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PROJECT LOG Antec 300 custom front panel

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Aldakoopa

KING OF PROCRASTINATION Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2012
Location
North Carolina
Antec 300 custom front panel and modding

I'm tired of the turbulence caused by the circular mesh on the front of my Antec 300, so I removed it. Well, it helped a lot with the noise, but just in case you didn't know, now it look hideous. So I drew up some crude (not at all perfectly sized) plans in Google Sketchup, threw in a couple of other people's models for 120mm fans and grills, and viola! Here's the results:
 

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It will reconcile the off-center fans that Antec put in there, but it will make it impossible to use the filter that came with the case. It may also make it hard to get the front panel off with the fans attached to it to clean out whatever filters I cook up, but I'll work out those details when I get to building it. I'm thinking of adding a couple of these to the back sides of the fans. EDIT: I was just about to buy a couple more of them, but the price jumped 5x more than it was! :shock: It's almost the same price as the first one I bought on Amazon, but the shipping is ridiculous there. :rain: So, looks like I'll be getting these instead.
95719796-260x260-0-0_Silverstone+SilverStone+120mm+Fan+Filter+with+Gril.jpg


I have one on the back side of my side fan, and I just finished cutting out the mesh today (and accidentally ripped the filter off and had to re-glue it :D).
 

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Just finished drawing up the final perfectly measured plans. :D I will start building soon. If I've measured everything correctly, then everything should just manage to fit. I'm making it out of wood that's about 4-5mm thick, which is absolutely perfect because that's how "thick" the original mesh was. If I can manage not to make any mistakes or cut too much off anywhere, it should be a decent looking mod to this pretty basic case. It will all be painted flat black... D'oh! I knew I forgot to pick something up while I was in town today! Oh well, It will be a week before I get the filters and grills. On a side note, you wouldn't believe how hard it was to find metric measuring tape around here! I got the only one that the hardware store had, and it was the only one out of fifty hanging on the display that had metric measurements.

I'll post pics after it's done and measurements (just so I can confirm they are correct) for anyone with an Antec 300 case who would like to make this panel.
 
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Nice project to fix a very aggravating problem. I have a strong dislike for built-in die stamped grills. I bought my Antec case knowing it had honeycomb grills, thinking I could easy cut them out and replace them with proper grills. Well guess what, the perforated areas are larger than the fans, and will look perfectly awful if I remove them.
 
Nice project to fix a very aggravating problem. I have a strong dislike for built-in die stamped grills. I bought my Antec case knowing it had honeycomb grills, thinking I could easy cut them out and replace them with proper grills. Well guess what, the perforated areas are larger than the fans, and will look perfectly awful if I remove them.

I know what you mean. I want to do something about the hole in the side next. But, I actually like the honeycomb mesh on the side and top, and if I cut them out there won't be much to do except rebuild the side and top of the case so I can make the same 120mm round hole and put a grill over it. So, I'll probably just make something to go around the edges of my side intake fan and fill in the gaps.
 
I'm sorry about the bad image quality. I don't really have a digital camera. All I have is a cheap webcam and an old camera phone. Here's the panel that's been cut. The board is already black on one side, but I'm still going to paint it afterwards.

Dimensions:

Height: 259mm
Width: 158mm
Thickness: ~4-5mm

This makes a perfect fit. Now to work on the mounting tabs that the screws will go into.
 

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For the tabs I'm using a wooden paint stirring paddle that we literally have hundreds of at the bodyshop. I'm not too sure if these are going to work well because they're not very good wood, but I will see when I get a little further along. I'm going to give the MAXIMUM dimensions for these, assuming that anyone else who might try this is going to use an add-on piece for the tabs. The ones I'm using are different dimensions but the measurements that count are correct.

Maximum dimensions:

Height: 20mm
Width : 32mm
Hole size: ~3-4mm (~1/8")

Thickness isn't as much of an issue here, but too thick will require longer screws to hold them in place. The height of 20mm is only necessary on the 4 corner tabs, the middle ones have a wider unobstructed area. The distance they can hang over the side of the panel is 13mm, and the distance they can overlap the panel is 19mm. If done correctly, this should leave just enough room for the 120mm fans in between the tabs on both sides.

Dimensions I'm currently using (limited by the paint paddles):

Height: 20mm
Width: 24mm
Thickness: 4mm
Hole size: 1/8" (it was hard enough finding a metric tape measure around here, I'm not about to go hunting tiny metric drill bits)

The tabs need to be placed in all 4 corners and one directly in the middle of the panel's height on both sides, which should be obvious. I'll let you figure out where that is and where to drill the holes because adding on these tabs may result in an imperfect measurement between them or to where the holes should be, and your dimensions may be different than what I'm using.
 

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I just found out that one of the bottom tabs will need to be shaved because of the L shaped leg that holds the front panel to the case. I'm using masking tape to hold the tabs in place currently while I'm test fitting everything. As you can see, the tab is crooked from being pushed down by the L shaped leg. Cutting off a little bit of the top corner of the tab at a 45° angle should do the trick.
 

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I got all the tabs in place and holes drilled. I didn't quite have them lined up perfectly but I went with the "I'll make it fit!" ingenuity and reamed out the holes a little wider and the screws all line up now and are just barely long enough to go through the 4mm thickness of the tabs and catch into their holes.

Now all that's left to do is make the holes for the fans... and that's going to be hard without a 120mm hole saw. :(

EDIT: I'm going to be asking around town (there's a lot of do-it-yourselfers and carpenters around here and it's a pretty friendly town) and trying to find an adjustable hole saw big enough I can use to cut out exactly what I need. I have the markings EXACTLY where the holes will go, but it would be much easier, faster, and better looking if I do it with a hole saw.
 

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Just got my fan grills today. The filters should be here in a day or two. I have not found anyone with an adjustable hole saw that's big enough. I'm probably going to have to go with a good ol' jigsaw and cut inside the line, and sand it as round as possible to finish it. I could buy an adjustable hole saw, but to get one of half-decent quality that won't fall apart on the first use is going to cost more than it's worth to cut out two holes.
 
Just got the mounting holes drilled and tested them out by attaching the grills. Looks like a good fit to me! I'm about to cut out the holes for the fans. Wish me luck! :eek: I also got the new filters in the mail today. I could have probably made a way for the original one to work... but it may have included duct tape. :p The only thing I don't like about the new filters is the "SilverStone" logo juts out into the airspace of the fan on the bottom. I'm not going to cut these out like I did with the filter earlier though.
 

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Let me show you this little ingenious tool I made for the job of cutting. It's made out of the remnants of a paint paddle and a screw. I'm using a small screwdriver through the hole and it's slowly scoring it's way through the wood. A nail would work equally as well, but I have a handle to hold on to with the screwdriver. This will at the very least give me a perfectly round notch to follow with the jigsaw, but I think I'll just keep going with it like it is until I break it. It didn't take long to get a fairly deep notch cut into since it's only wood, and not even real wood, it's a piece of hardboard that came packaged with my desk to help hold the box's rigidity.
 

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Almost finished! I got it cut and painted. I made a deep notch for each hole on both the front and back with my home-made circle-cutter... thing... and then I finished cutting them out with a utility knife. I started with a jigsaw, but I went out of the notch almost immediately and went with the knife. I made a few mistakes, but it wasn't anything a little filler and sandpaper couldn't fix! Photo-0353.jpg

After painting (still a little wet):
Photo-0354.jpg

Now, maybe I can get it put together tomorrow. :D
 
Ok, I couldn't wait. I went ahead and assembled it. Good news is it looks good and I've almost completely eliminated all that loud turbulence, so now my fans are quiet. :D Bad news... I didn't know that the fans wouldn't fit afterwards. Now, either I completely disassemble my case and start cutting on the front of it, or I find thinner fans. =/

Photo-0355.jpg
 
Depending on how thick the wood is, and how much clearance you need. You could just notch the wood and inbed the fans into the custom front panel.
 
KΓλ©KΣΓ™;7126202 said:
Depending on how thick the wood is, and how much clearance you need. You could just notch the wood and inbed the fans into the custom front panel.

I was considering this. I'm going to measure the thickness I have currently, the thickness I need to reduce to, and how much I can actually shave off. I was going to shave the wood down, and the front sides of the fan housings. I can actually shave quite a bit off the front of the fan housings until they come up just behind the grills. That might get me the clearance I need. If not, then it's A) Cut the case (last resort). B) Offset the custom panel outward. C) Get low-profile fans (which may also need to be shaven).

I would have started measuring now, but I seem to have misplaced my metric measuring tape, which is a vital part of measuring these tiny little increments. Now where could that have gone? :confused: Someone probably stole it because it's the only one in the county. :rofl: Anyway, this is going to have to wait because I'm leaving this Saturday to go to Ohio for a week. I'll deal with making everything fit right when I get back.
 
This is a great mod. I have the same case and could use this solution.
Please post back when you find your... what did you say it was, metric? measuring tape.
 
Yeah, I found it, but I'm currently 800 miles away from home. I'll continue when I get home on Tuesday.
 
There is 23mm available between the front of the case and my panel. The fan is 25mm thick and the filter is 3mm, so I need to shave off at least 5mm. I can cut about 2mm off of the back side of the panel, and about 3mm off of the fan housings, so hopefully I can get just enough to squeeze it together. Otherwise, I'll probably end up buying some lower profile fans.
 
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