An antique blowtorch is now doing the most unexpected job in PC cooling. On September 13, a builder known online as Old-Mate-Fetus showcased a fully working high-end gaming rig housed in a handmade wooden case, cooled by a custom copper water loop, with the brass body of a vintage Primus blowtorch serving as the coolant reservoir. Building a case like this demands a serious set of woodworking tools.
<a href="https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/diy-pc-build-uses-wood-copper-and-a-blowtorch-to-make-powerful-gaming-rig-3409291/” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>Multiple outlets including Dexerto and PC Gamer picked up the build within days, framing it as a standout example of DIY craftsmanship where steampunk aesthetics meet serious gaming hardware.
Serious Specs Inside an Unconventional Shell
Under the copper and wood sits a genuinely capable high-end gaming system.
The processor is an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, a 3D V-Cache chip that sits at the top of AMD’s gaming-focused lineup. Paired with a Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC graphics card and 32GB of Klevv DDR5-6000 CL28 memory (fast, low-latency RAM well suited to high-refresh gaming), this rig targets strong performance in modern titles at high settings. Builders chasing similar performance should be prepared to tackle common computer problems along the way.
The motherboard is a Gigabyte B650M Aorus Elite in micro-ATX format, and power comes from a Corsair 850W SFX unit fitted with custom-sleeved cables. No confirmed benchmark numbers exist for this specific build, but the component stack leaves little doubt about its gaming capability.
The Loop That Makes It a Conversation Piece
Hand-soldered copper tubing and a century-old blowtorch body handle all the heat.
The cooling loop runs on custom copper tubing, soldered by hand and routed visibly across the exterior of the wooden case. CPU cooling is handled by a Heatkiller IV water block, a well-regarded enthusiast-grade component. The GPU uses an Alphacool Core water block designed specifically for the RX 9070 XT, and an Alphacool DDC pump sits in a custom enclosure integrated into the loop.
Heat dissipation falls to a large radiator with three Noctua industrial 120mm fans mounted at an angle, reinforcing the build’s industrial character.
The reservoir is the detail that earned this rig its coverage. As PC Gamer’s Jacob Fox noted in the outlet’s component breakdown, it is a “reservoir made from an old Primus blowtorch with sight gauge fitted to it.” That sight gauge lets the builder check coolant level from outside without opening anything up.
Copper That Will Age on Purpose
Old-Mate-Fetus chose not to seal the copper, treating natural tarnishing as part of the design.
When commenters asked whether the copper had been treated to hold its appearance, the builder confirmed it had not been varnished or sealed. The plan is to let it tarnish naturally, deepening the aged, industrial look over time.
Coverage across several outlets compared the finished rig to a steampunk machine or an espresso maker. That framing is driven by the brass blowtorch body, the exposed copper piping, and the solid wooden frame. Hobbyists drawn to builds like this often find that quality desk gadgets round out a well-appointed workspace. According to PC Gamer citing the builder directly, the whole assembly weighs close to 20 kg (roughly 44 lbs), a consequence of the wood structure, heavy copper tubing, and large radiator.
No confirmed total cost has been reported for the build. Component prices alone, combined with custom woodwork, copper materials, water-cooling hardware, and the blowtorch itself, represent a significant hobbyist investment, according to coverage. This is a one-off passion project, not a product anyone is selling.
What Old-Mate-Fetus built is a working gaming PC that also functions as a piece of craft. The hardware inside is thoroughly modern; the vessel around it is anything but.
