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Fan holes. Not quite as big as the fan blowing throughit. Help!

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killem2

killem2

Member
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Joined
Jan 6, 2005
I just checked with my father in law last night to see what hole saws he has. (the drill attachments).

I am going to be putting in some 140mm fans and one 200 mm fan. However he only has:

6" (152mm)

5 1/2 " (139.7mm)

5" (127mm)

4 1/2" (114mm)

I think I already know the answer for the 200 mm. (Cut it with a jig saw or something similar that can just cut like a 190mm circle.

But for the 140mm fans 139.7 seems to be REALLY cutting it close, but 127 seem almost wasteful for a 140mm port.

Should I just manually cut both out?
 
What I use to measure for a fan hole is the wire grill that fits the size fan I am installing and use the outer wire ring as the sizer. But then I don't use a hole saw either, but mark them out in pencil with the fan grill and cut them out with a dremel.
 
muddocktor said:
What I use to measure for a fan hole is the wire grill that fits the size fan I am installing and use the outer wire ring as the sizer. But then I don't use a hole saw either, but mark them out in pencil with the fan grill and cut them out with a dremel.
Click to expand...

A dremel? Maybe I'm out of it in this type of stuff but a dremel tool seems well.. rather small to do this job. Are there different variants? I'm trying to picture what attachment allows you to do that.
 
cutting wheel, instead of a jigsaw, its hard to get it right, but there are some shortcuts to making a nice round dremel hole..

1: use a felt tip marker to draw the hole around something round of the right size I usually take a roll of duck-tape. (I have several rolls of various amounts taken off, one will always be right ;)) you could also cut a non-round cardboard cutout that matches the air outlet "not-quite-square" of a fan. could look better than a circle.
2: drill eight or ten or whatever holes just inside the circle.
3: cut an octagon or a 10-side-a-gon
4: carefully cut away small bits of the remaining bits inside the circle, and when you're on the line, use a metal file to do the rest. :)
good luck!
dremel.png
 
Last edited:
AlexanderB said:
cutting wheel, instead of a jigsaw, its hard to get it right, but there are some shortcuts to making a nice round dremel hole..

1: use a felt tip marker to draw the hole around something round of the right size I usually take a roll of duck-tape. (I have several rolls of various amounts taken off, one will always be right ;)) you could also cut a non-round cardboard cutout that matches the air outlet "not-quite-square" of a fan. could look better than a circle.
2: drill eight or ten or whatever holes just inside the circle.
3: cut an octagon or a 10-side-a-gon
4: carefully cut away small bits of the remaining bits inside the circle, and when you're on the line, use a metal file to do the rest. :)
good luck!
dremel.png
Click to expand...

Good post, very informative :thup:

AlexanderB said:
...10-side-a-gon
Click to expand...

decagon :D
 
heh, thanks (twice)

this is how I cut my windows and (simple) fanholes :) so nyah, here it is, my secret ;) you only need the dremel and a steady hand if you don't mind the rough edges.. and a metal file and patience if you want a really nice hole for a window or a show-mod.. (you can "file" and grind with the dremel to make it look quite good, but if you lose grip, its easy to cut too far or make a big scratch.. ;))
 
Last edited:
killem2 said:
A dremel? Maybe I'm out of it in this type of stuff but a dremel tool seems well.. rather small to do this job. Are there different variants? I'm trying to picture what attachment allows you to do that.
Click to expand...

A dremel can be time consuming but definitely not to small, I've made all my case modifications with a dremel (don't have a jig saw) including many fan holes and crappy case grill removals to 12" x 12" window holes. It takes a pretty steady hand and patience to get it to look nice though.



and for the holes, I've always just mounted the fan where I want it and trace the inner diameter of the fan casing (filling in the gaps from the braces by hand.)
 
AlexanderB said:
heh, thanks (twice)

this is how I cut my windows and (simple) fanholes :) so nyah, here it is, my secret ;) you only need the dremel and a steady hand if you don't mind the rough edges.. and a metal file and patience if you want a really nice hole for a window or a show-mod.. (you can "file" and grind with the dremel to make it look quite good, but if you lose grip, its easy to cut too far or make a big scratch.. ;))
Click to expand...

NP...lol.

You could use U-channel molding too, so the edges don't have to be perfect.
 
I don't think this was mentioned, but use a CD as a template for the hole. They are cheap and are 1mm smaller than a 120mm fan. Works great.

EDIT: These are 140mm fans. Nevermind.
 
Last edited:
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