Oops!!!

[toaster]

It was supposed to be SIMPLE!!
A Mid Tower Case, (cant find a brand name anywhere, my 800Mhz Athlon Rig came in it in 2000.)
An 80mm Fan
A Side cover. In need of a hole.
A Power Drill.
A bunch of Drill-Bits for Steel and other metal.
A Heavy Duty Hole Cutter, to fit on the Drill-Bit. Rated to cut mild steel plate.

and once again....that side cover....in need of a hole.

OK, So I've always appreciated the build quality of the case. What I didnt know however was that the thing is made of Armoured Steel!!!
It took about 5 minutes to drill the small central hole to guide the bigger drill bits....
It took another 5 minutes to drill out that small hole with a larger bit, so I could insert the guide rod of the Hole Cutter.

It took an additional 5 minutes to wear the teeth from the Hole Cutter almost right down.....and BLOW UP the 500w Power Drill!!!!! Sparks, Smoke, Smell of Death!!!

Ooops!!!!

[Staz]

Sounds like an Antec case! Bullet proof.

So do you have a dremel and about 20 cutting wheels?

Either that or a nibbler and a solid grip?

[skool h8r]

I reccomend a diamond edge blade for these types of cases, a bit expensive but are well worth it as they will last for ages. Or just use a shotgun to blast your way through the case . It may well be antec if it's that strong or it may have been intended for army use. I remember a bullet-proof laptop once, £3000 for it though!

[danrok]

You need to be drilling slowy, using cutting fluid and stopping often whilst drilling a hole in steel with a hole saw.

[toaster]

Diamond edge blade?, Drill slowly? Cutting fluid? Stop often....ahhhhhhh.
Oh. and BUY NEW POWER DRILL!! :-)
DOH!!!
There's a first time for everything right?
It will be better next time....and I may even do more than simply scratch the damned thing!!

[skool h8r]

Originally Posted by toaster

and I may even do more than simply scratch the damned thing!!

Yup, it's an antec!

A diamond edge blade, it is the same strength as a diamond, uses reinforced materials and could literally just cut through a diamond (only just though). Like Danrok said, cutting fluid is a good idea, water run over the cutting area (if possible) keeps it cool and helps prevent much damage, It needs to be a continuos flow of water though but doesn't need to be running too fast. Obviously you take the side panel off first, belive me, i've seen people try it without taking it off first .

HTH

[toaster]

LOL...cutting into the side cover when its still mounted on the case!!! Did they have their PC's turned on at the time? I'm planning to paint up the case once all the cutting is done, and my original cutting project also involved at least two other holes (rear side cover and motherboard backing plate.) to introduce forced air cooling into rear CPU DIMM slot area. With the death of the power drill all this is slightly off schedule...and now over budget.