Front panel

The original front panels were in a rather poor way, after 5 years or so of use and abuse. I abandoned the idea of modding the originals in favour of making a new one from scratch. The front panel is fixed to the chassis, and is really just built up from the metal. The sides of the panel are formed from 3 pieces of wood glued to the chassis, one for the top, and one on each side, with the corners cut at 45 degrees to give the neatest possible appearance.

The front panel itself is a piece of very low quality 3mm plywood. If you want to try making your own front panel, I recommend you use MDF instead, as it has no grain, and cuts very neatly. First I cut the panel to size, and then came the hard bit... marking out all the bits that needed cutting out. The only way to do this is to measure everything, pencil it onto the wood, and then hold it up to the chassis to check. It took me a couple of goes to get everything marked accurately. I used nothing more sophisticated than a pair of vernier calipers, a ruler, a pencil, and a set square. I used a fretsaw for the cutting, to minimize splintering as much as possible. I cut a couple of millimetres inside the lines, to allow a little room for error. It was then a case of carefully filling away at the edges, checking it against the chassis, and then filling again, until the shape was perfect. This was quite a long process, but patience paid off.

Gluing the plywood onto the case completed the structure of the front panel, But the finishing process is what makes it look like a front panel, and not just a piece of wood. I started with wood filler, filling in any gaps with a thin layer of filler, and then sanding it down. This completely covered up the join between the wooden battens and the plywood. Disguising the grain of the plywood proved harder. I applied 3 coats of wood primer, sanding it down between coats, then a single coat of gloss black wood paint to finish it. I could have done a much neater job with MDF and aerosol paint, but it is after all an industrial look case, and the small blemishes only add to the overall look.

Front Intakes

I wanted the front intakes to be a little different from the norm, but allow as much airflow as possible. Then came the realization that a circle is the wrong shape for a fan cut out. If you take a look at the shape of a fan frame, it is a square, with curved ducts in each corner. I followed the shape of the fan for my cutouts, with what is essentially a round cornered square. To enhance the effect, I put the finger guards behind the front panel, rather than in front of it. The fans are 120mm Evercools, and are held in with glue.

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