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Fan Holes, Case Cooling/Cutting |
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Written by Dan
Sunday, February 20, 2000
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Page 3 of 4
Cutting Your Case
Now that you've got a circle drawn on your case, it's time to cut it up. Don't be afraid... it won't hurt it much and it will look very cool when you're complete, and it will serve a practical purpose.
If you haven't done so already and you need to, drill holes for the bolts as mentioned on page 1.
If you have a Dremel:
Now, if you're using the dremel technique, you should just start cutting into it. Make sure to wear safety goggles or some sort of protection. Here's a pic of us cutting up the case using the dremel:
After cutting it out most of the way, this is what it looked like:
Just a few more holes and it fell out. See how rough the edges are before smoothing:
No matter which tool you used to cut the hole, it should look something like that now. If it isn't very round, don't worry... the point is that there is a large opening and it will still help move air.
Otherwise:
If you are using a large metal-cutting circle blade for a drill, you should just be able to start cutting. If you're using a jigsaw, you will need to start a hole with a drill or something else. Once the hole has been started, you can cut into it and start cutting into the circle pattern you drew on the case.
Smoothing Edges
Remember that whenever you are cutting metal, there are bound to be sharp edges. This is especially bad with a jigsaw or dremel. To smooth out the edges, use either a file or a metal grinding wheel. Fortunately, the dremel had a grinding wheel attachment. This worked pretty well (except for the sparks that shot everywhere) and helped to smooth down rough edges and burrs. Here's a pic:
As a finishing touch, we used a Makita drill with a large wire brush attachment to make the edges especially smooth and clean. Also we polished up the area to give it a fine chrome look. This was very easy to accomplish as the Makita has a lot of power. Once this was done, you could rub the edges without even scraping your finger:
If you don't have a Makita drill and a wire brush attachment, this can be done with a small, fine file.
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