Making Plexi Case

[krohnjw]

Ok, here is what I am looking to do. I read the make your plexi case for $20 thred. What I am looking to do now is to make a small case, roughly VCR size (to store mp3's), for a friend's father. We are planning on this being a Xmas / birthday present thing. Basically I was just wondering if there are any layouts I could refer to to get this done, or at least to get the case design planned out so we can write out all of the schemtics.

[fatal xception]

They have a lot of this type of stuuf that may help at:

Virtual Hideout.

[thekingofpain]

Plexiglass can be difficult to cut, I have a local shop cut it for me to size, there is a chemical for solventwelding joints called methelene dichloride that permanently puts plexi together, it looks like water, you put your corners together and simply touch a syringelike applicator to the joint and thru capilliary action it flows throughout chemically welding the polymers together making an EXTREMELY strong connection, I made a waterproof 18"x30"x2" tray to hold my Sherline lathe which is pretty heavy, ive moved it many times and driven it around in the car and it hasnt come apart yet...

People build aquariums using the same materials so it must be pretty strong, plus it looks better then screws nuts and washers...

[krohnjw]

hm, that sounds good to hold the case structure. Does anyone see any problems, ie cooling, I would have going with an older Duron. This will prob have onboard video and such, with just a sound card that gives digital out. It just needs to play winamp and boot an OS. So I am thinking duron 600ish, those are cheap. Anyone have an idea on temps here? Or anyhting else I would need to worry about?

[Knothead]

Hi, krohnjw,
You can cut plexi on a table saw with a 60-tooth crosscut blade (extra fine-cut). TKOP gave ya the dope on joining it. Also ask your plex supplier for a drill bit for plex, if you plan on drilling (regular bits make a mess).
Wish I could tell ya something on the heat concerns!

[FreakyOCR]

Hey krohnjw.. why not pick up that duron 950 and ecs mobo combo for $89 from outpost??? They can't be amking money on that combo....

[thekingofpain]

I have a case made from plexi and it has been my overclock case for quite some time---reason being it runs cooler then any aluminum cases ive had (alu better then steel in that respect) no metal to absorb and hold heat---no I dont have any funny sheilding/RF/EMI/grounding or otherwise probs, I wouldnt attempt to make a computer case myself from plexi even tho ive experimented with it, its cheap enough to buy from Clear-Viewtech or someone else....
(I like Randys new V-3 even tho its 180$, I think its worth the $$$ for his work) http://www.clear-viewtech.com/midv3.html

I have a V-2 as my "display" case right square in the center of my livingroom, im currently rebuilding it a 4th time with some new components...

:-)

[krohnjw]

$180 cheap?? I need your job
We are looking to make something small too. I can get it all precut, and we can do the final cuts for the fans and such. I read somewhere that grounding because of static buildup would be a problem....you are thinking no? That $89 sounds good, I will DEF have to look into that.