Hi everyone! I've now been on these boards for about 1 week or so. I decided to start case-modding about 2 weeks ago, and as i browsed for links, this site kept coming up. I hope you will read through my post, and give me your thoughts on my first project. Some guidance from experienced modders would be dope! So i've been looking at alot of your mods and they are all really cool. But it's about time i get started myself. I've invested in a few tools (dremel etc.) and machines for my work, and i really hope i'll be able to make something cool, without all the big machines! I know the oppotinities with hand tools can be limited, but with a little patience i hope to get some quality work done . The planning so far Anyways. Ive been in the 'Planning phase' for a week now as im outta money (tools and computer parts are expensive for a student like me). So right now, i've been preparing myself making sketches, finding materials and looking at mods in here for inspiration. The first thing i did was making a big table in my room so i got somewhere to mod! This is meant as a desk where i can do all the small-stuff. If i have to use my jigsaw, ill have to move outside etc. Here's the desk , Dimensions; 2440x800x20mm But enough about my silly desk, time to show you my plans as they look now! My plan for the first mod This will be my first mod, and i really hope that i can get to work with alot of different things like; electronics, plexiglas, metal and ofcourse combine these into an actual mod! So i wanna do alot of things to the case in order to get some experience. However, i will try not to compromise when designing the thing, so it still looks nice. The computer As this is my first mod, I've been out to buy an old Compaw Presario 7000 which i will use as a test-computer. I got another old computer with some spareparts i will be using aswell. The hardware is ridiculous but i don't really wanna ruin my (fairly new) regular PC on something like this. The case i will be using is an old aOpen miditower like this one: I've stripped mine down. Unfortunately, i was a big fool and left my digital camera on the entire night so now i got no battery . And finally, how i hope it'll look like : Ok so let me explain a bit. I plan on making the 4 sides (not the back) in aluminum plates (brushed most likely). So far, i don't think ill paint 'em. At the front ill put on a plexi-window 1cm from the actually computer, with a kinda 'floating' look. Ofc, i will make the necessary holes for my drive there and so on. Im not sure whether to make some holes at the buttom of the plexi so the 120mm fan can get air, or if i should just let the fan get air from the 1cm space there will be from the aluminum to the plexi (this might cause some noise?) I'd also like to do some logo/paint work at the bare aluminum site. Ill figure that out later! 80mm fan at the top with the 'floating' plexi again. The open site remains open for ideas yet. I though about making it a pure plexi-panel with some engraved or painted pattern. On the inside of the case, i will put sleeving on all the cables ofc, and perhaps make some plexi-trays for my DvD-drive. I also thought about painting the inside with some AC Ryan blackmagic UV paint. All of the modding parts (like fans and sleeving) i will aquire will most likely be UV-reactive so ill also install some UV-light inside. And that's pretty much it . I hope someone will read through this and tell me if it seems reasonable for a first time modder with some patience and creativity. I hope my english wasn't all to bad. Greetings from Mr IK!
Looks good to me, for the fan, try placing a sheet of plexi 1cm from the front and see how much air is drawn, if it seems to be enough, then that will be fine. I like the idea of the plexi front as well, but don't make the hole for the DVD drive that big, make it only as big as it needs to be, or better yet, stealth it with the drive. Like this maybe,
Oh yeah i totally forgot that. Ive taken the dvd-drives front off and i plan to cut holes in both the alu and plexi for it to fit. The alu i cut away to make space for the drive to open, will be glued ONTO the drive instead of the boring plastic. This way, the front will contain it's style
You need to remember to be able to open the drive by pressing the button, so beware of taht if you stealth the drives.
I know. I thought about how i could make that work, and came up with something like this: On the backside of the aluminum attached to the front of the drive, i'll melt a little metal-cylinder just long enough to reach the open/close button. This way i hope the aluminum will allow me to simply press the the lower right corner of the plate in order to open my tray. I hope you understand what i meant ;D if not, i can sketch it for you . I didn't really decide what thickness my aluminum should have yet, but im thinking something like 0,5-1mm? Honestly i haven't really been working with aluminum before so i dont know how thick it should be in order for me to work with it.
Another thinkg you could do, is mount the DVD drive forward and maybe covered it in a mirror like finish or something, look different but I dont spose it would fit in aswell.
