My Dremel Job

J

Jhalf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 16, 2007
Messages
313
Hello,

Well, I have always wanted my TJ10 to be a little neater inside, but it isn't the easiest case to work with because it is very large, and doesn't have wire management holes in the MB tray.

Here is my case before it was touched today. As you can see, it wasn't exactly pretty.

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The SATA Cables are awkwardly shoved in from the side. The TJ10 has a unique air duct for the hard drives which blocks the area where the SATA cables could be routed. The power cable also came through here.

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There are also support pieces that provide support for the MB tray that are inconveniently blocking easy access to the 8 pin power cord.

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Here is the cut that I made for all the wiring.

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A notch I made for easier access to the 8 pin connector.

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The finished product. The pictures don't do it justice because the flash brings out a lot of the wire color. But since everything is prettty dark it actually looks pretty good.
I am happy with the way it came out. I did this all with the Dremel 300 which i bought today.

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i have that Same case Man I hate it It Rattles Like something Crazy I had to Remove my fan IN front of the Computer where the Hard drives go And I wish they made the back a little more wide for wire management. Im Running all Coolermaster R4 In it
 
you need to clean those cuts up bro...

guessing this IS your first time using a Dremel
 
If you happen to have the system disassembled again:

Yes, you can use the cutoff wheel to grind it down a bit more, and then smooth the rough edges further with a conical bit (looks like a rounded cone (bullet), usually brown).

Next time, you can also apply painter's tape (blue tape, easy to remove) to the entire cutting area (or just the surrounding area). This will prevent you from scratching up the case. This also means that the cutting perimeter should be clearly marked either on the bare metal or on the tape (using a fine pencil or pen, and a straight-edge, compass, or other applicable drafting instrument).

It looks like you could easily cut your finger there - so you could even finish this off with some silicone or rubber lining to act as a grommet. This may also protect the wires from being cut - but this isn't necessary if you really do a thorough job smoothing the metal with the dremel.

I'm glad the mod worked out for you.

Oh - and wear eye-protection. Gloves generally are not necessary, but the eye-wear IS.
 
Did you cut that with the mobo on there? I'm envisioning a bad outcome when you mix metal shavings and electronics.
 
EricFX1984 said:
you need to clean those cuts up bro...

guessing this IS your first time using a Dremel
Click to expand...

LOl, Yes this was my first mod job using a dremel. I know they are not the neatest,

Archmage said:
If you happen to have the system disassembled again:

Yes, you can use the cutoff wheel to grind it down a bit more, and then smooth the rough edges further with a conical bit (looks like a rounded cone (bullet), usually brown).

Next time, you can also apply painter's tape (blue tape, easy to remove) to the entire cutting area (or just the surrounding area). This will prevent you from scratching up the case. This also means that the cutting perimeter should be clearly marked either on the bare metal or on the tape (using a fine pencil or pen, and a straight-edge, compass, or other applicable drafting instrument).

It looks like you could easily cut your finger there - so you could even finish this off with some silicone or rubber lining to act as a grommet. This may also protect the wires from being cut - but this isn't necessary if you really do a thorough job smoothing the metal with the dremel.

I'm glad the mod worked out for you.

Oh - and wear eye-protection. Gloves generally are not necessary, but the eye-wear IS.
Click to expand...

I used the the grinders to deburr the cuts a little bit, but i was already frustrated from the cutting wheels breaking and I was making so much noise. Thank you for your painters tape bit. I will definitely do that in the future.

I ran my finger over it a few times, and it was smooth enough to satisfy me.

00PS said:
Did you cut that with the mobo on there? I'm envisioning a bad outcome when you mix metal shavings and electronics.
Click to expand...

I had the whole computer disassembled when I did this, and the motherboard tray removed from the computer.


All in all it was a difficult job to do. I was only working with 1 vice grip, my first cutting wheel broke, the second cutting wheel grinded down into nothing, and the 10 extra cutting wheels I got to cut through metal were designed to use EZ Lock, which i didn't know when I bought it, and of course wasn't included in the 300 series dremel packaging. I used one of the bits that came with it in "Jigsaw" type fashion for a bit, and I also used a saw for some if the notch i made out of the support.

Looking back I should have gotten some more vice grips, and the EZ Lock bit before I started so I could have used the nice metal cutting wheels. Painters tape would have definitely helped too!


Thanks for your tips guys, keep them coming!
 
Don't forget that the brown cutting discs should only be used on the low rpm setting. Also, they don't break/wear down as fast if you apply light pressure with them and just let them move down. They start to fail when you apply a good amount of pressure on the material you're trying to cut.
 
FaRKle0079 said:
Don't forget that the brown cutting discs should only be used on the low rpm setting. Also, they don't break/wear down as fast if you apply light pressure with them and just let them move down. They start to fail when you apply a good amount of pressure on the material you're trying to cut.
Click to expand...
sage advise, less is more in this case.

In my opinion you could get some black rubber tubing, split it down the center and make a nice "grommet" for the hole. That would hide some of the roughness and make it look more uniform.
 
Looks like you went at it with a knife. you have a sanding attachment for the dremel?

Oh well got the job done right
 
Kadji.Kahn said:
sage advise, less is more in this case.

In my opinion you could get some black rubber tubing, split it down the center and make a nice "grommet" for the hole. That would hide some of the roughness and make it look more uniform.
Click to expand...

This is an excellent idea.. i am picking some up today. I am also going to get some noise dampening material to cover some of the silver parts. like this

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You should be going alot slower on lower rpm's with the low cost cutting wheels they give you with the kits. You can get reinforced wheels, but the same techniques should be applied go slowly and smoothly and mask off your work areas. Measure 6 times and cut once is my motto.
 
Looks great man, I've been meaning to do something similar, but I don't want to take all my parts out ><'
 
I used the rubber shroud of a digital audio cable to round the inside of the hole. i couldn't find anything at home depot and I had a broken cable at home..

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I also used some dark air filters to rap the 5.25 drive bays, and the wiring at the bottom like pictured above.
 
go to the auto parts store, like advance auto, they sell door edge molding on the shelf, chrome and black :)

also grab some black wire loom and black zip ties

then you'll be in business
 
a nice fine file would make quick work of those rough edges, and make the cuts look much more "OEM" if you get my meaning
 
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