• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Advice needed on custom acrylic case

U

Ulti

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 11, 2010
Messages
189
Hey bit-techers,

After not being able to find a mini ITX case that's just right for me, I've decided to design and build my own.

As it will be my first custom case, I decided to use acrylic as I believe it'll be easier to make a scratch build from as I have no experience with designing or building scratch cases. Also, I'm a student so my budget will be limited to hand tools. I did ask my friends if any of their unis have a workshop but it seems none of the unis in London seem to have a workshop.

Hardware:
The hardware that I will be using will consist of:
CPU: i5 3330S
GPU: MSI 7850 1GB OC
Motherboard: AsRock B75M-ITX
RAM: Samsung Green 8GB
PSU: Seasonic SS-250SU 250W Flex ATX
Intake fans: Gelid Slim PL Blue 120mm 15.8mm thick fans x2

Not very high end, but more than enough for what I do and need.

Concept: (V2)
Previous version (V1)
spcHwXO.jpg


As you can see, I've tried to fit my case under 6L (~300x70x270 = ~5.67L). I'm currently using the setup listed above without a case laid horizontally along with a Xigmatek Praeton LD963 cooler without the fan (instead using the Gelid fans to blow over the PSU and CPU cooler) and it runs cool enough for my liking.

The white outer acrylic will be 3mm in thickness and will consist of one sheet bent with a heatgun on all 4 corners, with a separate piece that will be attached via a hinge to allow easy access to the hardware. The front and back acrylic pieces will be 5mm in thickness to allow me to screw the outer shell pieces on.

Questions:
So as I'm new to this, I have several questions to ask.

1. Laser cutting vs hand tools: How hard would it be to do all the cutouts by hand? Would it be more advisable to simply learn how to do CAD drawings and send it off to get it laser cut instead?
[Update: Still deciding on best way for the vent cutouts.]

2. Tools: If I were to do this by hand, what tools shall I use? Would a dremel be fine for everything if I take my time? I will be needing to countersink some things such as the fan holes and will definitely need to thread the screw holes, would a dremel be fine in this regard too?
[Answered: Each task requires a different tool.]

3. Graphics card support: As the back plate for the case will be 5mm thick, how should the graphics card be held? The only real solution I can come up with is to shove a small piece of acrylic in the gap between the acrylic and have it screwed on either side of it, would that work well?
[Answered: Simple acrylic piece]

4. Painting: I would like to paint the Flex ATX PSU case white to match the case, what exactly are the steps? Is it simply sand, primer then paint?
[Answered: Yes]

5. PSU safety: As the case is sealed off, would it be safe to have the top cover of the PSU off to allow more air flow into the PSU? (Stock 40mm fan is loud)
[Answered: Safe but risky, I've decided to cut out a hole and glue mesh on instead of taking the whole cover off]

6. Custom length cables: I want to make custom length cables using all black cables, is it safe to unsolder all the current cables from the board and resolder new ones on? Or should I cut off the current ones and simply solder new ones onto those?
[Update: Still deciding on what to do - thinking of just using plastidip on the wires.]

7. Power plug: I can't seem to find any low profile kettle plug (UK) to attach to the PSU so I was thinking of buying the female socket and simply soldering wires from it straight to the prongs on the PSU - is this safe enough for usage?
[Answer: Risky so I will get kettle cable and cut material off it]

8. Acrylic bending: I bought a piece of 3mm acrylic to test how it'd bend (freehand using heatgun without clamps) and the bend was not sharp at all [see here], will I be able to get sharp bends without using a wire heater if I purchase a proper work bench and clamp with a block to hold it?
[Answered: I'll pass on bending and simply glue panels and sand corners to get curved effect]

9. Gas mask: What type of gas mask will I need whilst I work with bending the acrylic? Will a FFP1 be enough, like the 3M 9312 or do I need something more like the 3M 4251?
[Answer: Yep, FFP1 is enough but you only get 1 pair of lungs!]

10. Acrylic type: Do I need to worry about extruded acrylic vs cell cast acrylic?
[Answered: Yes, do not buy extruded as it sucks]

Apologies if some of these questions sound stupid, but I really want to make sure I get everything right.

Thank you very much in advance!
 
Last edited:
Does it have to be acrylic? Your case looks surprisingly similar to this one: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1750863 , minus the optical drive and a slightly different internal lay out.


The hinge idea is really neat though I'm not entirely sure it will work unless you also hinge the top corner opposite it. Also the fan directly above the psu is going to have little to no room to breath so I'm not sure how effective it will be if you don't remove the PSU cover..
 
Reason it's similar is because they're both based on the Alienware X51, however mine is less high spec so I give up the massive graphics card, storage space, optical drive and SFX PSU support so that I can fit it in a smaller case. (X51 = ~11L, M3A2 = ~9L, mine = ~6L)

I want to use acrylic as I believe in terms of getting it laser cut or using hand tools, it'll be easier/cheaper as I won't have to bother with rivets etc, meaning less engineering/fine measurements on my behalf.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say to "hinge the top corner opposite it". One issue that I have considered is that the bottom piece may cover up the screw holes for the ITX case, but in that case I would just have to use some sort of allen key or tiny screw driver to screw the case in.

Yep one of the questions I asked is whether or not it's safe to have the PSU cover off, that's what I've currently done because the way ATX PSUs are, they just have a fan on top of the PSU anyway and I've not experienced any problems with having the PSU cover off but I just wanted to be sure with long term use. (Like perhaps the PSU cover acts as some sort of shielding for something?)
 
I thought maybe the long side would catch some corners if you didn't double hinge it. That said I'm not very good at visualizing mechanical actions so it may work. You might also want to look into using polycarbonate (lexan, etc), its not as brittle as acrylic and easier to work with if doing by hand. If you can afford laser cutting I would use it.
 
I checked out polycarbonate and whilst it does have advantages, I think I'll have to pass on it due to cost alone.

I thought the hinge idea was neat too but I decided to pass on it too, but I don't think it would have caught anyway, I don't have much engineering knowledge though.

I've updated the first post with input from other forums. (Will use metal thread inserts for the screw holes on the 5mm thick acrylic pieces).
 
OP, I have a concern about your design. Wouldn't it be much better to invert the case so that the GPU fans are facing up? Because an overclocked 7850 will require more heat dissipation than an i5-3330S, and if the fans are facing the ground there will be much less cool air available. Even with the vents, it will be like having your case in a cabinet. Unless you want to add larger feet.

Just a suggestion to better manage heat. Good job on the project, and please post updates.
 
Hmm, I'm not sure I understand your concern, the GPU is in the top half, with the intake on the left wall of the case, whilst the motherboard, CPU and PSU are in the bottom half, with 2x 120mm thin fans on the right wall.

Do you mean I need to have vents on the other side of the case in addition to the intake vents? I.e. add exhaust vents on the opposite side?
 
...removed link, not exactly relevant on second thought.

I love the idea of acrylic.
 
Last edited:
Ulti said:
Hmm, I'm not sure I understand your concern, the GPU is in the top half, with the intake on the left wall of the case, whilst the motherboard, CPU and PSU are in the bottom half, with 2x 120mm thin fans on the right wall.

Do you mean I need to have vents on the other side of the case in addition to the intake vents? I.e. add exhaust vents on the opposite side?
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I just assumed your case was a desktop, with the GPU fans facing down and the CPU Hs fans up.

So this case is intended as a tower? My bad.
 
Personally, I would do the case with aluminum. Its easy to work with, bending and cutting is pretty simple. Just need some basic tools, like a nibbler, a hacksaw, a drill, and a sheet metal break (for bending, they make hand held ones).

Cutting long narrow holes in anything is a pain without some sort of machine cutting, like laser or CNC. It can be done, but I dont recommend it. I would just cut large holes and fill with modders mesh.

modders mesh
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top