Building a Wooden cased for an LPX form factor computer

[Philippine Mango]

I've already drawn out how large the case will be, 16 1/4" X 17". I've drawn where everything will be placed, the back panel and the front panel. Now my question is;
1. What type of wood should I use, 2. since I will be having varying thicknesses, how thick should the sides, base and front panel be. 3. Anything else I forgot that I didn't put in yet.

I plan to have the cover open from rear of the case to front of case like opening a laptop.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Why a wooden case? An aluminum case will look way cooler plus it will dissipate heat much better.

 

[Philippine Mango]

1. I don't have welding skills, 2. How would I go about this and 3. the only metal I have lying around is steel.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Ah. You could always use a wooden case to have an old school look. 🙂
I usually get the help of a few friends when I want to create a case from scratch.

 

[Painman]

Use MDF w/laminated veneer... it's much better acoustically. Wood likes to conduct sound and resonate. MDF is heavier though.

 

[Big Lar]

If you don't have a lot of real noisey fans, Plywood sides back and bottom works well, with a 1x stock front. I made my case that way, I used Oak Plywood, with an Oak face, with a plywood backing to the face. Of course the reason I went with the plywood behind the face, is that I made a server case, and it is 16's wide.
I used the skeleton of 2 seperate old cases, server side is the inards of the server case, 10 drive bays in the front, and 4 in the rear.
Mobo side is an old Inwin 500a with slide out mobo tray, which comes in handy for working on the monster 😀 What I would say about your sizing of the case, is to make it a few inches deeper, as Power Supply's are only going to get longer in time.
Shoot me an email if you are interested in any pics.

 

[Greenman]

Originally posted by: Painman
Use MDF w/laminated veneer... it's much better acoustically. Wood likes to conduct sound and resonate. MDF is heavier though.

Tough to get a nice mitered edge on MDF without a really good table saw. The veneer is so thin it always looks like it's been cut with a chain saw.

 

[Philippine Mango]

Well this wooden case is for a pentium based system with a HS on the CPU so noise shouldn't be too much of an issue. I bought oak plywood already and as I was cutting the base out on the table saw. The first cut was good but when I did the second cut as I finished the cut, the board snagged on to the blade and flew off hitting my hand and banging my thumb. While it is now cut, there is this gash on it and I'm not sure what to do. I already dug the holes for the mounts of the motherboard on the opposite side so (did this before cutting)...

 

[thunderroller]

wooden will be heavy

 

[Zepper]

Wood is also a good insulator, so you'll want to arrange for a bit of air flow through there. Cabinet-grade hardwood veneered plywood (for the visible surfaces) should have multiple thin plies and not be very resonant. Could use MDF for the hidden surfaces (bottom, back, etc.) or use thin plywood and back it with a layer of MDF. The varying wood densities should limit resonance too. Good luck.
.bh.