[Project] Rad-Box {480}-COMPLETED!!! - Overclock.net

Timlander · 11-17-08

Hey guys. So i got all my new watercooling gear in about a week ago. And i needed a box for my radiator. Since i dont have any of the proper tools for metal work, nor the money for acrylic, i decided to go with wood(since iv got a plethora of wood working tools as well as tons of molding and such already). So, after quite a few days of planing and designing, i came up with a nice design. So, now i will share with everyone, my design plans so that hopefully some of you may use this design as well.

Requirements:
First before anything else, i will list some basic requirements you will need to complete this project:

Table saw
chop saw or skill saw
Finish nail/pin gun
power sander

those are the mains things i can think of now off the top of my head.

Materials for the project:
-2' x 4' piece of wood( plywood is ok, i used Baltic Birch)
-Some kind of wood sealer( i used Minwax sanding sealer(very good)
-Foam weather strip(3/16" thick or 1/4" AND 1/2" thick)
-Bolts(for my rad, i used M4-.7 X 50) Hex cap
-Polyethylene tubing(1/4" x .17" thick and only need a foot or so, but not sold that short)
-Some kind of air filter(not required but recommended)
-sand paper(120 grit and 220)

And i think that's it. If i missed anything ill come back and fill it in.

All of these materials can be found at home depot or lowes.

Estimated cost of materials: $50

Now onto the build process:

First, take the 2' x 4' sheet, set it somewhere like on 2 sawhorses as I did. You will want to sand both sides with a power sander using 120 grit paper. Getting all the surface dirt or black machine marks out and of course smoothing the overall surface.

Next you will want to take some 220 grit paper, and sand both sides to a much smoother finish. This will take a lot of elbow grease and you SHOULD NOT use the power sander for this part. The reason for this is if your using multi layer wood(such as plywood), the outer layer(good looking part) is relatively thin. Therefore, after the initial 120 grit power sanding, the rest of the sanding should be done by hand as to not sand through the surface. When sanding by hand, sand with a linear motion WITH the grain pattern. This will take some time but is defiantly a required step if you want the rad box to look at all good.

After that sanding part is done, we are now ready to move onto the 1st coat of sealant(but don't put away your sandpaper just yet, more sanding, there will be). Now the best way i think to do this, which also saves a lot of time, is to either shoot 4 pins from your pin gun into the sawhorses(make sure they stick up half an inch or so above the wood) or hammer 4 nails into the sawhorses and cut off the heads. If you have plastic sawhorses, get some 2x4's and just place them on top of the sawhorse and your good to go with the pins or nails. The reason for this, is so that when you coat one side, you dont have to wait for it to dry before turning it over and doing the other. This way, you will coat the first side, then simply let it dry maybe 5 minutes, then flip and coat the other side. This works well and cuts the application time down a lot. Now, by this time, you need to pick a favorite side. That is, you need to pick 1 side of your sheet, that you like best and that will be the side that will show on the outside of the box. The reason for this is that when you apply the sealer, then flip and apply on the other side, sometimes drips will form on the underside(not big deal, can be sanded away for the most part) But just in case i always put my finish side up when sealing. Also, if at all possible, if you have like a shop, somewhere that's ventilated yet sheltered.... basically, you want to keep the wind away. You do not want the wind blowing sand and junk onto your drying coat. Now, when applying this first coat, you will defiantly use A LOT of sealer. Be very generous in this 1st coat of sealer, you want to be sure to get as much into the wood as possible in this step. But on the same token, there is a limit. Just use your better judgment, if you put a coat on and the wood already looks dry, put more on. Then once you finish that side flip it over and do the other side. You want to let that coat dry about 3 hours before beginning the next sanding process. If its very cold weather or humid, you may want to extend longer. Basically, if you touch the surface and it feels sticky, its not dry enough. DO NOT rush the drying phase.

This is what it will look like after the first coat. It may get a little darker in color, but for the most part it should be about the same. NOTE that the only reason why the color looks so different in my pics is because that first one where i sanded was outside, this one is inside therefore different lighting.

Ok, now we are ready for the next sanding phase. Take your 220 grit paper again, and sand away on both sides, with the grain as before. MAKE SURE you either remove the pins below the board before doing this or move the board to another location. You don't want to be pressing the board while sanding on top of those pins or nails as you will make a big hole. Ok, once you have both sides sanded real nice(should be very smooth), you are ready for the next coat of sealer. This time, you will not be using nearly as much sealer. Apply a thin coat on both side again (remember to replace your pins or nails if you took them out). This coat should dry about 2 hours, again cold or humid then give it more time. Now once it is dry, you should have something along the lines of this:

Nice and glossy finish. Looks good. Now there are 2 different routes you can take from here. If you are in a big hurry, and don't really care about looks too much, you can skip ahead to THE BUILDING PHASE. But if you are like me and want it looking as nice as possible, then follow the below steps before going onto the building phase.

A great thing to do, before starting your work on the sheet, is to sand both sides again with 220 grit paper. This is very helpful for many reasons: In the construction process, stuff is bound to happen that will scratch the surface and make it less attractive. This way, its already sanded, you don't care(for the most part) about a few scratches that may happen, you get it all put together and you put your final coat on and its perfect. Also, the sealer creates more friction(you can test this by sanding part of it with 220 grit then running your hand over both parts). So if its sanded, whenever your running the sheet say through your table saw, its much easier to slid there. Anyways, this step is totally optional but i recommend you do it.

THE BUILDING PHASE:

Now we shall begin the construction phase of this box. My cut demintions were as follows: Need 2 pieces @ 5" x 21 1/2" and 2 @ 5" x 5 1/2". Cut this out of the sheet with a table saw or skill saw. NOTE that your demintions may be different depending on what you have. I will be using 4 ultra kaze's which are thicker than other fans, also i have the black ice 480 radiator which some people may want to use this method for the 360 or whatnot. So DO NOT use my demintions. You should measure and figure out for yourself what demintions you will need for your project. Once you get the 2 sides and top and bottom cut out for your box, go ahead and use some generic wood glue and your pin gun to put together 1 side and the top and bottom. Next, you will want to figure out where your radiator will sit inside the box, as well as the fans behind it. So before continuing any further, we will need to mount all the fans to the radiator.

So i know having the fans a little off the radiator helps a bit with cooling, so i came out with a good and simple way to do this. Take your polyethylene tubing, and you will need to cut pieces out of it( i used 5/16"). This will serve as a spacer to hold the fans off of the radiator a bit. Once you have cut enough for all the fans( I suggest a razor blade to cut with) then you just need to well mount the fans lol. Making sure the spacers are between the radiator and the fan, and screw in the bolts.

Ok, now you will need to figure out and mark where the radiator will be inside your box as well as the fans. Once you have done this, you can now apply the weather stripping to the inside of the box. This will serve 2 main purposes. 1. to prevent airflow between the box and the radiator as well as around the fans. And 2. to help hold the radiator in. Use the smaller 3/16" for the radiator(as it is bigger and wider than the fans) and the larger 1/2" thick for the fans. This should seal most of the air gaps, helping moving the air ONLY though the radiator.

NOTE: don't forget about the other side of the box, you will need to apply the tape to the side of the box not connected yet. Once this is all done, you can now glue and pin on the 4th side of the box. You will have some leftover, so i just stuffed the extra inside and around the fans to help prevent airflow and maybe dampen the noise a little.

The front of my box as of now looks as follows. I wanted to overhang the sides top and bottom by 1 inch so that i could fit an air filter in there. You don't have to do this, but it would be a real pain to clean that thing out every other week without it. I used a simple high flow air conditioner filter that i cut to size (pic shown later on).

Ok now that basically concludes the box. Most people would be fine with that box. However, I am not. So i will continue to add some person touches to this box, and make it a work of art. I will not document on here everything that i do from now on, as its too much info. Also, the wood i will be using from here on out will be hardwood(expensive). but many of you may want to kinda follow what I do here on your rad box to make it look a little better. AND there is quite a bit of leftover materials from your original 2' x 4' sheet to work with as well.

So, i started with the back side(fans side) and added some poplar siding to completely cover the side of the box. I also made a little plug in the bottom for my power supply to plug into, making it a neat little addition (im using an extra power supply i have to power the 4 fans) and giving a neater looking appearance.

Next, i got to thinking about the top of the box. And i thought it would be cool if I put roof on it or something. So after making that here is how that turned out:

next, I worked my way to the front side, the side i will see on a daily basis. I thought maybe some darker wood would compliment the lighter wood already on there. So i picked out some cherry. Got a little design going a voila, my front is done and looking great.

And there we have it. A nice looking rad box that also serves its purpose. All i have left to do now is sand it all up good and put my final finish coat on it. Hope you guys liked this. Let me know what you think. =)

cuy50 · 11-17-08

That looks really nice! It should help dampen some noise and it also looks like a piece of furniture (although a piece that can cut your fingers off lol). Put some fan grills and you have one sexy piece.

**ira-k** · 11-17-08

Very nicely done..

..Thanks for the pic's, I have it bookmarked, its a nice guide..

nafljhy · 11-17-08

that was one heck of a job timlander. i bet it would fit right in with some nice furniture.

OC_RoB · 11-17-08

Thanks for taking the time to post pics as you built! Looks very good and very appreciated.

+rep for you!

cltitus · 11-17-08

pretty nice setup that actually wouldnt look to bad even if you have 3 radiators. nice work

Timlander · 11-18-08

Thanks guys!!! I worked real hard on it.

OC'ing Noob · 11-18-08

Don't you want shrouds on that thing? Since you are making a radbox, space shouldnt be an issue and for those fans, you definitely want a shroud.

Timlander · 11-18-08

Um if you actually read the whole thing, you would have seen that i incorporated the shroud with it.

Sorry if i sound a little pissy, but how do you expect to comment on a topic if you havent even read it?

**CL3P20** · 11-18-08

Plastic spacers + foam insulation = sealed shroud

Nice job..do you plan on leaving it that color..or staining it dark?..

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[Project] Rad-Box {480}-COMPLETED!!!

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