Brutuz

I've always had the modding bug, I removed the HDD cage for my CM Centurion 5 and put a 120mm fan there, for better cooling, I took apart a mATX case to mod, but never got around to it due to lack of funds, so I've decided I want to make my own case, for the hell of it mainly, as well as for experience with wood working and so I have all internal water cooling.

Any suggestions are welcome, I have a few ideas I haven't put into the Sketchup models/got the parts for, but we'll wait and see if I do them.

Sketchup rendering of the case before I brought the wood for it, mainly showing off where the radiator and DVD drive go.

(Note: HDD cage isn't in this rendering.)


Another Sketchup rendering of the case, mainly showing off where the motherboard and fans are.

(Note: HDD cage isn't in this rendering either. )


The list of watercooling parts/monitor I'm getting for this build.


Then the next day, I went out and got some wood.

I got this wood for about AU$35 from Dahlsens mitre ten, I also have enough to make another case, not a bad deal considering a CM690 costs AU$110?


After a quick mockup.

Here's a photo of the inside bit, where the Hard Drive, Radiator/Fans, DVD drive, PSU and (Hopefully) water pump will go. (HDDs are temp, 200Gb Seagate, 80Gb Dead WD and a 8Gb (Not a typo) Seagate if you're wondering)

Here's where the motherboard will be mounted, those lines to the side are going to be cut out so I have cable management holes, as well as two Yate Loons mounted with small L backets for airflow over the bottom half of the motherboard. (Motherboard there is temp)


Overview of how it fits together.


Better view of where I'm drilling/cutting for the motherboard/cable management.


Should I paint it? If so, what colour? I'm thinking Black with Green Lights so far.

* This Worklog post was generated using WorklogCreator - Version: 1.0.1.6
* Free Download: http://www.mod2software.com/worklogc...logcreator.zip

__________________

CattleRustler

nice. if you do paint it, before you do, seal in all visible edges with fiberglass body filler or bondo, or something (dont bother sanding before hand) then sand the edgework before prime and paint. I just finished (99%) an mdf bench also and I didnt seal all of the visible edges, and even tho I sanded, they still look crap. Also areas of the flat panels look like ricotta cheese in a plastic bag, even tho they were sanded, primed, and sanded again (areas that had blue tape at some point) Every little imperfection stands out in painted mdf

good luck

__________________

[Current Project] PolymorphiX v2 (aluminum)
[Pending finish] Butcher's Hook (Slipknot tribute bench in steel)
[mod2hardware] All Modding Projects by CattleRustler
[mod2software] WorklogCreator 1.0.1.6 visually build postable worklogs, quickly & easily with drag and drop

Brutuz

I might not paint it then, I haven't actually painted anything on this scale/type before, it looked okay as just plain wood before, but I might change my mind.
Thanks for the tips, anyway.

__________________

LiquidForce

Looks great but the only thing I don't see is a pci support bracket of some kind

subbed

__________________
For Sale: [US]PS2, PS1, KVM, Print Server

HARDER STYLEZ OF OCN CLUB

TIGER DIRECT

Swiftes

Nice, I like it Dirty!

__________________

Brutuz

I probably won't have one, just relying on the cards to support themselves, shouldn't matter since its horizontal, but if it does matter it won't be too difficult to just take one from an old case and bolt it on or something.

__________________

tofunater

Your better off not painting mdf as cattle rustler stated, but you might try a product like plasti-dip if you really want it to be a different color though. Its more of a rubber coating than paint and it wont reflect the imperfections in the surface like paint will. Great mod though.

__________________

Brutuz

I've screwed the panels all together, there's been a fair bit of cracking on it, but as its my first mod, I think I can have a few screwups, heck, as the only really noticeable ones are symmetrical on the front, I think it actually looks okay, apart from the one major screw up where I managed to get two screws that were too large in and not only leave two ugly holes in the top, but also make a large scratch and have it out of shape, I'll get some pics soon to show what I mean.

I also changed my mind, I won't get a monitor and Water cooling, I'm getting a Xbox 360 Elite (With 3 games, Fable 2, Assassins creed and Halo 3) and Guitar Hero Metallica with drums, etc, so I'm also making another box with the large amount of wood I have left over to sit my monitor on and have the 360 underneath it, I've marked the parts out and will saw it tomorrow, I'll update once I get that done.

__________________

Brutuz

Okay.. I'm kinda waiting for a way to get some kind of Jigsaw or the like, cutting it by hand takes way to long and isn't exactly straight, plus will be way too hard to cut the cable/PSU holes with a handsaw, I'll edit and post pics of the screwed together bench tonight if I remember.

__________________

ModMinded

One tip to help with screwing edge on into MDF: drill before hand! (maybe make some test holes in another piece to practice.) Pilot holes will reduce the potential from cracking as the threads go it. And if you countersink them, it will look that much better!

+1 on plastidips ability to cover up/smoothout crackly looking wood. I used some on the interior of my amp entry in the competition (particle board looking stuff) and it turned out pretty smooth.

Good luck on getting some tools. I recently found out that the super big hardware store round here (Home Depot) actually rents out a variety of tools! Don't know if they do that in Oz, but maybe you can find some other economical way to acquire tools... talking to friends/neighbors, etc.

__________________
My First Mod (Ongoing) - NZXT Lexa - Experimental Modyssey

Mod 2 (Ongoing) Peavey Bandit Amp

Make It Work Water Cooling