$10 says weirdest modding experience ever.

This has to be the weirdest thing ever done in the name of modding.

I'm in the middle of a full case mod, and we've hit the point where we're cutting the window, which is in a design that isn't terribly complex, but that does have some curves in it, and that will have two fan holes in, as well.

So, joy of joys, I get to cut the acryilic for this thing--which is the one freaking task I haven't been able to perform adequately since I started modding. I've tried a jigsaw, and that just melts the stuff. I've tried multiple bits and multiple speeds. I've tried my Dremel; same deal. So my buddy suggests water. "If we keep a steady stream of water on the dremel bit," he says, "we can probably cool it enough that it won't melt the plexi." So we try it, and it works (somewhat). We're having trouble controlling the water well enough to keep it on the bit.

[begin weirdness now]

So his girlfriend, who is a nursing major, and who happened to be over hanging out with us while we worked, ambles over to her car--and ambles back with a Foley catheter. After a bit of giggling (as is requisite for this sort of situation), we hack the tip off the bit that gets *cough* inserted, and fill the . . . er . . . collection bag? . . . with water. Naturally, in order for the water to flow, the bag has to be above the end of the tube, which means that anyone driving down my street on Thursday saw one of two things: me holding a catheter bag above my head like a holy relic, or me with a catheter bag balanced on my head (my arms were tired).

It almost worked, too. We had a pretty good looking 120mm blowhole cut, but unfortunately, the panel cracked when we tried to take the inside bit out. Weirdness with no payoff.

Incidentally, anybody know a better way to cut plexi? I'd like to avoid buying a holesaw and/or a drill press, so that's rather out. I can beg a jigsaw, if there's some magic bit of plexi-cutting goodness. But heaven knows what intimate piece of medical equipment will end up on my head if I don't figure out a way soon.

the way I did it is I used the router-head attachment for the dremel....not the routing table, mind you.....link #1, link#2

it's essentially the same thing.....difference is one includes general purpose bits (probably the one you want), and the other includes tile-cutting bits. I just used that thing and a general purpose cutting bit...as well as a straight edge, to cut the plexi for my window. Problem is, it still melts.........but, it's not too bad. When I was doing it, the melted plastic came off in dried droplets....some did clog up the bit, but not enough so that I couldn't finish the job. Besides, a run through a scrap piece of wood will probably clear off all the melted on plastic.

edit:

oh wow, just found this attachment....

advantage circle cutter

mmmmm yummy.....looks like it could be good for modding, eh? Ehhh just noticed that it's not compatible with the rotary tool....only with the high speed rotary saw....oh well, i suppose thats a nice tool to have too, eh?

edit again:

http://www.dremel.com/productdisplay/att_template.asp?SKU=670&Color=99CCFF

YIKES! that looks like fun, hehehe.

^^^^^
Did the same thing with the same bits. Crank the speed and go slow.

give up on the plexi, it's extremely hard to get right. use lexan. much easier.

Mysphyt said:

So his girlfriend, who is a nursing major, and who happened to be over hanging out with us while we worked, ambles over to her car--and ambles back with a Foley catheter. After a bit of giggling (as is requisite for this sort of situation), we hack the tip off the bit that gets *cough* inserted, and fill the . . . er . . . collection bag? . . . with water. Naturally, in order for the water to flow, the bag has to be above the end of the tube, which means that anyone driving down my street on Thursday saw one of two things: me holding a catheter bag above my head like a holy relic, or me with a catheter bag balanced on my head (my arms were tired).

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yea..it's weird for people who mess with computers all day. Kinda not so weird for people in the medicine field.

What was weird for me, is when my ex-g/f, who is a nurse now, asked if she could practice the catheter on me. Naturally i refused. But i wonder what shmuck does let his g/f practice that. lol.

Just go with polycarbonate. Much easier to tool, non-toxic, and holds up better under wear and tear.

Another idea comes to mind if you must use plexi.

I saw an article a few years ago in one of my ham radio magazine on a new way to power a soldering iron by using a double electrical box with an outlet wired through a dimmer switch to the cord that you would plug into the wall. With the dimmer you could hold your soldering iron at a lower temperature than normal.

You would probably want to use a dimmer rated for the full 15 amps because the dremel will certainly want more current than a lamp. However, you should be able to run your dremel tool at a slower than normal speed and avoid overheating the plastic.

Yeah, I have a variable speed dremel, so I can get it to go at ridiculously slow speeds. The problem is, it loses torque. So at speeds slow enough not to melt the plexi, the motor can't exert enough pressure to actually cut the stuff. I'll try with the cutting bit, though, and I'll try switching to Lexan, given the fact that I have to buy a new piece anyway. We'll see how it works.

And, even in the medical field, I find it rather unlikely that balancing catheter bags on one's head is recognized practice. Or at least, I hope not. Although I must admit I haven't been to the hospital lately; perhaps the average patient combines fashion and function with a stylish urine hat.

does sex in a family bathroom at a mall while buying modding supplies count as wierd?

family bathroom "IN" a mall?!?!

thorilan said:

does sex in a family bathroom at a mall while buying modding supplies count as wierd?

Click to expand...

yes- it does, but not nearly as weird as holding a catheter above your head in broad daylight. Couldn't have just used a hose could yeah?

family bathroom "IN" a mall?!?!

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yeah in the mall at my home town there is a bathroom that is about 8foot x 10foot with lock and changing table for babies in it and a small toilet for children along with the usual stuff

Quick question: has anyone tried simply running a water hose over the surface you are cutting while you are cutting? Some water would hit the bit and lots of water would hit the heated plexi.

Yeah, I suggested the hose, too, just before we switched up to the catheter (we started with an IV), but we were concerned about the fact that it's an electric Dremel, and we couldn't control a hose nearly so well as we could a catheter. Didn't want to accidentally end up electrocuted. Apart from that, though, it would've worked quite well. The catheter thing was actually a lot more successful than I thought it would be. Not only did it cool the plexi and keep it from melting as much, it also swept away the plexi dust and prevented it from clogging up the hole we were cutting (which makes more sense if you've had it happen to you).

I think the hose idea would work quite well, you just turn the water down to a small trickle, and mount the hose (twist ties, zip-ties, whatever) at the edge of the plexi, away from where you're cutting so that the water runs across where you're working. I may be trying this soon, since I plan on picking up a whole bunch of plexi (since I can't find anywhere with Lexan around here) for a new case I'm planning on building within the next couple months.

Finnaly a post I can put up with utter confidence. I used to work in house rehab and amon the many things we had to do was replace broken glass with nothing more than, you guessed it, plexi glass. Of course no windows is the same size. Here is the fun part there are many ways to cut the glass. For a straight line they make a plexi glass tool to cut it. Place a square where you want to cut it and drag this tool down the square a few times to score it, flip over the glass and snap it in half. A perfect clean cut. If you dont know what the tool look like its looks kinda like a bent exacto knife with a sharp solid hook. That method is only good for cutting plexi glass and seperating a hole side off of it though. If you want to make a straight line thats cut in the middle of the glass then put a plywood blade on a circular saw back wards and cut it wath that slowly. MAKE SURE THE BLADE IS PUT ON BACK WARDS. For curved cuts draw and map where you want to cut the glass on that protective plastic on the top of the plexi glass. If that protective plastic isnt there then use a dry erase marker on the plexi glass and that will was off. Now get out your trusty dremel drill and get the smallest drill bit you can find for it. The smaller the better. Slowly dril into the plexi glass. When the drill bit is about half way in the plexi glass start moving the dremel slowly around where you want to cut. Make sure to move slow and keep the dremel as perfectly up right as you can. They do make a little tool for dremels for this and it costs about 14.99. They advertise it for grouting tile I think if I remember right? There might be a little bit of melted plastic or something around the edges but that can be cleaned easily but taking an exacto knife and scraping ever so lightly along the edge of the cut. The plastic should be brittle enough it will break off with ease. If your trying to put a perfect hole somewhere in the plexi glass then use a cordless drill. Get whatever size drill bit you need such as a 2inch or 3 inch. Try and get one with very slim carbide tips or diamond tips. If nothing else make sure it's used for cutting metal with. Turn the drill on low torque and the highest speed it has and just move slowly. All this should work peferct for you.

Just to let you guys on a secret....that saw attachment for the dremel is a joke. It won't cut a damn thing and is a waste of money.

NcBaller1985 said:

Just to let you guys on a secret....that saw attachment for the dremel is a joke. It won't cut a damn thing and is a waste of money.

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This guy is right. I mentioned it in my poast but didnt stress it. If your to lazy to use the knife for plexe glass and want to use a mechanical tool then use a real circular saw and a plywood blade and put the plywood blade on backwards. That works great.

Just a little equasion (sp?) for you..


H2O + electrical powered device = ouch..

Just remember to be smart..

Anyway.. I've used a jigsaw on plexi with minimum of melting.. Here's a secrete... Use a metal cutting blade and a VERY slow speed. A variable speed jigsaw is what I used.. Works every time. If you see it is melting, just slow down and back it off.. Don't press so hard..

I have the reverse experience to palee72 - I found that
running a (metal) jigsaw blade quickly at full throtle caused the
least disruption to the plastic. If you slow down the cut doing it
like this - then there is too much melted plastic to move forward.
I have also read that some people use a sacrafical plywood board under the plastic to stop the twisting force from snapping the plastic.

Each to his own - good luck.
p.s. - i'm just out of hospital. The guy next to me had a catheter ---- and you were damm right not to
let your g'friend insert one, bsspewer - ewwww