Author Topic: [PC MOD] HowTo: EASILY make a plexiglass side panel for any steel-framed case!  (Read 3452 times)

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Offline sweffymo

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I had some strange urge to make a plexiglass side panel for my CM 690.  I was thinking about making a window, but I decided it would look cooler and be easier to just make the entire panel out of plexi.  I was also going to use acrylic, but my local hardware store didn't have any.


The goals of this project (aside from having a clear side panel, of course) are as follows:


1) To make this as quick, easy, and painless as possible.


2) To not have to modify the rest of my case in any way.


3) To have a cool howto to post as my 3000th post. (On overclock.net)


With those goals in mind, I promptly procrastinated until I was at 2,999 posts to get started.  The following is the actual howto, with no more rambling.


Required Materials/Tools:


--A case with a steel frame.


--Plexiglass, cut to the dimensions of your side panel.


--4 magnetic "buttons," preferably neodymium.


--2-part epoxy.


Optional, if you want to include a fan hole:


--A fan grille


--A handheld sabre saw ("Jumpy saw" as I call it) with an 18 thread per inch or finer blade (these will be marked "Medium metal" or "Thin metal").


--A power drill with bits of varying and graduated sizes.


--A blowtorch and a non-galvanized nail to help get your drill bit started (a soldering iron would probably work for this, but I didn't want to mess up my poor soldering iron).


Step 1: Measure your side panel and get a piece of plexiglass cut


This is a pretty self-explanatory step, but I will say that it cost me slightly over $10 (USD) to have a piece cut at my local Ace Hardware store.  Make sure you leave the plastic film on the plexi until you are done with all the cutting, sanding, and drilling if you are going to cut a fan hole, like I did.


If you do not want to make a hole in your panel for a fan, skip to step 3.


Step 2: Cut the fan hole *optional*


This is a big step, so I am going to cut it up into substeps:


Step 2a: Mark where you want the hole to be


For this step, I just traced the hole on my CM690's side panel, and then simplified it into an octagon, and marked the hole locations for a 120mm fan.





Step 2b: Mark for pilot holes


To do this, you need the blowtorch and nail, or soldering iron.  You need to poke the plexiglass at the center point of your pilot hole, which needs to be far enough inside your planned fan hole that the edge won't look terrible (I made some of them too close to the edge, so be careful!)





Step 2c: Drill the pilot hole


For this step, you need to start with a small drill bit, and drill a hole at the indentation in the plexiglass you just made.  Then progressively drill out the hole using larger and larger drill bits until the hole is big enough for you to fit the blade of the jumpy saw into the hole.


You need to make sure to be VERY gentle and DO NOT press down on the drill.  If you are too rough, the plexiglass will crack.


Step 2d: Cut the hole


Now that you have the pilot hole drilled, it's time to cut the hole for the fan, along the lines you drew.  I got my dad to help me with this part, because I was afraid I would crack my plexi and he is a lot better with the jumpy saw than I am.








Step 2e: File down the sharp edges


Make sure you get them all!





Step 3: Epoxy the magnets to the plexiglass


Remove the film, if you haven't already.





Get the epoxy out, mix some up, and apply an extremely thin coating to the magnets.  Then put the magnets onto the plexi, and let the epoxy dry for as long as it says on the tube.





Note that I had already installed the fan at this point...  Also, make sure that the magnets are pretty far away from your hard drives.  You will see that one of the magnets is not in the corner, and that's the reason.  Putting it in the corner would have put that really strong neodymium magnet about two inches from my bottom hard drive...


Step 4: Install it and you're done!


You can't even see it in these pictures except for the fan...  Still have to put my OCN applique on it though! :cool:





My 140mm Yate in the 5.25" bay fell down :(





Mr. Cuttlefish says hi!








Edit:  Applique!!! (I fixed my cable management since I took this.)



OK, that is it!  This would literally take an hour, including driving around to get the magnets, epoxy, and plexiglass, if you don't need a fan hole.  However, my GPU temps drop 3-5 degrees Celsius when I have an exhaust next to it, so I kind of needed it.


Well, until next time!  Hope you enjoyed this and it inspired you to create something too!


[COLOR="DarkOrange"]~sweffymo[/COLOR]


This HowTo was originally posted here on January 29th, 2011.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2011, 06:25:14 AM by sweffymo »
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