The Computer Case Project

Building the case

Basic structure

When all - well almost all - details had been worked out we started working on the case. The first thing was of course to get the basic material, so we went and bought a sheet of MDF and cut it into the right pieces. There was enough material left over for a whole other case. We'll see what fun we can come up with for that...

After the pieces were cut we started to draw the lines for the cutting holes. After carefully checking the measurements at least three times we started cutting. Two intake holes at the bottom of the case, three slots for 5.25" drives at the front, one exhaust hole, the PSU hole and I/O shield and PCI slot holes at the back.

After all the holes had been cut, it was time to assemble the case. The top, front, bottom and rear were glued and nailed together and then glued and nailed to the right side piece of the case. The right side serves both as outer shell and motherboard attachment, so no extra motherboard plate is used.

Fans

The exhaust fan needed a grill, so we made one from some wire net we had lying around. It turned out pretty nicely. In the pictures below it's just being test fitted, the net was trimmed a lot on the inside to fit better.

Next, we started on fitting the fans by fitting screws around the fan holes. The screw heads are lowered into the MDF board. Filling the holes with filler will make the surface nice and smooth. Test fitting the fans showed that we were on the right track.

Round-offs

The case is supposed to have rounded edges at the top and bottom of the front. This will make the case look less like a wooden box and more like something with a little shape. In order to accomplish this we added a triangle of wood as extra material. We then cut the corner straight off with a circle saw. Unfortunately the blade was too shallow and we hade to cut the last bit by hand. This didn't make any difference though, the usage of the circle saw made the cut straight enough.

After cutting the corners (off!) the edges were softened using a rotating sander with various grit papers. The result turned out rather nice so far.

Side door

The left side panel of the case opens like a door, as this was the easiest way we could think of to do it in. The hinges are regular cupboard door hinges we had lying around. We made cuts into the bottom board to accommodate the hinges and still make the door close shut.

The closing mechanism for the door is a brass motherboard standoff that has been cut and sunk into the surface of the rear board. The standoff is super glued into the hole. A metal piece is super glued to the door to match the hole on the rear board. A single thumb screw holds the door in place when it's closed.

The door is removed by sliding it backwards separating the hinges. The last two pictures also show the filler used to cover the holes for the fan screws.