zulu89delta
New member
Hi!
First off, let me just apologise if any of the mod's feel this is posted in the wrong place. I felt it best to put it here as it technically is a desk, but I suppose it's also a rig and a potential project. So if someone wants to move it there, feel free.
I'm sure most of you have seen Scan's Swordfish Rig, and I'm sure most people, including me, thought "wow, I wish I could afford/have one of them!"
Now, I'm a big fan of scan, but let's face it...most of us will never afford to buy something like that prebuilt. So I thought to myself "how hard would it be, to design and build something like that yourself?"
I certainly don't have the time to build something like that (at the moment anyways) but I certainly do have time to design it...and so...I have.
The following is screenshots from a model I have made in Google SketchUp of a swordfish inspired 'compudesk', with some brief explanations of certain things.
This version of the desk is 2 meters long, the model is constructed in a way that it relates to real life building materials, so that it could be translated into a production plan.
The desk contains windows which are made from 3mm Perspex, which is double glazed sitting on lips inside the panel holes. Once again this is possible to achieve in real life.
The desk consists of two main cabinets, the left one acts as storage for the main pc componets, and the right would contain water-cooling components. The desktop has windows cut in, to allow viewing of the motherboard and contents of the right cabinet.
Instead of creating a custom motherboard mounting system I feel it would be easier to simply use a pre-existing part. I have therefore used a scale model of the Mountain Mod's HPTX motherboard tray, however Caselab's also make a HPTX Tech Station which would also serve the same purpose. Using a HPTX board of this type would allow a wide range of compatibility. The brands/components I have used are simply for illustration purposes. The fans towards the bottom of the picture are intaking from the cavity below via 114mm holes. The fans to the right are exhausting.
This can be better seen here. In reality the fans would be covered on the exteriors by some form of covering/filter. To stop any debris getting inside the rig and to stop any accidents involving fingers and fan blades.
Air gets into the cabinet system via intakes on the rear of the middle cabinet, once again through 114mm cut holes. These would also have to be covered/filtered.
The rear of the desk is flat. In reality there would be cutouts relating to the IO and PCI ports of the motherboard tray. I chose not to model a monitor riser system like the Swordfish has, as personally I think they're James Bond tacky, and it'd be complex. However, as the back of the desk is flat, this could be built separately and simply attached to the rear.
If the main rig components are in the left cabinet and the water cooling is in the right, then of course there needs to be a way for the pipes to get between the cabinets. I decided to model pass through bulkheads, fitted with compression fittings onto the medial cabinet panels. This would allow hosing to be fitted between the left and right cabinets, and it would be on display for aesthetic value, but safely up out of the way.
Of course, there needs to be a way to gain access to the interior of the cabinet in order to install components. In order to do this the front of each cabinet would be hinged and have magnetic poppers. And the entire table top would be hinged to the back board, so that it could be lifted to gain entry, much like a car bonnet for example.
So...that's it.
I would at some point like to use these plans and make myself a desk like this. But at the moment I don't have the time/money. But I thought it'd be nice to show people what's possible with modelling software and a bit of time.
Tell me what you think.
And if anyone wants it, I have uploaded the model file and it is available here http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=267c08efc864e7eb745e7734c9b1d8f9. If you genuinely want to adapt/improve it. Or want to potentially make a desk like this yourself.
Is anyone here involved in furniture making? And could anyone advise me as to what wood/composite they think would be best to use. When I modelled this I did so with mdf in mind, but my understanding is that it is somewhat hard to prepare for painting, etc.
Credit goes to Scan for the concept.
First off, let me just apologise if any of the mod's feel this is posted in the wrong place. I felt it best to put it here as it technically is a desk, but I suppose it's also a rig and a potential project. So if someone wants to move it there, feel free.
I'm sure most of you have seen Scan's Swordfish Rig, and I'm sure most people, including me, thought "wow, I wish I could afford/have one of them!"
Now, I'm a big fan of scan, but let's face it...most of us will never afford to buy something like that prebuilt. So I thought to myself "how hard would it be, to design and build something like that yourself?"
I certainly don't have the time to build something like that (at the moment anyways) but I certainly do have time to design it...and so...I have.
The following is screenshots from a model I have made in Google SketchUp of a swordfish inspired 'compudesk', with some brief explanations of certain things.
This version of the desk is 2 meters long, the model is constructed in a way that it relates to real life building materials, so that it could be translated into a production plan.
The desk contains windows which are made from 3mm Perspex, which is double glazed sitting on lips inside the panel holes. Once again this is possible to achieve in real life.
The desk consists of two main cabinets, the left one acts as storage for the main pc componets, and the right would contain water-cooling components. The desktop has windows cut in, to allow viewing of the motherboard and contents of the right cabinet.
Instead of creating a custom motherboard mounting system I feel it would be easier to simply use a pre-existing part. I have therefore used a scale model of the Mountain Mod's HPTX motherboard tray, however Caselab's also make a HPTX Tech Station which would also serve the same purpose. Using a HPTX board of this type would allow a wide range of compatibility. The brands/components I have used are simply for illustration purposes. The fans towards the bottom of the picture are intaking from the cavity below via 114mm holes. The fans to the right are exhausting.
This can be better seen here. In reality the fans would be covered on the exteriors by some form of covering/filter. To stop any debris getting inside the rig and to stop any accidents involving fingers and fan blades.
Air gets into the cabinet system via intakes on the rear of the middle cabinet, once again through 114mm cut holes. These would also have to be covered/filtered.
The rear of the desk is flat. In reality there would be cutouts relating to the IO and PCI ports of the motherboard tray. I chose not to model a monitor riser system like the Swordfish has, as personally I think they're James Bond tacky, and it'd be complex. However, as the back of the desk is flat, this could be built separately and simply attached to the rear.
If the main rig components are in the left cabinet and the water cooling is in the right, then of course there needs to be a way for the pipes to get between the cabinets. I decided to model pass through bulkheads, fitted with compression fittings onto the medial cabinet panels. This would allow hosing to be fitted between the left and right cabinets, and it would be on display for aesthetic value, but safely up out of the way.
Of course, there needs to be a way to gain access to the interior of the cabinet in order to install components. In order to do this the front of each cabinet would be hinged and have magnetic poppers. And the entire table top would be hinged to the back board, so that it could be lifted to gain entry, much like a car bonnet for example.
So...that's it.
I would at some point like to use these plans and make myself a desk like this. But at the moment I don't have the time/money. But I thought it'd be nice to show people what's possible with modelling software and a bit of time.
Tell me what you think.
And if anyone wants it, I have uploaded the model file and it is available here http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=267c08efc864e7eb745e7734c9b1d8f9. If you genuinely want to adapt/improve it. Or want to potentially make a desk like this yourself.
Is anyone here involved in furniture making? And could anyone advise me as to what wood/composite they think would be best to use. When I modelled this I did so with mdf in mind, but my understanding is that it is somewhat hard to prepare for painting, etc.
Credit goes to Scan for the concept.
