Ok. Feedback. Love where is this going. 1. Get access to a laser. TONS of maker spaces near by. making the cut outs for the io so much neater. 2. Make a wood frame and get a piece of glass cut (doesnt need to be tempered if it's for you and you are careful) and sandwich the glass in like a window or frame with clear silicone (on the inside) from the hardware store. Then use magnets to hold it (neodymium) 3. Sanding.. Harbor freight and a 20 dollar hand sander.. cleans up those edges .. 4. Nice medium walnut. giving it that classy Atari/retro look.
Awesome DIY case Matt, personally I would sand it down and round out the edges a tiny bit and stain it a dark cherry or mahogany. Clear coat it and then use some more spacers right above the GPU to make it a solid piece like the space between the GPU and psu. Another idea is sanding it and using spray paint making it some fun color like teal or orange and then clear coating or a combo of the two with an every other slot idea but that is tricky. Can’t wait to see the final build!
Glass doesn't have to be tempered. You can get custom cut glass from a picture frame place. To mount it, double up the strips on the side with slightly thinner strips, creating a small lip that you can sit the glass in. Since the lip will hold most of the weight, use small magnets to hold the glass. Those can mount to the case on small wood tabs glued in place. Love your design and build!
For the glass side panel and back cable management panel, I would make a few more blocks in the corners to screw down the glass and wood. You could to it in the same style you did for the space between the PSU and GPU. You may need to make the corners solid with a few more piece of wood, but shouldn't be too hard.
@@Kris451 complicated? How? He already did this case, how much harder would it be to literally just take a 3/4" long piece of wood that is one of the slats he made, and turn it into a lip screwing it in around the corners? That would be probably about the easiest option out of it all, cut pieces of wood, screw in place, put glass.
@@TheGauges420 The problem with the "lip" idea is doing it correctly to where the glass wouldn't move or break the wood if he moved the computer. There are going to be tons of weak points where the glass could break the wood when moving around. Also, the lip idea being more simple and not as complicated... No. The idea I am proposing is just to make the corners solid to screw down glass and side panel to the chassis, that's it. (Sorta like how he zip-tied the glass near the end of the video) Tried and true, simple, and safer that a lip.
@@Kris451 constantly screwing and unscrewing wood causes it to weaken, and eventually the threads would literally be gone, without installing some kind of you know, threaded nut or something smaller. You know the solution about the glass breaking/falling off when moving it? Removing the glass panel and wrapping it up to protect it. Its that simple.
In my little experience, a simple spray on poly or oil sealing does a great job at bringing out subtler pretty details, especially in lower quality woods. Or, a neutral light gray stain would also do a good job at bringing out darks in that wood if you would want to sacrifice the natural wood brown in favor of color matching. In my opinion, that case would be absolutely ideal for an all-Noctua setup. I’ve wanted for years now make a wooden case so that my beloved brown Noctua fans would match perfectly in. You could even try using a replacement gpu heat sink for even more Noctua fans (like the one recently featured on ltt). I love this case, you’re great. If I were to give one important finishing idea it would just be to have some kind of simple dust filter on the venting.
listen,great job you did,I suggest the second case to have: 1. anti GPU sag is a must have,all that wight on the PCB motherboard isn't going to end well. 2.wood finish for the case. I love the natural look but you can spray protective layer of lacquer of your choice, clear on or with darker lacquer. don't foget to sand the wood first,and for best result it depends on the wood type what kind of sand grit you use and what level you want it. 3. fan mounts for intake and exsaust air. 4.for the back lid I would love to see magnets in use.
As a "woodworker" I have a lot of gripes, but as you're still working on it, you do you. Love the look and as mentioned by someone before, an acrylic panel that slides in from one of the slits would leave you with a great frame on the outside. For finish I recommend beeswax, it doesn't distort the color of the wood much and is easy to apply. Oh and invest in a handheld router, and a flush cut bit, with that and a template making the I/O holes would be easier and leave you with straighter edges. Keep at it my dude.
Definitely sand the outside to get rid of the uneven sides. In my honest opinion, stay away from RGB fans, but keep the rgb local to only the inside of the machine. Looks great as is. The outward aesthetic is wonderful
Using a nice mineral oil maintains the appearance of the light wood but gives it a bit of a richer feel, and also SAND the edges down so they're smooth and it looks finished.
Add sliding slits to back and glass panels, so you can pull them upwards to remove. Also make a long "feet" to negate the graphic card sag might help. Just use Danish oil to finish and make the grains visible?
This is one of the best DIY PC cases I've seen without real manufacturing capacity (laser cutters and maybe a 3D Printer making brackets would go a long way), but you just used a saw and that's awesome.
For the side panel I would suggest making a wooden edge frame with a glass panel held in the middle. That way you would be able to have better control in how the panel was fastened and what points it was fastened at rather than just going for a plain piece of glass which could be difficult to work with when making holes etc. Some tung oil would probably leave a good finish but I expect it would be difficult to get in between the slats.
Rent/borrow a router with a round over bit and get to rounding off the angles. Really helps it looked finished. A solid poly and a dark stain would be choice.
Stain it in cherry, and when it comes to side panels be it glass and wood, inset some magnets into some wood and mount some into desired panel... fans wouldn't be too much an issue. The spacing looks like either 140mm or 120mm the only thing is you're gonna have to use long rad screws for all fans and make sure they're pretty cause they'll be peeking out wherever you mount a fan
You would put/fit a little support in the end part of the GPU, this for redistribute the weight of it in the case and dont mess up the motherboard port.
It looks really clean and professional for a DIY case! Better then the Linus Tech Tips DIY Case. But I do have a few ideas: 1) a power supply shroud with HDD cages below. You can make the cages out of wood with holes for the screws maybe or use some type of tool-less design, 2) you can attach the back panel with screws if you mount stand offs from the mobo into the frame the back panel sits on, I think that will be the cleanest and easiest way to do it, 3) you should have some type of fan mounts some how perhaps a frame behind the front panel that clips onto it like the case feet that way you can remove the fan frame when you don't need it but with some more powerful PCs they might need fans especially to cool the mobo, 4) the case would look really nice painted with an oak varnish stain or something like that to bring out the color in the wood, 5) you could probably sell these cases for $100-200 lol, 6) It would be cool if you made an ITX case like this style but like the DAN sandwhich style case or maybe like the Velka 3 case! Nonetheless thanks for this video. It was very well made and a great first draft of sorts. You can easily expand this design and I do like how it looks very seamless and almost like a proper case from Thermaltake or NZXT, maybe even Fractal Design. Would you paint the case black or try to keep the wood appearance? You inspired me to make my own ITX case out of wood though it might not use the wood strips method you used for the middle panel cause I don't have access to the table saw you used. Though I will see what I can come up with.
If you know someone with a glass cutter or drill, you can have them drill some small holes in the glass for some hinges. That might require you adding some more wood for reinforcement. I would finish it with some tongue oil.
Tempered glass wouldn't necessarily be super expensive. If you wanted holes in it then yes prohibitive cost. But if you did something like epoxying on some magnets of adequate size and strength to both the wood and the glass you could probably make something work at a reasonable price point. But if you did go acrylyic a high quality tinted acrylic really doesn't look at all bad. Most pc cases used cheap acrylic and because of that most of us have a negative opinion of it. If you go with high quality acrylic it looks pretty great and it can be polished now and then to restore it's scratch free appearance.
Not sure how easy it would be, but what if you made it so the tempered glass slides into place from the back side of the case? Then add something that secures it when it's fully in place? Biggest downside would be finger prints on the glass when removing it though.
This version 1.0 of your wooden case looks beautiful Matt. I cannot wait to see as improvements are made over time. There are already so many good suggestions from DIYers much more knowledgeable than me. I will only say I hope to see fan frames somehow integrated into the design for improved airflow. When you mentioned having an idea for a radiator mount I was extremely intrigued.
Have to say i love this pc case! at 15:56.. you can see there is quite a lot of wasted space..on the right/bottom side. I'm thinking of making the same case but instead i'm going to take off the cpu fan and position the power supply air intake on top of the cpu heatsink so the fan of the PSU functions as both the cpu and system fan.. and just try and make it as small as possible..
I think it would be more pleasing to the eye if you use some sandpaper and round those corners. even if you don't want to round the corners, everything needs to be flattened and smoothed out.
Really like to see people doing woodworking to accommodate electronics. Warmer feel with current high horsepower is the way to go in my opinion! For the case itself I think I will look way cooler if you round up the edges. I will show even more the layers there. For finish I recommend something clear: varnish or even oil based poly will have some yellow tint that will mess with that nice color. Maybe some clear lacquer or water based poly will do it. For the next case you can raise the bar even more and make some semi transparent epoxy river cover or something like that :)
I was able to get GPU led mount. I was looking at the wood plan of yours. until I was slapped in back of my head and handed the bracket mount and the magnets was a great help. i did not need glass so my build was easier. I made an ugly UA-cam table saw. google it and yes it sucked but it worked. He did not tell me what to do with the case wood
NICE CASE, AWSOME IDEA YOU SHOULD SAND EVERYTHING DOWN A BIT, SANDING WILL KNOCK DOWN THE GLUE VISIBLE ON THE CORNERS. SANDING SHOULD BE DONE BEFORE ANY FINISH BECAUSE YOU WILL BE LEFT WITH GLUE STAINS UNDER THE FINISH. ALSO, PUTTING SOME DOWELS IN CORNERS WOULD HELP U WITH ASSEMBLY AND WOULD MAKE EVERYTHING STRONGER.
Something to note about finishing, you’ll need to clean up all the glue spots especially if you go with a darker colour because the glue will leave areas where finish will not be absorbed. If I were to finish it, I’d use a spray on lacquer. That being said, I’m not sure how well it would get into the sides of the grilles.
Because you have SO MUCH venting in that case (like basically 50% vents) do not bother with exhaust fans. You wont be able to get any pressure from them as they will just draw air from wherever. This isnt a bad thing though. Just stick a front mount rad with the fans in push pull or pulll only and that should do you. You'll have so much "leaky" airflow that you could feasbily have front intake and top intake and be fine
I just built one myself and the video will be up soon, your case is way nicer. For a stain, choose what matches your desk or walls. Or if the wife has to see it, get her opinion. Great job.
I'd add a cut out for the psu fan for better ventilation for it, and you need to add some fans for air flow and stain it a dark colour to keep the wood effect and make it look steam punk style
i suggest you to paint the inside of the case with heat resistance paint or sth like that incase anything bad happens since wood can catch up fire quickly.
Is suggest sanding down all edges and just using a clear finish as I love the colour. Also, you might want to consider some sort of GPU support, your sag is real. You could just glue on a thin piece of wood at the far right to hold up the back end under the card.
I think this is a beautiful case. For the Stain you could just put a Polycoat and that would be enough because the Natural Wood Colour is pretty, but if you wanted a a darker finish id say a Ebony or Dark Walnut would look beautiful. In terms of the case upgrades you should add a back cutout for the CPU cooler just so you can have access in the back of the case if you need to put a new cooler. Also i would put some of those small spacers where the Graphics card meets the I/O Just for added strength. For both the front glass and back panel you could make a frame for the class and put magnets in and just use magnets for the back cause that would probably give you the best hold If you want to add fans and Dust you could use screen door mesh in the inside as a dust filter and get some 33mm screws like the ones for A radiator to connect them to the case. Heck speaking of a Radiator it looks like you could fit a 240mm in there with no problems. That's all I got in terms of stuff you could do to it. This is such a great idea for a case and the fact that it only cost you about 30 bucks for the materials (minus the table saw) is fantastic.
You picked the right table saw. I got enough tools and equipment to start a project from a tree or log. But am looking for all ideas I can find to do a computer case.
Yo matt, i usually dont comment on videos but this case is sick Your level of creativity is just amazing Keep up the great work. Just love watching your content Been watching you since 2016 :))
I'd recommend some kapton tape on the wood behind the motherboard to help with case flammability... in case something on the back of your motherboard goes pop
very nice build.. am impress.. maybe for the side panel you can use small circular velcro tape and to cover the circular velcro tape, just tape some black vinyl strip outside of the glass panel.
You should add a rgb controller in the back and it would look great if you plastic dipped/wrapped the case in a matt black finish and added in some rgb fans the only problem would be how to add a mounting point for those fans I think you could add some more wood to the front panel to act as a mounting point like all the other metal/plastic cases do
i would add some extra wood layer on the inside just were the glass pannel screw holes are so you can fit it properly . this way may be able to use it.
Dude!! Well, done! I'm sure nobody realizes the amount of effort went into building, getting the B-roll, and editing this down. Top notch and I can't wait to see future videos about this. My only suggestion would be to ask a few friends with Photoshop and have them play around with the color a little. Whichever one you settle on, I'm sure your audience will love it. Just pick something YOU like. As for the side panel covering the cables, I'd suggest some type of hinge system with magnets on the opposite side. Once again, well done and keep up the awesome work.
Add an AIO cooler for the gpu. and if possible get more fans and add more airflow to the case. Try to make it look like a lian li o11 dynamic with the fan design. Also the case already looks pretty similar to the O11 dynamic.
really cool design. perhaps consider using a fine mesh layer inbewteen the case so restrict dust and other unwanted items out of the case. it might look really cool.
Making the front panel box sit flush with the surface rather than recessed with holes for the connections would make it look 10X better. Adding finishing strips to cover the glued edges would also help the overall look, glue can also affect the woods ability to accept stain so without those strips the edges might not match the rest of the case when you finish the wood. Personally, I would have cut the motherboard tray, rear IO, and expansion slots out of an old case and modified it to work in this one. It would look A LOT cleaner and you would have a place to attach the graphics card and be able to run an I/O shield.
This is a great idea. It is inspiring me for several variations. I have three people in my life that are each unique and I could see 3 different cases coming out of this base design. Thanks and keep up the content.
Love the design but please do a finish on the wood . Since wood when it get old especially with the constant heat from the PC it could wear out the wood cause it to be weak and cause its dust to get stuck in your fans which are a lot worst than common house dust . Its a suggestion . I love the design I hope the support for the GPU is good specially since u are using an RTX . Really want one to be honest haha
Really like this custom case. It actually reminds me of corsairs' crystal 280x. One thing that you can do to the case is make the back panel magnetic and while a custom front panel can cost more, in my opinion it is worth it. You can even have something engraved onto it if you want. Also, you should try to add fan mounts to the case. While it does have good airflow, there's not really a path for the air and if you want, you can even add RGB fans to spice the build up a bit because no offense, it feels a bit boring (in my opinion, at least). Other than that, great job!
Well...buying all those tools for just a box (pc case) seems ridiculous :-) Old catamaran/ECOhome builder here. Can I suggest you build a small boat, down the Road?! I like ECO6 cats, & ESCARGOT canalboats. Built a sweet tender with 1-ply sheet! All of these require 1/4" ply, glass, epoxy...easy :-) Speakers like Tech Ingredients are easy, too. I mention these because, with all those tools, there essentially "useless" if their NOT working for you. Ohhh, I build Djembe drums, too, which are easy & fun afterwards, too. Eventually, I sincerely hope you build a right-sized ECOhome for yourself. Doing THAT, & killing the mortgage-monster WILL make you truly FREE. Good luck, young Craftsman!!
I think this is the kind of videos I like the most, awesome. About the finish, what I like the most is oil particularly in plywood. Keep up the nice work
it would be nice to give the wood a nice clear finish to make the wood grains pop out and to keep it protected from dust and other things that could ruin it
This reminds me of my first pc case I built. All plexiglass and the system was an old gateway pc that ran Windows ME. Im just gonna say you did way better than me. Good stuff dude I can't wait until you're completely done with it!
There are a few basic carpentry/construction mistakes which would have neatened up your finish. That's your learning curve though, and I'm certainly not knocking this project. On the contrary, I love it. This is one I'm going to have to build, as I'm sure many others will. We've all watched a ton of videos like this one but yours is among the best. Thanks buddy.
too bad. Unfortunately, you didn't show the most interesting and the most difficult part. do you attach GPU to the connectors somewhere? I mean the aperture of the GPU
How heavy is it? I am planning to do a all plywood atx case that's about 16x14x8.75 out of recycled 1/4 plywood. I'd like to know about how heavy my case might be.
Yo make a tempered glass window that just slides in between the wood slots
THIS WOULD BE SICK
THIS
THIS WOULD BE SICK
Acrylic glass Ok? For cheap builds
@@R3TR0J4N Its ok
Ok. Feedback. Love where is this going.
1. Get access to a laser. TONS of maker spaces near by. making the cut outs for the io so much neater.
2. Make a wood frame and get a piece of glass cut (doesnt need to be tempered if it's for you and you are careful) and sandwich the glass in like a window or frame with clear silicone (on the inside) from the hardware store. Then use magnets to hold it (neodymium)
3. Sanding.. Harbor freight and a 20 dollar hand sander.. cleans up those edges ..
4. Nice medium walnut. giving it that classy Atari/retro look.
Freaking Lasers
Let's see your case then...
"TONS of maker spaces near by" YOU KNOW WHERE HE LIVES?!?!
Awesome DIY case Matt, personally I would sand it down and round out the edges a tiny bit and stain it a dark cherry or mahogany. Clear coat it and then use some more spacers right above the GPU to make it a solid piece like the space between the GPU and psu. Another idea is sanding it and using spray paint making it some fun color like teal or orange and then clear coating or a combo of the two with an every other slot idea but that is tricky. Can’t wait to see the final build!
I wouldn’t personally make the space in between solid
I would have personally bought a case
add a wooden desk a plant and a monitor will wood bezels to get the clean setup looks. Nice vid
yup a nice combo
@@mohammadrr3285 Thx
Finally a pc case that looks good with noctua fans!
I plan on doing this for my wife. She hates how big and "unnatural" PC cases look. Thanks for the ideas:)
Go with a matx
@@redice4971 mini itx with built in graphics. She only plays sims
@@breakdown7153 THERE YOU GO!
@@breakdown7153 maybe a Ryzen 5 2400G or a Ryzen 3 3200g would go nicely
@@mxstafa1357 yup, 3200g is the plan
Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic WOOD EDITION
*O11 air
yeah that's what I was thinking and he said cheese grater I'm like bruh
Glass doesn't have to be tempered. You can get custom cut glass from a picture frame place. To mount it, double up the strips on the side with slightly thinner strips, creating a small lip that you can sit the glass in. Since the lip will hold most of the weight, use small magnets to hold the glass. Those can mount to the case on small wood tabs glued in place. Love your design and build!
Oh and for the gpu sag, just a wood dowel rod cut to size. Please don't paint it. Just seal it with an oil.
For the glass side panel and back cable management panel, I would make a few more blocks in the corners to screw down the glass and wood.
You could to it in the same style you did for the space between the PSU and GPU.
You may need to make the corners solid with a few more piece of wood, but shouldn't be too hard.
Or he could add lips of wood on the top and bottom to slide the glass and the back panel in place
@@vazlan Probably be a bit complicated and wouldn't be as secure as just a nut and bolt/ and or screws.
@@Kris451 complicated? How? He already did this case, how much harder would it be to literally just take a 3/4" long piece of wood that is one of the slats he made, and turn it into a lip screwing it in around the corners? That would be probably about the easiest option out of it all, cut pieces of wood, screw in place, put glass.
@@TheGauges420 The problem with the "lip" idea is doing it correctly to where the glass wouldn't move or break the wood if he moved the computer. There are going to be tons of weak points where the glass could break the wood when moving around. Also, the lip idea being more simple and not as complicated... No. The idea I am proposing is just to make the corners solid to screw down glass and side panel to the chassis, that's it. (Sorta like how he zip-tied the glass near the end of the video)
Tried and true, simple, and safer that a lip.
@@Kris451 constantly screwing and unscrewing wood causes it to weaken, and eventually the threads would literally be gone, without installing some kind of you know, threaded nut or something smaller. You know the solution about the glass breaking/falling off when moving it? Removing the glass panel and wrapping it up to protect it. Its that simple.
In my little experience, a simple spray on poly or oil sealing does a great job at bringing out subtler pretty details, especially in lower quality woods. Or, a neutral light gray stain would also do a good job at bringing out darks in that wood if you would want to sacrifice the natural wood brown in favor of color matching. In my opinion, that case would be absolutely ideal for an all-Noctua setup. I’ve wanted for years now make a wooden case so that my beloved brown Noctua fans would match perfectly in. You could even try using a replacement gpu heat sink for even more Noctua fans (like the one recently featured on ltt). I love this case, you’re great. If I were to give one important finishing idea it would just be to have some kind of simple dust filter on the venting.
Oh and you could even add a psu shroud for real estate to wood burn your own design in, if you’re using it for your personal rig.
Honestly I really wouldn't paint or stain it. It looks really amazing and incredibly unique.
listen,great job you did,I suggest the second case to have:
1. anti GPU sag is a must have,all that wight on the PCB motherboard isn't going to end well.
2.wood finish for the case.
I love the natural look but you can spray protective layer of lacquer of your choice, clear on or with darker lacquer.
don't foget to sand the wood first,and for best result it depends on the wood type what kind of sand grit you use and what level you want it.
3. fan mounts for intake and exsaust air.
4.for the back lid I would love to see magnets in use.
As a "woodworker" I have a lot of gripes, but as you're still working on it, you do you. Love the look and as mentioned by someone before, an acrylic panel that slides in from one of the slits would leave you with a great frame on the outside. For finish I recommend beeswax, it doesn't distort the color of the wood much and is easy to apply. Oh and invest in a handheld router, and a flush cut bit, with that and a template making the I/O holes would be easier and leave you with straighter edges. Keep at it my dude.
Beeswax leave sticky surface and works like magnet for dirt. I used beewax for furnitures 20 years ago and learned hard way.
as a tought after adding fans u could use a dowel as a gpu support for the front end to give it more support if u needed it
The case looks good, but I suggest sanding down the rough edges for the intakes and exhausts
whatever that gives that dark brown wood color, I believe its a stain + maybe primer? try attaching some tempered glass too maybe tinted brown?
Yes, wood stain !
Definitely sand the outside to get rid of the uneven sides. In my honest opinion, stay away from RGB fans, but keep the rgb local to only the inside of the machine. Looks great as is. The outward aesthetic is wonderful
Try sanding corners a bit and put some oil polish on it i actually loved it...and i would be glad to have such case..thank you..😋😋
Finally Noctua fans will blend in with something at all
Using a nice mineral oil maintains the appearance of the light wood but gives it a bit of a richer feel, and also SAND the edges down so they're smooth and it looks finished.
Add sliding slits to back and glass panels, so you can pull them upwards to remove. Also make a long "feet" to negate the graphic card sag might help. Just use Danish oil to finish and make the grains visible?
This is one of the best DIY PC cases I've seen without real manufacturing capacity (laser cutters and maybe a 3D Printer making brackets would go a long way), but you just used a saw and that's awesome.
Matt : Build his own pc case
Cases Manufacture : you little piece a shi*** , How dear you !!!!!!!
For the side panel I would suggest making a wooden edge frame with a glass panel held in the middle. That way you would be able to have better control in how the panel was fastened and what points it was fastened at rather than just going for a plain piece of glass which could be difficult to work with when making holes etc. Some tung oil would probably leave a good finish but I expect it would be difficult to get in between the slats.
Rent/borrow a router with a round over bit and get to rounding off the angles. Really helps it looked finished.
A solid poly and a dark stain would be choice.
Stain it in cherry, and when it comes to side panels be it glass and wood, inset some magnets into some wood and mount some into desired panel... fans wouldn't be too much an issue. The spacing looks like either 140mm or 120mm the only thing is you're gonna have to use long rad screws for all fans and make sure they're pretty cause they'll be peeking out wherever you mount a fan
You would put/fit a little support in the end part of the GPU, this for redistribute the weight of it in the case and dont mess up the motherboard port.
ID use a make sure to seal wood before u stain so it isnt blotchy. add poly for shine /protect, cool box
It looks really clean and professional for a DIY case! Better then the Linus Tech Tips DIY Case. But I do have a few ideas: 1) a power supply shroud with HDD cages below. You can make the cages out of wood with holes for the screws maybe or use some type of tool-less design, 2) you can attach the back panel with screws if you mount stand offs from the mobo into the frame the back panel sits on, I think that will be the cleanest and easiest way to do it, 3) you should have some type of fan mounts some how perhaps a frame behind the front panel that clips onto it like the case feet that way you can remove the fan frame when you don't need it but with some more powerful PCs they might need fans especially to cool the mobo, 4) the case would look really nice painted with an oak varnish stain or something like that to bring out the color in the wood, 5) you could probably sell these cases for $100-200 lol, 6) It would be cool if you made an ITX case like this style but like the DAN sandwhich style case or maybe like the Velka 3 case! Nonetheless thanks for this video. It was very well made and a great first draft of sorts. You can easily expand this design and I do like how it looks very seamless and almost like a proper case from Thermaltake or NZXT, maybe even Fractal Design. Would you paint the case black or try to keep the wood appearance? You inspired me to make my own ITX case out of wood though it might not use the wood strips method you used for the middle panel cause I don't have access to the table saw you used. Though I will see what I can come up with.
If you know someone with a glass cutter or drill, you can have them drill some small holes in the glass for some hinges. That might require you adding some more wood for reinforcement. I would finish it with some tongue oil.
you might want to look into using annealed glass so you can cut and drill into it
Tempered glass wouldn't necessarily be super expensive. If you wanted holes in it then yes prohibitive cost. But if you did something like epoxying on some magnets of adequate size and strength to both the wood and the glass you could probably make something work at a reasonable price point. But if you did go acrylyic a high quality tinted acrylic really doesn't look at all bad. Most pc cases used cheap acrylic and because of that most of us have a negative opinion of it. If you go with high quality acrylic it looks pretty great and it can be polished now and then to restore it's scratch free appearance.
Not sure how easy it would be, but what if you made it so the tempered glass slides into place from the back side of the case? Then add something that secures it when it's fully in place? Biggest downside would be finger prints on the glass when removing it though.
This version 1.0 of your wooden case looks beautiful Matt. I cannot wait to see as improvements are made over time. There are already so many good suggestions from DIYers much more knowledgeable than me. I will only say I hope to see fan frames somehow integrated into the design for improved airflow. When you mentioned having an idea for a radiator mount I was extremely intrigued.
What about improvements ? I see ton of possibilities for mounting fans, glass side panel, even dust filters. Everything can be made cheap and clean.
Side panel made with plywood strips with epoxy between to fit rest of the case would be great idea.
Have to say i love this pc case! at 15:56.. you can see there is quite a lot of wasted space..on the right/bottom side.
I'm thinking of making the same case but instead i'm going to take off the cpu fan and position the power supply air intake on top of the cpu heatsink so the fan of the PSU functions as both the cpu and system fan.. and just try and make it as small as possible..
I think it would be more pleasing to the eye if you use some sandpaper and round those corners. even if you don't want to round the corners, everything needs to be flattened and smoothed out.
Really like to see people doing woodworking to accommodate electronics. Warmer feel with current high horsepower is the way to go in my opinion! For the case itself I think I will look way cooler if you round up the edges. I will show even more the layers there. For finish I recommend something clear: varnish or even oil based poly will have some yellow tint that will mess with that nice color. Maybe some clear lacquer or water based poly will do it.
For the next case you can raise the bar even more and make some semi transparent epoxy river cover or something like that :)
Yeah magnets for back panel. Looks great. 🙏❤️🙏 Gpu looks like it is drooping a bit, maybe needs support with a spare strip of wood.
I was able to get GPU led mount. I was looking at the wood plan of yours. until I was slapped in back of my head and handed the bracket mount and the magnets was a great help. i did not need glass so my build was easier. I made an ugly UA-cam table saw. google it and yes it sucked but it worked. He did not tell me what to do with the case wood
Put a couple intake fans on the inside of the front, an exhaust on the inside of the back towards the top and an exhaust fan going out the top.
NICE CASE, AWSOME IDEA
YOU SHOULD SAND EVERYTHING DOWN A BIT, SANDING WILL KNOCK DOWN THE GLUE VISIBLE ON THE CORNERS.
SANDING SHOULD BE DONE BEFORE ANY FINISH BECAUSE YOU WILL BE LEFT WITH GLUE STAINS UNDER THE FINISH.
ALSO, PUTTING SOME DOWELS IN CORNERS WOULD HELP U WITH ASSEMBLY AND WOULD MAKE EVERYTHING STRONGER.
Every time he says, "its not perfect", I keep saying "its perfect". Inspired me to make my own
Yep!
i am now making one too
Something to note about finishing, you’ll need to clean up all the glue spots especially if you go with a darker colour because the glue will leave areas where finish will not be absorbed.
If I were to finish it, I’d use a spray on lacquer. That being said, I’m not sure how well it would get into the sides of the grilles.
Could you provide a link to the power button please
Sand it well, wipe off all wood dust, then finish with danish oil. Magnets should work fine for the rear panel.
Because you have SO MUCH venting in that case (like basically 50% vents) do not bother with exhaust fans. You wont be able to get any pressure from them as they will just draw air from wherever. This isnt a bad thing though. Just stick a front mount rad with the fans in push pull or pulll only and that should do you. You'll have so much "leaky" airflow that you could feasbily have front intake and top intake and be fine
I just built one myself and the video will be up soon, your case is way nicer. For a stain, choose what matches your desk or walls. Or if the wife has to see it, get her opinion. Great job.
Please add smth against gpu sag
I'd add a cut out for the psu fan for better ventilation for it, and you need to add some fans for air flow and stain it a dark colour to keep the wood effect and make it look steam punk style
I wouldn't do it with strips only. The top and bottom would be solid with finger joinery to attach the slats.
Use brass screws for the side panels. will look great against the wood
i suggest you to paint the inside of the case with heat resistance paint or sth like that incase anything bad happens since wood can catch up fire quickly.
Is safe without metal case ?
For glass you could probably find glass for a side table that would fit. ive used glass form a picture frame before but that's risky if it cracks.
Is suggest sanding down all edges and just using a clear finish as I love the colour. Also, you might want to consider some sort of GPU support, your sag is real. You could just glue on a thin piece of wood at the far right to hold up the back end under the card.
I think this is a beautiful case. For the Stain you could just put a Polycoat and that would be enough because the Natural Wood Colour is pretty, but if you wanted a a darker finish id say a Ebony or Dark Walnut would look beautiful.
In terms of the case upgrades you should add a back cutout for the CPU cooler just so you can have access in the back of the case if you need to put a new cooler. Also i would put some of those small spacers where the Graphics card meets the I/O Just for added strength. For both the front glass and back panel you could make a frame for the class and put magnets in and just use magnets for the back cause that would probably give you the best hold
If you want to add fans and Dust you could use screen door mesh in the inside as a dust filter and get some 33mm screws like the ones for A radiator to connect them to the case. Heck speaking of a Radiator it looks like you could fit a 240mm in there with no problems.
That's all I got in terms of stuff you could do to it. This is such a great idea for a case and the fact that it only cost you about 30 bucks for the materials (minus the table saw) is fantastic.
I'm not quite sure ... did u also use glue?
You picked the right table saw. I got enough tools and equipment to start a project from a tree or log. But am looking for all ideas I can find to do a computer case.
Yo matt, i usually dont comment on videos but this case is sick
Your level of creativity is just amazing
Keep up the great work. Just love watching your content
Been watching you since 2016 :))
I'd recommend some kapton tape on the wood behind the motherboard to help with case flammability... in case something on the back of your motherboard goes pop
very nice build.. am impress.. maybe for the side panel you can use small circular velcro tape and to cover the circular velcro tape, just tape some black vinyl strip outside of the glass panel.
The Great Powerful Matt has brought us another video for us to enjoy and experiment.
You're like fine wine Matty....You get better with age. Bravo my friend!!! Looks amazing!!!
You might need to add a pvc mesh filter for the front.
Stain the wood outside the front grill and then spray the grill a metallic bronze color for that vintage old school look
You should add a rgb controller in the back and it would look great if you plastic dipped/wrapped the case in a matt black finish and added in some rgb fans the only problem would be how to add a mounting point for those fans I think you could add some more wood to the front panel to act as a mounting point like all the other metal/plastic cases do
That is So Creative Bro! Looks Great!
Wonder how linus react
i would add some extra wood layer on the inside just were the glass pannel screw holes are so you can fit it properly . this way may be able to use it.
Dude!! Well, done! I'm sure nobody realizes the amount of effort went into building, getting the B-roll, and editing this down. Top notch and I can't wait to see future videos about this.
My only suggestion would be to ask a few friends with Photoshop and have them play around with the color a little. Whichever one you settle on, I'm sure your audience will love it. Just pick something YOU like.
As for the side panel covering the cables, I'd suggest some type of hinge system with magnets on the opposite side. Once again, well done and keep up the awesome work.
Add a gpu bracket out of wood to reduce the gpu sag. Also do a golden oak stain or a Cherry Natural finish. In my opinion it will look very nice
Add an AIO cooler for the gpu. and if possible get more fans and add more airflow to the case. Try to make it look like a lian li o11 dynamic with the fan design. Also the case already looks pretty similar to the O11 dynamic.
I meant cpu not gpu
really cool design. perhaps consider using a fine mesh layer inbewteen the case so restrict dust and other unwanted items out of the case. it might look really cool.
Yeah, some sanding would definitely help. Then the easiest way to get it protected is an oil finish. Even Noctua fans could actually look nice in it!
Making the front panel box sit flush with the surface rather than recessed with holes for the connections would make it look 10X better. Adding finishing strips to cover the glued edges would also help the overall look, glue can also affect the woods ability to accept stain so without those strips the edges might not match the rest of the case when you finish the wood. Personally, I would have cut the motherboard tray, rear IO, and expansion slots out of an old case and modified it to work in this one. It would look A LOT cleaner and you would have a place to attach the graphics card and be able to run an I/O shield.
I just started using my shoe box for my mini itx build. The thermal is not that bad considering the smell of it.
Such an underrated channel bruh the big you tubers like Linus and Paul’s hardware don’t got the content like you do keep it up bro!
u can paint that u didnt think about painting a bit the case ?
This is a great idea. It is inspiring me for several variations. I have three people in my life that are each unique and I could see 3 different cases coming out of this base design. Thanks and keep up the content.
My biggest question with this is how it holds up to the huge temp swings that come with intense gaming sessions, any issues there?
Use a sander to curve the edges
u should remove the sticker on the psu
i also think u should have a dust filter at the front of the case when you do add fans
Love the design but please do a finish on the wood . Since wood when it get old especially with the constant heat from the PC it could wear out the wood cause it to be weak and cause its dust to get stuck in your fans which are a lot worst than common house dust . Its a suggestion . I love the design I hope the support for the GPU is good specially since u are using an RTX . Really want one to be honest haha
Really like this custom case. It actually reminds me of corsairs' crystal 280x. One thing that you can do to the case is make the back panel magnetic and while a custom front panel can cost more, in my opinion it is worth it. You can even have something engraved onto it if you want. Also, you should try to add fan mounts to the case. While it does have good airflow, there's not really a path for the air and if you want, you can even add RGB fans to spice the build up a bit because no offense, it feels a bit boring (in my opinion, at least). Other than that, great job!
Add a psu shroud and dont forget to ventilated on top of it, u can make the tiny holes with a drill i guess :)
Well...buying all those tools for just a box (pc case) seems ridiculous :-) Old catamaran/ECOhome builder here. Can I suggest you build a small boat, down the Road?! I like ECO6 cats, & ESCARGOT canalboats. Built a sweet tender with 1-ply sheet! All of these require 1/4" ply, glass, epoxy...easy :-) Speakers like Tech Ingredients are easy, too.
I mention these because, with all those tools, there essentially "useless" if their NOT working for you. Ohhh, I build Djembe drums, too, which are easy & fun afterwards, too. Eventually, I sincerely hope you build a right-sized ECOhome for yourself. Doing THAT, & killing the mortgage-monster WILL make you truly FREE. Good luck, young Craftsman!!
10:08 so did you ever clean them up?
I think this is the kind of videos I like the most, awesome. About the finish, what I like the most is oil particularly in plywood. Keep up the nice work
Hi Matt, You can make your own glass panel by using Acrylic Glass from the hardware store.
Pretty awesome. You need a way to mount dust filters
What did you use to put between the motherboard and case to screw it down.
it would be nice to give the wood a nice clear finish to make the wood grains pop out and to keep it protected from dust and other things that could ruin it
i think you should stain it and maybe add a bit more rigidity for movement
Awesome case. How did you secure the power supply?
Next idea...ATX PC in a mini freezer. Cooler problems solved!
Thats actually a very great idea
This reminds me of my first pc case I built. All plexiglass and the system was an old gateway pc that ran Windows ME. Im just gonna say you did way better than me. Good stuff dude I can't wait until you're completely done with it!
The gpu sags a bit maby you can also fix that when you build your own PC in there
Looks great but needs sanding. As said get a window cut so it can slide in through the gaps
There are a few basic carpentry/construction mistakes which would have neatened up your finish. That's your learning curve though, and I'm certainly not knocking this project. On the contrary, I love it. This is one I'm going to have to build, as I'm sure many others will. We've all watched a ton of videos like this one but yours is among the best. Thanks buddy.
too bad. Unfortunately, you didn't show the most interesting and the most difficult part. do you attach GPU to the connectors somewhere? I mean the aperture of the GPU
How heavy is it? I am planning to do a all plywood atx case that's about 16x14x8.75 out of recycled 1/4 plywood. I'd like to know about how heavy my case might be.