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Real Red and Cutting Plexiglass windows

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Old 02-17-06, 11:45 AM Thread Starter   #1
ObiwanShinobi
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Real Red and Cutting Plexiglass windows


I cant ever find any real red cathode lights, it always turns out pink or orange, I can find real nice red fans but not cold cathode lights. Does anyone have any light reccomendations?

Also I'm looking to cut a place for a fan mount in the plexiglass window of my case. I have a silver thermaltake armor case, I want to cut a 120 mm hole where my heatsink and fan is so i can draw air from the outside of the case to it. I cant hand cut it, should I drill it or somthing? I dont want to break it or crack it or scratch it. Has anyone done this and can you help me if you have?
Any help is appreciated, thanks.
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Old 02-17-06, 12:10 PM   #2
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Well what I did was kinda weird but it worked, I started with a drill and the smallest bore I could fine and then used a bigger one and so on and after I got to the biggest one I just started pushing to the sides and making the hole bigger and so on until I reached the desired size.

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Old 02-17-06, 05:59 PM   #3
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If a hand drill is all you have, you're best bet is probably a hole saw. 4 1/2in will do just right for a 120mm fan.

Mask your plastic sheet.

Clamp/tape it to a wooden surface (that will get trashed).

Drill a pilot at the center of the hole.

Work the hole saw at a medium/low speed, and take frequent stops to clear away plastic shavings and allow the plastic to cool.

The likelihood of cracking/mistakes are going to be related to the type and thickness of the plastic, but if you're careful, shouldn't be a problem.








There are any of a number of other methods depending on what tools you have available.

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Old 02-18-06, 10:55 PM   #4
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I've cut plexi with a holesaw before, and if you have a drill press like I do, it's fairly easy, just clamp it securely and go slow. If you have a handheld drill, you have to be VERY CAREFUL, especially if it's a powerful drill.

As for the true red CC lights, I just bought some cheap ones for my last case, which put out a glaring neon pink color. So, I found a roll of red cellophane wrapping for holiday baskets at my local grocery store the day after Christmas for about 50 cents. I just cut a strip off the end of the roll wide enough to fit between the end blocks on the light, used a piece of clear tape to secure it to the tube, and roll. It might be a good idea to have the inverter handy to plug it in and see how it looks. I find that 3-4 wraps gives a healthy, red glow, but if you want a deeper, more subdued look you can wrap it a couple more times. Secure with a couple pieces of clear Scotch tape and you're good to go.

You can also get strings of LED lights (I think Sunbeam makes them) that put out a good red color, but they're better used as backlighting.
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Old 02-19-06, 11:44 PM Thread Starter   #5
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Strings of LED lights, can you point me out one? I'm not sure if I know what youre talking about.
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Old 02-20-06, 02:39 AM   #6
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I don't know if they still have them, but All Electronics has these

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Old 02-20-06, 07:28 AM   #7
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Nicely done!
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Old 02-20-06, 07:37 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ObiwanShinobi
Strings of LED lights, can you point me out one? I'm not sure if I know what youre talking about.
Take a look here.

Quote:
Originally Posted by stool
I don't know if they still have them, but All Electronics has these
Wow, that is expensive for a single 4" ccfl w/inverter. Look here instead.

AllElectronics is a great place for various electronics parts. But they are really not a
PC modding supply house so their prices in that catagory are not all that competitive.
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Old 02-20-06, 08:37 AM   #9
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i bought this red cold cathode kit for my mod, maybe you want to check it out at Xoxide.com
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Old 02-20-06, 08:41 AM   #10
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obiwan, I have some red neon tube lights up at work that may work for ya (there are 2 - 9" tubes in each kit) there designed for a car, but I could wire up a molex plug for ya f you wanted. There like $35 for both though (i know that there are cheaper out there, bu these are REALLY red)
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Old 02-20-06, 09:49 AM   #11
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^^^ - It's my understanding neons are better at producing red light than ccfls's
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Old 02-21-06, 08:45 PM   #12
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for a nice red cathode... mountainmods.com

the cathode(s) i bought from them that were red were actually red..

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Old 02-22-06, 02:45 AM   #13
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for any kind of LEDs I buy from the Chi-wing LED store on Ebay. Great prices and they ship anywhere. quite often they will have deals that include the resistors at no additional charge.
Unfortunately I am at work, and they have Ebay blocked here now, or I would have a great linky for you.

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Old 02-22-06, 05:28 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghettocomp
for any kind of LEDs I buy from the Chi-wing LED store on Ebay. Great prices and they ship anywhere. quite often they will have deals that include the resistors at no additional charge.
Unfortunately I am at work, and they have Ebay blocked here now, or I would have a great linky for you.
Bought a bag full of blue LED's few years ago from them and got free resistors for free.
Great service.

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Old 02-22-06, 11:29 AM Thread Starter   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by autolex84
obiwan, I have some red neon tube lights up at work that may work for ya (there are 2 - 9" tubes in each kit) there designed for a car, but I could wire up a molex plug for ya f you wanted. There like $35 for both though (i know that there are cheaper out there, bu these are REALLY red)
I might take you up on that when I get some money, I need to cut my window first though.
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Old 02-22-06, 11:31 AM Thread Starter   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Navig
If a hand drill is all you have, you're best bet is probably a hole saw. 4 1/2in will do just right for a 120mm fan.

Mask your plastic sheet.

Clamp/tape it to a wooden surface (that will get trashed).

Drill a pilot at the center of the hole.

Work the hole saw at a medium/low speed, and take frequent stops to clear away plastic shavings and allow the plastic to cool.

The likelihood of cracking/mistakes are going to be related to the type and thickness of the plastic, but if you're careful, shouldn't be a problem.




There are any of a number of other methods depending on what tools you have available.

navig
About how much did a hole saw that large cost you?
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Old 02-23-06, 01:25 AM   #17
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$25. Yeah its kind of expensive for a one-size deal, but as far as I know the only solution for a hand drill. If you have a drill press, circle cutters are a much better option.

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