The Difference Engine: Part 3, Motherboard Tray

For the motherboard tray, I figured I'd make sure I could support the largest motherboard that's likely to come out in the near future. To do that, I need to support HPTX, the monstrous 15"x14" format. I'm planning to use DangerDen's 10-slot I/O shield as the back-plate since I don't want to try and machine that out of wood. I managed to find a model for a 7-slot I/O shield and expand it.

The tray will be supported by 1" x 1" x 1/2" blocks, with a 3/8" hole through the middle to allow bolting the tray in place. The size of the bolts is more for the aesthetic than for practical need. The whole tray should slide out the back of the case once disconnected.

I'd like to seal the compartment, but that requires a variety of connectors to be built into the motherboard tray. Until I get those figured out, the tray has some slots for power delivery and data connections.

Without further ado, here it is!

I'm not especially happy with the way that the support block at the bottom of the tray is covered by the last slot of the I/O shield. I could widen the tray, but that will make the case somewhat a-symmetrical unless I widen each edge, which adds up to a lot of extra space. Another option would be to just move the support block away from the I/O shield by an inch.