-=SpH!Nx=- Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hey guys! I just wanted to add this in and share. This is my second scratch build project called "Toxicity Machine DeskPC". The desk has 2 Mini ITX systems inside (although I designed the desk to accommodate 2 Micro ATX systems, but I don't have the money to buy new components, so I sticked with using my existing mini itx systems), with custom hard line liquid cooling loop each. One of the system (APU build) will serve as a HTPC type and server build, and the other system (Intel) will serve as my main gaming system. The desk basically has 2 parts, the top area wherein all the main and core components will go, and the bottom area where all the radiators, fans and power supply will go. My idea in this kind of set-up is to separate the components that produces the most amount of significant heat to the components that dissipate heat instead of having all of these components inside of a big enclosure. I then decided to add a twist to the build. I added a pair of linear actuators inside the legs of the desk for easy height adjustment. I will apologize for the quality of the photos since I don't have one of those fancy professional cameras. and even if I do, wont be able to tickle around the settings and exposures and what not to get a great photo. My head can't wrap around those kind of stuffs. So again, I apologize about the photos, I was using my phone camera for all of the photos. Here's the specs of the 2 Mini ITX systems inside: Gaming System Asus P8Z77i-Deluxe Motherboard Intel i7 3770k Corsair Vengeance LP 1600Mhz 16GB RAM EVGA GTX 680 2GB Seagate Barracuda 3TB HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD Samsung EVO 120GB SSD Corsair AX750 power supply HTPC/Server System Gigabyte F2A88XN - Wifi AMD A10-7650k Kingston HyperX PnP 8GB 1866Mhz RAM ADATA XPG SX900 128GB SSD Silverstone strider gold 850w power supply Fans at the Top Area: GELID solutions 120mm UV Green Fan Fans at the Bottom Area: Corsair SP 120mm Fan Scythe SlipSteam 120mm Slim Fan Cooler Master JetFlo 120mm Fan Here's my rendered concept photo: Here's a photo of the wood cuts that I need for the desk using a Jigsaw and a hacksaw. It's not the best cut in the world, but I am satisfied with what I did. Time to do a test fit. I made rectangular insertion point for all the pieces of the wood that will compose the desk. My initial thought was by doing this, I might be able to lessen the use of screw or nails when putting the desk together. After making sure that all of the parts of the desk fits nicely on each insertion points, I then started to make the mounting holes, fan holes, motherboard cutout and for the power supply. And now, it's time to try and make the legs for the desk. Having to work with a pair of linear actuators on a wooden frame, not the easiest thing to do in the world. But it was fun making it. I learned a lot in this process of the build. Using a 4"x 15" pine knot wood as the leg frame, I started to venture to the unknown world of linear actuators. I used aluminum angle brackets to hold down the frame of the desk legs because i was not confident in myself if Im going to use just screws or nail to hold the leg frame together. I clearly screwed up the length of one of the legs in this photo. But a jigsaw solved this problem for me! After the assembly of the leg frame, I did a lift test with the linear actuators just to see if the tension between the wooden frames are enough that the actuators can slide up and down easily when powered on. The first test was not great, but adjusting the screw hole on one of the aluminum brackets was easy enough that it only took me 7 minutes to get the tension that I wanted to achieve a smooth extend and retract motion for the linear actuators. Lift test with the desk on top of the legs, check! I was actually surprised that the lift test went really well. Now the desk can have an extra 12" height adjustment! Time to make the mounting system for the desk legs to the desk. My idea here was, instead of screwing the legs to the bottom part of the desk, I made a rail using aluminum U-channels. This way, if ever I need to do a maintenance or if one of the actuators dies, I could easily slide the legs out from the desk. I could just unscrew the leg frames to access the linear actuators inside, but if the time comes that I need to replace the actuators, this kind of set-up will work perfectly for me. And finally! After 3 weeks, (well, since I could only work on this every weekends, that should put me in 6 days of work) I finally was able to finish all the pieces of the wood the will compose the desk! It was a excruciating and very time consuming process since I was only using a hacksaw, Jigsaw and a hand drill to make all of the holes, mounting holes and screw holes, but it was fun and I learned a lot in the process. The switch between the vandal-resistant switch and the optical drive is a reversing polarity switch that will control the linear actuators. Now that I am done cutting all the parts of the desk, time to paint em. I really hate doing paint jobs but i need to go through it to get this project done. This is what I came up with the base for the leg of the desk. I know it looks ginormous, but this design was good enough to hold the whole desk and to avoid the desk moving forward or backward when the actuators are extending or retracting. And this is the overall look of the desk assembly after a few more paint sessions and a little bit more sanding. The top wooden cover will have a 1/4" thick acrylic sheet on top of it. And now, assembly time! The following photos will show height differences when using the linear actuators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-=SpH!Nx=- Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Now, time to take apart my existing mini ITX systems and put em all in the desk. I became a kid again in this process. As if I just got a new gundam model and I am about to do the assembly. This was my first time doing a hard line loop for a system, so some of the bends that I got we're not that perfect, but overall, I was happy about it! And I forgot that some fittings will require the tubes to be sanded down to be able to fit them to the fittings. I got frustrated doing this, so I bought crystal link tubing for this project to avoid another time consuming task for the hard line loop. It leak test time! These is the bottom part of the desk. A friend suggested to me that it will be a shame to cover up the bottom part of the desk and instead, make something that will show the bottom of the desk while being the mounting spot for the fresh air intake fans. So i decided to use a acrylic sheet as the bottom cover and make some fan holes for the fresh air intake fans. Which came out really well. After doing and passing the leak test, I then decided to finish up the build and see if the systems will boot up properly, which thankfully, it did. The blue led light was kinda killing the "green glow" that I wanted. So I was thinking of just taking all the blue led light inside the desk, but then this came in to my head. So I went out and bought a box of privacy window film and use it at the acrylic cover of the desk. And it kinda adds a little bit more "geekiness" in the build. You wont see what's inside the desk unless you turn on the lights inside the desk. And finally (but sadly), the build process came in to an end. Overall, I was happy with the outcome. The desk is doing what is design and supposed to do. Here's the final photos of my build. Thank you guys for taking your time reading through my build log and hopefully I inspired someone with this build. And again I apologize for the quality of the photos. Thank you again and good luck with your current and up coming builds! And if you have any suggestions or tips or advice, please feel free to drop a comment! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Storm Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Wow this is awesome, I want one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-=SpH!Nx=- Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Wow this is awesome, I want one! LOL! Thanks inferno! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-=SpH!Nx=- Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 I didn't noticed this photos saved in my phone. I thought I didn't had these photos saved in my SD card, but I just found these photos and hour ago, This was the photo I took after all of the assembly was done. My wife is just furious on how messy our room was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcis Modz Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 hory syiiit. so nice... great work bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.