hi guys
ive always wanted to make my own pc case,being an engineer and mechanic by trade over the years i was always tinkering but never got around to it.
a couple of years ago i was diagnosed with spondylosis in my neck and spine and got pretty bad to the point where i have had to give up my job,so i thought if im going to do this i better do it now while i can still hold the power tools
so the basic layout was to use some 20x20 extrusion for the frame and combine with some acrylic sheet for the sides and top and mb tray.
i chose 6mm for the bottom and mb tray and 3mm everywhere else,i would have liked 6mm everywhere as the slot in the extrusion is 6mm but the cost was too much for me,but the 3mm seems ok.
i decided to go with a laydown motherboard approach and the case size would be built around that,which is 330mm tall by 340mm for the sides and top/bottom.
luckily i have a nice cutoff saw that cuts metal so that made cutting the extrusion easy enough.
i tapped the end holes to 6mm and then drilled holes thru the outside to allow acess to the bolt head via allen key.
i dry fitted the case and all was perfect so drilled holes i the mb tray and used some 15mm 3mm bolts with some rc fuel tube slid over the top to create a standoff,works perfect.
the 6mm bottom tray is bolted to 4 steel corner brackets which inturn is bolted to the 4 extrusion sides.
the radiators have 4 L shaped brackets bolted to them so i can bolt them to the bottom tray,the mb tray will in turn be bolted to the radiators so in effect making it all one unit which can be removed as one by undoing the 4 bottom bolts so you can lift everything out as one unit from the case.
im using my old parts,an I5 and a 980 for the build along with a 120gb ssd which i managed to break the tab off and had to hot glue the plug in
i fitted 2 cpu water blocks to the cpu and gpu and using 2 240 30mm rads and a G5 water pump with clear top and a resovoir
i have tested and all works but i am using the fans as pull so it pulls air out of the case,i think i should maybe have the fans on the inside pushing air thru radiator but i would have to make a radiator grill then i thnik as it would have its soft fins exposed to the outside??
i have some plastic end caps to go on the ends of the extrusion and in the 8mm holes for allen key access,i still need to fit the side panels and cut out for radiator and make hinges but thats going to have to wait a while until i feel upto it but at least i can use my computer for the time being albeit typing one handed slow lol.
i would love to hard tube it with petg but im skint now so going to have to make do with the odds and sods tubing i have now,i know i know it looks a mess but its all i have.
it sucks not being able to work..dont take life for granted as you dont know what is around the corner, i went from someone who used to cycle 150 mile a week,hold a fulltime job,being fully sponsored to race RC all over the country to now barely even able to walk to the shop and back and on medication every day.
im not looking for sympathy by the way,i can handle what im dealt,just sucks
so just thought i would share what i made,if i can do it you can too
please dont laugh at the electrical tape holding the pump,i was too tired to fabricate a bracket yesterday and wanted check it all worked
ive always wanted to make my own pc case,being an engineer and mechanic by trade over the years i was always tinkering but never got around to it.
a couple of years ago i was diagnosed with spondylosis in my neck and spine and got pretty bad to the point where i have had to give up my job,so i thought if im going to do this i better do it now while i can still hold the power tools
so the basic layout was to use some 20x20 extrusion for the frame and combine with some acrylic sheet for the sides and top and mb tray.
i chose 6mm for the bottom and mb tray and 3mm everywhere else,i would have liked 6mm everywhere as the slot in the extrusion is 6mm but the cost was too much for me,but the 3mm seems ok.
i decided to go with a laydown motherboard approach and the case size would be built around that,which is 330mm tall by 340mm for the sides and top/bottom.
luckily i have a nice cutoff saw that cuts metal so that made cutting the extrusion easy enough.
i tapped the end holes to 6mm and then drilled holes thru the outside to allow acess to the bolt head via allen key.
i dry fitted the case and all was perfect so drilled holes i the mb tray and used some 15mm 3mm bolts with some rc fuel tube slid over the top to create a standoff,works perfect.
the 6mm bottom tray is bolted to 4 steel corner brackets which inturn is bolted to the 4 extrusion sides.
the radiators have 4 L shaped brackets bolted to them so i can bolt them to the bottom tray,the mb tray will in turn be bolted to the radiators so in effect making it all one unit which can be removed as one by undoing the 4 bottom bolts so you can lift everything out as one unit from the case.
im using my old parts,an I5 and a 980 for the build along with a 120gb ssd which i managed to break the tab off and had to hot glue the plug in
i fitted 2 cpu water blocks to the cpu and gpu and using 2 240 30mm rads and a G5 water pump with clear top and a resovoir
i have tested and all works but i am using the fans as pull so it pulls air out of the case,i think i should maybe have the fans on the inside pushing air thru radiator but i would have to make a radiator grill then i thnik as it would have its soft fins exposed to the outside??
i have some plastic end caps to go on the ends of the extrusion and in the 8mm holes for allen key access,i still need to fit the side panels and cut out for radiator and make hinges but thats going to have to wait a while until i feel upto it but at least i can use my computer for the time being albeit typing one handed slow lol.
i would love to hard tube it with petg but im skint now so going to have to make do with the odds and sods tubing i have now,i know i know it looks a mess but its all i have.
it sucks not being able to work..dont take life for granted as you dont know what is around the corner, i went from someone who used to cycle 150 mile a week,hold a fulltime job,being fully sponsored to race RC all over the country to now barely even able to walk to the shop and back and on medication every day.
im not looking for sympathy by the way,i can handle what im dealt,just sucks
so just thought i would share what i made,if i can do it you can too
please dont laugh at the electrical tape holding the pump,i was too tired to fabricate a bracket yesterday and wanted check it all worked
Last edited:
