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Noob

I just put my first blowhole in an Antec P160 case, a 120mm. How you do it depends on where you want to put it and what the case is made of. My case is aluminum, I used a Dremel with the Flexshaft attatchment, and it worked quite well. If your case is steel, I'd recommend a hole saw, because steel is a lot tougher to cut (after cutting the fan grills out of my last steel case, I can attest to that), you'll probably go through 2-4 cutting wheels on a Dremel to get it right. Also, if you're doing a steel case, use gloves. Unlike aluminum, steel can throw a heck of a lot of sparks while cutting. Use safety glasses, and if you can, a throwaway face filter mask, as you'll get a decent amount of powdered metal lying around, and your eyes, nose and mouth are not good places to have it. Once you've drawn the hole on your case with pencil or wet-erase marker, tape around it with masking tape so you don't scratch anything you don't want to. If you're using a Dremel, be gentle, don't try to cut through on the first try, it won't happen and you'll go through a lot more cutting wheels and possibly overheat your Dremel. Trace the circle with your Dremel the first time around, and then continue to make that circle deeper until you get through (it could take 4-6 times around depending on how heavy-duty your case is).

Once you've got the hole through, use a 60 grit, and then a 120 grit sanding stone tool for your dremel to take the shards off the hole you've cut. Then, break out the hobby sandpaper. I used 160, 320, 400, and 600 grits to slowly polish the inside edges of the hole until it was silky smooth. I then drilled the four mounting holes for the fan grill, and used a small round X-Acto file (you can get it and the sandpaper at a hobby store) to smooth the mounting holes.

My blowhole is using an internal mesh grill instead of the externals, so I need the hole to look nice (if you're using a laser-cut fan grill that will hide the hole, you might not be as picky). I'll be using car door-edge molding around the hole to make it look perfect, and then putting bolts through the holes and grille, which will also mount the fan. You can use self-tapping screws for the fan if you want, but I have a 38mm L1A Panaflo, and I'd rather hold it on with screws and bolts instead. I'll post pictures soon when I'm done. In the meantime, check the HardOCP Case Modding FAQ links for sites that show how to do blowholes.
 
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