Making ATX computer case of Wood/Partex boards - DIY Chatroom

iconsort · 07-09-2009, 05:32 AM

I am planning to make an ATX computer case with wood or partex. Does anyone have any experience? Anybody to provide any idea.

I am very new to DIY and woodwork things. Doesn,t really know where to start and what tools to buy to start with.

I have planned to buy Black & Decker RTX-6 for the start. Is it enough for making the computer case from wood? Is this multipurpose tool very useful or there are better ones?
RTX-6 tool link: http://blackanddecker.com/ProductGui...ProductID=7767

Thanks all,

Iconsort

PaliBob · 07-09-2009, 06:14 AM

consort, Welcome to the forum and to the world of Tools Before buying any power tools I suggest a good set of hand tools. What tools do you have now?

An ATX Computer Case is not a good starting project because they are made from metal because they need to hold a lot of standard size parts with wiring between the parts. They are also very cheap so they are really not practical for a DIY project.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?Inv...campaign=6912C

There may be other computer related projects that would be easier to start with for example some kind of stand. Different kinds of projects require different tools but the basic hand tools remain pretty much the same.

I am not familiar with Partex. Is it a USA product?
.

**Scuba_Dave** · 07-09-2009, 10:54 AM

I considered covering my case with wood, but not using wood as the basic case
I was going ot have a door at the front for access to floppy drive/ports/CD/DVD etc
The back I was going to leave pretty much open

analogmusicman · 07-10-2009, 06:57 PM

you definitely should NOT make a computer case out of wood. those individual parts need a common ground. I've been working on computers for better than 40 years and you can take it from me to stay away from any kind of grounding hasssle.

tnx,

Red Squirrel · 07-10-2009, 11:53 PM

I've thought of making wood cases but really not sure where I'd find metal motherboard trays. You'd want to at least have a proper motherboard restraint so you can use the standard motherboard standoffs, and also ground it. Wood is a better insulator then metal so you'd want good airflow too, but if you design it then you can easily design it with air flow in mind.

You should see how the dell rack mount servers are made it's quite impressive for air flow.

Clutchcargo · 07-11-2009, 09:44 AM

Maybe I'm a tool snob but I don't think you can make an entire computer case using just one tool and the B&D RTX-6 wouldn't be one that I'd consider for a project like that.
If you do decide to make a computer case I'd start with an inexpensive one and strip it down to the chassis and use that as a starting point.