This is a diary of my insane notion to build my own computer.
About a year ago (December 2005 maybe?) I got fed up with my computers not having the right "stuff" to do what I wanted. The constant replacing parts and glitches were driving me nuts! So I decided to build my own "super" computer, MY WAY. The idea was to know everything that was in it, right down to the last wire and screw. I wanted to hand pick every last detail, so when something went wrong, I would know what it was.....Yeah right!!!!
Right off I decided that a mid size case was not going to be big enough. I wanted good air flow and room to get in there and do my thing. I found an older server case on eBay, that fit the bill! It was huge, plain and ugly. No guilt hacking away at it! Room to grow!!:
So the next thing was to strip it down and get to the modifications!!! Who Hoo! I knew I wanted the inside to be just as nice to look at as the outside so I painted it a copper color. The paint was a "hammered" look type that gives the appearance of old copper. I later rubbed black paint into the creases to increase the look of an old appliance.
I wanted a stain glass window I had to go into the side panel. NOT an easy job! This case is solid steel and it did NOT cut easy! My husband had to do it, if I tried I could not get the panel to not shake up and down with the saw blade! It vibrated so bad that my hands would ache trying to hold it still!
I then bought real red oak veneer to cover the case with before I installed the window. I glued it with Liquid Nails, then weighed it down over night.
OK, if I thought that cutting the hole for the stain glass was hard, it was nothing compared to actualy getting the window installed. This was real pieced glass, not plexi-glass...it had no give! I had cut extra room to allow for the thickness of the locking rubber gasket, but I still ended up taking a section of the glass window apart and grinding it down to make it fit!
The finished side panel:..
Thr front panel:....
This is my finished computer:
Wanna see the GOOD stuff...all those glorious guts that make it ZOOM?!!! Then...
Click Here