Putin' in a winows

[The Coolest]

Hi! I'm new to this part of forum and I looked at the gallery and saw lots of people have windows on their sides of the cases, I was wondering how do u do it so neatly and nice looking? And how do u fit the Flexyglass (or whatever) in there?

[drowned]

there's not much more to the neatness than drawing out the shape of the window on the back of your panel before you cut, and especially taking your time. It seems like a lot of people around here use a Dremel to cut out windows, but I find that to be mostly ridiculous... I would recommend using a jig saw if you have access to one, or possibly even a scroll saw. As for the window itself, just cover the edge of the hole with some rubber molding, cut the plexiglass into a shape slightly larger than the window hole, and attach it to the inside of the panel, right against the rubber molding. There are a few ways to do this... glue, epoxy, silicon adhesive, tape, bolts... I prefer double sided tape personally, but they all get the job done.

[Oni]

I used epoxy resin, and did it just as described above. You can see some of my work here (http://24.141.109.20/computer). I used an industrial die grinder to cut my hole, but most people don't have access to those. A scroll saw would be perfect, actually.

[eh?]

i didn't order a kit....i bought the black border at harmon auto glass then took it to some off glass place and had them install it for like 5 bucks....

[pogue1000]

so where is a nice place that has nice window kits?

also. i am modding an antex sx1030 will i be able to cut this with a jigsaw?

thanks :)

[Wicked Klown]

Go to www.crazypc.com.

[Diggrr]

Only thing you can't cut with a jigsaw is glass, or up close to a wall. I cut both my case and my plexiglass with it.
Put some tape on the bottom foot to prevent scratching.

www.crazypc.com
www.caseetc.com
www.pcmods.com/department.asp?DepID=11
www.inflowdirect.com/casmod.html

You can also easily cut yourself, so be cautious. Wear some eye protection too, all these power toys throw metal chips about. Not recommended on carpet.

[RoadWarrior]

I'm surprised people don't put windows in cases like they go in cars. I mean the fixed windows in cars like quarterlights and windscreens etc. You just need some H section rubber, which is easy to get hold of, who knows you might know of a vehicle with a preformed rubber for a window on that with a cool shape, that would be good too. Fitting is simpler than it looks, I've done it on cars a few times. (Used to live in a dispreputable neighbourhood and kept getting my car broken into). In this case you need the glass or plastic a little smaller than the hole, say around 3mm all round at least. That's easy if you use a wide pen or something to mark the hole.

Anyway, the fitting, you first fit the rubber to the hole. You might want to use sealant to make it stay down nice, unless it's a real tight fit on the edges. Now here's the clever part, you get a lenght of cord, longer than the circumferencence of the window, enough spare to wrap around each hand is good, or you can put a pencil as a handgrip on each end. It must be about as thick or a little thicker than the glass, and smoothish, so it won't catch much on the glass or saw at the rubber. Polypropelene rope is cheap and good. Now you lay this inside the channel that the glass is going into, ending up with both ends inside the sharpest corner of the shape.

Now, holding onto the glass can be a little tricky so if you have a large sucker or even a special sucker clamp for handling glass, that would be excellent, things to improvise with might be found around the bathroom, like sucker fitting soapdishes or toilet roll holders. You can do it without, but wear gloves with some grip, so you don't cut your hand on the edges of the glass, and having a friend to assist is quite a help.

Now, depending on the depth of the channel you have, it may be a good idea to lubricate it a little with dish soap (brit: washing up liquid) since this will help the glass slide down in a deeper channel, though when you have a shallow channel it is often not necessary and can make things too slippery. So, now we are good to go. Start with the cords your side of the hole and wedging the glass up against the rubber, pull on them outwards, you will see that they pull the lip of the rubber out for you and ease it over the edge of the glass. Well maybe you won't really see the benefit of this since at this point you can more or less slide that corner in, but by the time you get a little further round, you'll appreciate this effect greatly. If you are working by yourself, you might just want to work on one end of the cord at once and press the glass into place with your other hand. If you have assistance. Your friend can do the cords or the glass for you.

You will realise what a neat idea this is by the time you get to about the last quarter, and as you pull the cords out, the glass magically pops into place, with almost no effort. Now all you have to do is wash off the dishsoap and fingerprints and any rubber marks, and you have a beautifully fitted window...

regards,

Road Warrior

[eh?]

Originally posted by RoadWarrior
I'm surprised people don't put windows in cases like they go in cars. I mean the fixed windows in cars like quarterlights and windscreens etc.

thats how they are put in...at least thats how i did mine

[RoadWarrior]

Oh, for small windows it always seems easier to me to fit the rubber to the hole first. However, if you're contemplating putting a HUGE panel in, or are even thinking of replacing your car windscreen yourself, it works better when you apply the rubber to the glass, and do it that way round. Small windows, it's easier to keep the cord in the hole, larger windows, with the cord around the window gives something to "pull" against. Sometimes you need to look at the rubber you are using and see which looks like the easiest side to pull into place. If you have like a 1 inch lip on the metal side and only 1/4 inch on the glass side, you'll probably wanna put it around the hole first.

If you've got a rod shop in town, you can probably get smoked glass porthole and etc kits for van conversions and customising, that might be just the thing for your case. These will need to be fitted in this manner.

This is the way the auto glass professionals do it by the way. Where I came from the cheapest you could get a glass replaced was around $30 just for the fitting, and around 20-30 for the glass (quarterlight) so after the second time in as many weeks I had my window smashed, I made darn sure to find out how to do it, and started getting glass from the scrapyard at $10 a go instead.

more regards :)

Road Warrior

[RoadWarrior]

Originally posted by drdingo21


thats how they are put in...at least thats how i did mine

LOL, good for you, well I keep seeing people using rubber than glueing the window to the back..... seems messy and bizarre to me. :) Never saw the fitting process described on mod sites, and if it's something you don't know, those things can seem impossible to get in. :)

Road Warrior

[Silver]

Read this method years ago when replacing a VW window.

[The Coolest]

Thanks guys for all the info