# Project: EVGA Classified SR-2 Case



## Spotswood (Apr 3, 2010)

I've been commissioned  to build a very large wooden case to house his upcoming watercooled EVGA Classified SR-2 rig.  This case is designed and built to run cool, quiet and be ultra-flexible for future upgrades.



















Note how the side panels are constructed as air ducts for supplying cool fresh air to the front and sides of the case:







The walls will be constructed of 1.5-inch solid oak face frames with 5.2mm oak veneer plywood "panels" bolted to the inside of the frames and with aluminum "adapters" bolted to the front of the panels.  The openings in the panels are sized to the largest pieces of hardware envisioned to be mounted in a particular location.  The adapters could be exchanged with different adapters depending on what particular hardware is to be mounted in a panel opening.  








Here are the specifications and some of the features of this case.

Physical Characteristics:

External dimensions (HxWxD - inches): 44 x 26.5 x 35.5
Materials:

3/4-inch solid red oak, 3/4-inch and 5.2mm oak veneer plywood.
.100-inch aluminum sheet and 1/8-inch aluminum angle, channel and rectangular tube.
1/8-inch clear acrylic.
Features:

The side doors act as air ducts to supply fresh air from the bottom, top and back of the case to the front/sides.
Unique modular panel construction provides flexibility for the placement of drive bays, fans, power supplies, etc.
Mounting locations for two power supplies.
Air flow is: fresh air enters from the side/front and exhausts out the back.
The bottom case has two custom radiator holders for mounting up to four 140x4 radiators.
The case is actually two separate cases bolted together.
Removable ten slot motherboard tray.
Motherboard tray can be mounted in a horizontal or vertical position.
Powder coated aluminum.
Wood finished with black water-based stain and polyurethane.


The bracket to hold the two Black Ice GTX 560 radiators is a simple affair, consisting of some aluminum 1x2-inch square tubing and channel.






All of the pieces are held together with two long 1/4-inch threaded rods which act as clamps to hold everything together.  The ~4mm tall acrylic bumpers get compressed down to ~2mm to keep the radiators in place:
















All of the aluminum bits will eventually be powder coated gloss black.


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## Assassin48 (Apr 3, 2010)

this is so weird, i was just reading this over at xs LOL


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## jellyrole (Apr 3, 2010)

Can't wait to see this one come together!


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## Athlon2K15 (Apr 3, 2010)

this is going to be epic


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 3, 2010)

why do i have a feeling about who ordered this case is


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## Fitseries3 (Apr 3, 2010)

its not me. 

i have a case for my setup already.


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 3, 2010)

damn, i was SO sure, the rads, MB and what not, 

and yes i know you have a case, but still, could be fun


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## Fitseries3 (Apr 3, 2010)

could be moviemans. not sure though. he mentioned getting one from spotswood.


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## Kantastic (Apr 3, 2010)

This will be even more epic than your original tower.


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## SAL36864 (Apr 3, 2010)

Did not expect to see this here.


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## Cold Storm (Apr 3, 2010)

Your right athlon. It's going to be epic!


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## copenhagen69 (Apr 3, 2010)

very cool cad drawings ... cant wait to see more work


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## HammerON (Apr 3, 2010)

Subscribed
Like the layout so far!


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## cauby (Apr 8, 2010)

looking forward to see the results.best of luck in your project!


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## Soylent Joe (Apr 8, 2010)

You make some of the best looking wood cases I've ever seen. Can't wait to see the end result


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## Spotswood (Apr 12, 2010)

Some serious real life events have kept me out of the shop most of the week.  However, I did manage to create a couple of patterns which I'll use to router out the holes for the 5.25-inch drive bays:







And I built a jig to guide my plunge router to router out the 3/16-inch slots in the 5.25-inch drive bay rails.

















A full size drawing is taped to the .10-inch thick aluminum to guide the placement of the jig.












Two sets of stops are used to accurately position the router at the beginning and ending of each slot.


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## Assassin48 (Apr 12, 2010)

Ill probably be sending you a message for a Sr-2 tray soon


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## Spotswood (Apr 18, 2010)

Fabrication of the 5.25-inch drive bay rails continues.  After breaking all 3 of my 3/16-inch woodworking router bits I ordered some standard end mills and they have performed awesomely.  Because they are run without any lubrication I needed to keep the feed rate really slow. 







After many hours I managed to complete 28 out of the total 35 rails for this case.


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## boulard83 (Apr 18, 2010)

Wow. looking very good. 

Subscribed !


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## copenhagen69 (Apr 19, 2010)

a lot of rails haha 

looking great keep it up


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## Spotswood (Apr 23, 2010)

Tired of routing all of the 5.25-inch drive rails, I switched to fabricating the PSU(s) mounting plate:







I made a router pattern for 5.25-inch drive cage.







And routered out the .10-inch thick aluminum.







The round corners were filed square.













Another pattern was made for the two PSU mounting holes:








Here's the plate (it still needs to be trimmed to its final width):


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## (FIH) The Don (Apr 23, 2010)




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## ERazer (Apr 23, 2010)

Sub, epic for sure!!!


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## Fourstaff (Apr 23, 2010)

Damn, I should paid attention during my DT lessons.


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## Spotswood (Apr 26, 2010)

Next up were the two internal mounting plates for triple 140mm case fans.  







Another aluminum part requires another router template/jig.  A 140mm fan was sacrificed for use as a router template:







3/4-inch aluminum flat bar was epoxied to the fan frame to keep it nice and square.






The fan housing was used as a guide to route out yet another full size jig.  The jig was placed over a double layer of .10-inch aluminum sheet and routed out with a 1/2-inch flush/pattern router bit.







The finished cuts require zero cleanup (filing/sanding).


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## boomstik360 (Apr 26, 2010)

This is getting intense


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## Spotswood (May 14, 2010)

Next up are the bottom mounting plates.








Which requires fab'ing yet another router jig.






G]







The finished result:


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## Spotswood (May 16, 2010)

Now that I know how wide the widest plate is, the PSU mounting plate was cut to width and mounting holes were drilled.







I'm really proud of how well this turned out.






Another plate requires yet another router jig.












Both plates were routed out of one big sheet because the big sheet is easier to clamp to the workbench.

















A test fit:


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## boulard83 (May 16, 2010)

Sweet HDD cage !


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## Asylum (May 16, 2010)

Spotswood said:


> Now that I know how wide the widest plate is, the PSU mounting plate was cut to width and mounting holes were drilled.
> 
> http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/...d SR-2 Case Build/PSUPlatewAMountingHoles.jpg
> 
> ...




Thats some great work man.


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## Spotswood (May 20, 2010)

Filed, sanded, scratched and test assembled the 5.25-inch drive rails to the PSUs mounting plate.


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## Lionheart (May 20, 2010)

Yep, that certainly looks epic, great job bro, wish I had the skillz & knowledge to do that


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## codyjansen (May 20, 2010)

that looks sweet


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## Fitseries3 (May 20, 2010)

you get your board?


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## Spotswood (May 28, 2010)

@Fitseries3:  No board for me sir, I'm just the case builder.


Next up are the 5.25-inch drive rails for the four bottom mounting plates.







These (unfortunately) required a ridiculous amount of time to complete.


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## Spotswood (May 31, 2010)

The fan covers are the last of the aluminum parts (yippee!):







I used a 1/2-inch router bit and an old router template to cut the wiring and tubing slots.

















Now I just need to (re-)prep everything for powder coating and send them all off to the painter's.


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## Spotswood (Jun 15, 2010)

Its time to start making some sawdust!  

Ripped and thickness planed some 1x8-inch red oak into 1.5-inch wide boards to be used as the lower case face frames.







Pre-stained the wood and drilled the pocket holes. 












The bottom of the case was also drilled for pocket screws.







Face frames were assembled with some glue and screws.







A homemade depth gauge was fashioned from some rubber stoppers/bumpers.







The depth gauge was used to drill holes for #8 threaded inserts on the inside of the face frames.  A hex driver made the task of screwing the inserts into the wood easy.







The lower case face frames and bottom all assembled.


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## Bassman_soundking (Jun 15, 2010)

Wow, I have never seen anything like this b4!! This is awesome!


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## Kantastic (Jun 15, 2010)

Bassman_soundking said:


> Wow, I have never seen anything like this b4!! This is awesome!



You gotta see his previous abomination, it's just as amazing.

Edit: http://techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116090


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## Bassman_soundking (Jun 15, 2010)

I am really a car audio installer gone pc crazy. I bought a pre-built case (CM Storm Sniper BE), but now I feel like I shoulda built something crazy!! I will get bored one day and do something like this....way less extreme I am sure though. I hope  have the skills to make it look this good though.


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## Bassman_soundking (Jun 15, 2010)

I need to take up golf or something, I have entirely too much free time. I want to build something like one of those case really badly now. I had never even thought of building a pc case b4. I have built a tv stand and other things.

Thanx Spotswood for doing a pictoral, if you will, of this build. It is very inspiring.


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## Spotswood (Jun 25, 2010)

The top case was built the same way as the bottom.


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## Chicken Patty (Jun 25, 2010)

subbed


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## Spotswood (Jul 3, 2010)

Powder coating came back this week.


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## Cold Storm (Jul 3, 2010)

looks real nice. can't wait to see more.


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## Spotswood (Jul 5, 2010)

Worked on the plywood panels that attach to the frames onto which the aluminum mounting plates are attached.


















#8 threaded inserts were installed by "pulling" them into the plywood (from the back) by simply screwing in a #8 bolt.












The plywood panels are bolted to the inside of the case frame with six stainless steel socket cap screws via threaded inserts.







And the aluminum mounting plates are then bolted to the plywood panels (also with stainless steel socket cap screws) via threaded inserts.







All of this modularity allows for easily switching to different mounting plates and/or panels in the future.


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## Cold Storm (Jul 5, 2010)

Very nice thing to do! good futureproofing.


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## TotalChaos (Jul 5, 2010)

man this is totally sick, I love it. you are obviously a gifted finish carpenter with the heart of a true Geek


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## Spotswood (Jul 10, 2010)

The back panel of the top case required three router jigs for the PSU mounting plate, 10-slot motherboard tray and 92mm fan holes.
























Rear panel can be rotated for a vertical motherboard mounting orientation.


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## Spotswood (Jul 16, 2010)

Another vertical member was added to the opening in the front of the case and the front panel was fabricated just like all the others.


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## Chicken Patty (Jul 16, 2010)

Very nice fab dude


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## Asylum (Jul 16, 2010)

Spotswood said:


> Another vertical member was added to the opening in the front of the case and the front panel was fabricated just like all the others.
> 
> http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/... Classified SR-2 Case Build/TopFrontPanel.jpg
> 
> ...




I see the project is coming along nicely...

Very good job Spots.


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## kyle2020 (Jul 16, 2010)

Must subscribe. Just must.


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## Spotswood (Jul 20, 2010)

The top divider was next.


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## Spotswood (Jul 26, 2010)

Cutouts for accessing and viewing the inside of the top case were routed out of the side panels.  I was able to re-use two router template jigs for the cutouts, although one had to be mod'd to reduce the width of the cutout.  






Threaded inserts were installed in order to attach removable plywood covers over the cutouts.












My next task is to build a shelf to fix that droopy motherboard tray.


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## Spotswood (Jul 31, 2010)

I've been sick all week, but a few days ago I did manage to bang-out a simple support for the motherboard tray.




























Ugh, now I need a nap...


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## (FIH) The Don (Jul 31, 2010)




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## Chicken Patty (Jul 31, 2010)

Hope you get better soon man   That tray looks very nice!  Love the finish on it.  Looking a lot like a MM case, which are great cases by the way


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## mdsx1950 (Jul 31, 2010)

Subscribed! Just for pure epicness


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## Spotswood (Aug 7, 2010)

I managed to spend a few hours in the shop this morning working on fastening the top divider to the case itself.  But just like everything else on this case, nothing is fastened permanently, which meant I needed to install some more threaded inserts.












The divider is attached to the side panel's solid oak rails:


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## DanishDevil (Aug 7, 2010)

Just found this. Sick work! Subbed.


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## Chicken Patty (Aug 7, 2010)

Are those six fan holes in the middle panel for rads?


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## afw (Aug 7, 2010)

Great work ... subbd ...


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## Cold Storm (Aug 7, 2010)

Chicken Patty said:


> Are those six fan holes in the middle panel for rads?



Most likely would be from how he has everything set up.. can be swapped for whatever "type" of rad seems fit for it.. Short loop and clean fit.

But, that's my guess.


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## Spotswood (Aug 7, 2010)

Chicken Patty said:


> Are those six fan holes in the middle panel for rads?



Could be but not likely, since there's room for *four *4x140 radiators in the bottom case.


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## Chicken Patty (Aug 7, 2010)

Would be nice to fit like five rads in there


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## cauby (Aug 8, 2010)

Wow,it's been a long time since i last checked your project man.From the latest pics,the case seen to be shaping up really good.Do u have any idea when will you finish it or u don't have a specific timeframe in mind?


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## Spotswood (Aug 10, 2010)

@cauby - Done when?  ASAP!


Even the most mundane aspects of a build often require many small steps in order for them to come out just right.  For example, in this build the fastening of the side panel covers required having to accurately transfer the locations of several threaded inserts to the covers, which was accomplished by first screwing in some button head screws into the threaded inserts.






Followed by taping a cover perfectly centered over the cutout.  And then using a deep throat clamp, transfer an impression of the button head screw into the backside of the cover.
















Lastly, with all of the fastening and unfastening of bolts into and out of the threaded inserts, some of them started to become loose.  After testing many types of glues, the best method for fixing the loose threaded inserts was to flood the area with Cyanoacrylate glue.  Blue painters tape with punched-out holes was used to prevent getting glue everywhere.


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## (FIH) The Don (Aug 10, 2010)

can i haz your skillz


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## HammerON (Aug 10, 2010)

Wow

Sure injoy the pics and "how to" guides


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## Spotswood (Aug 13, 2010)

Completed the upper case's bottom.







All holes are 140mm and the covers allow tubing to pass to/from the lower case.


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## Spotswood (Aug 14, 2010)

I re-assembled the radiator stand.  Its simple yet elegant with its industrial kick *** looks.


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## Chicken Patty (Aug 14, 2010)

Spotswood said:


> I re-assembled the radiator stand.  Its simple yet elegant with its industrial kick *** looks.
> 
> http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww153/Spotswood_/EVGA Classified SR-2 Case Build/PCRadStand1.jpg
> 
> ...


So if I am right, you made like a housing for both rads?  Looks freakin' great!


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## miahallen (Aug 14, 2010)

The beauty of custom built cases never gets old....excellent work Rich


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## Carlitos714 (Aug 14, 2010)

wow man, i cant wait to see it complete. gonna keep track of your build. good job!


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## Spotswood (Aug 15, 2010)

I made another router template (the last one for this project!) and cut-out the holes in the bottom case's side panels for the radiator intakes.


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## Chicken Patty (Aug 15, 2010)




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## Spotswood (Aug 23, 2010)

I've been working on the case doors, which has been a time consuming task consisting of cutting the 6.2mm-thick oak veneer plywood down to a rough size and then thickening them by gluing strips of 1/2-inch thick birch veneer plywood.
















The panels are trimmed to their final size (less 1.5-inches) and then  3/4-inch square solid oak strips are glued to the edges of the panels to hide the plywood veneers.


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## ERazer (Aug 23, 2010)

thats all


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## (FIH) The Don (Aug 23, 2010)

how much does a case like that cost? dont have to be an exsact figure, just something close

respect to you and you skills


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## Spotswood (Aug 23, 2010)

(FIH) The Don said:


> how much does a case like that cost? dont have to be an exsact figure, just something close
> 
> respect to you and you skills



Roughly three times the cost of a MountainMods Extended Ascension case.


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## (FIH) The Don (Aug 23, 2010)

daym, but not an insane price, after all this is waaaaaaaay more nice imo.

please keep up the great work


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## Spotswood (Aug 30, 2010)

Any unevenness of the plywood trim was quickly dealt with on the jointer.












The doors also function as huge airducts so blocks were glued around the perimeter of the door to offset the door away from the frame of the case.







The doors are attached to the case via a dead-simple "post and hook" mechanism.  The post consists of a #8 socket cap screw, 1/4x1/4-inch aluminum spacer fastened to the case via a threaded insert.






The hook is a slitted piece of .125-inch aluminum flat bar attached to the blocks on the door via more threaded inserts.


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## NAVI_Z (Aug 30, 2010)

skilled craftsman.straight pimpin!!


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## Spotswood (Sep 12, 2010)

With the fabrication of the lower case essentially complete, its on to finishing...sanding, staining and applying wipe-on polyurethane.  With a large piece like this, its essential (for me anyway) to be able to apply finishes comfortably, which I can do sitting down by using a homemade turntable.








The turntable is just the undercarriage of an old office chair.


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## (FIH) The Don (Sep 12, 2010)

thats a pretty sweet idea imo

ill use that in the future


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## Chicken Patty (Sep 12, 2010)

very clever!


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## Spotswood (Sep 20, 2010)

Thanks to all for the comments.

With the final finish applied to all surfaces the bottom case is now 99% done (its missing the bottom molding, which I won't apply 'til the very end).

Front:






Side:






Top:






Obligatory closeup:


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## (FIH) The Don (Sep 20, 2010)

if i only had the money


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## blu3flannel (Sep 20, 2010)

That's amazing, I wish I could do something like that!


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## MoonPig (Sep 22, 2010)

Love your handy work. Love to be as good as you one day 

Keep the pictures coming, this is my favourite log on TPU atm


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## Spotswood (Sep 22, 2010)

MoonPig said:


> Love your handy work. Love to be as good as you one day
> 
> Keep the pictures coming, this is my favourite log on TPU atm



Thanks man.  And here are some random photos from yesterday and today's efforts.

Gluing a hardwood edge to a door:










Freshly stained frame:


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## Spotswood (Sep 27, 2010)

I completed the fabrication of the top case's side doors and attached them using the same "post and hook" latching mechanism that I used on the bottom case.


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## miahallen (Sep 29, 2010)

Looks like you're getting close Rich....very nice work


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## Spotswood (Oct 5, 2010)

This week the window in the doors were routed out.  Then the doors were scraped, sanded, stained and finished with a satin wipe-on polyurethane finish.  Here's what a door looks like after three coats of polyurethane:


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## Deleted member 89070 (Oct 11, 2010)

truely amazing skill, wish i had a case like that, im sure you'd make a killing making a few of those and selling them on aswell


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## scaminatrix (Oct 11, 2010)

Just popped in and.... OMFG
This is perfection at it's most perfect
Absolutely amazing, nice work


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## ebolamonkey3 (Oct 14, 2010)

Wow..... how have I never seen this thread before?

Man I wish I had the money for this case, and even more, your skillz. Big respect to you :thumbsup:


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## Spotswood (Oct 15, 2010)

In between staining and finishing the parts to the top case, I worked on fabricating the front doors using the same build techniques as all of the other doors in this project.  The final width and height of the doors was gradually achieved by numerous trips to and from the jointer.


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## xrealm20 (Oct 15, 2010)

.... Incredible build.


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## boulard83 (Oct 15, 2010)

IMpressive ... Really !


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## nessu (Oct 18, 2010)

So.. What is the estimated price of this case? And weight?


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## Spotswood (Nov 3, 2010)

Work on the case continues...


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## TotalChaos (Nov 3, 2010)

looking good


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## MoonPig (Nov 3, 2010)

Nice. Still want more though!


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## Spotswood (Nov 3, 2010)

nessu said:


> So.. What is the estimated price of this case? And weight?



A lot. And a lot.


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## Spotswood (Nov 6, 2010)

Attached the (removable) molding to the bottom of the bottom case.


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## HammerON (Nov 6, 2010)

Thanks for the updates and awesome pics


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## Spotswood (Nov 27, 2010)

The last bit of fabrication is on the top of the case, made from 3/4-inch oak veneer plywood and solid oak edging.  Edging was glued and scraped flush to the surface of the plywood.












The top is removable.  To help with re-aligning the heavy top to the carcass some guide blocks were glued to the underside of the top...







...and four threaded inserts were installed.


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## TotalChaos (Nov 27, 2010)

one step closer now


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## (FIH) The Don (Nov 27, 2010)

cant wait to see this finished


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## Spotswood (Dec 3, 2010)

In the final assembly phase...


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## MoonPig (Dec 3, 2010)

Bloody ell, i feel we missed afew stages! lol

Looking nice!


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## (FIH) The Don (Dec 3, 2010)

holy cow


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## HammerON (Dec 3, 2010)

Looking awesome


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## Spotswood (Dec 4, 2010)

Final pics!


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## (FIH) The Don (Dec 4, 2010)

is that you?

i never realized how freakin huge it is until you stood next to it haha 

and, amazing work 

if i had the money i would get you to make one for me 

much respect!!!!!


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## HammerON (Dec 4, 2010)

Wow - that is just freaken cool


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## freaksavior (Dec 4, 2010)

jeebus that is big


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## t_ski (Dec 4, 2010)

Spotswood said:


> In the final assembly phase...



These were what tipped me off to the size.  I saw the buffet cabinet in back.


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## TotalChaos (Dec 4, 2010)

man that's sick, great work dude


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## Cuzza (Dec 4, 2010)

freaksavior said:


> jeebus that is big



That's what she said.

But seriously. Holy shit it's enormous.

Is this what you wanted the sketchup of those case feet for? Or something else.


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## Spotswood (Dec 5, 2010)

Cuzza said:


> That's what she said.
> 
> But seriously. Holy shit it's enormous.
> 
> Is this what you wanted the sketchup of those case feet for? Or something else.



The case rests on industrial grade casters.  The feet I requested a Sketchup model for is for an upcoming project (a radiator box to sit atop an 800D):


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## Lionheart (Dec 5, 2010)

Damn it, now I gotta clean my monitor from jizz stains again

Seriously though, that is one EPIC case, just to let you know that I could fit into it as well

Nice Work!!!


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## Cuzza (Dec 5, 2010)

Spotswood said:


> The case rests on industrial grade casters.  The feet I requested a Sketchup model for is for an upcoming project (a radiator box to sit atop an 800D):



Oh yeah... you showed me that pic before :facepalm:

The big one would need industrial grade, lol.


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## Spotswood (Dec 13, 2010)

Thank you for the comments everyone.  Time to move on to some new projects:


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## Cold Storm (Dec 13, 2010)

Can't wait for them all to start!


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## Spotswood (Dec 13, 2010)

Cold Storm said:


> Can't wait for them all to start!



Which one would you like to see completed first?


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## Cold Storm (Dec 13, 2010)

Spotswood said:


> Which one would you like to see completed first?



I'd like the second one myself.. it would give me inspiration to finish the MM pinnacle I have in pieces.. lol


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## (FIH) The Don (Dec 13, 2010)

bottom right 

are they all for SR2? if yes then the mb tray is wrong, you need more pci slots lol


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## t_ski (Dec 14, 2010)

(fih) the don said:


> bottom right
> 
> Are they all for sr2? If yes then the mb tray is wrong, you need more pci slots lol



+1


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## Reventon (Dec 15, 2010)

Beautiful. Enormous too, never realized it was that big. I need one for myself.


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## t_ski (Feb 11, 2011)

Starting to get a lot of front-page action on this.  First Tuesday on [H]ardOCP:

http://www.hardocp.com/news/2011/02/08/when_size_matters/

And today on MadShrimps:

http://www.madshrimps.be/news/item/...imps+(Madshrimps+News+RSS+Feed)#axzz1DcMmdqA9

Congrats!


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## Spotswood (Feb 11, 2011)

t_ski said:


> Starting to get a lot of front-page action on this.  First Tuesday on [H]ardOCP:
> 
> http://www.hardocp.com/news/2011/02/08/when_size_matters/
> 
> ...



Thanks for catching those!


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## BinaryMage (Feb 11, 2011)

Wow! That is really impressive Spotswood. What size are the largest fans in the case?


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## Spotswood (Feb 11, 2011)

BinaryMage said:


> Wow! That is really impressive Spotswood. What size are the largest fans in the case?



140mm.


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