I dont have any sketchup skills either..
Bottom deck I would mount hte rad in front using the fans from it to cool the HDDs and PSUs (standing vertically next to one another). Rad is laying on its side with ODD and fan controllers side by side on top of it. Kinda like the final pics in my new deks mod thread in the case section except not vertical like i did
You dont need an I/O shield on a bench station thats like lipstick on a pig :p
PCI expansion slot is easy... really just a short piece of L channel aluminum stock with some holes tapped to M3/M4 whatever you prefer. Make the two rear legs of the tech station tall enough to mount the bracket and run it all the way across, If going all wood this can be the tricky part. But if using threaded rod or something.. makes it Super easy to adjust it on the fly
. Another short piece of L channel or even some flat strap could rig up a fan holder for VGA area as well.
MDF is easy to work with.. I use a 1/16? maybe 1/32 drill bit to make my mobo standoff holes and then with good downward pressure screw the standoffs in with a nut driver. wont stand up to a lot of abuse but..
Another thing I have considered doing for mobo standoffs is threaded rod.
To further save cost instead ofg hte mobo tray being a "tray" you really only need 3 strips of wood that line up with the mobo mounting holes. Not sure if the 4Way uses ATX or EATX mounting... so maybe do one more. This also save you from having to drill some holes.
The hardest thing to get right is drilling your holes with out a drill press and vise, and getting the PCIE expansion slot the exact right height. I would go a little larger and sand it down so it fits exactly.
I am ghetto though and something as pretty as the bench station (yeah I consider my entire work are a tech station) that most of the users have here would be lost on me. My last one I built the mobo tray was not even square LOL I need some real tools.
Hmm think I gots me a new project this week. Except mine has to hold a 480 rad
