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Need some tips for a new plexi mod

A

arnemetis

Supreme [H]ardness
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I have been planning this mod for some time, but being an architecture student, I barely have time for sleep, nevermind any fun :( Basically I want to modify my Tt XaserIII tower's side panel. To get an understanding of what I want to do, please check out my site hosting images of my design3 studio project (the precedent for this project) here and more specifically here with the background to see what effect im looking for. The model had the metal elements added to represent realistic structure if it were a built curtain wall system....anyhow, onto the questions! I am wondering what type of plexi/acrylic/whatever would be appropriate in this situation, and what I would use to bond them?(also links to where I could buy these items would be greatly appreciated :D ) I am guessing hot glue won't be strong enough (although keep in mind the side panel is not structural on this case, I've stood on it with the side panel off :eek: ) It would be required for this bonding material to be slightly flexible to allow a bit of movement while creating the panel, but strong enough to support the plastic's own weight; also I would prefer if this would also be able to be used to bond the plexi/whatever to the steel of my case. I've decided an additional requirement for this bonding agent shall be that it must dry clear. I will be cutting up the side panel, and creating a zig-zig type pattern on the outer edge of metal to allow the traingles to meet with it in a non-planar fashion. I will make a mock-up of this shortly in photoshop to give a better idea...following the same general idea of my concept for the design project, the triangles will move in and out of the plane of the panel in reaction to what is happening inside the pc. I will be installing a swiftech apex liquid cooling kit with vga block in my case first, so it will have to move around that as well. Finally for those that want a teaser before going to a weird site....
16th-1.jpg

This was a 16th scale model of the building (base of model was about 7 inches across), and should give you a geneal idea as to how I want the triangulation to work. This model only had hot glue at the tips of the triangles, due to size. Also, this model only shows every other triangle, my panel will be like the larger ones, every triangle in place (making every single triangle and getting it to line up at that scale would of been suicide)
 
almost 50 views and noone can suggest how to bond plexi to itself? (or whatever plastic is suggested). Also I'll add that because the pieces will be triangles, I wont be able to do the score and snap deal, ill have to cut all the way through each piece.
 
one thing i find that bonds plexi or acrylic together very well is clear quickset epoxy. and once its bonded, its not coming off. you would have to heat it to break it loose. its the same crap they use to bond a golf clubhead to the shaft. and epoxy can usually hold up to 2000psi of pressure before breaking teh bond. it will take some extra time to do, but it will not come loose later on.

hope this helps.
 
I would have to say some kind of clear epoxy since you also want it to bond to metal.
 
thanks for the suggestions guys. trying to find some more info on that quickset epoxy, but for now, i found this stuff WeldOn 16 here as suggested by a friend, looks promising, as its for imperfect bonds. While doing this research i've decided i should do a mock-up using the cheap thin plastic i made my models with and hot glue, just to make cutting the triangles easier on myself; I can just number the pieces and cut the acrylic right from them as a template. Speaking of acrylic, im looking at pricing over at US plastics and it looks like the 3/16th thick is around twice the price of 1/8th thick. Think I can get away with the 1/8th acrylic, will it be strong enough? im guesing the average side of a triangle to be between 4-6 inches. I also think a thinner material will look cleaner in the end. Finally, any common local places that would carry junk/scrap pieces of this stuff so I could buy some on the cheap and try these out? thanks again for all the help.
 
Since it isn't load-bearing, the 1/8th should be fine. The important thing is going to be the strength of the bonds.
I agree with you that the thinner material would look better, especially at that scale.

Keep us posted!
 
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