Materials...any suggestions

A

akhenaton22

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I posted this over in 2cpu, and they suggested some things, and also suggested other sites such as this one. I am curious to maybe build my own case, but i'm wondering what is out there besides just aluminum. It'll be for an old dual pIII, but I'll have some time on my hands in the beginning of august, so I'd figured i'd see what I can due.

I have access to the following things that wont be missed at work:
Kevlar, Carbon fiber, few other things.

These arent really feasable to me, but I figured they'd be a starting point. I'd be interested in your suggestions.

Thanks
akhenaton22
 
akhenaton22 said:
I posted this over in 2cpu, and they suggested some things, and also suggested other sites such as this one. I am curious to maybe build my own case, but i'm wondering what is out there besides just aluminum. It'll be for an old dual pIII, but I'll have some time on my hands in the beginning of august, so I'd figured i'd see what I can due.
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Acrylic is easy to work with. It's also cool since it's transparent and also can be painted. Aluminum would be a bit harder to machine, but much stronger than acrylic. Since you have access to CF and kevlar, you must know a bit about creating things out of them. Fiberglass has the same basic type of build, and is much easier to fabricate and is also much cheaper than the CF and kevlar. Just some suggestions.
 
wood, sintra, steel, I've even seen cardboard :) Do yourself a favor, and whatever you decide to build it out of, build a proto-type out of fomecor or gatorfoam. It's extremely easy to work with, and will allow you to cut and modify as you progress. It's nice to do this well before the final build to make sure every thing fits perfect.

I'm working on a project right now, and I made a mock-up out of gatorfoam to make sure everything fits perfectly. It allowed me to make some crucial adjustments that I hadn't realized were neccessary on paper.
 
Nice advice sarbz. Wish I had this advice when I first started a long time ago. Yes, a mock prototype with foam is a great idea. I learned the hard way, with steel on top of that. Not fun, not fun at all.

Good luck to you on the new case. Acrylic is nice as it is transparent. However, it sucks in terms of absorbing sound and vibrations. Aluminum also has the problem. Steel is awesome but is hard to work with. Wood, heat issue.
 
magnuspah said:
Wood, heat issue.
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uh oh....not this argument again :p

as long as you have airflow, the material you build the case from doesn't matter.

If you're going for complete passive cooling...then wooden heatsinks and heatpipes won't do you any good. But most cases have fans and airflow.
 
magnuspah said:
Wood
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I started tearing apart pallets, for the wood. I was going to run the hunks of wood through an overhead belt sander, cut, glue, and make a case. I didnt make it, because they used super-heavy duty nails that would not come out.

Wood is nice to use, but things get heavy really fast. Steel is my favorite for making cases. Heat it, bend it, weld it for cheap.
 
sarbz -- I'm definately going to follow that. Especially after hearing that thing has a mock-up :)


akhenaton22 -- If you want something that is easy to work with look into using wood. 4/4 "Four Quarter" thickness (about 3/4 of an inch thick after being machined) is a good strong size (You can get nearly any length up to ~18 inches wide easily). It also glues together perfectly and is incredibly strong, won't "rattle" or resonate, and is fairly neat. It's also nearly impossible to use a dremel on, but that's what other wood working tools are for. If you have a table saw, drill / hole saw, and maybe even a router (and of course clamps) and/or jig saw then this is a fairly sensible option. (of course I'm biased towards making wooden cases, haha)


Earlier I tried making a case out of sheet steel (20 ga) but I lacked metal working skills & tools and it was a failure. Metal flexes a lot, and you really have to figure out how to build a solid structure in a metal case and I simply couldn't do that. I'd think 18 ga steel would work (being thicker than 20 ga steel), but you may want a solid frame from something thicker built first (perhaps weld it together) and then have holes on that to put the frame and other components on. 18 ga is also much harder to work with by hand, BTW.

I'd imagine aluminum would be similar to steel, except perhaps harder to weld (You'll likely not be able to weld this thickness anyways). I'm not sure how it machines compared to steel, though.

But if you know how to work these things & have access to tools (bending break, metal sheer, drill, metal cutters, big torch and/or welder, maybe a pop-rivit tool, and then a dremel for those smaller jobs) that do it, go for it. I just find myself unable to work it since I have no real metal working tools :p


With acrylic...I can't work that with what I have avaliable. If you have access to a band saw and some way to heat/bend it, acrylic might work, but otherwise probably not. I found scoring/breaking it and/or dremeling it impossible to get clean edges. Could be my technique though. It should join quite well since you essentially melt the edge with some chemicals and join edges. I found 1/8th inch too thin and flexible for my small part mods, but haven't tried 1/4 inch.

If you have a band saw (to cut it) and a drill (with bits for acrylic/plastics) and maybe even a small torch and a table to bend it on, acrylic could work.


I know nothing of more exotic materials except that you might need to make a mold for a few of them (fiber glass), etc. Anyways, glad to see more people interested in building their own cases. Cheers & good luck.
 
Sarbz:

Interesting mock up? What'd you make that in? I've toyed with the idea of autocad, I had a copy somewhere now I cant find it, IDEAS-10, or something new, like solid edge. Then mock it up in the gatorfoam as you suggested

Tim:

thanks for the suggestions on the steel and alum. In theory I could use the scraps of carbon fiber and some resin making a solid stiff piece of fiberglass, but I dont think my resin laying skills are up to the task. It would be interesting to see a case made completely of the stuff.

Actually I'm still a student studying engineering. I am doing research this summer in carbon fiber reinforced concrete panels, possibly for future endeavors in the aero industry. Bosses . website I just finished a test plate today, a one layer that was 42.5"x42.5". It will be interesting once it dries and I have to move it to an acoustic chamber for testing.

Anyways, I like the idea of being able to "seperate" things so to speak. I hate all the cables and such going everywhere right now in my current rig.

akhenaton22
 
Tim_axe said:
I'd imagine aluminum would be similar to steel, except perhaps harder to weld (You'll likely not be able to weld this thickness anyways). I'm not sure how it machines compared to steel, though..
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Aluminum is harder to work with. If you are a Newbie to metalworking, it could be your worst nightmare. If you flex it too much, it cracks. With soft steel. you cant beat on it, fold it, and reshape it many times. Its nice to work with, but you really have to know what your doing, or be guided by someone who does.

I think the best idea with wood, would to be to use a metal skeleton frame. Just bare-ass framework to hold in the cdroms, hard drive, PSU, and mainboard. Design it so the wood will bolt on and remove easily, and add support. I love working with wood, but its so damn expensive and heavy. My personal favorite is oak, but it is too expensive for my empty unemployed wallet.

With wood, less tools are required. Hell, with some clamps and a $20.00 Jigsaw, and some gorillla glue, you can get a long ways with modding.

The initial design and planning process will be the most important. Taking some time to do a little research on the airflow of cases, and the layout of the parts to minimize the size of the case... take time to do it right before you cut and glue.

I have an idea to toss in. For cd face plates, cut out one to blend in with the case. Sand or mill the wood down, so a little bump of wood sticks out where the cdrom drive eject button is. eject the cd rom, glue the wood down to the cddrives tray.

If this is done right, the cdrom drive should close and give a seamless appearance. Then if you push down on the wooden faceplate, the cdrom tray face will rock and allow the raised piece of wood to press the eject button. See, i got this all figured out when I was going to make my cases ;).
 
akhenaton22 said:
Tim:

thanks for the suggestions on the steel and alum. In theory I could use the scraps of carbon fiber and some resin making a solid stiff piece of fiberglass, but I dont think my resin laying skills are up to the task. It would be interesting to see a case made completely of the stuff.
Click to expand...

Not a complete case, but mashie has done some CF work on one of his old projects.

 
akhenaton22 said:
Rax, where do you get your acrylic from, and what size width is it?

akhenaton22
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After I finalize the design I'd order the panels precut from Tap Plastics. Now that I have my own tools I am trying to learn to do it myself.
 
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