I'm going to be making a computer case that I want to be a very shiny silver (and very smooth). I'm too cheap to get anything chromed, but I've also thought of plexi with a metalic paint underneath. Possibly even some cheap aluminum (if there is such a thing near my apt) polished. What do you think? (I'm making a pc case for our homework/internet computer, so I can use the 'real' computer for web/graphic design... and perhaps a bit of gaming ) The whole thing is going to have a 1'x1' footprint, and hopefully be only 3" tall... but that depends on how good my cramming-things-in-tight-spaces skils are.
Good luck... The metalic painted plexi doesn't really come out mirrored like you might think, but I know that Homey De- pot near me sells plexi mirror panels... Those might work nice... Like to see it tried at least.
Applying paint to the inside of the acrylic is a great way for a glossy/rich/smooth effect. The only problem I see is the metalic paint. You may have a hard time finding one with a "polished" look. Metalic is easy but most metalic paint is just that. If the "polished" look is paramount, you may want to consider skinning the inside with thin polished aluminum. Check out sign shops near you, they usually have loads of aluminum sheet and you could probably pick up scraps that would fit your small size for a song. I am lucky enough to work near a sign supply business and I buy the stuff from them in any size I need. It's cheap and just the right thinkness. just my $.02 It wouldn't cost you much to experiment with metalic paint on acrylic, you may get lucky or come to find you like the effect the way it is. [edit] pflum beat me to the post but at least we agree.. [edit again] you could try looking into silver metalic window tinting like macro used in parts of macro black... that has a lot of potential to wow folks and send you to the asylum trying to install the stuff.... either way we get to be entertained.
In that case I'll do that and post the video on bit That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea (tinting... I completely forgot about macro black's method!). The inspiration was a cheap plastic alarm clock, so I don't neccessarily need reflective, but using tinting to potentially change the transparency of this sounds kind of cool
might i suggest mylar (spelling?) its used by stagecrews a lot as a flexible kind of mirror stuff (its really frikkin thin) but if you attached it to the plexi, it would give you a damn good mirror finish if you didnt have any airbubbles or anything.
*leans over to dogg and whispers* shhhh d00d, I've almost got him trying to tint the entire inside of a case....
What are you two whispering about? I might be cutting circles out of plexi with mylar backing as my buttons, and use the tinting as the rest of the case. The case is going to be rather small as it is. I still haven't decided how I'm going to mount everything to it... I was thinking either somehow incorporate the screws into the style, or somehow glue everything in (hdd, psu, etc) The PSU is going to be completely re-done... I've already removed the wires and got some connectors, although I may be changing them soon as they are a rather low grade, and were originally intended to only power fans. I'm a little worried about cooling, but since it is a 900MHz I'm not too worried. I'm going to have a single HDD, external-ish CD ROM, floppy drive, 900MHz Athlon Slot-A CPU w/thermaltake golden orb cooler, modded PSU, and about 5 superbright LEDs. I'm also thinking of adding internal speakers which can be disabled via plugging in headphones (and a switch to manually break the connection to any speakers alltogether, I love hardware mute buttons) I'm also thinking of being cheap and including a clock instead of an LCD (my wife won't even let me buy a new soldering iron yet... so the LCD won't be added for a while!) I'll probably be copying eddie with some resin molds if he ever posts pics (I'm converting a normal tray CD ROM into a top-loading CD ROM, similar to a portable CD player, only with a clear top, minus the sabilization plate, of course) This is going to end up looking like a pyrimid with the top half cut off (the top of it being the modded CD rom) I'm not putting this in project logs yet since it isn't official, and I'm just gathering info... but this is a project I hope to complete within the next month.
what?! no food or live plant holding objects?! That actually doesn't look too horrible. I may just get a pane of glass for the side pannels and spray the insides, then use the plexi I have for the base and the top. How hard is it to drill holes in glass anyway? (I know how to score/snap glass, but I haven't drilled any) Keep 'em comin' The more ideas the better
wow.. thats cheap. lol could work tho in theory. im still sticking to mylar i try to stay away from any kind of "painting" things.. i suck at painting. o well.
I still say that the Mirror acrylic at Home Depot might be easier, no chance of bubbles, and it's already a mirror, just alot easier to work with and lighter than glass mirror. Comes in big sheets, some people do entire walls with the stuff. It's just about as cheap as the regular plexi, but mirrored to begin with. No mylar sticking, or tinting woes. just my $.02
Okay, I have some ideas as to what I'll be using for the material now (I won't share them now, as I plan on changing my mind sporattically throughout the project) but I will describe a bit more... The CD ROM mod has changed, it will now have the circuits installed inside the case at a slant, with the CD tray/laser mounted level at the top, this way I can have a perfect square top. There will be a sheet of plexi on rails covering it, and when you press the shiny eject button, the plexi cover will slide back, exposing the tray. Then, you just press the eject button again and it will slide into place again (maybe later I can learn more about electronics and use a sensor to see if a CD is in there, and if your hand has cleared, then close the lid) I'm going to have to use one of those flex extenders or right angle brackets to mount my agp card sideways. Does anyone know where I can get some? I'll probably also be mounting the HDD to the side wall, possibly using a clear acrylic side as the covering, so you can see the inside of the drive. (kind of a lazy HDD window job) I'll probably get some foam tape to seal it around the edges while spacing it out a bit. what do you think? (I"ll post some renderings later tonight)
