Case Modding Basics... Steel vs Aluminum?

[DawnOfDoom]

just use a bansaw to cut your acrylic or a table saw. (the thing with what looks like a skil saw blade coming out of the table i think thats a table saw its been forever since i worked with those)

 

[aspire]

check out www.usplastics.com for acrylic, tubing and other such things.

250 might not cut if for a case, water cooling and the mods you'd like to do.

You cannot cut acrylic down the middle without a lot of work following. And besides acrylic isn't expensive at all.

If you need to squeeze the budget a bit, you can always browse forums and ebay for used water cooling equipment.

 

[commandercup]

thanks lol, you pretty much answered most of my questions, I guess I might get a steel case then if microcenter has anything decent looking when I go there tommorow

safety glasses will prevent a shattered wheel from going into your eye!? would a paintball mask do any better lol? I've got a couple of those 0_0, but yeah I can get safety glasses

and yes, that was exactly what I meant about the acrylic, I'll probably end up ordering some UV blue acrylic anyways so I guess its alright

 

[peterhuang913]

Any mask is better than nothing. A paintball one is full face right? All the better.

 

[commandercup]

Any mask is better than nothing. A paintball one is full face right? All the better.

yeah and I'm pretty sure that the lense can stand up to quite a bit more then safety glasses can, so I guess I might trying wearing a paintball mask heh

I'll be documenting my entire process from ordering the parts, part lists, pictures etc. so look forward to that, I've got a total budget of around $400 or $500 USD to spend on water cooling (CPU not included, this is a dedicated GPU/Chipset loop because I've got a CoolIt Eliminator for the CPU), the case and associated goodies including acrylic to mount on the top sides of expansion cards (glows when a UV light is shined) and to mount on drive bays etc.

My inspiration will be from Project: Reality Bytes - TBCS Community Forums

although that one will make my project look like childs play heh

anyways, it'll be my first step into the world of modding so it'll be basic anyways, I'm not going for anything crazy

 

[mgcook]

Steel cant be cut with conventional cutoff wheels on a dremel. im not sure about specialized cutoff wheels for steel on a dremel but you could do some looking around. but im telling you that if you try to do it with just regular cutoff wheels all your gona do is just scratch it.

says who? I use my dremel to slice through steel all the time.

seems like you are using the wrong cut off wheel.

 

[commandercup]

lol well then its decided for sure, if theres a decent looking steel case at microcenter tomorrow, I'll pick it up and fiddle around with it, if I can get a case there, I'll also probably buy the water cooling setup there as well because they have individual parts and quite a few danger den pieces which I would otherwise order from petras

how hard is it to etch acrylic with a dremel? (if you can) I've got a big slab I could practice on if its not too difficult

 

[aspire]

I would advise you against buying your liquid cooling components from microcenter.

You'll be better off buying from petras as they offer a much large variety of parts.

Also, EK makes the best gpu full coverage blocks.

 

[jfenwick]

Any mask is better than nothing. A paintball one is full face right? All the better.

Not so true....to the best of my knowledge. I will admit I'm not fully aware of the strength of paint ball masks (I have played and worn them) but safety glasses are specificly designed to take high impact from solid objects. I've seen safety glasses stop a nail from a nail gun from penetrating more than a half inch. They guy was freaked out but his eye was safe....will paintball goggles stop something like that? Am asking, don't know...

anyways, check for a stamp of certification on them...in canada you'd want Class A (glasses) or B (goggles) CSA Z94.3.1-02 stamped on it somewhere. Not so familiar with American Standards but I think you'd be looking for an ANSI Z87.1 certification on the goggles, the American standards have 2 classifications i think, basic impact which the paintball goggles might meet...and high impact which i don't think they'll meet but you never know, would be great if they do. would be good to have the full face mask tho

Also, have you thought of a jigsaw for cutting out the window? If it's not an intricate cut the jibsaw might be better than the dremel if you have one handy, just make sure to get the right blade for steel, $5 at home depot. A bandsaw was mentioned....if you go that route just make sure you have a steel blade on the bandsaw and not wood...unless you're cutting the acrylic, then either is fine.

Lastly, yes you can cut acrylic with a dremel, slow the speed down on it and leave yourself a little room on the cut if you're trying to be precise as the acrylic will melt from the friction heat. just use a file or sandpaper to clean it up once cut.

[edit]BTW, i'm pretty sure the paint mask would be fine for just dremeling, I didn't make that clear, the above stuff i'd be more concerned about if you started on the bandsaw, circular saw, drill press, laithe and stuff like that, I just wanted to make sure pple didn't mistake the paintball goggles=safety glasses/goggles[/edit]

 

[commandercup]

I might just find a case that has a window preinstalled (since I don't need a colored window, only colored UV acrylic to back the parts in the PC) because I wouldn't feel good cutting a large peice of steel lol

I've currently got access to a band saw (school, I can get acces to it if neccesary though) a variable speed dremel (I can buy any wheels I need), a couple standard cordless drills (so I just need to buy a hole drill bit thing?) and a table saw

I think I could get my hands on a jigsaw if neccesary...

I can also get access to a table sander so I can just ballpark cuts (leaving room around the edges) and just sand them down

Thanks for all your help so far, and I'll definately go pick up some safety glasses and maybe even a face mask....

Also on a side note, (I'm not going to try this, just speculating lol) I would only worry about using a paintball mask because it might not stand up well to sharp objects, otherwise I'm sure it can stand a sizeable blunt impact because they are rated for objects well over 300 feet per second. A paintball could go through shop/safetly goggles/glasses but not a mask. However, that doesn't exactly translate to the shop anyways, but w/e.

Thanks again, I'll be leaving for the store in maybe half an hour to check out their selection.