How many of you have designed and built your own cases from the ground up? I may be going into that soon, and was wondering if there were references and other information that may be out there, but Google is not able to spit out without getting to the 400th page.
I know Linus is sometimes derided here but occasionally LTT makes a good video. Part one is just him describing the components he uses. In part 2 he show how they designed his custom case in CAD. I used to be an engineer and if you need help with CAD, I would love to help. PM me. I was one of the people that helped LTT find a good source for the 3D engineering models (CPU's, fans, etc.) Taran used in his design. https://grabcad.com/library In part 3 he shows going to the fabrication shop where they cut, bent and welded the steel.
Cool stuff. I wish I could afford it. Good luck with your build.
That guy is incredible. If TechTube is PC Building 101, Singularity Computers is the graduate degree program. He has ALL the tools and his painting is beyond flawless.
Hmm, will check out Singularity Computers. I've seen the LTT videos before, aside from the general layout, it seemed a bit overkill for my purposes.
I have plenty of experience with CAD, specifically Solidworks, so I think I'm pretty good on that side of things. I will look at GrabCAD though, I forgot that it was a thing.
In the end you basically look up for measurements of motherboards, GPU, coolers, HDD, SSD and PSU and then build it.
A good way to help you with determining the dimensions is the use of Sketchup. It has a ton of pre build components and then you can design a case around it. and no it doesn't really matter much if the exact mobo is there because dimensions are the same. The only components it might have anything to do with is GPU length, the Cooler and PSU length because heavy wattage PSU's are longer than 500 watt ones.
love singularity content. Its good to have watched them grow over the past year with the new shop/equipment and staff. They should be cranking out some pretty awesome builds this year.
I'm working on a scratch build right now. The pic in my avatar is the render of the case, and I'm done with the frame, made out of t-slot extrusion. I will be posting a build log in the builds section in the next couple of days, as soon as I can get it edited.
It's quite a lot of fun bringing a creation to life out of raw materials.
What kind of materials are you thinking about working with?
I'm most likely going to be working with aluminum sheet and tubing/angle. The design and size is going be as small as I can possibly make it, and fit it into a backpack while being sturdy enough to live through the ordeal. This is probably going to be a raw aluminium build as I love the look and feel of raw aluminium (well, satin aluminum, but close enough). Not going to work with t-slot/Bosch extrusion, I don't hate the stuff, but it isn't to my liking. There are better alternatives (more standard), but meh.
doesn't have his own workshop anymore (explained partially why in a video) but i hope he gets things going again and does migrate to a dedicated workshop again.
I've made some progress since. Pretty much gutted it and put the back panel and tray from a sugo in it. Next step is copper tubing, rad and custom blocks. Res will be made from an old whiskey bottle and windows from some really old glass. Basically it'll look like a radio and a moonshine still had a baby that was real good like with numbers.
Nice work! I have that exact case currently (SG-13B), I'm building to replace it as I don't like the build quality and some of the dimensions are a little excessive for me, as my GPU isn't as large as the case allows for.
Linus is really dumb. I mean having your Personal PC at a rackmount in a closet or something, you realize how long the wires gotta be or the wireless on those keyboard & mouse. As well as the HDMI/DVI/DP cable? I mean you're lucky if the rack server is like only 5 feet away from you but still the extra cable extenders. You're better off with a custom made desk computer or a honking caselab computer case.
I designed a custom case a few years ago, but I don't have the means to make it. I started out wanting to make a case recreation of the Star Trek:TOS episode 'The Ultimate Computer'. Dr. Richard Daystrom had his M5 computer. After working on it for a while I decided to evolve it into my M6: Ultimate Computer desk.
The key feature is the keyboard tray located below the desk PC for ergonomics. It also slides in and out. This is the pretty rendering that was intended to be made of recycled plastic fake wood (like the park bench boards). I was going for the decorative cast iron radiator look. I designed all the molds and hardware needed to make it a real product (used to be an engineer). I also designed a prototype version that can be made from a single 4'x8' sheet of plywood. IKEA and Lian-Li were not interested.
My thought was that the M6 could be put away when not in use. Or maybe put in a server closet as a temporary workstation.