Hello everyone! This is my first entry in the case-building contest, and I have very little experience with wood working. I went for functionality over beauty, and tried to make it look the best I could. As you will see in the pictures the wife made me wrap it in painters plastic sheets in-case it leaked...rather than risk losing a testicle or two over the matter I caved and wrapped it 
I hope you enjoy my 100% custom build!
Concept:
I'm semi-obsessed with alternative cooling. Some of you may be familiar with my PC submerged in mineral oil in a fish tank, so I decided to take that idea and go a little further. The idea behind this project is to have a sustainable cooling solution using oil without using a radiator to cool it. I'm building from scratch an "Oil-fall" computer (think waterfall, but replace the water with oil). This build will have a tray with which the oil will "fall" down and flow over the motherboard and components. The oil will have a small holding area at the bottom of this tray (perhaps a gallon or two) where the oil will be pumped to the top of the tray and flow down.
After-thoughts
It works, but doesn't look as "pretty" as I had hoped. I would have changed a few minor things for cosmetic appearance, focusing on; cable management, placement of the HDD and PSU, use different materials (metal, or Plexiglas instead of wood), and I would have chose a different color rather than gray! It was certainly a fun project, and I learned a good bit while doing it!
Build Supplies:
Wood
Paint / Clear coat
Plastic wood (couple of tubes)
Mineral Oil (baby oil)
Pond pump
Flexible plastic tubing
Plexiglas
Many tubes of silicone!
All in all I spent around $100 for materials, a little more than I had hoped.
Components
AMD Athlon 5200+
1 GB DDR2 memory
ASRock ASRock N68C-S UCC
500 Watt Antec PSU
Build Log:
Update 1/25/2011:
I purchased a few supplies last night for my "concept" which I have not revealed yet. It's hard to put into words what I'm planning on doing and my "drafting/drawing" skills suck on an epic level. I'll continue to work on the drawing and update with a picture as soon as possible.
Update 3/09/2011
Some progress has been made! I've taken pictures but have not uploaded them. I finished the main "tray" area, still have a lot to go yet!
Update 3/28/2011
I used a metallic gray paint as a base coat for most of the wood, haven't yet decided what the final color will be.
Update 3/29/2011:
I had some more time yesterday, so I worked on the "holding tank/tray". I'm working on a solution to contain the oil within the tray. I'm thinking lots of polyurethane, clear coat, or some type of epoxy that won't break down in mineral oil.
Update 5/09/2011:
I added the support for the oil-tray and applied more silicon to areas that were in need. I also took a few more pictures, will be added later. I'm planning on swinging my Harbor Freight tomorrow and picking up a pump. The project is nearly completed!
Update 6/10/2011:
I recently started grad school so I haven't had much time to work on this. I did coat everything three times with polyurethane but I'm not confident it will repel mineral oil. I'm still searching for some other oil-resistant clear coat, I'll see what I can find.
Pictures to come! I've been taking them all along just haven't uploaded any in a while.
Update 6/21/2011:
I used one and a half silicon tubes on the bottom "tray" as you can see from pictures. Initially the stuff is white, but the label assured me it dries clear. Tonight I will be purchasing another tube and some more paint. Hopefully I'll have everything together by this weekend!
Oh and I finally got around to adding pictures!
Update 6/29/2011
I got another tube of silicone, just to make sure I covered all of the leaks (wouldn't want the wife to get angry due to a puddle of mineral oil on the floor! I drilled holes in the tray and screwed the mobo down. I screwed the tray to the "holding tank", added the pump, tubes, and mineral oil. There was no easy way to attach the PSU or the HDD to the wood tray, so I bought a sheet of Plexiglas, cut it to size, and put it on the backside of the tray. This sheet allows the PSU and the HDD to rest on it. I also had to add a bead of silicone to direct the oil towards the mobo, initial tests showed that the oil just ran under the mobo.
Things to do:
- Sit back and watch
It is tranquil, almost like an indoor waterfall (but with a hint of baby oil) 
Pictures:
Wood I purchased pre-cut from Home Depot:
Silicone used to seal the wood:
Applied a thin bead:
Trusty DeWalt drills
The beast is around 4 feet tall:
And here it is, this is the tray that the oil will flow downward on:
The pup came out to help me:
The "white" silicone actually turns clear once dry.
After the silicone dried, and the pond pump:
The pup being crazy in the car (nothing to do with the case):
It works!!!!!!!!
Plugged in and running:
Public Video on Facebook (Currently locked until admins give the "Okay" to go public)
http://www.facebook.com/v/587441156772
Edited by CarlosSpiceyWeiner - 7/1/11 at 6:07am
I hope you enjoy my 100% custom build!Concept:
I'm semi-obsessed with alternative cooling. Some of you may be familiar with my PC submerged in mineral oil in a fish tank, so I decided to take that idea and go a little further. The idea behind this project is to have a sustainable cooling solution using oil without using a radiator to cool it. I'm building from scratch an "Oil-fall" computer (think waterfall, but replace the water with oil). This build will have a tray with which the oil will "fall" down and flow over the motherboard and components. The oil will have a small holding area at the bottom of this tray (perhaps a gallon or two) where the oil will be pumped to the top of the tray and flow down.
After-thoughts
It works, but doesn't look as "pretty" as I had hoped. I would have changed a few minor things for cosmetic appearance, focusing on; cable management, placement of the HDD and PSU, use different materials (metal, or Plexiglas instead of wood), and I would have chose a different color rather than gray! It was certainly a fun project, and I learned a good bit while doing it!
Build Supplies:
Wood
Paint / Clear coat
Plastic wood (couple of tubes)
Mineral Oil (baby oil)
Pond pump
Flexible plastic tubing
Plexiglas
Many tubes of silicone!
All in all I spent around $100 for materials, a little more than I had hoped.
Components
AMD Athlon 5200+
1 GB DDR2 memory
ASRock ASRock N68C-S UCC
500 Watt Antec PSU
Build Log:
Update 1/25/2011:
I purchased a few supplies last night for my "concept" which I have not revealed yet. It's hard to put into words what I'm planning on doing and my "drafting/drawing" skills suck on an epic level. I'll continue to work on the drawing and update with a picture as soon as possible.
Update 3/09/2011
Some progress has been made! I've taken pictures but have not uploaded them. I finished the main "tray" area, still have a lot to go yet!
Update 3/28/2011
I used a metallic gray paint as a base coat for most of the wood, haven't yet decided what the final color will be.
Update 3/29/2011:
I had some more time yesterday, so I worked on the "holding tank/tray". I'm working on a solution to contain the oil within the tray. I'm thinking lots of polyurethane, clear coat, or some type of epoxy that won't break down in mineral oil.
Update 5/09/2011:
I added the support for the oil-tray and applied more silicon to areas that were in need. I also took a few more pictures, will be added later. I'm planning on swinging my Harbor Freight tomorrow and picking up a pump. The project is nearly completed!
Update 6/10/2011:
I recently started grad school so I haven't had much time to work on this. I did coat everything three times with polyurethane but I'm not confident it will repel mineral oil. I'm still searching for some other oil-resistant clear coat, I'll see what I can find.
Pictures to come! I've been taking them all along just haven't uploaded any in a while.
Update 6/21/2011:
I used one and a half silicon tubes on the bottom "tray" as you can see from pictures. Initially the stuff is white, but the label assured me it dries clear. Tonight I will be purchasing another tube and some more paint. Hopefully I'll have everything together by this weekend!
Oh and I finally got around to adding pictures!
Update 6/29/2011
I got another tube of silicone, just to make sure I covered all of the leaks (wouldn't want the wife to get angry due to a puddle of mineral oil on the floor! I drilled holes in the tray and screwed the mobo down. I screwed the tray to the "holding tank", added the pump, tubes, and mineral oil. There was no easy way to attach the PSU or the HDD to the wood tray, so I bought a sheet of Plexiglas, cut it to size, and put it on the backside of the tray. This sheet allows the PSU and the HDD to rest on it. I also had to add a bead of silicone to direct the oil towards the mobo, initial tests showed that the oil just ran under the mobo.
Things to do:
- Sit back and watch
It is tranquil, almost like an indoor waterfall (but with a hint of baby oil) Pictures:
Wood I purchased pre-cut from Home Depot:
Silicone used to seal the wood:
Applied a thin bead:
Trusty DeWalt drills
The beast is around 4 feet tall:
And here it is, this is the tray that the oil will flow downward on:
The pup came out to help me:
The "white" silicone actually turns clear once dry.
After the silicone dried, and the pond pump:
The pup being crazy in the car (nothing to do with the case):
It works!!!!!!!!
Plugged in and running:
Public Video on Facebook (Currently locked until admins give the "Okay" to go public)
http://www.facebook.com/v/587441156772
Edited by CarlosSpiceyWeiner - 7/1/11 at 6:07am
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