| Building a Wooden PC Case 1st attempt at building a timber PC case. A mixture of MDF, hardwood veneer, and real mahogany, oh and some tin (aluminium) foil to make this wooden PC case. |
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| Building myself a wooden computer case was an idea
that had been floating around for some time. This project started from a desire to get
away from metal and plastic. So I decided to use what I had lying around.
A
very old but working Abit BE6 ATX Motherboard (circa 1998), a slimline DVD drive from a defunct laptop,
some MDF off cuts, and the remains of a mahogany table with wood worm!
The new bits - kitchen foil, screws, glue and polish! Total cost about £5
and about a days work all in - spread over a few weeks but 8 - 9 hours
in total. I used an old metal case as a template and modified the design as I went along to keep it as small as possible, given the ATX form factor + standard PSU I could not make it any smaller. The finished unit is standard Hi Fi unit width - 435mm Built in Feb 2010 with a 1998/9 motherboard, a 2005 DVD drive, a 2003 hard drive and the remains of a circa 1910 mahogany table top!! |
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| Riser slots at rear need to be as big as possible as the depth of the 12mm MDF rear panel can restrict the connection of external peripherals | |
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| Lined with kitchen foil stuck with photo mount spray worked really well and provided a real RF shield! (Drill as many holes etc in the MDF before sticking foil as it is quite fragile, especially if you don't give plenty of time for the adhesive to dry! | |
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| Fitting MB support posts (again drill before
fitting foil) There are also vent holes at the bottom front of base to add airflow over the MB |
Side vent holes - I used an old metal case as drill
guide. A bit of veneer and a few bits of mahogany I had lying around (Excessive for this trial run but... had to give it a go!) |
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| Almost done, a bit of french polish | Fitting an almost antique Abit/Intel PIII (850Mhz) ATX mb etc! Then line with self adhesive foam to reduce noise. |
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| Stuff it all in! | Slimline DVD drive fixed to lid on ide cable |
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| Up and working.... honest - very quiet, reasonably cool but an old PIII is not that hot anyway. | |
| So, now I know it can be done, have seen some of the challenges, and some ideas for the next proper attempt. The main challenge was alignment of MB support posts and rear i/o ports. Being wooden, fixing PSU and IO cards etc requires different screws. (long self tapping screws will do for PSU) Next time, base and rear panel will be removable in one section, then front, top, and sides will be second section. Drive lights etc will be close together and probably down one side or in a moulding along with power switch. USB/firewire/iPod dock/audio etc will be in the top at the rear. Top and sides will overhang rear panel by 40-60mm to help hide connections better. Drive cage(s)??
So the NEXT PROJECT - A high quality quiet wooden HTPC that is virtually silent. Either an m-ATX or m-ITX case with SSD drives and pico itx PSU to keep it nice and quiet, and of course slim, unlike the monster above.
Visitor Questions and Comments
Name: Steve
Name: MettaBiz
Name: Roy
Name: MettaBiz
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