I just used a dremel with a heavy-duty cutting wheel for the front panel openings (not shown...yet), easy enough to do . As for the back panel, I took the drill press with the rotozip bit, hollowed out the shape, and then took a dremel with a grinding stone on it and ground it down to the line I drew, nice an flat and straight. And yes, it should be in project logs but macroman moved it to here because I didn't have any pictures in it at the time it was created.
Oh, BTW....I'll be leaving for a church retreat thing tonight, so I can't update on what I get done today, but I hope to finish up the front panel and at least one of the sides. Today I'm going to order a cold cathode or two, some fangrills, and some LEDs for it, so I can have it here by next weekend.
I'm BACK! And the retreat was life changing, in a way I could never tell you all. Unless you're looking forward to a good nap . Okay, update time! Since I didn't get to update on my work from Friday, here it is: Now I wasn't quite sure what I was going to use to secure the lexen to the case at first, but I decided on brass screws and nuts, as pictured. These are round slotted machine screws, #8-32, 1/2" in length, and came in a bag of six (both the screws and the nuts) for $0.86 a bag at Home Depot, so I bought ten bags of six of each, which I MIGHT need to get one more back of screws, unless I get lucky . Here's what my front panel LOOKED like. But of coarse, this case is giving me a horrible time, and it cracked when I went to drill the front intake hole! And ended up looking like this... And that is what stopped me from cutting the side panels on friday!
Here's what I was using for drilling fan holes. We've had the drill attatchment for a long time (at LEAST six years), and we bought a three inch hole saw about a year ago for my first blowhole mod . Anyway, here's the beast I was using when cracking the front panel. And yes, like an idiot, I used a corded drill, so that ment too much power at once, and too much force. Oh well, I learn from experiance! Now, for the fans! Nothing special about the front fan screws, thye just go straight through the mounting holes, and I just need to get good matching brass screws for the thing. The top fans were a little more special though. In order to fit the nut in so the screw could grab it, I had to Dremel away some of the plastic around the back of the mounting hole: Like so:
And epoxied the nuts into place, so I wouldn't have to worry about holding them still when tighting the screw, thus giving me less work! Some of the screws in the top really didn't need nuts on them, so I just epoxied them into place with that metal epoxy I bought, like so...
So I went along being a good little modder boy and started over with the front panel, this time with more care into hole cutting and such, but I STILL broke the freaken thing! It's NOTHING compared to the others, but I still broke it. But it all still looks good, and is barely noticible.
A few pictures of what I have installed for now and you're set! Back... Top... And Front Now I just had one questoin. With the front intake fan and all, what can I use for a filter? I mean, I don't want my pretty clear work of art to become dust filled and ugly as soon as I plug it in .
It looks great, but too bad the lexan cracks all the time . Maybe you should try plexi instead, which is a bit softer? I have never had any plexi or perspex crack on me, even though I do alot with it. And when you are getting such a cool case, you have to have an LED fan in the front ther instead of the black.
Yeah, I'm going to order some blue LED fans with my next paycheck, I was planning that from the begining . And I'm going to use my vinyl tube PSU mod and wire mods on this case, so it'll show off even more . Just so you all know...I choose lexen cause I've had good experiances with it....not this time...obviously . But I'll make it through the mod. After the front panel cracked, I just wanted to stop there, but like me, I finish what I've started
Yes for the love of God use some real Lexan that stuff is bulletproof and does not shatter when cut, I use that stuff all the time for my projects and I love it. I have found that the Lexan from Home Depot is best, it has a green plastic protective side and a white protective plastic on the other side, should be available from other places as well. Do that and save yourself some grief, looks like alot of good work is going into this project keep it up.
Yeah, I'm using Home Depot Lexen. I used to buy the green and white kind, but they didn't have it in the size I needed, so I bought the blue. But it's my fault for it shattering. When I cut the front fan hole, the drill was going too fast and some of the holesaw teeth caught on it wrong, so it jerked on that side and ripped it away. BTW, this stuff is EXTREMELY flexible, which is another upside of it all .
Ok, well the blue isn't the good stuff but if that is all you can get good luck, it should be ok if you are carefull and take your time cutting it.
Good looking mod. It's always nice to see people making cases pretty much from the ground up. Glad the retreat went well. One suggestion for drilling holes, I know this goes completely against logic, but what I do is set my drill press for it's highest speed (mine's 3k rpm) clamp the acrylic or polycarbonate down, and use a sharp bit. The whole key to this is to take your time and go slow. Where I got the idea for this is that if the bit is spinning fast enough it will only cut a minute amount of the material at a time, having time to clear that away before cutting deeper, and not building up enough to actually catch the plexi/lexan and pull it into the bit. After doing this dozens and dozens of time over the past couple years, I can say it definitely works. For the hole saw stuff, your on your own, but I hope this helps in the future. Daniel
actually what you do is go out an buy yourself a GOOD SET of plexy drill bits, designed SPECIFICALLY for plexy. TRUST ME its well worth the investment, you will see cut like a hot knife through butter.
I must say the lexan looks nice but also looks rather britle. hope there arnt to many mor accidents before the end.
I dont know this material name in english, but i think it is polycarbonate or polycarbonium (plexi) (ask it about store). don't use acryl or lexan because they are weak and they break easily.
ok ok... i work at a glass shop. plexiglass is brittle and week. lexan is not....lexan is what they make racecar windshields out of. if you are going to buy anything buy lexan. it does not come covered with clear colored plastic film the clear/green/blue/and white plastic covered stuff they sell at stores is plexi..i dont care what they tell you it is...its plexi lexan comes covered with brown or white paper with plastic backing on it that sticks to the lexan....it will have alot of writing on it as in specs and strength ratings and so on. we install it on homes that face golf courses...you can through a hammer at hard as you can at a piece of 1/4 inch lexan and it will bounce back at you as fast as you threw it...lol 3/8 inch will stop a 38 cal bullet. 1/2 inch will stop a 45 cal bullet. 1/4 inch will not stop a bullet but it will just make a hole in it and it WONT crack. LEXAN is the stuff you want.....some of the people at home depot and lowes and such realy dont know the diffrence. if you realy need to know...call a glass shop....we know...lol i have been doing glass work for 12 years now...trust me on this.
