Building A Wooden PC

WHY A WOODEN PC ENCLOSURE ?

The idea for a wooden computer came about while I was looking for a new case, alas every design looked very similar, and there were very few designs that actually looked strikingly different. I knew with my woodworking skills I would be able to create something with more style and presence, and even improve on existing case layout and cooling, however after giving it some thought I wasn’t convinced that a wooden box mixed with the surroundings of a sleek monitor, keyboard and speakers, would be all that fitting. Instead I thought it would be more suitable that I painted the computer I was going to design with a high quality solid gloss finish, to give it the appearance of metal, and my design would merely be a prototype to a later made professional metal case.

IDEAS & DESIGNS

For the design to stand out from existing cases it couldn’t be square and conventional. so I started out with a quarter moon shaped design with a staggered top lined with fans, in theory this improved cooling as heat rises and that’s where the majority of the fans would be. However the design still looked amateur.

First Design ... The Black Curve

The second design I decided to go for all out cooling, and planned on integrating a 16” desk fan into the side. With radical styling the shape was almost circular, completely unique with unbeatable cooling, this should have been ideal. Unfortunately, a fan of that size would create a lot of dust inside the computer and the electromagnetic field produced by the fan motor may have had a negative affect on the components, and I still wasn’t content with the design.

Second Design ... The Big Fan Case

I wanted something more sleek, and fitting with the current trend of computer design, as I browsed computer shops searching for inspiration my criteria changed. I would now go for something a little more traditional and designed a series of cases that were typically square but I had integrated a car heater fan.

Third Design ... More Traditional