The Caliga Project - Overclock.net

*CyberDruid* · 08-28-09

Caliga4221 approached me about a custom case and after some discussion the case turned into a rather large oak cabinet/bookshelf/TV stand.

Have a look at this dual rad 8 HDD PC case

The dimensions on that are 40" tall, 28" wide and 16" deep.

Note the removable back panel to allow access to radiator mounts, cabling, and cleaning of the ductwork. Removable filter carriers of black powdercoated Hexmesh over each vent should keep dust to a minimum however.

Two 360 rads with 38mm fans will mount up to the false back from the back of the unit for easy access and installation. I'll be using custom cut strips of 1/8" thick aluminum to attach the fans flush to the back of the wall. The rads are diagonally opposed on the back wall of the center compartment to allow for optimal use of space and promote good crossflow across all the hardware.

The false back is trapped permanently between the sides and closes in the two shelves. The back also supports the radiators and the mobo tray which sort of "floats" in the middle of the 13" tall, 12" deep, 26" wide center compartment. This will be accomplished by using .75 ID tubes and threaded rod on an 1/4" polycarbonate mobo tray just the size of the mobo. Cabling can be fished to the mobo from above or behind making for a neat installation. Airflow from the Radiators will be forced to pass around the mobo by a divider that is part of the tray support.

HDDs will go in Norco Hotswap bays, 4 Drives per Bay. The Norcos go in a vanity hutch of matching oak. A small door of smoked acrylic will go in front of the hutch with a 1" air gap to tone down the hideously bright HDD activity LEDs on the hotswap bays.

The PSU will be suspended from the top of the compartment in a hutch of oak ply and will be oriented switch/AC plug toward the front to allow easy access to that all important PSU power switch. The cable will be hidden by the hutch cover (again smoked acrylic with a 1" air gap).

The pump(s) will be mounted to the side of the center compartment.

A pair of bronze tint tempered glass doors on magnetic touch latches enclose the PC/LC hardware, dampening the sound but allowing for a look at the good stuff. When it's time to tinker all the HW is front and center and easy to access.

Above the Center compartment will be a slot the height of a typical optical drive. Using the mounting holes on the bottom of the drive these can be secured discretely from inside the PC/LC cabinet. A memory card reader and an other bay devices can be fitted into this wide slot and the unused space can be filled with wood inserts. The power and reset switches and any other switches for lights or whatever needs controlling can be mounted in the wood filler blocks. The devices are depicted recessed into the slot as an aesthetic point.

The thought behind this design is for simplicity, cleanliness, silence, and of course looks.

Although the airflow through the upper rad wil be warmed by the first rad and the HW in the cabinet I don't see that is a major concern. The design is as usual a compromise of a myriad of concerns and I feel this is the one to stick with.

I'll be starting on the panels Monday so stay tuned for the cabinet to start taking shape directly.

*CyberDruid* · 08-28-09

Reserved

*CyberDruid* · 08-28-09

And again

*CyberDruid* · 08-28-09

Finish and Details log

*CyberDruid* · 08-28-09

And the last one for shipping it off (OMG)

kimosabi · 08-28-09

Yeah!

I've wanted to see such a build from you for a looooong time man. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuubbed!!

Dryadsoul · 08-28-09

That looks to be the perfect pedestal for my exotic techie.........hopefully the bank won't object to a forced withdrawal.

*CyberDruid* · 08-28-09

I've got bids in on oak and should know in a few hours if I have the materials coming. I've contacted a local glazier and will follow through on that Monday to see if I can get a quote on a pair of 13" x 13" doors in bronze tint. They do deep etching too...

caliga4221 · 08-28-09

/drool

Let the fun begin. I will get the parts I still need to order on monday. After that I will try to figure out what parts to take off of Obsidian7 to send you. Going to transition my PC to a backup unit this weekend to free up the parts.

*CyberDruid* · 08-28-09

Just won some oak off ebay. Had a little bidding war toward the end on a piece of 1-3/16" thick S2S 7" wide and 49" long. It's nice to have some beef just in case I end up making some heavier trims for the sides and top. And I have a piece of 7/8" thick S2S about 6" wide and 5 feet long that will be perfect to rip into strips to trim off all the shelves.

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The Caliga Project

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