Blowhole question: which side of the case do you cut from?

[Spoooon]

I've read that you tape over the area you're going to cut with packing tape to keep the paint from chipping off. I was wondering: which side do you make the cut on? The painted side or the unpainted side? My guess is the unpainted side. I want to know for sure before I start.

 

[Imaginer]

Wouldn't it be on the painted side since if you do it on the other side, the tape would lift off and fall out and plus on the painted side, the metal bends in??

 

[Mikewarrior2]

When I use hole saws, i typically cut on the painted side.



Mike

 

[Ulysses]

I dunno, but here's some advice if you ah heck it up though, mate.

After you get the hole cut, if it is raggedy, apply some strapping tape to the edges to protect against cuts. Then get a piece of plastic to use as a fascia on the outside. I used the bottom (or was it the top) of a case made for holding several of those old 5" floppies. I cut it to match the fan hole and screw holes and put a fan guard over that. So you get a sandwich: fan guard on top, then plastic fascia, then case, then fan on inside. It disguises any sloppy cutting and it looks good. The plastic is easier to cut. Sometimes just a fan guard will disguise things enough.

On my case you'ld never guess I was impatient and just cut the blowhole with a big sheet metal scissors !!!

 

[Spoooon]

Ulysses, that's a good idea. That didn't even occur to me. At this one website, they sell aluminum mesh filters that would cover up the whole thing if it's really fugly.

 

[superfob7]

just drill it dude
i always did mine from the inside, but i don't think it matters that much. the paint should be pretty sturdy. the big problem is the burrs that come with cutting it. use a deburring tool and shave those nasty burrs off

 

[Jhhnn]

With a hole saw, drill from the outside in. With a jigsaw, cut from the inside out, if possible. Tape the outside in any instance. Practice on some similar piece of metal if possible. Remember, you can easily make the hole bigger, smaller is another thing entirely. Sometimes you can find rubber or vinyl U-shaped welting material at auto places or hardware stores to line the hole. I am sure tat there are horror stories about starting at 60mm, having to go up to 80, then 92, and finally 120, which looks like it was chopped out with a hatchet.

 

[Spoooon]

Well, tonight I'm buying a dremel, and tomorrow, I'm making the cuts. My plan is that if I totally screw it up, I'm going to put in a plexi or lexan window.

 

[da loser]

hehe, that's what i was thinking too.

 

[Lore]

It's easy with a Dremel Are you guys putting your fans in a position to blow out of the case or blow into the case?

 

[fast_eddie]

Another way to seal sharp edges is with small diameter rubber hose; i.e. automotive 'vacuum' hose. You cut a length equal to the circumferance of the hole (pi {3.1416} times diameter of the hole) which for a 120mm fan would be ~ 14 1/8"; then you slit [carefully with a razor blade] the hose down one side of the length. To install you can either go 'dry' or apply some 3M Weatherstrip Adhesive {auto techs call it 'elephant snot'!}. This makes for very effective protection against cuts from sharp hole edges.

 

[Spoooon]

I cut 2 blowholes into my case. One near the cpu blowing out and one near the pci cards blowing in. It wasn't too hard with the dremel, just slow going. The 80mm hole ended up being slightly too large and a little jagged. The 120mm hole, my 2nd one, ended up being a lot smoother and the right size. I would practice on something similar for a bit before getting to the cutting. Also, the ElanVital T-10 uses thick metal, so it was a little tough to cut.