Project Quintessence

[voigts]

The scrollwork looks pretty good to me.

A laser would burn the wood and thus would require copious amounts of sanding.

Thanks Rich. I called and talked to a guy who does laser cutting locally, and he said that he can only go 1/4", and at that thickness, the edges would be charred.

Impressive!

Thanks.

Wowzers! Came out looking amazing, Gary!

1 1/2" thick oak with a scroll saw!?
You must have arms like Ahhnold. You should show off your guns on your next update.

No great arms here to be sure, but definitely too much of a gut! It doesn't take any real strength per se, it just takes a lot of patience.

Actually, I see what voigts is talking about as far as "inconsistencies" (just zoom in on the last pic). If I went through all that work and it turned out like it did, I probably be a little bit disappointed. In fact, I probably would have tried to fix them (If I thought I could) before going any further. Not trying to sound like an arse, it's just the perfectionist in me (and if I'm not mistaken, voigts too).

voigts, could you maybe do the scroll work on a full sized (h x w) 1/4" piece and then use 1/2" piece with the proper size hole in it underneath and glue/dowel/screw the 2 pieces together after the scroll work was done?

You feel my pain. I have yet to sand off the paper from the front piece, and I suspect that it will be a bit more on target than the top piece which was on the bottom of the two when I cut them. I could use a 1/4" piece on the top panel, but the front panel has to have a 3/4" piece to work due to its shape.

[voigts]

Front Panel Contour

I sanded off the paper from the front panel, and as I suspected, it is closer to the intended pattern. I worked a bit on straightening out the edges of the scrollwork on the front panel with the scrollsaw. Before I get hot and heavy with filing, I figured it would make sense to get the front panel curved first. My new-to-me table saw has a router mount on it, so I mounted my new Sears router onto the table saw and routed the channels down the front piece. I exported an image of the end contour of the front piece into Photoshop, and printed a template onto card stock. I then traced the curve of the template on the ends of the front piece.



I used a belt sander with a 60 grit belt to sand down the front to match the contour that I traced onto the ends. I stared with an angle, then kept sanding down. The belt sander allowed me to get a nice flat sand to the front. I kept checking my sanding against the ends that I traced.





Here is a shot with one side done.



Here is the front panel with the contour sanded. The panel right now is wider and taller than it is going to be, but this is on purpose to avoid nicks to the edges until I am ready to cut them to the proper size.





Now I've got a bunch of filing to do. I am very pleased with the way the contour has worked out. It has turned out better than I expected.

Until next time. Thanks for stopping by.

[Waterlogged]

Good to see you got lucky on the front voigts. It turned out real nice.

Are you still going to redo the top?

Keep up the excellent work.

[shazza]

That looks great. The contour idea is nifty.

[CptDreadFlint]

Another great update, Gary!
You're a wizard with your belt sander.
Superb execution in getting the panel so flat and evenly sanded.

[voigts]

Good to see you got lucky on the front voigts. It turned out real nice.

Are you still going to redo the top?

Keep up the excellent work.

Thanks. I'm first going to see how much sanding/filing/work I think it is going to take once I finish the front. Obviously I don't want to recut it if I can reasonably work it out otherwise.

That looks great. The contour idea is nifty.

Thank you Sharon. I wanted to try to get away from the rectangular boxy look that is just all too easy to end up with. I really think the front contour will set it apart and add a lot of style.

Another great update, Gary!
You're a wizard with your belt sander.
Superb execution in getting the panel so flat and evenly sanded.

Thanks Rick. It really isn't very hard at all. The sanding wasn't anything that anyone else can't do. It just takes an even hand and a bit of patience. I'm really very pleased with the curve. Of course it isn't perfect, but it is pretty doggone close-close enough that even running your hand over it, you barely feel any unevenness in the curve.

I've spent about 5 1/2 hours total so far filing away, and hopefully should get the front licked in another couple of hours. Its really tedious work.

[voigts]

Front Panel Scrollwork Sanding Done

I've got the front scrollwork sanding done. It turned out pretty good. There are of course minor imperfections, but at this point they aren't enough that to me they stand out.







After spending many hours sanding, I have been looking for some kind of idea to speed up the process on the top piece, not to mention the fact that I have yet to do the side pieces. In order to get in-between the scrollwork, I am having to use needle files as they are small and thin.

This New Years Day, I used a 25% off coupon at Harbor Freight Tools and picked up an oscillating mulitool.





I took a blade from it and ground down the blade with a bench grinder so that I have a thin piece about 3/16” wide. I needed the one side to be curved, so I also ground down the one side to be a bit curved. Using some sticky sided sandpaper, I gave it a try today and although it of course can't do everything, I think this is going to save me a lot of time. It sands down curves very nicely.











Thanks for stopping by.

[cityofglass88]

This is going to be beautiful. Can't wait to see more.

[voigts]

Top Panel Scrollwork Sanding Done

I have for the most part finally finished sanding the scrollwork on the top piece. The scrollwork isn't perfect, but I think I've managed to get most of the flaws down the point where they are very minor. I spent I think about 10 hours off and on working on sanding this scrollwork on the top piece. The variable speed multitool really sped up the work on this.

It was a bit cold out today so my flannel shirt made it into the bottom of the picture.





On a personal note, my wife, daugher, and I had a bit of fun last Saturday. We drove to Detroit, MI (took the mother-in-law back home :smile, and while we were there, we went to the annual International Auto Show. I'm not a car connoisseur really, but it was fun to see what is out there. I've never been to a show like this.

They had some very nice Bentleys on display. Talk about expensive. The top model has a base price of $285,000 – ouch!



Ford has a neat new car called the C-Max.



Here are a couple of concept cars. The first by Honda, and the second by Toyota.





This shot is probably the only time I'll be getting behind the wheel of a new Mercedes convertible. Sweet car.



There were a ton of different cars there from about every car company to include ones I've never heard of.

Anyway, back to modding...

Thanks for stopping by.

[shazza]

Really liking the way the scroll work is turning out.

Loved the car shots ... thanks for sharing. Do ya miss your mother-in-law already?

[voigts]

Really liking the way the scroll work is turning out.

Loved the car shots ... thanks for sharing.

Thanks Sharon. Are you about done with all of that traveling yet?

Do ya miss your mother-in-law already?

I'll just put it this way. I doubt she misses me either. Polite tolerance are the words that come to mind.

[callen_1]

Wow, i had a lot of catching up to do!

The scroll work turned out fantastic, especially once you sharpened all the edges and corners. You must be really happy with the result . And I bet that cutting tool was a godsend, nice little mod to the cutting bit too .

You've made some great progress mate, keep up the awesome work. Just a couple of panels and some paint and you'll be laughing (of course it's never that easy though )

Best of luck mate,
Callen

[voigts]

Wow, i had a lot of catching up to do!

The scroll work turned out fantastic, especially once you sharpened all the edges and corners. You must be really happy with the result . And I bet that cutting tool was a godsend, nice little mod to the cutting bit too .

You've made some great progress mate, keep up the awesome work. Just a couple of panels and some paint and you'll be laughing (of course it's never that easy though )

Best of luck mate,
Callen

Thanks Callen. I wish it was just as easy as you make it sound! I know that you are very aware that the details can seem to take forever sometimes.

[voigts]

Edge Trim

I spent several hours making the edge trim pieces. It is very important that these pieces are as exact as possible, as they effect the entire rest of the case. I was very meticulous to get them as straight and accurate as possible.

I first printed out a shot with dimensions from Sketchup.



When you use a router you need a flat surface on the piece being routed so that the piece stays square with the router bit. So, I first cut the curve for the edges before using the router to remove the middle material.



For the two top pieces, I also had to remove material on the bottom for the edge overhang. This took forever as the router bit would only cut about 1/32” at a time smoothly, and I had to remove 5/16” of material. I finished the removal with my table saw. I was using a 3/4” cutting bit, so I had to use the table saw to finish removing the width of the groove. I probably could have cut the entire slot with the table saw, but it is hard to get slots like this really accurate with a table saw sometimes, whereas with a router, you can get the depth exactly what you want.

I also cut the 45 degree angle on the ends. Here is an end view of a top edge piece.



Here's a few shots of kind of how the pieces fit together. The trim will not be sitting directly on the front metal of the case. I am making a spacer that will move the trim 1/4” away from the front, and the front wood piece 1/2” away from the metal front to allow for lighting.







You will notice that the pieces are longer than they need to be. One thing I've learned when routing pieces is that you always want to make your piece larger than you need. When routing, it is very easy to damage the ends a bit as you pull the piece across the router bit. Also, if you make a goof in cutting angles on the end, you can just recut them.

I have to drill holes in the metal to mount these pieces, and then I can cut the front and top pieces to width and cut these to length.

Thanks for stopping by.

[callen_1]

Nice routing and great fit . And you just finished saying it wasn't easy .

[Alexandr0s]

Great job! Any picture with the front panel placed on the front of the case?

[voigts]

Nice routing and great fit . And you just finished saying it wasn't easy .

Thanks Callen.

Great job! Any picture with the front panel placed on the front of the case?

I had to get the edge mouldings made and get them fastened before I cut the front and top panels to width. Needless to say I need to make sure I get the width right on the panels BEFORE cutting. Its so easy to take away wood, but so hard to add it back... (I speak from experience here).

[Alexandr0s]

...(I speak from experience here).

I've built enough things from wood to know exactly what you mean. I probably have to redo a top panel because I didn't get the size right . Ah well, at least when I need to redo things, it isn't as crazy as that awesome front panel of yours . I'd almost get depressed if I messed something up there .

[shazza]

Definitely a worklog I can't resist clicking on when I see an update! Good stuff.

(OT ... no travel for the next few months, but a few roadblocks in the way of me finishing my build right now ... hopefully we'll see some action in a couple of weeks)

[Alexandr0s]

Good to hear !

[voigts]

Definitely a worklog I can't resist clicking on when I see an update! Good stuff.

(OT ... no travel for the next few months, but a few roadblocks in the way of me finishing my build right now ... hopefully we'll see some action in a couple of weeks)

It will be about time for some kind of modding action from you! You've been silent far too long now. Maybe your husband found out about that pic of him you posted a while back in your worklog and got mad and banned you for a while...

[voigts]

But he seemed so happy when she took that picture

You found that picture? That must have taken a bit of digging.


Before I set about cutting the edge mouldings and front/top panels, I figured I had better decide whether or not I am going to watercool this case as I would have to decide on radiator placements. After much messing around in Sketchup, I've finally come to the conlusion that I am going to watercool it, and in order to do so, the best way to put two dual radiators is to have one top mounted and the other bottom mounted. The case does have to be raised up by 1 1/4” (31.75mm) , but this simply is the best way that I can come up with to get dual rads in this case and still allow for easy wiring management. Here are a couple of quick renders to show the internal layout that I'm working toward.





Bottom Radiator Mounting

In order to mount a radiator in the bottom, I had to change the cutout in the bottom aluminum piece. I didn't want to recreate the bottom piece entirely as that would be a pain. I instead modeled and made an aluminum plate to sit on top of the case bottom to mount the radiator to. I cut out the case bottom, and made the mount. Here is how is all fits together.







Thanks for stopping by.

[ScottALot]

Wooden fan? It'd be slow, but it'd look sick!

[Church]

Hmm, from Scott's post i started thinking - why not stick some vinyl decals or something like that with wooden looks on almost everywhere possible? Like all the metallic surfaces of motherboard tray and so on. Slot L brackets could be made from wood as well (or again with that vinyl). Same for radiator shroud.

[voigts]

I am planning on either painting, or if I can afford it, powdercoating the aluminum case frame in a copper hammertone paint. I think the copper hammertone will look really good with the wood. I'll have to think about the fans though. The ones I'm using for fitting are just old yate loons, but I'll be using Gentle Typhoons, and from what I've read, the Gentle Typhoons don't take well to paint as they can easily get out of balance.