[RESOLVED] Homemade Custom Cases

[Cyberwiz]

I am thinking of building the case for my planned new fileserver from scratch. Not cutting up a case for more fans and such.

Has anybody built any computer cases from scratch like this? Wood, Plexiglass, Sheet Metal, etc.

Any pictures?

Before I go and spend a weekend building my case and a fair amount of money, I was hoping for ideas or suggestions on how I should design it.

Mine is going to have 4 ext. CD-ROM bays, 2 ext. 3-1/2 bays, 2, int. 3-1/2 bays. Be big enough to fit a Asus A7V motherboard into the case and feed the ide cables through a hole into the bottom half of the case (drive bays and power supply are in the bottom half, motherbaord is in the top half with all ports facing foward for easy hookup. I am going to have a door that covers the slots and cards on the front.)

I am thinking of using 1/4" plexiglass, lexan, or aluminum to build up the case with small metal or plastic blocks to screw the sides into at the corners.


Any ideas, comments, suggestions are welcome.

Any yes, I know for what I will spend to do this I can go out and buy a really nice case of equal value and simular capacity for $200-$400 dollars.

Thanks!

[Danrak]

Windrivers had something on a plexa case a while back. I had built one a few months ago, but don't have pictures. Get the right tools first and do some searching on the internet, I found a few sites that talked about building your own plexa-glass case. Also make sure you have tons of time and are not quick to anger.

[This message has been edited by Danrak (edited December 02, 2000).]

[3fingersalute]

http://www.windrivers.com/cases/cases.htm

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Why do convenience stores that are open 24/7 have locks on the doors?

[Cable Modem Tech]

i built the case out of plexiglass that was on the windrivers site i am pretty sure that all the dimensions were on there... i went to the local glass shop and had the plexiglass cut to size and bought a ton of small l brackets and nuts n bolts... have a dremel tool on hand with a large variety of attatchments... mine came out really nice and made for an excellent conversation piece
the dimensions described on windrivers site give you plenty of room too...extra drives, cdr beer it will all fit in there... take your time and do it right mine took awhile but i wish i would have put more effort into where the cards screw down.... i just milled off the tops of the metal tab and screwed them directly to the back worked fine and was secure however i built my case for an at and now run an atx setup so the case is no longer used.....DO IT RIGHT and you ll have a kewl case that will last forever...


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Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to use the net and he will not bother you for weeks.

[jimmr13]

I never built a case but let's see what you come up with and maybe I'll give it a try !

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If all else fails read the directions !

[d_dcomp]

I just have one idea to throw at ya, you may want to throw in some top braces and braces where you bolt your mobo onto cause if you build a mid tower size box you'll get quite a bit of flex out of the plex.

Dremels and Rotozips work great for cutting holes and such in plex.

let us know how it turns out


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Later days and better leis!!

[robbydobby1]

ok can someone let me know the details of the site(if its still there)

i am thinking about building a plexiglass cass and wanted to see what was said

if u can let me know the details of it it would be nice

[Hobbes]

Anyone that's built one of these cases... how are they with regards to heat dissipation and EMI? I've been tempted to go with an aluminum case for it's dissipation properties, but that design looks badass. I'd like to know a bit more before I try it, though.

Thanks,

Hobbes

[Look deep]

I once built a case out of oak AT format. I used the metal inside of the case and built the top with a fan hole for circulation. It had a P200 with all the goodies ended up selling it to my lawyer. The case was beautiful and time was immense. give it a try if your into wood working you need alot of tools.

[scout970]

hmm old case modder and builder here best advice i can give is read take your time and expect to screw up occasionaly

[MacGyver]

Can I please request that a mod close this topic - I doubt the topic starter even remembers that they asked this question, and people are still answering it over 14 months later!

[Rellik]

In addition to Mac's comment, take case related questions to the <a href="http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum3/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=forum&f=19" target="_blank">Case Mods & Cooling forum</a>

I'd say either move this thread there or close it here

[SCHTUDE]

There is something to be said about keeping a topic alive!