Best Place To Get A Blow Hole Cut?

[Dan]

I want a blowhole in the top of my Enlight 7237 and I'd rather not do the work myself. But where should I get the work done? A machine shop? Sheet metal fabricator? Autobody shop? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[squirrel dog]

Any machine shop can do that.You can to with a hole saw,but I see where you dont want to.I would think a local handiman or handiman type shop could help you out.

 

[jblondi]

Dan, for the cost to pay someone to cut the hole, unless you know them, you could probably buy another case. In my mind the endlights arent that expensive, just take your time, and do it yourself.

 

[BA]

Your profile says you're in LA. I'm sure there's someone off the board near you that'd be happy to help you.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

A decent machine shop ought to do that for little to nothing as it would take them no time hardly to do it. Key would be to have the hole location all laid out (including using a prick punch to locate the center of the hole) on the panel ahead of time so all they'd need to do is set it up on their machine (probably a boring mill) and go.

 

[Dan]

Thanks for all the suggestions but I've decided to do it myself. I bought a 3" bi-metal hole saw for my drill a couple of days ago. By this afternoon I should have an 80mm intake fan on the side of the case.

 

[Dan]

Success! I now have an 80mm intake fan on the side of my case, blowing air onto the overclocked Duron.

I did that one first because I didn't need to pull everything out of the case first. (No time for that this weekend. Next weekend though... I think an exhaust fan on top, to balance things out is in order.)

 

[Dan]

Decided not to wait for the weekend so I went ahead and added an 80mm exhaust blowhole to the top of my case. Everything is back together and working great.

Adding the two blowholes seems to help. According to Via's Hardware Monitor the temp on my Duron 700 (overclocked to 1050) is 39 degrees Celcius and the overall system temp is 26 degrees Celcius. Granted, I haven't been running the system all that long with the second blowhole but it looks promising.

Now another question: where can I get a small amount of basic beige computer case touch-up paint. I have the exact small blemish in the exact spot at the edge of both holes. (Guess my cutting technique needs a little improvement! )

 

[mr_cheesy]

heheh awesome... i like to see this enthusiasm

 

[Dan]

Update: I managed to get a slight speed gain. I'm stable at 1083MHz (103 x 10.5). CPU temp = 41 degrees Celcius; system temp = 26 degrees Celcius.

 

[Renob]

Sounds like a good time to paint your case a cool color............

 

[Dan]

Renob: I hear what you're saying but I just finished painting 3 rooms in my house. I've had enough painting for a while!

I wouldn't mind touching up the two blemishes I mentioned though. What sort of paint should I use?

 

[wyvrn]

Hmm you could get automotive touch up paint at a dealership, its only a few bucks.... champaigne or beige might match your case....