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I've had a project on the side for a while (no rush, since no comp to put in it yet) consisting of a cheapo aluminium briefcase, and parts nicked from an old case. (Pure crap case, it deserved to die. With PSU and HSF installed, there was an airgap of 1mm (literally) for air to get into the HSF with a stock setup.)
The problem is that the aluminium side is actually tissue thin aluminium foil, with a cardboard layer underneath. When I ripped off the grey foamstuff from the inside, the glue holding the grey stuff to the cardboard didn't come off.
I don't want to use a scraper and a hot air gun -- if I bring away the cardboard as well, then the case will fall apart. Would sandpaper work, or get gunked up too quick? Or would I be better off buying that acoustic insulation matting stuff designed for quiet computing, and layering that on the inside? One idea I was toying with was perhaps a metal inside skin, main problem was too much design work. So far I'm leaning towards the matting, but will it stick properly? If I riveted the corners down, would it start to tear after time if the glue pulled away?
As for anchoring brackets to the case, I was thinking rivets, and washers. I want to use rivets on all the outside-inside bracket-holding-things, so that I don't have boltheads catching on things.
I've testfitted parts, and there is room in my briefcase for a full ATX mobo, a full PSU, DVD-drive, HDD, full height expansion cards... gonna be sweet. Not miniATX, fullATX
One thing I discovered was that using the dremel to start a channel, and sticking the jigsaw blade into the slot and ripping out the rest of the cut using that worked well, rather than drilling pilot holes.
The problem is that the aluminium side is actually tissue thin aluminium foil, with a cardboard layer underneath. When I ripped off the grey foamstuff from the inside, the glue holding the grey stuff to the cardboard didn't come off.
I don't want to use a scraper and a hot air gun -- if I bring away the cardboard as well, then the case will fall apart. Would sandpaper work, or get gunked up too quick? Or would I be better off buying that acoustic insulation matting stuff designed for quiet computing, and layering that on the inside? One idea I was toying with was perhaps a metal inside skin, main problem was too much design work. So far I'm leaning towards the matting, but will it stick properly? If I riveted the corners down, would it start to tear after time if the glue pulled away?
As for anchoring brackets to the case, I was thinking rivets, and washers. I want to use rivets on all the outside-inside bracket-holding-things, so that I don't have boltheads catching on things.
I've testfitted parts, and there is room in my briefcase for a full ATX mobo, a full PSU, DVD-drive, HDD, full height expansion cards... gonna be sweet. Not miniATX, fullATX
One thing I discovered was that using the dremel to start a channel, and sticking the jigsaw blade into the slot and ripping out the rest of the cut using that worked well, rather than drilling pilot holes.