How to Build a PC Case from Wood: The Basics

Building a PC case is a project that many enthusiasts think about, but never embark on. It can be a daunting task. Laying out a case so it is easy to use and provides sufficient cooling is more difficult than it looks. There is also the question of materials. Most cases are made out of metal, and metal-working is out of the arena of those who do not own or have access to a well equipped workshop. Metal itself is also expensive and good-quality raw materials can be difficult to acquire if you are not already familiar with where to buy them.

Making a case out of wood resolves these issues. It can be worked with just a saw and a drill, it is cheap, and it is easy to acquire. Wood also provides a case with a unique look and is particularly appropriate for a home theater PC. This brief guide covers the basics of how to build a case using wood.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery. While it is fully possible to design a case using an exotic plan built with a 3D rendering tool or even CAD program, this is a basic guide. For people building their first case it is advisable to find a case that you like and then copy what is attractive. Take note of where the PSU mounted, where the drive bays are located, and where the fans are placed. If you don't mind spending the extra dough its even possible to buy a case, partially disassemble it, and use portions of it in the design of the case being built. Is it cheating? Kind of. But it is difficult to build a hard drive mount that is better than what Antec and Coolermaster have already come up with.

Once you've designed a basic layout its time to start measuring so it can be fine-tuned into a workable plan. Open the PC's current case and measure the size of all components inside. This includes length, depth and height. Remember to add about a quarter of an inch to the height of anything mounted to the motherboard because the motherboard is in fact suspended a quarter of an inch in the air by the motherboard spacers. Also remember that hard drives and optical drives must be mounted to something besides the walls of the case, and so the space of their enclosures, be they custom ones or ones ripped from another case, must be compensated for.

 There are two major issues with using wood for a PC case. The first issue is heat. The second issue is vibration.

Heat can become a problem because a wood case is not going to transfer heat from the inside of the case to the outside in the same way as a metal case. It is not entirely inaccurate to think of a metal case as a kind of heatsink. The metal is thin and transfers heat well. Heat inside the case transfers easily into the room. Wood does not have this characteristic. Airflow is therefore critical. Make sure that there is an exhaust fan for both the GPU and CPU, and make sure that intake fans provide proper airflow over the hard drives.

Vibration can be an even trickier problem. Wood tends to resonate, which means that a vibration can cause very annoying sounds. Dealing with vibration requires that parts which vibrate be isolated from the case in some way. This includes the optical drives, hard drive, and all fans. One way is to rip out the internals of a case with good vibration isolating qualities and mount those components into the wooden case. A custom approach is to use rubber spacers in areas where components are being screwed into wood. Foam can be packed around fans. Rubber strips, like those used around windows to plug drafts, are also extremely handy. They can be placed around components. If you're very precise, you can glue them to a fan and then slip the fan into a precisely cut fan mount, mounting the fans without any screws at all. Be careful with the glue, however, as many types of glue react badly with rubber.