Just wanted to share my very minor modding experience..I made a front panel for 12cm fan... this is my first try at modding.. decided to start with someting relatively simple...

bought 3 pieces of acrylic and a fan grill from allngap few days ago.. decided to use my dad's jigsaw to cut it.. this is what happened:



it snapped!.. i guess the jigsaw was too powerful for it since if you look at the bottom part, its quite narrow.. luckily i bought 3 pieces of acrylic..

so i rummaged through my dads tools again.. and found this:



dunno what its called.. my dad says it a "line cutter".. nyway.. seems like it'll do the job, but maybe it will take some time.. no matter.. i'm up for it.. but.. after cutting about 5cm, this happened:



now the saw's blade snaps.. went out to the hardware store to look for a replacement blade.. but all of the shops didn't have it.. so i had to improvise.. used a pvc-pipe saw blade instead..



i'm about halfway done here..


and finally,after about 5 hours of work...



view when my rig is on..


before anyone points it out.. i know that air intake should be at the bottom since its cooler air.. but my cpu is on the table, so i don't think it affect that much..

anyway..thanx for viewing.. comments are welcomed and appreciated..

*sorry for the low quality pics.. was using my phone cam

is it round enough using that tool to cut it??

abit rough around the edges.. can see in the pic.. where i was cutting half way.. it would have been cleaner if i used the thin blade.. but couldn't find a replacement after it snapped...

I have try cut acrylic using that jigsaw. It hurt my hand. Better find electric jigsaw.

i used the line cutter all the time for my modding, though for side panel, the matter is, are u using the right 'mata'...i u go to acrylic shop, thy do sell the 'mata' together, i dunno i n Kl,but it do in my place. normally i go for mata no.2, they know. bside it more stronger..ill show u what i cut for my rig later..

me using the hot knife

Your dad's jigsaw got no problem to cut acrylic wan. It's the type of blade u use. You have to use a very fine blade. The one you used was probably one to cut metal

ooo......so this was what you were up to......

as for the usage of jigsaw, you'll need specific blade for different thickness.

you'll need at least 3x teeth on the cross-section of the material and keep it lubricated coz acrylic might not be that smooth during cutting coz they'll sort of like melt a bit.

speaking of specific blades, what do u reckon to cut through 2mm - 4mm of acrylic?

This post has been edited by DaRkSyThE: Jun 18 2006, 08:00 PM

what lubrication should we use to avoid the acrylic from melting ??

"that" lubricant. haha

anyway the blow hole that you cut was entirely slide without an initial hole for cutting? i think the best wat to prevent it from breaking was to cut the hole 1st then decide on the outer dimension. am i right?

eh...y dont u just use the jigsaw blade...'balut' the other end to hold...
anyway nice mod...how u attach the acrylic to the front panel??

Good job attempting it on your own, but I dislike the design as you're treated with a full frontal view of a fan that isn't exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

erm....

i have heard someone saying using petroleum Jelly.. is it true ?

any other tips or tricks in cutting acrylic ??

sorry for late replies.. just 2 days after finishing this.. my mobo decides to die on me.. so no computer and internet while i send it for warranty..

but back to your question.. i just wedged it into the panel.. it is not connected with any screw...the acrylic was abit bigger, so i sanded it down to until it fits in perfectly and grips the side of the casing..

thanx for your feedback.. but that i think is based on personal preferences...i for one thinks it loooks quite nice.. and the clear acrylic gives the fan a cool floating effect..all in all, i'm pretty satisfied with the results..

CAN DO ONE FOR ME?

off topic. what casing are you using?

non branded.. ELC or something like that.. y do you ask?

no la. cause i like the roof of th casing. thats all.

u direct take air inside....without any filter??
man...later inside ur rig all dust le