hold the fans etc on the case.

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