i finally have some extra money to spend and next week is spring break so i thought that this would be the perfect time to make my acrylic case that i've been thinking about for soo long. i'm a poor college kid so i don't have the money to mess up. i want to know if y'all see any complications in my plan. Here's what i'll be doing. This is going to be a totally custom case built around my current config. i'm going to have the motherboard attached to my acrylic mobo tray. when standing vertical the mobo will be on the left and upside down. it will be the only thing on that side. on the other side will be everything else. on the other side will be the psu, hard drives, and cd rom. i also want to build a surge protector into the case. i want to have the psu plugged into the surge protector. then on the back i want to have 4 or 5 sockets built onto the back of the computer so i can plug my 3 monitors and speakers to that. this way when i move my computer i only need one plug for everything on my computer. i also want to put an extra 8 port router into the case. hook one of the connections to my lan card. for the other 7 ports i want to do like the surge protector and make 7 lan jacks on the back. Now that you know what i will be doing, i have some questions: 1) what's the best type of acrylic to use? something that doesn't crack easily that i can drill. i will also be using the score and snap method. 2) is all lexan made equally? at metku mods, he uses lexan because it can bend cold. i want to use this for mounting my hard drives. 3) will having the surge protector in the case be an issue? it will be on the bottom, non mobo side, under the hard drives and psu. 4) attaching the mobo to the acrylic. so i just need to drill the holes and screw the mobo standoff's into the acrylic? how wide do the holes need to be for this? 5) how wide do the holes need to be for the psu, hard drives, and cd rom? 6) is the acrylic glue strong enough to hold all of this together? i'm kinda skeptical about the glue. my plan uses bolts to hold everything together, partly so i can take it apart. 7) will 1/4" thick acrylic be strong enough for everythign to be mounted on since most things will be mounted to the mobo tray? 8) i will be using the score and snap method to get my sizes, anything that i should know about this? will i need to sand the edges if i want to glue them together? that's everything that i can think of right now. i apoligize if this is confusing, but its the first time i've told anyone about this in full, its been my little secret. what do y'all think of my plan? thanks in advance
I'll try to help you with the knowledge I aquired while building mine 1- Lexan and Lucite great great plexis. that's what I always use when I need plexi. To prevent cracking and all... lubricate your drill bits. 4- I suggest you to use blots, nuts and little cylinder stand offs to attach your modo to the plexi since you might crack your plexi if you screw in a too tight hole... and a too big hole won't work obviously... 5- check your screws.. should be around 1/8 3/16. 6- I glued mine. the thing is once everything is glued together, it's very solid but if you glue just 2 panels, you can get them apart easily... I've used luctite gel glue but there's an industrial glue that melts the plexi together... you might want to check around for this one. 7- sure! you won't be able to find 1/2 plexi unless you buy a sheet which will cost you a pretty penny. I've made mine in 1/4 and it's very solid. 8- you'll need to sand the edges and make them like porous to glue them... I've made everything precut so I had to sand... but you'll have to sand or the glue won't cure right. hope that my answers will help you good luck in making your acrylic case don't forget to post pics once your done
thanks Tribal Dragon. what's the difference in lexan and lucite? is one less scratch resistant? what do you lubricate the bits with? i don't understand this. how would i use bolts, nuts and the little cylinder stand offs? don't the stand offs screw onto the mobo tray? i am scared of screwing a metal screw into the plexi cuz of cracking. yeah, i wasn't too clear. i was going to use 1/4 for the mobo tray then 1/4 to attach everythign else to. then i was going to bolt the 2 together. for the glueing, what grit sandpaper should i use?
1-The difference between Lexan and Lucite is that Lexan is softer. both will scratch, they are resistant but not THAT resistante... you might want to add some mak-tak (transparent vinyl) to prevent scratches. you can use vaseline or the like to lubricate your bits. 4- well maybe I've explained myself bad... I've meant the little plastic cylinders. so you get you bolt through your mobo holes (where you usually screw), then in the plastic cylinder (on the back of the mobo), through the plexi and use a nut on the end... 7- for the mobo tray you could even use 1/8. 8- between 100 and 400 works well
Im not going to be helpful but it has to be said: Buy one, building your own out of acrylic ISNT easy and the ones on the market (specially the top quality ones) are exceptional compared to the one i built. Unless you have professional tools and the patience of a saint and the experience im scheptical sorry having been through it myself. If you still want todo it yourself - plan it and plan it and make pre-boxes out of cardboard and plan and measure some more! Then get the acrylic professionally cut if poss, at least the big edges so that they are straight. DONT consider using a dremel - itll melt it and its not accurate enough i found. 1/4" is fine for the externals, 1/8" for internals is fine too. Remember though - itll be heavy and you have to support it more then metal too. Acrylic is fine, lexan scratches easier and is unnecessarily expensive. check my site for info about the one i made, and read linears articles on it too.
thanks Tribal Dragon, i understand now. Bindibadgi, i don't really like any that i seen. i'm mainly doing this to move away from the standard case design and that i just wanna do it myself.
Bindibadgi's right. getting an already made plexi case will looks better... way better. they comes in pieces so you build them and looks pretty fun.. if you still plan to make your own... you need to check the measurements at least 3 times because one tiny error and nothing will fit... but once everything's done... it's greatly rewarding... you need patience... lot of it cause your gonna need it... tons of it get your piece precut... at least everything will be straight... unless you plan to bend some plexi with a heat gun.
I agree with Bindibadgi when he says the cases on the market are very well made, but I think you can achieve a good result if you follow some simple rules: - measure, measure and measure everything, from your motherboard to the screws of your HDD.. I had to route all the holes for CD/HDD because the plexy was too thick and the screws too short!!! - use a good CAD tool to plan your case; draw each side first, then try to put together a 3D model. - give your plans to a shop with a CNC machine: maybe it's more expensive than a totally self-made case, but it's surely less expensive than an off-shelf one and the quality is really high (I was so lucky to find a shop VERY near my house). Moreover, if you plan all the cuts and holes, you only have to put together the pieces and you end up with a finished case! Just one thing about your question n. 6: the glue is strong enough to keep the panels together, but don't load them with heavy stuff... I was forced to screw my drive cage because the glue was not enough for 2 HDDs and a FD. Hope it helps and good luck! GeeK!
My glue experience was just the opposite--I got great adhesion. I practiced on scrap a lot and did several 'test to destruction' sort of pieces. I would say that for a .250 inch panel, the glue joint can be amazingly strong if done right. Bubbles, lack of straightness, thinner material, all those will reduce the strength of the bond. My case is screw-free except where the drive cage attaches to the front panel.
about EMC?? I was planing my watercooling case, too It is also acrylic design. But EMC problem always come to my ear and it tells something like "Hey! electonic wave is buring your brain!" How to prevent EMC problem for a acrylic case? No metallic cover can stop those EMI. Please help me to get rid of this annoying monster. Thanks a lot.
buy 2 cheap standardplexi cases, then u tend to have enough peices to do wat u want (make a big cube or wateva)......and it'll still cost less and look loads better.
