Has anyone built a rack for rack mount computers and equipment? I'd be interested in seeing any pictures or plans you have.
Pete
I would like to see the wood computer. ;~)
Try here:
LOL... Yeah I have seen the wooden mouse and key board site.. Pretty cool stuff.
I have a few, built in red oak cases.
What I did was buy the rails from a local supply house and build a frame around it. Sorry I dont have photos or plans. I did this for a client that wanted to show off the new server rack in an area that was glassed in. I made three racks out of Red Oak and used a metal rack enclosure for a template. Don't forget to add cooling fans, the wood makes a good insulater for heat.
Happy shooting by the way.
Gary
This is OT to the OT:
Back in the days when 386s were the hot thing, and pocket money was short, I converted an old 4 drawer file cabinet into an elCheapo rack for four PCs. It was very ugly and the vibration from the muffin fans nearly drove us to distraction.
Tim
If you mean the kind of rack that used to be called a 19" relay rack, then I suggest a different approach. The equipment can be quite heavy and the mount points are fairly critical. Instead of building a wooden rack, how about getting enclosing a standard metal rack in a wooden case? Years ago, in the days of CP/M and 8" floppy disks, I build my own S-100 bus computer that consisted of the man computer case plus a dual disk drive. I used rack mount cabinets for both of them. I rescued an old 19" full height rack from the trash at the university, cut it down so that the top would be desktop height, put large casters on the bottom and enclosed the whole thing with a desk top surface and raised panel sides. I then made custom fronts for the components and a pull-out keyboard table.
I don't have it any longer so I cannot send pictures, but you should be able to get the idea.
Rack mount computer cases would be 19" - same form factor as a relay rack. Are we talking about full height racks -- 84 or 96", or are we talking about something smaller, like a portable rack? In either case, I would go the route Bob suggested -- there are loads of 19" rack configurations on the market, and they can be purchased as a frame-only to which you could fabricate a wooden carcass.
My situation was I could have anything with a part number on it but nothing with a serial number. The case has the serial number.
the idea of building a wood box for the metal case has other merits...The metal case acts as grounding for some components and a shield for rf interference both in and out of the machine. The one picture I saw on this thread kinda scared me a bit for that reason. most cases if you look close enough have a removeable front face this can then be replace with whatever wood you would like and then the rest of the box should be fairly easy to make just put holes where there are holes for breathing and your there.
-- Unless you can create the WHOLE universe in 5 days, Then perhaps giving "advice" to God, isn't such a good idea!
Huh? The system board is the grounding point in a PC. As long as everything is bonded to the system board you are "grounded". Well designed system boards don't leak that much RF. I had my PS/2 70 in the red oak box tested, actually my manager did. It passed FCC "B" level.
Agreed. But most computers are more than a motherboard. As soon as you plug in daughter boards (I/O, graphics, memory) and run cables to peripherals like disk drives, there is likely to be considerably more RF.
In any event the OP asked about a rack to hold computer modules. I understood that to mean that he has fully enclosed cases with rack mount attachments. The individual cases should provide the RF shielding and the cases grounds should be connected to a common ground point.
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