• 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.

Building a case - need info about welding

P

PurpleDiamond

Weaksauce
Joined
Apr 11, 2003
Messages
127
I am planning a SFF custom case and I want to make it out of aluminum. Aluminum will allow me to keep the weight down since I am thinking of making this a LAN party rig.
I am thinking that welding the pieces together would look better than using screws or rivets.
I have no experience in welding and from what I have read, it seems like I will need to use thick aluminum (which may negate the point of using aluminum to reduce the weight).
What are your recommendations? should I try to find a welding course somewhere in the area? should I buy a small welder and learn by myself?
Based on my research a MIG welder for this type of job (and maybe future projects) could be found for around $150, is that right?
 
You can find a used mig for around $150.00

But you will need a helium tank and you might need a different regulator I'm not sure on that

The cost of aluminum wire spoils are pricey
 
As I understand it, welding aluminum is a fair bit harder than welding steel. It'll take a fair bit of practice to get your welding skills up to where they'll need to be in order to effectively build this AND make it pretty/functional. Unless you plan on taking welding up as a genuine hobby aside from this one project, I'd recommend either cold-welding it with JB-Weld, or find a welding shop in your area to do the welding aspect of the project for you. On the flip side, you CAN make a screwed / riveted case look nice as long as you take those bits into account in the STYLING of your case. Raised, counter-sunk and flush-mounted, whatever. Also, your angle fasteners (or whatever you'd use to connect them together in this example) can always be mounted to the INSIDE of the case, so all you see is the two sheets abutting eachother.

Here are a few examples of screws that you could use to assemble your case and still have it look nice. Taken from this site:





Just my two cents. Good luck!

 
I was a millwright for 31 yrs. and part of my job was welding.

Aluminum is difficult to weld and unless you have a lot of time, money and patience, you'd be far better off with an alternative type of construction if you insist on going it alone.

One thing you may look into, most welding courses encourage you to do a project at the end of the class to focus on your abilities and accomplishments. I've seen everything from log splitters and wood stoves to towable hog cookers for final projects.

I'm sure a PC case would fit right in!

Good Luck!
 
I've taken a couple courses in welding, and aluminum is a lot more difficult to weld precisely than steel is in general. You might want to try building a case out of a thin gauge steel first... It's a lot easier to weld, and not that heavy if you use thin enough steel.
 
If you can find someone to do it for you, you would be better off.

Welding aluminum with stick it looks like crap unless you have a steady hand. Be prepared to do some clean up work.

Welding aluminum with MIG requires a spool-gun. The wire is too flimsy to be pushed all the way from the machine, up the lead and through the gun. With a spool-gun, the wire is fed a shorter distance. I bought one recently for work from ESAB. $900 for the 3 peices required to make our multimaster 260's capable of doing aluminum.

Welding with TIG is possible but that also requires special equipment. Not nearly as expensive as MIG, but not as cheap as stick welding either.
 
Here's an idea.. I had this little "rad box" professionally fabbed from sheet metal.. It was bent with a 17 ton press and then welded at the seams.. I then had it powder coated a basic black. Total cost: $200. I think your setup is going to running much more expensive. If done "correctly", I would "guess-timate" somewhere in the ball park of $300 - $350 (aluminum cost much more than just standard sheet metal). Plus you would have to fabricate an ENTIRE case. If that doesn't detract you from your project, I say go for it.. I'm wayyyyy into customizing my own cases as well!


DSCN8316.jpg


DSCN8315.jpg


DSCN8556.jpg


DSCN8821.jpg


FrontalNightTime01.jpg
 
If You have never welded aluminum, i recommend you practice a lot. A good aluminum weld will look like a roll of coins have fallen over, and are evenly spaced. Its difficult because its easy to burn through thin aluminum pieces (like the kind used in pc cases)
 
Thanks for the input everybody!

From what I am hearing I should look for a different solution to my problem. One of the reasons I wanted to use aluminum is because I wanted to incorporate the look of aluminum welds as part of the case's "look". You guys have convinced me that I should use screws instead.
I will probably still use thick aluminum, but for a different reason now - to sink the screw heads.

Thanks again.
 
If i were you i would just use sheets of aluminum and screw or rivot them together. I used a TIG to weld aluminum and its alot harder than it looks. Also i think screws or rivots would look better (in my opinion).;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top