custom sides to my sideless case

[booman]

hey I was curious of how some of you would make your own case sides.
I picked up a case from a friend and it didn't have sides, so I made some out of plexi-glass and painted them up and masked out a window. But attaching them was quite a chore. I ended up using velcro tape but it isn't exactly "air-tight". It works great for a quick removal though. I know that fitting sides are almost impossible to find because all cases are different, specially old ones. My case is a large tower ATX style. What are some other ways to make custom sides? Sheet aluminum?

[madcatmk3]

you can get good UV plexi and use a steel or alumi side. You can also gert pre-maid titanium which is my favorite but expensive

[booman]

If I pickup a steel or aluminum sheet, how can I attach it to the case so that it can be removed and air tight? I know that cases are machine cut and have different styles to fit the sides on. Mine has those triangular cut-outs that slide into triangular holes in the case. There is no way to recreate all those cut-outs by hand. As you know, only one side really has to be removable, but I don't mind if both sides could be as long as there is a way to make them air tight.

[madcatmk3]

just use the screws with the big hinges like the ones that sequre the back of your case. All you need is a drill and to make sure you get it perfectky staight
Edit: look into titanium sides and they'll pre-drill them for you, plus titanium can get the coolet liquid paint.

[booman]

Cool, thanks for the tips. I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to afford Titanium, but I like the idea of using screws with hinges.

[madcatmk3]

titanium isn't that expensive if you buy lower brush quiality, it would be around $35 a side and another 10 for the paint.

[danrok]

Quick and easy way to secure the panels would be using luggage straps, like these ones:
http://www.justsportandleisure.com/Details.asp?PID=8449

There's a neat trick you can do with those. If you attach them to the underside of a table, you can then suspend the case from it. Keeps the case up off the dusty floor. Easy to clean underneath it as well.

[madcatmk3]

I saw someone do that but it didn't look to good.

[booman]

Hey, I went to an Ace Hardware store last night and looked for some device that would hold case sides on and be fully removable.
How about this: Magnetic Catch
You can attach two or three of these on the inside of a case and they should
magneticly hold the sides on. They only problem may be getting the sides off if the magnetic pull is too strong. A handle maybe?

[madcatmk3]

a handles a good idea I can't belive I didn't think of that. Juts put a stong hangle drilled on, permantly drilled and you'll be fine.

[danrok]

Magnets and computer parts don't mix too well!

[booman]

Thats true, I'm I'll do a search to see how far a magnet can be from a hard-drive without messing up the information. I'm sure if I use small magnets and keep one up high by the power supply and another low in the case, that should do it.

[booman]

Well, did some searching on the internet, and found nothing good about magnets and computers. I know that the magnetic field can erase a hard-drive, but I also found that magnets can leave a charge in any metal that is in contact with the hard-drive.
Maybe I'll search for something that can snap or clip the sides on.

[madcatmk3]

try the screws but you can get low power magents. Most harddrives even have small pellets that seem magnetic to me, there in a smal container so as long as you have your HDD and or magnets on a plasic surface it shouldn't be a problem. try using small UV plexi smaples.

[booman]

I've decided to go all-out and make some metal panels.
I bought the metal and made a design.
I'm going to try and make them like real case panels.
I'm going to fold the edges over and line up all the holes to slide it in and screw it in.
This will be a lot of cutting and I may need to make a support for the middle of the panels.
I was also thinking that the plexiglass may support the metal also.
Anyways, this will be a fun project.
I will create a new topic on my mod and post pictures as I work.

[madcatmk3]

cool

[dabaerman]

Originally Posted by madcatmk3

try the screws but you can get low power magents. Most harddrives even have small pellets that seem magnetic to me, there in a smal container so as long as you have your HDD and or magnets on a plasic surface it shouldn't be a problem. try using small UV plexi smaples.

the read/write arm in all hdd have a very powerful magnet that allows the
arm/head to move freely. I take hdds apart and use these magnets for the
refridgerator art.

Ron