Howdy

[mudz78]

G'day,

New to the forums. Been turning up a lot of posts here recently in my Google searches, so figured i may as well join up and tread all over your welcome mats.. Amazing community on these boards. After reading numerous threads i have noticed a theme of encouragement, friendliness and patience (with the odd bit of pi** taking). It's a pleasant atmosphere compared to a lot of the posting that goes on out there in the WWW.

Anyway, my name is John and i am a 30 year old wannabe DIY'er from Newcastle. I don't have a lot of woodworking experience, metalwork was more my bag in school, but I am keen to change that. Here's hoping some of the good people on these boards can help me!

Cheers,

-John

[artme]

G'day John and welcome to the lunacy.

We love the inexperienced. Easy to lead astray -- sorry- steer in the appropriate direction.

[Christos]

Welcome to the forum.

I am sure you will heaps of help, suggestion, advice, chatter, conversation, interested, well I can go on. I think you get the idea.

[Woodwould]

Welcome John!

[justinmcf]

g'day and welcome to the mad house!

regards, justin.

[paul k]

Welcome john, it's always good to have another convert.

paul , k

[Billy]

welcome, what sort of stuff do you make?

cheers, billy

[munruben]

Hi John and welcome to the forum.

[mudz78]

welcome, what sort of stuff do you make?

cheers, billy

Well, I tinker with some electronics, mainly PC's. Looking to branch out into some custom cases (sheet metal - steel and aluminum, perspex and timber). You can turn just about anything into a PC case, bottle of JD, Gameboy, pizza box, toaster, you name it.

As far as woodwork, not a lot to date. I've done some handyman stuff around the house, and a few little projects here and there. Built an indoor rockclimbing wall once (I have a large garage for being in the suburbs, 14m*9m) that was fun.

Would really like to get some furniture skills so I can incorporate PC designs into custom built household furniture - the computer coffee table From there, who knows. Once I broaden my skill set I am sure that more projects will come about.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.

Cheer,
-John

[Krunchie]

I would love a timber case for my pc but am a bit worried about dust? Also i want to put a pc in a keg (have pc + have keg - need some one with ability)

[mudz78]

I would love a timber case for my pc but am a bit worried about dust?

Dust is a concern in any case, regardless of materials. Of course with timber it becomes more of an issue as timber cases will hold more heat requiring you to pay some extra attention to how you will cool your case. Generally speaking, more cooling means more airflow (unless you go with liquid cooled), which means more dust potential.

You can buy off shelf the dust filters from a few PC stores online, or you can opt to make you own out of some very common place materials such as:

- pantyhose
- dryer liner sheets
- polyurethane foam
- air conditioner filter
- landscaping fabric
- even fly screen, although it's only going to catch very large particles.

It is important to remember that while keeping dust out is good, you still need to maintain a decent airflow into the case. Some materials (like landscaping fabric) can more restrictive to airflow that others. Also, as filters clog up with dust, they are more restrictive to air flow, so you are going to want filters that can be readily accessed and cleaned and/or replaced.

Regardless of what material is used, you should still be opening your case and cleaning it periodically. Same goes for any case. Pressurized air is the simplest method for cleaning case internals.

Also i want to put a pc in a keg (have pc + have keg - need some one with ability)

Do you mean a full size keg, or one of those mini kegs you can get form the bottle store? I've seen a few pc's installed in the mini kegs, not so much in the full size ones. You would have a lot of space to play around with in a full sized keg...got me thinking what else you could put in there...

Cheers,
-John

[Krunchie]

I have 3 full size kegs like the ones from C.U.B. but not could swap for help with my case??

[mudz78]

I have 3 full size kegs like the ones from C.U.B. but not could swap for help with my case??

Happy to offer any advice that I can.

A full sized keg is a heck of a lot of overkill when it comes to space for a home PC.

Do you have your PC specifications?

What will the PC be used for?

Where do u plan to sit it once it's done? Important to know if noise and/or cooling will be be a factor. If it's in you lounge room then quiet will be good. If it's in your shed, then you will want to ensure good cooling and dust/debris safeguards.

Is there a budget?

What tools do you have access to?

I'd suggest that you degas your keg if you haven't already. AFAIK you can degas by simply depressing the ball valve with a screwdriver, butt of a shifter, etc.

Here's a video tutorial for opening a sankey CUB keg for homebrewing:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_eXacIlsKE"]YouTube - How to open CUB sankey keg[/ame]

Not too sure how you will go cutting open a keg. I guess you don't want to cut it in half as then you have the problem af reassembling it, and also i would think that once in half that the edges of the cut would distort, each half sort of springing open a bit.

I'd be looking at cutting the top off and threading it some how so that it could be screwed on and off, maybe with an internal bracket. Or possibly a hinge and latch. Just an initial thought.

Don't have much time right now, but I'll do some more investigation during the week.

If you are dead keen on this then try Google for case mod sites. There will be some hardcore people out there with much more experience then me.

Cheers,
-John

[Krunchie]

i want one half to be computer and the other to be full of beer

[mudz78]

i want one half to be computer and the other to be full of beer

Trying to impress the chicks

Alright, will look around and see what i can come up with.