Project: EVGA Classified SR-2 Case

[Spotswood]

I've been commissioned to build a very large wooden case to house his upcoming watercooled EVGA Classified SR-2 rig. This case is designed and built to run cool, quiet and be ultra-flexible for future upgrades.

Note how the side panels are constructed as air ducts for supplying cool fresh air to the front and sides of the case:

The walls will be constructed of 1.5-inch solid oak face frames with 5.2mm oak veneer plywood "panels" bolted to the inside of the frames and with aluminum "adapters" bolted to the front of the panels. The openings in the panels are sized to the largest pieces of hardware envisioned to be mounted in a particular location. The adapters could be exchanged with different adapters depending on what particular hardware is to be mounted in a panel opening.

Here are the specifications and some of the features of this case.

Physical Characteristics:

• External dimensions (HxWxD - inches): 44 x 26.5 x 35.5

Materials:

• 3/4-inch solid red oak, 3/4-inch and 5.2mm oak veneer plywood.
• .100-inch aluminum sheet and 1/8-inch aluminum angle, channel and rectangular tube.
• 1/8-inch clear acrylic.

Features:

• The side doors act as air ducts to supply fresh air from the bottom, top and back of the case to the front/sides.
• Unique modular panel construction provides flexibility for the placement of drive bays, fans, power supplies, etc.
• Mounting locations for two power supplies.
• Air flow is: fresh air enters from the side/front and exhausts out the back.
• The bottom case has two custom radiator holders for mounting up to four 140x4 radiators.
• The case is actually two separate cases bolted together.
• Removable ten slot motherboard tray.
• Motherboard tray can be mounted in a horizontal or vertical position.
• Powder coated aluminum.
• Wood finished with black water-based stain and polyurethane.

The bracket to hold the two Black Ice GTX 560 radiators is a simple affair, consisting of some aluminum 1x2-inch square tubing and channel.

All of the pieces are held together with two long 1/4-inch threaded rods which act as clamps to hold everything together. The ~4mm tall acrylic bumpers get compressed down to ~2mm to keep the radiators in place:

All of the aluminum bits will eventually be powder coated gloss black.

 

[sdy284]

this is going to be a 200lb case, lol

 

[Neb]

this is going to be a 200lb case, lol

I was thinking the same. With all that 3/4" oak and plywood it's not going to be a lightweight by any means

 

[sdy284]

I was thinking the same. With all that 3/4" oak and plywood it's not going to be a lightweight by any means

don't forget the 2x480mm rads & all the weight of the water

 

[Spotswood]

don't forget the 2x480mm rads & all the weight of the water

Low weight wasn't a requirement for this build. hehe

And you insult me sir, three 4x140 loops are going in this case. hehe

 

[EastwooD-]

You got me subbed, Loved your last build this one looks to top your last by leaps and bounds!!!!

 

[OKANG]

If something can't be carried, it is less likely to be stolen...especially if it appears to be a noisey end table

 

[Spotswood]

Some serious real life events have kept me out of the shop most of the week. However, I did manage to create a couple of patterns which I'll use to router out the holes for the 5.25-inch drive bays:

And I built a jig to guide my plunge router to router out the 3/16-inch slots in the 5.25-inch drive bay rails.

A full size drawing is taped to the .10-inch thick aluminum to guide the placement of the jig.

Two sets of stops are used to accurately position the router at the beginning and ending of each slot.

 

[Nickbaldwin86]

You going to need a few people to lift that thing

 

[Thug Esquire]

I already want one. Double quad radiators in a custom-built case? Ultimate hotness. OR SHOULD I SAY

Ultimate coolness.

 

[Spotswood]

Fabrication of the 5.25-inch drive bay rails continues. After breaking all 3 of my 3/16-inch woodworking router bits I ordered some standard end mills and they have performed awesomely. Because they are run without any lubrication I needed to keep the feed rate really slow.

After many hours I managed to complete 28 out of the total 35 rails for this case.

 

[thehybridfrog]

Looks great so far. You mention commission, how much do you normally charge customers for a job like this? Seems like a lot of work as you have already hinted at.

 

[Spotswood]

Tired of routing all of the 5.25-inch drive rails, I switched to fabricating the PSU(s) mounting plate:

I made a router pattern for 5.25-inch drive cage.

And routered out the .10-inch thick aluminum.

The round corners were filed square.

Another pattern was made for the two PSU mounting holes:

Here's the plate (it still needs to be trimmed to its final width):

 

[Spotswood]

Next up were the two internal mounting plates for triple 140mm case fans.

Another aluminum part requires another router template/jig. A 140mm fan was sacrificed for use as a router template:

3/4-inch aluminum flat bar was epoxied to the fan frame to keep it nice and square.

The fan housing was used as a guide to route out yet another full size jig. The jig was placed over a double layer of .10-inch aluminum sheet and routed out with a 1/2-inch flush/pattern router bit.

The finished cuts require zero cleanup (filing/sanding).

 

[Choder]

Awesome router work. But I have the same router, so I am a bit bias.

 

[rjolin01]

Yippie and new spotswood project...I was an avid subscriber to last case and now am to this one. You need a custom tag like "Fabrication Gawd"

 

[darkboricua921]

sub'd to this. Insane parts and case.

 

[Spotswood]

Next up are the bottom mounting plates.

Which requires fab'ing yet another router jig.

G]

The finished result:

 

[Spotswood]

Now that I know how wide the widest plate is, the PSU mounting plate was cut to width and mounting holes were drilled.

I'm really proud of how well this turned out.

Another plate requires yet another router jig.

Both plates were routed out of one big sheet because the big sheet is easier to clamp to the workbench.

A test fit:

 

[ShiShKaBoB]

Wow, I admire the work you're putting into this, this is going to be awesome!

 

[Rossi~]

Cool coming along well. How much do you think this case will weigh?? lol

 

[rjolin01]

looking good

 

[Spotswood]

Filed, sanded, scratched and test assembled the 5.25-inch drive rails to the PSUs mounting plate.

 

[Spotswood]

Next up are the 5.25-inch drive rails for the bottom mounting plate.

These (unfortunately) required a ridiculous amount of time to complete.

 

[Spotswood]

The fan covers are the last of the aluminum parts (yippee!):

I used a 1/2-inch router bit and an old router template to cut the wiring and tubing slots.

Now I just need to (re-)prep everything for powder coating and send them all off to the painter's.

 

[Spotswood]

Its time to start making some sawdust!

Ripped and thickness planed some 1x8-inch red oak into 1.5-inch wide boards to be used as the lower case face frames.

Pre-stained the wood and drilled the pocket holes.

The bottom of the case was also drilled for pocket screws.

Face frames were assembled with some glue and screws.

A homemade depth gauge was fashioned from some rubber stoppers/bumpers.

The depth gauge was used to drill holes for #8 threaded inserts on the inside of the face frames. A hex driver made the task of screwing the inserts into the wood easy.

The lower case face frames and bottom all assembled.

 

[cnealjr]

Progress! Looking good.

 

[rjolin01]

gotta love Kreg Jigs. looking good

 

[Spotswood]

The top case was built the same way as the bottom.

 

[Spotswood]

Powder coating came back this week.

 

[Spotswood]

Worked on the plywood panels that attach to the frames onto which the aluminum mounting plates are attached.

#8 threaded inserts were installed by "pulling" them into the plywood (from the back) by simply screwing in a #8 bolt.

The plywood panels are bolted to the inside of the case frame with six stainless steel socket cap screws via threaded inserts.

And the aluminum mounting plates are then bolted to the plywood panels (also with stainless steel socket cap screws) via threaded inserts.

All of this modularity allows for easily switching to different mounting plates and/or panels in the future.

 

[formula409]

Looking real nice. Really awesome build.

 

[morpheus6d9]

coming along very nicely

 

[cnealjr]

Beautiful work! Keep the updates coming.

 

[Rossi~]

Excited to see this thing completed Hurry

 

[Spotswood]

The back panel of the top case required three router jigs for the PSU mounting plate, 10-slot motherboard tray and 92mm fan holes.

Rear panel can be rotated for a vertical motherboard mounting orientation.

 

[Kendrak]

I have a SR-2. It is sitting on the box it came in currently.

I'd love to have a test bench or so for it. Want a side project LOL

 

[Spotswood]

I have a SR-2. It is sitting on the box it came in currently.

I'd love to have a test bench or so for it. Want a side project LOL

As long as you're not in a hurry, sure. Send me an email.

 

[Spotswood]

Another vertical member was added to the opening in the front of the case and the front panel was fabricated just like all the others.

 

[Spotswood]

The top divider was next.