scratchbuilding a case

aPackOfWankers · Post by **aPackOfWankers** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 5:46 am

Been looking at the various mATX case options out there, and I really like the Antec 3480, but it isnt quite right - theres things I want from it that I cant mod into it.

Other cases kind of have some appeal, but they all look so ugly - the aesthetic of the contemporary gamer is for fins and wings and all kinds of crap.

Anyway... I figure I might only be able to get what I want by making it myself. I'm considering using a frame made from 8020 aluminum extrusions, and panels made from the Alucobest Al+HDPE+Al laminate that 8020 will cut for you.

With screws and some VHB tape, it cant be that hard to put together a case.

I figure the main issues will be the bezels for 5.25 and 3.5 inch drives at the front, and a mounting system for PCI cards.

Wondered if anyone has any advice or experiences to share wrt building cases from scratch?

ces · Post by **ces** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:03 am

You can buy Lian Li "slide in slide out" mountings for ATX or uATX boards at Performance-pcs and one other vendor who doesn't come to mind. That is intricate work that is so much easier to buy than to fabricate.

swivelguy2 · Post by **swivelguy2** » Sat Apr 17, 2010 11:07 am

Using 80/20 to form the frame of a computer case will be very costly, in both money and space. But I guess it will certainly get you a very unique industrial/laboratory look if that's what you're after.

BlackWhizz · Post by **BlackWhizz** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 9:24 am

aPackOfWankers wrote:Been looking at the various mATX case options out there, and I really like the Antec 3480, but it isnt quite right - theres things I want from it that I cant mod into it.

Other cases kind of have some appeal, but they all look so ugly - the aesthetic of the contemporary gamer is for fins and wings and all kinds of crap.

Anyway... I figure I might only be able to get what I want by making it myself. I'm considering using a frame made from 8020 aluminum extrusions, and panels made from the Alucobest Al+HDPE+Al laminate that 8020 will cut for you.

With screws and some VHB tape, it cant be that hard to put together a case.

I figure the main issues will be the bezels for 5.25 and 3.5 inch drives at the front, and a mounting system for PCI cards.

Wondered if anyone has any advice or experiences to share wrt building cases from scratch?

For the drives and mobo tray. You can mount the HDD's in elastic so you can make your own little bracket. And the 5,25" drives and mobotray: go to the trash. There are probably some old computers. You can get them out of an old PC case.

aPackOfWankers · Post by **aPackOfWankers** » Mon Apr 19, 2010 11:26 pm

BlackWhizz wrote: For the drives and mobo tray. You can mount the HDD's in elastic so you can make your own little bracket. And the 5,25" drives and mobotray: go to the trash. There are probably some old computers. You can get them out of an old PC case.

I figure I can mount the HDDs against one of the side panels using Velcro and/or VHB tape.

Gorsnak · Post by **Gorsnak** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:40 pm

The easy way to deal with mounting 5.25" drives and expansion cards is to disassemble an old case and use those parts of it. That's what I did when I built my wood case.

Spotswood · Post by **Spotswood** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:41 pm

You can fabricate your own 5.25-inch drive rails out of aluminum and a standard woodworking router fitted with an end mill.

scratchbuilding a case

scratchbuilding a case

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