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Plastic Inserts?

L

l2e

n00b
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Messages
9
I am going to drill two holes in my case that will hide two IR recievers (one for my MCE remote and one to power on the PC from completely off). I did a test drill in another case and the bare hole doesn't look "finished". So I was thinking that I need some type of insert to make it look more "professional". Ideally I would like a smoke colored plastic insert, but clear will work to. Since the finished hole has not been drilled, I can go with any reasonable size, but I have not been able to locate such product as I am probably not using the correct term during searches.

Any suggestions?
 
I wouldn't know where to get a premade one, but you could always grab a small piece of smoked plexi (you could probably get a scrap piece for free at a shop that sells plastics) and just make an insert yourself.
 
Good idea. Now how would you form it? Maybe draw the hole, dremel the rough hole and file it to shape? Or better idea?
 
Well, to be honest I'm not entirely sure of the kind of thing you're trying to do, so if you could draw up a rough diagram in Paint or something, that would be helpful.
 
You might try getting a grommet like Jima mentioned and cutting them in half (front to back) so you have to circles made of half a grommet each.. Then use some superglue to get them to stick in the hole. After that you could simply cut a single piece of plexi that will go behind both grommets. You can use something like this to hold the plexi in.

http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/(rapzkr454dpre1551kpskprm)/productdetails.aspx?sku=9004151&source=GoogleBase

I actually used that to put a window in the side panel of my case and it is incredibly strong. It's not too thick either, so it shouldn't leave much (if any) gaps. Let us know what you decide. I'm interested to see how it turns out.
 
Zero82z said:
Well, to be honest I'm not entirely sure of the kind of thing you're trying to do, so if you could draw up a rough diagram in Paint or something, that would be helpful.
Click to expand...

I am a terrible artist plus I wouldn't even know where to begin to diagram this out.

Basic premise is I drilled to 1/4" holes through the front of my case. Mounted to IR recievers inside my case. Now I can turn on my HTPC and navigate my XBMC front end using an MCE remote without any external USB dongles. So now the issue is using some type of insert to finish off the hole to make it look a tad more professional. I found some acrylic rod that I could cut to length, but it is clear so I could still be able to see the IR receiver. Ideally I would like acrylic rod, but in smoke color so it will hide the IR recievers within the case. Of course you can only see the IR recievers if you get close and look for it, but I know it is there.
 
Here is a few pics of my test case (please ignore the haphazard drilling as this is only a test case). As you can see the IR LED's are easily seen. I would like to have some type of insert that will hide the IR recievers, similar to the case button on the far right.

IMG_00751.jpg

IMG_00741.jpg

IMG_00731.jpg


Wow, those pics are terrible, so much for taking pics with my iPhone.
 
So you basically want a piece of plexiglas to fit inside the hole and make the IR sensor less visible while making the hole look more finished. The best way to do this in my opinion would be to take a small piece of smoked plexi and mill down the surface except for a circle in the middle with diameter equal to the size of the hole you want to fill up. The depth of the milling should be equal to the thickness of the material the hole is drilled in. Then place the piece of plexi through the hole so that the circle you left will go through the hole and sit flush with the surface of the panel. Something like this:

61014493.jpg


Alternatively, you could just cut out a square of plexi and have it sit behind the panel, which wouldn't look quite as good since it won't be flush, but it would be a lot easier to fabricate. Or you could get smoked plexi rod, but that might not work well depending on the thickness of the panel you're working with (I'm assuming it's metal, but if it's plastic of decent thickness, you can ignore pretty much anything I've said and just use plexi rod since that would be the easiest way to go in that situation).
 
You are definately on to something Zero. I really like the idea of milling a piece of smoke/black transparent plexi. Obviously, the only thing holding me back is finding someone to do the fab.

Anyone have a trustworthy fab shop?
 
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