Personal computing discussed

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beardybuck
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Mon Mar 11, 2002 6:47 pm

Gonna get meself a window for the side of my Lian Li PC70. What is the deal with cutting acrylic?
Can i use the holesaw I have or is a dremel a better bet? Can these things shatter? Any thoughts peeps?

Cheers.
 
Nemesis
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Mon Mar 11, 2002 9:22 pm

Im in the process of fitting a window to my PC70, well i will be once the pieces arive, anyway.

Right your best bet is the holesaw if its the size that you want, it is the easiest and will give you a better finish. My advice would be, to mask up the area your gonna be working on with masking tape and then mark on where you want the hole to be, then when it comes to the hole itself you want the drill to be on a medium sort of speed (a pillar drill is best for this kind of work) and always try to clamp the work piece down when using holesaws! (use some wodden blocks under the clamps and possibly even some more masking tape, just to make sure that those clamps dont mark the window!) start drilling and let up on the drill every now and then so that the plastic doesn't heat up too much. Then once the hole is done, if you want a really good finish, rub down the interior edge of the hole with some DRY wet and dry sand paper, then with WET wet and dry paper then with WET again but with some washing up liquid in the water, and then finally use a bit of polish and a clean dry cloth to get a really nice job! While sanding and polishing i would advise leavig the masking tape on the help protect the bits you dont really want to rub! Once all that is done take of the masking tape and marvel at the new blow hole, now all you need is to mount a fan, i would recommend masking tape used when drilling the holes to mount the fan too, reduces the chance of the drill slipping off the point you want, as that would be a real shame after all the hard work put in! Mount up the fan and away you go!

And questions feal free to post back here, hope it goes well let us know and we always like pictures :smile:

And remember you cant have enough masking tape :smile:
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<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nemesis on 2002-03-11 20:26 ]</font>
 
beardybuck
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Tue Mar 12, 2002 4:23 am

Cheers fer the quick reply - get nervoous when it comes to cuttinf - u wanna see the mess I made of my first case two years ago!.

Couple more questions m8--

1. How strong is the acrylic? Would it take multiple cuts close together- as in twin 120mm hols side by side?

2.How do you go about posting pics on a forum? I have not the foggiest. I take it there is more to it than cutting and pasting!
Shut it.
 
NoDakn
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Acrylic Window

Sat May 25, 2002 11:45 pm

If you have a good quality window put in it will most likely be made of Lexan. This is the predessesor to Plexiglas. Extremely strong, mills/cuts great and easy to work with. Plexiglas is known for the sharp shrades that results when working with it. As for the two fans side by side....go for it. It can take that stress and more. One other thing. If you really want to trick out your edges (practice first on scraps) but a quick little flame from a propane torch gives you that polished look without the effort.
 
Dave Grigger
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Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:31 am

Like NoDakn says practice first and use a little flame. Just a quick lick should be all you need. I worked at a sign company and used a flame polisher which had a very clean, thin flame. It's easy to burn the stuff and melt the nice square edges..

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