Need advice on case building

[screwmesa]

I'm planning to make a case to fit in my desk, underneath the monitor shelf that it has. The case will be 13" wide, 10" deep, and 7" high. I am planning to make it out of either colored or smoked acrylic. It will house 1 5.25" optical drive and 1 3.5" hard drive and my ATX board.

I need to know the best way to attach panels of acrylic. I don't want to mess around with glue setting for days, so I've heard of setting motherboard standoffs into the acrylic and attach with thumbscrews or equivalent sized regular screw.

Anyone have experience with building acrylic cases? Have tips/tricks I should know before getting into this?

 

[avey]

You can get some of these:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cpa-84.html

Screws depending on the thickness of the acrylic:
http://www.frozencpu.com/scr-52.html
http://www.frozencpu.com/scr-51.html

I picked up a bunch of these for a project im going to be working on.

 

[screwmesa]

Hmmm those cubes are interesting. How big are they? I'm not too keen on losing any interior volume....

Just for reference, here's how things will be laid out (excuse the crappy job done in paint). I have an ECS KT600-A board, with an Asylum FX5200 (I know, I know), and only use 2 pci slots (one for wifi and one for firewire) which will be in the bottom 2 slots and are extremely short cards, which help my cause.

Picture of layout for inside of case.

It may be smaller than I thought. It could be as small as 8" deep. Sweet.

 

[avey]

The cubes are about 3/4"

They are the exact same thing used in cases like this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811148001

 

[lmk29o]

You can get some of these:
http://www.frozencpu.com/cpa-84.html

Screws depending on the thickness of the acrylic:
http://www.frozencpu.com/scr-52.html
http://www.frozencpu.com/scr-51.html

I picked up a bunch of these for a project im going to be working on.

Im using these same screws with the 8mm length screws(im using 1/4" plexiglass). I think they work brilliantly, and are the best decision ive made building my case, but its a little tricky(for me, mind you im not that talented) to match the screws to the cube, its easy at first, but the third corner i usually have to re-drill or widen(but you can't see it because the screw head covers the extras Anyway, i would highly recomend them, though maybe considering just getting screws from your local hardware store as they are expensive.

BTW, where do you find colored plexiglass? I already bought mine, but maybe for decals or something.

PS: They fit fine for my case, your not going to loose much space unless you make your case way to small, but it might be tricky in the front top corner where your CD drives are, im a little worried about that, but ill figure it out.

 

[screwmesa]

I was under the impression that colored acrylic was available at hardware stores. I'll check a few places tonight and post prices/colors.

 

[screwmesa]

I went to Home Depot and they only had clear acrylic and lexan. They were priced:

Thin (.093"): $2.29 (11" x 14") and $8.49 (24" x 28")
Thick (.22"): $13.49 (11" x 14") and $20.99 (24"x28")

At this point I could buy an acrylic case for the price of materials (after a few mistakes). I will point out that I saw some sheets of hardwood that I think would be a better alternative. They were priced:

Thin (1/4") 2' x 2' : $1.99
Mid (3/8") 2' x 2' : $4.99
Thick (1/2") 2' x 2' : $5.39

I'm thinking bottom, top, back, and sides out of 3/8" wood and front out of 1/2" wood for better support for the drives.

So, here is my plan:

Supplies:

Sides: 10" x 7" (3/8" wood)
Bottom: 13 3/4" x 10 7/8" (3/8" wood)
Back: 13 3/4" x 7 3/4" (3/8" wood)
Front: 13 3/4" x 7 3/4" (1/2" wood)
Top: 13 3/4" x 10" (3/8" wood)
#4 wood screws
Drill, drill bits, sandpaper
Lots of free time

With a target cost of $25 using as much recycled goods (garage parts) as possible. I'll start this weekend and start a worklog.