Amazing wood work:eek:
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Amazing wood work:eek:
I completely agree on the constructive criticism regarding the rad grill side panel, and I really do appreciate it. I want to get the case itself finished so that I can start tearing mine down and moving into it. I am hoping to get the last two coats of finish on the case today, and if I can, it needs a day or so to really dry well during which time I may give the side panel another go. I can easily work on finishing a side panel redo while putting moving my parts over to this new case.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rise
It really is very hard to get the cutouts just perfect. The arm on my scroll saw isn't deep enough to make all the cuts with it alone, so I have to drill out the holes for the ends. But my desktop drill press isn't deep enough to make all of the holes either, so I have to use a drill. It is very hard to get the holes exactly where you want them by hand. I think what I'm going to do is to use a bit smaller dia holes of 1 3/8" (instead of 1 1/2") with a wood spade bit and leave 3/8" between each cutout instead of the current attempt at 1/4". 1/4" is simply too thin.
Edit-- I measured the arm on my scrollsaw and it is should be long enough to be able to cut out all of the pieces, so that is what I will do as I should be able to get them straight with it.
So good Voigts :D :toast:
Yeah, I can't imagine even trying to do those holes by hand... had I tried, it would have been 1 big open rectangle, no slots :rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by voigts
I don't really know much about wood working - but would a router + jig be easier than trying to scroll it out? I've used a scroll saw before and I know it can be hard to get perfectly straight lines. I'm guessing the size of the material might be too fragile for a router but again, I'm not well versed in making things out of wood. The only other thing I would have suggested would be to use a forstner bit but you already did that...
Either way, I'm sure you'll figure it out :yepp: :up:
I had considered using a router, but I think that would and up being more trouble than its worth, and I'm not sure a router would play well with thin plywood.
I've got all of the cutouts marked out, and about to get at re-cutting the holes this time with the scroll saw. I made sure to leave a 3/8" gap between holes this time.
I used a plain old wood spade bit this afternoon to cut the circles, and then my scrollsaw for the straight cuts between the circles. My scrollsaw for some reason just didn't want to cut the circles out right. After some Dremel sanding and Mouse sanding, the new rad side looks 100% better than the first attempt. It was worth spending the morning redoing it. I've got one coat of stain drying on it now.
Great update! I know how tough those front & top trim pieces must have been but you came through as usual! :)
This pic certainly brings the whole tube routing issue into excellent focus and I'm sorry I said anything now - but you know how that is. You obviously made the right choice to route the tubing/pipe in front of the res.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...dsMounted3.jpg
I've been considering your grill problem and really don't think modder's mesh would blend with the design of the piece. But if you're willing to go with holes that large have you considered hardware cloth with simple semi-flat black paint? Hardware cloth could be cut to fit the rad openings and attached to the rad frame rather than the side piece. Those cut ends, if left long instead of trimmed to the cross-wire, make good inserts. Other than that speaker grill material has very little air resistance but might be a pain to keep clean and I doubt you can find modern grill fabric in the right color (didn't you research that the last build?).
I also though about the design you used. Not bad but I might have picked up the other openings in the front panel instead of the dominant one. Those four side openings with the offset horizontal break and squarish bottoms might make an interesting pattern over the space of the side panel. No reason I know of that the curved part of the pattern couldn't stick up above the rads so you wouldn't have any air restriction. Probably be a lot tougher job to cut though. Just a thought (and please forgive the bad Paint copy/paste image - they should all be the same height/scale).
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&pictureid=686
I won't say "Keep up the good work" because I know you will - but do keep up the great posts! Seeing your progress as you've laid it out is an inspiration to many, including me ... ;)
:up: I'm glad to hear you gave it a 2nd go! I'm really looking forward to seeing this all come together now. I feel like its getting close :yepp:Quote:
Originally Posted by voigts
thanks for the usual encouragement!Quote:
Originally Posted by QuietIce
I've got a couple of mosquito mesh type fabrics that I'm trying to dye brown to see if they will work, but speaker fabric simply won't work as in the last project as it simply doesn't breathe enough.
I'm going to take a look at that hardware cloth you mentioned and see what I can find.
As for the sides, I had the debate going in my mind as to what to do there. I originally was going to go with just plain rectangular cutouts for the rads as there was no decoration to the sides originally with these radios, but the more I looked at it, the less I liked the idea. I didn't want something on the sides however that would draw attention away from the front. That is really more why I want with the shape that I did on the side cutouts. They were somewhat of a pain to do as is, but trying to do the design from the front that you sketched would be a really major pain, and I think would draw away too much attention from the front. Maybe I'm wrong, but at this point I've got both sides done and am happy with what I've got. Thanks for the ideas.
Just dropping in to say WOW! :clap:
Sorry I can't really contribute with something useful, but I'm sure this build is going to be a big inspiration to alot of people (including me)!
Just great looking, love the design! :up:
Also a big fan of stealthy builds, so this is really doing it for me.
How right you are about my proposed design drawing away from the great detail work you've done on the front. If it were sitting in front of me I'd have seen that but, as with so many things, it's different when you're not there ...Quote:
Originally Posted by voigts
Thank you for chiming in. I hope others will get with it and show me up as I know there are others out there who can!Quote:
Originally Posted by Laine
Thank you for chiming in. I hope others will get with it and show me up as I know there are others out there who can, although there may not be others as crazy as me to spend way too much time and money building something like this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Laine
How true that is. I looked at this over and over again in Sketchup, and think that the side panel design does what I want it to do.Quote:
Originally Posted by QuietIce
I went to Home Depot this morning and got a roll of 1/4" 23 gauge hardware cloth which is exactly what I was looking for. I wouldn't have found it without your tip. It should be just enough to keep hair out but not be restrictive.
Recut the Rad Side Panel
As I mentioned, I wasn't satisfied with the radiator side panel. So I took one morning and remade it. I am much more pleased with the remade panel. I still had to drill the holes and cut the rest out with the scroll saw, but I used a spade bit which worked out much better. I left 3/8" between each cutout which made all the difference.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...09/radSide.jpg
Stained, Urethaned, and Starting to Put It All Together
I put the dial together with the mock radio acrylic radio needles.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...Jul09/dial.jpg
Here are some shots of how it looks at the moment. I am very pleased with how the finish came out. The stain is Ace hardware walnut. Their stains cost a bit less than Miniwax or the like and work fine. I put on two coats of stain. I used General Finishes Urethane for the top coat which was recommended to me on my last project. This stuff is great to work with as it goes on very smooth and doesn't easily run like polyurethane does which is a huge plus when working with so many small detailed areas.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...9/urethane.jpg
I used semi-gloss and gave everything 3 coats, making sure to lightly sand out any rough spots between each coat of stain and each coat of finish. I followed up with a good wipe down with furniture polish. The finish is literally baby-butt smooth.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ul09/front.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...l09/front1.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...l09/front2.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...l09/front3.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...Jul09/back.jpg
Bottom
I mounted the two bottom intake fans and the DVD drive. I bought some brown strip furniture felt to line the bottom of the case with so that the bottom of the case doesn't scratch or get scratched.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...l09/bottom.jpg
New Reservoir Mounts
For whatever reason, I just haven't liked the look of the reservoir mounts that I made. I saw this idea on another case online and kind of borrowed the idea. I took my measuring tape and picked up a piece of 2" schedule 80 PVC coupler. The inside measures 2 3/8", and the OD of my res is 2 1/4". I cut the pieces at a 10 degree angle using a miter saw, drilled countersunk holes, painted them, lined it all up, and mounted them to the air chamber using #4 bolts and nuts. I drilled and tapped holes for the #6-32 x 3/8" set screws to hold the res. I found this idea of set screws instead of normal screws while looking for something to mount the front grill cloth. They just have a thread with a small regular screwdriver slot to tighten them. I used some small rubber foam pads between the screws and the res and on the backside between the res and mounts so that the mounts grip the res well and don't scratch it.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...Jul09/pads.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...voirMounts.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...resMounted.jpg
I just got the front grill clothe attached this morning, and have cut out and painted the grills for the other openings. I used small carpet tacks to nail it to the mounting frame, and then screwed that to the case. I thought about gluing on the cloth, but I want it to be removable if necessary.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...grillCloth.jpg
I am almost ready to tear down my system and start moving the guts into the new case!
fantastic work man!! to think that that is a computer is mind boggling. I love it! :up:
Wrote a post before but the forum crashed. :(
Anyways, looks superb, love the meter in the front.
I just hope you'll spend som time on the cable management, and possibly a bit of sleeving as well?:up:
Would be cool with some kind of steampunk theme on the inside.
Excellent work! I really like the way the stain/color came out and I think you've raised the bar on the finish from the last build - that's beautiful!! :up:
Nice idea for the res. I've been looking for some type of solution to that type of mount and I think you've found it.
Looking forward to the inside pics, but your work on the outside detail and finish will over-shadow all else ... :)
After all of this work, there is no way I'm just going to stuff wires in there any old way. That is why I bought a Corsair 620 modular PSU. I will say though that cable management won't be as easy as I'd like with this setup due to the PSU placement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Laine
I'm very pleased with how the finish turned out. It really looks a lot nicer than I anticipated.Quote:
Originally Posted by QuietIce
I was looking and brainstorming for a better way to mount the res, and I saw a variant of this idea on another rig online. That rig used acrylic tubing for the mounts and was larger in diameter. I really like the mounts as they are very secure, yet compact and don't take away from the looks of the res. They were a piece of cake to make.
Voigts, much respect man, you've done a fabulous job so far!
:clap:
voigts, looking great. I love how that walnut stain makes the woodgrain pop, simply gorgeous. :up:
I've been keeping an eye on your current build and it isn't exactly shaggy you know. You pay incredible attention to detail.Quote:
Originally Posted by SNiiPE_DoGG
Thank you :).Quote:
Originally Posted by Waterlogged
WOW, looks incredible with the finish applied.
:clap:Beautiful work..:up:
Sorry if this has been said before but...
I just got back from seeing Public Enemies and there is a scene in the 2nd half of the movie when John Dillinger is listening to the radio. I swear it is the same model as what you are basing your case on, when I saw it I thought of this build.
The movie is set in 1933 I believe.
That is too funny. This Zenith radio was a very common radio during the mid 1930s.Quote:
Originally Posted by nipper575
You know however that you are online too much when you go to a movie and think of a computer case log!