Wood~N~Glass 2

Jimbo64

Howdy, my name is Jim, aka Jimbo64

I've been modding cases/PCs for about 7 years now. I've done the repaints, the mega chrome look, the UV everything, yada yada yada.

2 years ago my son wanted something different, and with an Asian theme.

We decided on wood and glass, and massive size.

You may have seen it on the web already, its been on a few blogs here and there.







Its made with Canarywood, copper sheet, stained glass, and a bunch of lead solder

I retired my old rig (to the wife, which is getting a custom case next) and started a new build, the parts are in my sig. I decided I liked my son's rig so much, I'm building myself one along the same lines.

The frame is 7/8ths x 7/8ths Canarywood connected by hand made copper corners.



Each corner bracket started as a flat piece of sheet, and was bent/hammered to create the finished piece. They are then soldered together, and a solder finish is added. I then patina them to get the antique look.



The front panel gets 4 80mm fans, with custom made grills, custom power switch and custom power and HDD activity lights. The front will get patina added once I'm done assembling it.

It will have 4 devices in it, listed top to bottom. Sony DVD burner, M-Play Blast, Sony DVD burner, Multi-IO panel. They will also have the solder/patina finish.



Just a closer view



This is my motherboard mount. Its made from opaque black glass like the case floor is. (the white-ish powdery look on all the patina, is the wax on the finish. I wont do final buffing until its all complete)



Here are the custom fan grills. One is bent and ready to mount, the other has just been waxed but needs bending to fit. They are made from copper foil tape, twisted wire, and brass screen. They will cover the front fans.



A closer view...



This is a Multi I/O card reader. It was off white plastic with cheesy writing and stuff, now it has a patina/lead finish. It still needs buffing and wax. This is the look I will apply to the M-Play Blast face, and my DVD drives.



The top piece is the paper pattern for the front fan mounts, and the bottom one is the pattern for the front grills.

I realize this look isnt for most people, but I'm 44 years old and dont really want Power Rangers, or Half-Life themed stuff in my living room My house is full of hardwood and stained glass, so this works for me.

My back panel will actually be a glass door, 4 fans and my power supply. All the I/O stuff will be inside the case, with only the cables running out thru a small opening.

I've been asked a zillion times, "Hows the glass hold up to the heat?" So I'll answer that one now, lol. Glass handles heat fine, and the cases never see anything above 85 degrees so no worries

I'll post more pics in a few days when I have more done.

Jimbo-

oh dang

Amazing. I like the case in the background more though, its got more of an asian feel to it. Great job though on both.

rakudakaji

Hey, was that in CPU magazine a few months ago? I know they had a case mod similar to that, and maybe it's yours!

Looks nice though, great job!

UNLIKELY1

I love it!! The copper around the I/O looks awesome. Very teadiouse work I bet. I am a carpenter/cabinet maker and have thought about doing something like this. The staindglass is very original. Beautiful Beautiful work Jim!! Congrats and pluss rep!!

Edit: By the way I am at my moms today for the 4th. I showed her this. She loves your work. She said " now there is a computer I wouldnt mind having in my living room". She's 71yrs old. Im 45 and whats the matter with Halflife?

SacredTbag

yep i've seen it before, no idea where though, it was quite a while ago. still, awesome work. very original. you don't see many mods of this quality :)


hahaha! that made me LOL

Jimbo64

Nothing wrong with Half-Life...

Just seems the biggest gripe people had on the last one, was that it didnt have a Bio-hazard symbol, or a half life theme, LOL.

The really tedious part for me is working front to back and having to wait on each step.

I'm setting up the bay drive area, which will also contain the HDD rack (behind the top 2 fans). The bay devices will be covered from view, but the HDDs will not. I want the least amount of wiring showing possible, so I'm building conduit (copper) that will carry the wiring from the front to the motherboard area. And another that will cover the power supply wiring and carry it to the motherboard as well.

So lots of "put it together" "Take it apart" stuff going on, lol.

Anyway, thanks for the comps, and rep points, much appreciated.

Jimbo-

Jimbo64

The down side to working with glass?

Dont drop tools on it!

I dropped my tin snips on the front panel glass while adding the drive mounts, and cracked two pieces of the glass.

So, from mistakes come new ideas, so I'm making a new and different front panel...


Jimbo-

millerm277

Beautiful job, looks amazing.

SacredTbag

ouch, not good! well, hopefully it comes out alright. i don't think i've ever done a mod that didn't have something like this happen...

5k posts!!!

Jimbo64

Just finished my custom CCFL setup.

I wanted something small to mount on the inside edge of the top fore/aft wood rails. Something you wouldnt really notice unless it was turned on.

These are it



Turned off...



Turned on...

They are just under 3/16ths square.

Jimbo-

Jimbo64

Finished my DVD drives and M-Play Blast.

These are just sitting in my temp rig while I finish this case build. (the sunbeam light controller is just filling the hole in the case)



The front panel is pretty much finished, and the power supply is now mounted, so maybe more pictures tomorrow.

Jimbo-

Jimbo64

Temp test of the side and top panels. I'm pretty happy with it so far.



Later today/tonight I'll mount the drives in the front and replace the clear fans with my black units and mount the motherboard rack and the motherboard I'm using in the build.

Jimbo-

Tvangeste

That is just simply amazing.

m0f0iswin

wow the stain glass effect reminds me of a church I used to go to , absolutely stunning can't wait to see what it looks like with a bit more lighting :)

UNLIKELY1

This is incredible work Jim!! Absolutely beautiful!! Cant say enough.
My mom has been watching your progress as well. She loves it!
I like the white CCFL. It would be such a shame to junk it up with any other color.Good choice. Cant wait to see the finished product!!

Jimbo64

Its all finished other than needing another cleaning once I get some more glass cleaner, lol.



The power button is the glass diamond. It has the power and HDD activity LED behind it.



With my HDD mount in place. Its the area above the drive bays behind the top 2 fans.



Sitting on my desk all fired up. I'm kind of peeved off that I missed the fact that the power supply had a blue LED fan in it. I guess once I'm sure it isnt defective, I'll open it up and disconnect the LEDs.

I'll post more pictures once I set up the tripod and finish cleaning a few areas.

C-ya, Jimbo-

Grez

AMAZING work, Jimbo! I actually have seen the project you posted at the top on other sites before. Very, very nice, and your current one is every bit as impressive as well.

Welcome to the forum!

Jimbo64

Thanks Grez!

Stay tuned for my next case build I'm starting this week. Lots of polished aluminum and....

Well, just watch for it, lol.

Jimbo-

UNLIKELY1

Impressive!! I like the clean back side. But what I think is most impressive is the mother board Rack (cant call it a tray). How did you mount the IO panels on the motherboard? Its hard to tell from the pics.
Beautiful!!

Jimbo64

Here is a link to a bigger picture of the rear. In this pic you can see the gap between the door and the PSU mount where the cables exit.

http://www.jimbo64.com/WG2/WG2_16L.jpg

Jimbo-