Case Cutting using CNC or Lasers

po0k

I'm planning on doing a moderately intricate window mod on my case.
It's a black CM Stacker (STC-T01), the side panels are brushed (+black anodised?) Aluminium from what I can see, might be SECC too though.

The reason I'm not going with a dremel is because I want an exceptionally clean finish. The dremel will come out when I go to engrave the lexar/plexiglass.

I'm reasonably confident I can get access to a CNC machine, and if that falls through I could buy a relative a few pints and slap the sidepanel under a flatbed laser (not 100% sure of the mix, but I think it's Oxegen and a stabiliser).

What effect, if any, would either method have on the finish of the metal? Should I be worrid about possible rust (if it's SECC)?
I plan to spray the chassis and interior of the stacker case in satin black (mixture of gloss and matt).

I need/desire such precision because I'll be preparing the design using AutoCAD having done a few concept sketches first.
The idea is to have the metal jutting "into" the clear window space at the corners and/or the sides, this should also serve to aid mounting the window securely (ie. mount points for the screws/bolts or extra glue-surface).
The etching will be in the centre of the plexi and won't be too large, just big enough to be noticable as I don't want it dominating the view of the components inside (to be lit by red-orange-yellow UV components).
If anyone is familiar with Warhammer 40K (the miniatures and 'fluff' of the table-top game as opposed to DoW) and specifically Eldar, you may have an idea of the kind of thing I'm going for.

I want the window to be as flush with the exterior of the case as possible. What mounting method best suits this? Glue or screws/bolts?
I have considered getting a "router" and cutting out a small bevel around the plexi (to the depth of the metal) and then glueing on the plexi. If this is flush and secure, that's 2 out of 3 and is good enough.

I'll have my case in WTX (once I get the mobo tray to fit properly, won't fit into the case in WTX atm, seems to have warped, but ATX is fine ???), and so the stacker side panels will be flipped.
Ideally the window cut will be symmetrical and the plexiglass will be removable. This doesn't apply with glue method. So for the best effect, how would I mount it with screws/nuts/bolts so that the exterior is as flush as possible? Almost like the 80mm fan at the top of the case.

I'll repost this (in a more concise and easy-to-read) form in my blog with concept sketches and more detail later.
I've also got a really cool idea for the coup de grace of the window, but that's another post.

dubdvd

I think the only way to get it to be totally flush is to do as you said and tin down the plexy near the edges so that it is the same thickness as the metal , but then you have to attach both together ....by using the likes of bolts and nuts and so on it will take away from the look you after ????...
This is of the top of my head but we say for example you got the side-panel and the plexy to the same width we say 3mm to 5mm and you use a dermel to drill we say 4 or 6 female holes into the plexy at fairly evened out points .you will be drilling into the side of the plexy and not on to the face of it ..then drill only a couple of mm's into it and then if you could place the male counter parts on the edge of the sidepanel the males could either be metal or the same colored plexy
...if it is plexy you are going to use for the males then you have to find someway to make them stong eoungh not to bend or snap off ....but if you use the the metal from the sidepanel ??? in other words when your cutting out your side panel hole leave small standers that will fit into the female cut outs ..and if you want to go one further you could place some red or yellow LED's on the points of the male standers ...
i hope you got some kind of idea of what im on about ..its hard to explain in text ill try do a drawing for you to give you a better idea ..

But the best off luck with it ...it sounds like a class mod ..i'd sell the wife's mother for access to a CNC machine ...ohhhhh yes ...after seeing that italian guy on bit tech and the work he has done to his spider styled case mods ...the only limit you have is your time and imagine...

Best of luck with it ...It sounds SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOL

dubdvd

something like this if you get what i mean

po0k

I think I see what you mean, but would the standoffs be at 90* to the side panel ie bend in and then use screws to secure the side of the plexi?

My 'secret' extra idea for making the etching stand out was to drill small holes in the side of the plexi along the edge and insert LEDs (red, orange, yellow and white/blue in alternating arrangement. Each set of led colours would be on a seperate circuit, switchable from a custom baybus at the front of the case.

Thanks for the compliment by the way, I've been thinking this over in my mind since about March, twas hard to study for my finals when I was browsing for parts, reviews and ideas instead of revising electronics :)

Dundhoone

hmm "secret" is right....
Was going to do the same thing for my acyrilc cut outs as per other thread.

check out these nifty fellas , might save you some drilling
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=26361&doy=30m7D

I've abandoned the idea for the moment since drilling a 3mm hole into a 5mm sheet is probably not the wisest ! 1mm tolerance and a danger of cracking ....

Anyways I have enough problems cutting the stuff!

Gone West

SyxPak: sounds like a great mod, pretty unusual loike.
Can you take the occasional picture along the way and post them up?
I have some random input for the project:

Dundhoone wrote:

I've abandoned the idea for the moment since drilling a 3mm hole into a 5mm sheet is probably not the wisest ! 1mm tolerance and a danger of cracking ....

You'd be surprised how easy this is. Once you grip the perspex securely between 2 pieces of wood in a vice, and use a handheld drill.

Also Paek, you might want to try getting a few cracked off-cuts of perspex and sticking in LED's into 90 degree holes and seeing how it looks. Im not sure, but I reckon that the material is polarised in such a way that light wont travel very well through it sideways. Or perhaps I'm thinking of clear polycarbonate.

I have an average amount of experience with CNC. (spent a few months working on various CNC lathe/router projects) If youre planning on using a CNC router, you will probably need an extra small router-bit. It depends on what the router is normally used for, but most places wont have small bits. If you are using a 4mm bit(for example), then any corners you make will be rounded about 2mm. Im not sure of the accuracy you require though.
Although you probably know this allready.

A CNC router obviously wont harm the paintjob or cause the Al to rust. (I Don't think Al can rust)
The laser cutting tool, is a different story. This will most likely burn the paint and 'fray' it a bit. The relative who has access to it would be able to advise you best on that.

dubdvd

As far as making the eching stand out is concerned .....what im doing at the moment is.... im using a sheet of plexy which will be engraved with a very small dremel engraver ...when the engraving is done ..I then got some invisible UV reactive yellow paint and it filled in the engraved parts with this and then i wiped of the left over stuff and vol la !!!!! when under UV light the whole eching or engraving is fully UV reactive and the rest of the sheet is clear only the eched or engraved part is standing out as if in 3D...I've done this already with a peice of laser cut plexy that came with my case which has the mountainmods logo and name on it ..it is used to fill in one of the PSU slots ...it worked a threat ...and if you feel brave and have a bit of extra time on your hands you can use a couple of different INVISIBLE colors ..i know it works well with engraving but it should work with eching aswell..Im giving away a lot of my ideas here..be quiet danny be quiet ...

BTW im badly stuck for about 4 or 5 sheets of UV yellow or clear yellow ...or if worst came to the worst green plexy ...there is a place here in dublin that can do it for me but they only sell it in sheets of 10ft by 6 ft and it works out at about between 170€ to 190€ which is a bit out of my ball park ...
what i need is 5 sheets of about 19" x 19" ...so if anybody know where i could source this stuff in ireland let me know as my new case mod project has stalled now due to not being able to go any further till i get this stuff ...
i have seen some plastic spary paint in the likes of B&Q but im not sure how good this stuff is and if it will give the couple of clear sheets of plexy that i have the right look ...Anybody out there ever use this paint ??????????????

Thanks sorry for hijacking your thread there for a min ...

Nukem

Have another idea for ya. Will draw it up in a min and post a pic. Luck b*stard getting you hands on a CNC miller.

Nukem

dubdvd

Nukem wrote:

Have another idea for ya. Will draw it up in a min and post a pic. Luck b*stard getting you hands on a CNC miller.

Nukem

Come on NUKEM im on the edge of my seat the past 3 hours waiting for you to post

Nukem

dubdvd wrote:

Come on NUKEM im on the edge of my seat the past 3 hours waiting for you to post

Sorry went for pizza two mins

Nukem

Ok here is my idea (rough caus i was rushing apologies)



As you can see i was thinking just cut the window out using the CNC to skim the outer edges to the shape required. Using a slow speed and a fine cutting bit you should be fine.
Dimensions - that is very rough outline. If you PM me the exacts and i will do it up for you on CAD. If you have CAD realise you will have to export that file to AlphaCAM or a another CNC program and set it up for your spec.

Hope this helps

Nukem

dubdvd

Nice work there NUKEM ...im just thinking if the the light from the LED's would run through the plexy ...???...I think that the way you have a rim sitting up on the plexy where it meets the rim of the side panel that rim will get lit up as if you where using EL-WIRE ..which will look good ...but as far as it "light" traveling through the plexy and lighting up a engraved image or an eched one , I dont think the light will do that in plexy ...i might be wrong " i normally am "
For pig iron im going to throw some strong led's i have at home into some 5mm clear plexy ....ill do it in the morning and see how it goes and let you know ...if it does'nt work well i'd say you might have to use a strong 15mm LED in behind the window pionted onto the image to hi-light it ..but then again i remember syxpax saying that the eching will not be that big so that you can still see the hardware goodies inside the case...

Nukem

Com'on DUB wanna see if it works
Lads i need a bit of help - i remmebr someone here posted a link to a guy who was building a PC tank or a jeep or summit and had 5mm perspex with LED's built into the side and as far as i can remember it looked sweet. There was a cat in the background of nearly every pic. Anyone remember?

Nukem

po0k

There must be a way to 'clear' up the fogginess in the LED drilled holes. Once that light interface is clean the light will travel through (or at elast some of it) and when it hits the foginess/rough finish on the engraving it'll cause light dispersion and will hopefully light up.
THat's the idea anyways :)
Nukem, that's exactly what I was trying to describe for getting the pexi flush with the exterior of the sidepanel. What did you use to draw that diagram? CAD drawing roated in 3D?

po0k

Nukem wrote:

Com'on DUB wanna see if it works
Lads i need a bit of help - i remmebr someone here posted a link to a guy who was building a PC tank or a jeep or summit and had 5mm perspex with LED's built into the side and as far as i can remember it looked sweet. There was a cat in the background of nearly every pic. Anyone remember?

Nukem

I think it was a Humvee? German guy, built it from balsa wood or MDF or something.

Nukem

SyxPak wrote:

There must be a way to 'clear' up the fogginess in the LED drilled holes. Once that light interface is clean the light will travel through (or at elast some of it) and when it hits the foginess/rough finish on the engraving it'll cause light dispersion and will hopefully light up.
THat's the idea anyways
Nukem, that's exactly what I was trying to describe for getting the pexi flush with the exterior of the sidepanel. What did you use to draw that diagram? CAD drawing roated in 3D?

Used PTC 8.0 - use it in college from time to time. Dead handy. Changing colours or material type to about anything. Real handy.

Thats the humvee thing ya. Do you have a link?

Nukem

Here it is - click the PIC for the full article.
Just thinking about the LED holes and i know how to guarantee you drill them in the perfect spot. Could use the CNC or just a manual vertical mill, or even a decent Pillar drill if it has depth gauges on it.
The finish in the wholes you can get very clear with special embry paper,wet paper i think its called with a special polishing fluid.Never tried it but have seen it. But as you can see there is enough dispertion of light with a rough finish.
Nukem

Dundhoone

FuzzyLogic wrote:

Also Paek, you might want to try getting a few cracked off-cuts of perspex and sticking in LED's into 90 degree holes and seeing how it looks. Im not sure, but I reckon that the material is polarised in such a way that light wont travel very well through it sideways. Or perhaps I'm thinking of clear polycarbonate.

this being the other reason I put mounting leds on hold. Holding a led (red or white) as the side of my red acrylic gave very little light through it. Tis probably completely different story for the clear stuff though.

@Dubdvd....great idea with the uv paint in the etching thats going to glow...

does uv reactive acyrlic glow nicely when etched?

Also you can get these http://www.acryan.com/_acrylpanel/index.shtml
from http://www.blackdog-pcs.com/

for about €15 bucks a panel and €15 postage. There a new site, havent bought anything from them yet. But if your stuck, sure better than €190 for a massive piece you'll never use!...although the kitchen window in yellow uv reactive acyrlic....hmmm........naa might start to think i was livin inside a pc

Nukem

Dundhoone wrote:

Also you can get these http://www.acryan.com/_acrylpanel/index.shtml
from http://www.blackdog-pcs.com/

Damn they are tasty sights.Hurry up with the new site though.
Pulling parents comp to bits and modding it.Ideas ideas,so many ideas.
Big up Dundhoone

g5hn710m4xpdwy

i also read somewhere that you can use toothpaste to get rid of the fog!If it has whatever rock is supposedly in sum then u apply it to paper and them rub it on the bit Bet u dont under stand me?

po0k

Calcium?

g5hn710m4xpdwy

nope. calium isnt a rock is it? well its soome sort of rock im going to run and look at the ingrediants of my tooth paste now. ok it not on it so. it might be sandstone!

Gone West

The closest thing to this that I can think of is rubbing chalk on the files/workpiece before filing or sanding with emery paper.

dubdvd

Here's what you want to have it looking like when finish

This is 8mm plexy but it does'nt but the LED's into the sides on the plexy ,like more like that he cut down into the plexy above the image and inserted the LED's in there instead ...i might be wrong ????

Inspector Gadget

Calcium is definitely a metal - from what I remember of chemistry classes in the distant past, it reacts rather violently to air and/or water in its pure state. Calcium carbonate, on the other hand, is a rock (limestone)

I can't imagine how this would help, mind you... I'd say polishing of some kind is the only way you'll do this (unless there's a special solvent you can use, or you can melt the skin of the plastic inside the hole somehow?)

Good luck with it, it sounds interesting...
Gadget

po0k

Gadget, possibly a man I need to see (and buy a pint for)....

The "special solvent" is looking more attractive.

I'm researching a bit on etching, and I've a thread going ovr on the CM Forums inquiring about the type of metal(s) used in the side-panel, the type of finish, possible side-effects of the laser/CNC process etc.

po0k

http://www.twistedmods.com/article.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=35 - Mounting Plexi-windows with Silicon sealant.

Inspector Gadget

SyxPak wrote:

http://www.twistedmods.com/article.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=35 - Mounting Plexi-windows with Silicon sealant.

One word of warning: your man's mounting a polycarbonate window, not actual plexiglas/acrylic (it's written on the backing plastic of the window itself). As I'm sure you know at this stage, polycarbonate is much more tolerant of solvents and other chemicals than acrylic, so check it out and all that...

Gadget
P.S.> "Flame polishing" is (apparently) a recognised process for acrylic - it's done with great care though as the stuff's flammable :eek:

po0k

Flame Polishing eh? I'll look into it :)

po0k

http://www.coolermaster.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3173

Engraving mirrors.

Nukem

SyxPak wrote:

http://www.coolermaster.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3173

Engraving mirrors.

Holy sh!t a devil worshpping modder :eek:
They are tres cool. They took him hours though,still damn cool

Nukem