120mm Fan Hole Cutting!

RoachycaL

RoachycaL

RoachycaL

Soldato
Joined
2 Jan 2006
Posts
3,152
Location
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hey guys, I got hold of my second Dell XPS case today and I'm planning on fitting a 120mm fan in the back however I need to cut a hole. I know people cut holes for 120mm fans very very often in the modding business so Im basically asking what tool I need for the job.

The first time I did this was on a Dell XPS Gen 4 case and I used a hand tool to do it (wasn't a neat job and took ages) and I don't fancy doing that again.

I'm basically converting a Dell XPS 600 case into an ATX case and this is step 2 so to speak - if I get the project finished Ill be sure to post it up as I know not many people actually successfully mod these cases :)
 
The neatest way to do it would be with a holesaw, but the decent ones are not cheap. You are looking at £20-30 for a half decent one. And that's only for the bit. Obviously you would need a half decent drill to use it.

It might be worth checking any local fabricators as they should be able to do a top notch job for very little money.
 
Diggsy said:
The neatest way to do it would be with a holesaw, but the decent ones are not cheap. You are looking at £20-30 for a half decent one.

It might be worth checking any local fabricators as they should be able to do a top notch job for very little money.
Click to expand...

Hmm ok thanks, is there no attachment I can buy for a drill? I will cut it manually myself if I have to (took around 3 hours and 10 blades last time)
 
What I mentioned is an attachment for a drill. And here's some cheaper ones that actually look pretty decent...

http://www.screwfix.com/cats/A337704/Drill-Bits/Holesaws/Holesaws

EDIT - I did this before for an 80mm fan with a very cheap holesaw, and it just about did the job, although my case at the time was very thin steel. Just make sure the one you buy is fairly heavy duty and you should be fine.

Take your time when drilling it and let the drill do the work. Forcing it will only make the bit grab or slip on you.
 
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You will need an arbor for the holesaw.

Make sure your drill has the right size chuck for the arbor.

Make sure the holesaw is bi-metal.

I used a 114mm bi-metal holesaw and a 32-152mm arbor.
 
Thanks for the info then guys - especially for the link.

I might have to start a thread about this mod as Ive been having a few problems with Dell LED's :p
 
on my recent mod i done the following:

get a 120mm fan also a stationary compass, measure from centre of the fan to the required radius, draw the radius onto the case, then use a dremel to cut the blowhole, once done use some rubber blowhole trim to cover the edges.

Save yourself some money.

P5180079.jpg
 
Cool well thanks for the info guys - I cut the two fan holes today but because its a Dell case I'm modding, the pieces I were cutting were not solid metal so I ended up using a jig and hacksaw and I think I've done a pretty good job so far and used the tools efficiently.

In both the images shown, the whole area will be covered by plastic attachments that I have obviously taken off so I can cut the holes :)

Still got to drill the screw holes and have to sort the PSU out tomorrow.

Case looks like this:
dell_xps600_1.jpg


dell_xps600_3.jpg


My case so far:

http://lavaburn.untergrund.net/cal/DellXPS600/DSCF2856.JPG
http://lavaburn.untergrund.net/cal/DellXPS600/DSCF2860.JPG
http://lavaburn.untergrund.net/cal/DellXPS600/DSCF2862.JPG
http://lavaburn.untergrund.net/cal/DellXPS600/DSCF2861.JPG
 
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out of curiosity, someone gave me one of those cases for free, it still has it's psu fitted, who manufactures the psu's, and how powerful are they ?

I was thinking about selling it on the bay !
 
Wow I wish people would stop deleting my posts, this is getting insane

My post was apparently irrelevant however the one asking about selling a power supply on a competitors website isn't
 
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Was gonna say you could have drilled out some M4 holes and used a 114mm holesaw but looks like you've already bitten the bullet.
 
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