Thanks for all of the positive feedback so far.

Quote Originally Posted by DarthBeavis View Post
i love all the pre-planning. Now if you just learn to work in Solidworks and buy a CnC router and lathe
That's not even a fair suggestion! Actually I looked around quite a bit at CnC routers, and so far all I can do is lust. Unfortunately I don't have a few extra thousand dollars laying around waiting for something to spend it on. That would be just too sweet.

Quote Originally Posted by liguhy View Post
Nice stuff! Allow me to give a little constructive criticism, even though I don't know much about woodworking.

I've absolutely loved the front design of every wood case I've seen from you (and the top of your previous one), but the side panels (and back panel to some extent, but you can only do so much there) seem to just be holes for fans/rads. How did the old radios/wood electronics of that era deal with cooling? Not sure how much you've looked into that area, but the side panels just don't seem to be up to the same uberness as the rest of the case.

Also, props to the mobo tray/radiator mount idea. I assume it won't be a very removable tray once the rads are installed, but with proper internal structure supports, I could be wrong. Are the row of holes parallel to and above the rads the only air exhaust for the radiator air chamber? I'm unsure how you're sealing the bottom. Regardless, I imagine a few really quiet, small RPM fans mounted parallel to the case floor to help move air towards the row of exhaust holes above the radiators would really help airflow for the radiators. What's the mm depth of that air chamber? You can get a few or a whole row of fans as small as 40mm or even try a crossflow fan.

On a side note, ever thought about just mounting the rads on the bottom of the case? Designs of that area loved molding on the bottom and it seems the extra interior volume right above the floor the case is on would provide a good intake for the radiator's air.
If you don't "know much about woodworking," then what do you call your awesome case? An intelligent mistake?

I more than welcome constructive criticism. As for how radios handled cooling, they simply were all open in the back. That obviously is not going to be a real option here given the need to have side panel access and the mounting of the MB and PCI back panel.

None of the Tombstone era radios have any kind of side ornamentation at all. The front panels were decorative, but the sides were all plain with no holes whatsoever. Just the backs were open.

I wrestled with what to do with the side panels since I needed airflow both for the rads and MB. I did consider putting the rads on the bottom both vertically and horizontally next to each other. If mounted horizontally, the case would have to be over 1' wide, which doesn't work when using 1'x12' which is actually 3/4" x 11 1/4". Oak, poplar, and the like aren't readily available any wider. If mounted vertically, the case would end up being too tall to fit in my desk. The deal my wife has with me is that I can make whatever I want, but it has to "look nice" and fit within the desk. Given the desk/room arrangement, it really does need to fit inside of the desk. After considering all of the options, I landed on the current rad placement as being the best option.

As for the side panels, I actually think that very plain sides are in keeping with the designs of the radios of that time period more so than having some kind of decorative trim would.

As for the rad air chamber, I am looking at 1 7/8" (47.6mm) for the internal depth for most of it and 1 7/16" (36.5mm) for the front part. I have to indent some of the front to allow enough room for the pump between the hard drive rack and the air chamber. Since the fans will be pulling air in, I'm not that worried about airflow. I think that the area on top and the slot in the back should be enough to let warmed rad air to exhaust. I also have an open slot in the bottom beneath the rads. I think natural convection should be enough.