Building your own case.

[Black Hawk]

Has anyone done this before? If ya have, I have a few questions, since I'm interested in building my own:

Materials? What was the case made out of and the tools needed to make it.

Skill? How had was it? Time consuming?

Cost? How much? Worth the money?

That's really all for now. Thanks!

[Darrenct]

I built a case out of thin plexiglass for about $35. It took me a lot of time, but I rushed it so it looked like crap. It was cool for a while, but I decided it was too ghetto and took it apart. I've been using the scrap plexi to mod my case ever since.

If I did this now, I could make a decent case for about the same price. It just takes a lot of skill, and a little experience.

[Black Hawk]

would you recommend this to people?

[Darrenct]

If you can come up with a design that you are comfortable building, then I would recommend it. It all depends on the skill of the builder. If you have experience building things, I don't think it should be too tough for you. Just make sure you plan it out well before you get started.

[Black Hawk]

you know any place to get supplies?

[Darrenct]

I bought all my case stuff at Home Depot. Lowe's should also have what you need. They have a wide variety of plexiglass. Your gonna have to be creative as far as power and reset switch go.

To attach pieces I used 90 degree angle braces(With small bolts). Just like the ones I used in this duct:

[Black Hawk]

Sounds great. I think I'll do this for the computer for my room. Thaks for your help Darrenct. Do you have any sketches, pictures, or anything I can look at to get an idea for my own case? Thanks!

[Darrenct]

I still kick myself everyday for not taking pictures of it. I will give you a couple more "tricks of the trade". My case was a "desktop" style that the motherboard was parallel with the table. It is easier to build than a tower, and it does not require as thick of plexi. Of course, A tower looks much more impressive, and it is more space efficient.

Put the PSU on the bottom, It's just easier that way.

For the motherboard risers, drill holes slightly larger than the risers. then superglue them in.

Plexi will insulate heat more than metal, so keep ventilation in mind.

Ummm... That's all I can think of at the moment. I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

[Black Hawk]

Yeah, that's one of my only concerns, heat. Can you tell me anything about PCI slots? I really appreciate your help, btw.

[Darrenct]

I just stuck the cards in and let the Mobo hold them in place. This is a bad idea though, you could really mess something up if one gets pulled out of position with the computer running.

I was going to try and find a strip of sheet metal that would run by the top of the cards, then I would screw the cards in to that for extra support. I never got around to it though.

[Kingbob]

you can buy a cheapo case from your local computar store and cut out the backplate.... also if you didn't want to mess with the riser you can cut the mobo tray thing out too.
could prolly attatch it with some like a block of wood? or maybe some peice of metal bent and screwed... but i'll leave that to you.

also, it would be easier to take the drive cages from your cheapo, cause they would be a bitch to make... and instead of makeing the cages for the 5.25 drives you can (if your doing the desktop thing, not tower) make U'ish kinda brackets and bolt stuff to the bottom/top.
Or with a tower use those u brakchets and bolt cdroms to the sides. most of them have little things on them so you can do that.

heh... i've ahd the idea of a clear case in my head for a long time... jsut lacked the will to do it. ask me about stuff iffin you wish

[Darrenct]

Originally posted by Kingbob
it would be easier to take the drive cages from your cheapo, cause they would be a bitch to make... and instead of makeing the cages for the 5.25 drives you can (if your doing the desktop thing, not tower) make U'ish kinda brackets and bolt stuff to the bottom/top.


Welcome to the Forums KingBob

It was actually fairly easy to do drive bays... Here's a pic of what your looking for:
http://home.adelphia.net/~darrenct/bays.jpg

Kinda crude, This is the side view, the gray and blue are your drives, the ugly yellow is a series of parallel peices of plexiglass with holes drilled to line up with the mounting holes of the bays.

[b]If my pic doesn't show, come back another time... My ISP has the crappiest web-space you can think of.

[Diggrr]

You can go to this site (http://www.clearpc.ca/) and copy to your hearts content. They make plexi cases...pretty nice looking ones too, though not as custom as they could be for watercooling and such. But you can get some drive bay ideas from them.:D

[Black Hawk]

Alright, anyone ever try to tackle building their own steel case? Aluminum Case?

[customrig]

I'd love to make a plexi case someday. I just don't know if I have the time.

[RangerJoe]

once i get some money, i want to make a carbon fiber case

[Starfoxer]

black hawk, what is going on in your avatar?
always wanted to know what that was.

[Darrenct]

Originally posted by Starfox
black hawk, what is going on in your avatar?
always wanted to know what that was.

OMG, if you know not what that is, I feel so sorry for you. Turn off your computer right now and get in your car. Your going to hastings or blockbuster. Upon getting there, you ask for the movie, "Monty Python: and the Search for the Holy Grail". When you obtain the movie, you shall return home and place it in the VCR(Or DVD player).

At that time, thou shall be enlightened.

[plizzo]

who knows how to bend plexi?

[RangerJoe]

get it really hot, then bend it slowly