Acrylic Cases

[hawky21]

Hello, I purchased an acrylic case. I noticed that to screw down the cdrom drive or floppy drive on the right side of it, there is no access to it without removing the mother board. Are there any suggestions in creating perhaps easy access to the cdrom drive or floppy? What could be used to drill holes or to cut acrylic cases for modifications? Thank you

[Nix]

I wouldn't worry about it, just screw down one side.

[SuperSparks]

A high-speed twist drill (the same as you would use to drill a hole in metal) is fine for plastics, including acrylic. For cutting larger holes, you can use a holesaw, junior hacksaw or power jigsaw (there are special plastic cutting blades available, otherwise use a metal cutting blade). Dremels might be OK, but I'm not certain if the high speed of the bit would cause the plastic to melt, perhaps someone else will know for sure.

In my experience anything that is OK for metal cutting is good for plastics too, as a rough rule of thumb.

[bistro]

I can attest from experience that a Dremel cutting disk tends to melt through acrylic than cut it if you aren't careful and patient. I can only guess that a high-speed drill would do the same (maybe depending on the diameter). I would go slow on the drilling also...might get a cleaner hole that way.

[SuperSparks]

Oops, I should clarify what I meant by high-speed twist drill. I meant one that is made out of high-speed steel, not one that is used at high speed. As bistro so rightly says, slow and easy is best when working with plastics.

[hawky21]

Thank you supersparks and bistro for your timely information.

[Rattail]

As i work with acrylic and other plastics may i suggest using some type of KY jelley-butter or some machine oil as this will reduce most of the drag on drill bits or saw blades.It prevents the melting produced by the heat.

[Nix]

Laser ?

[SuperSparks]

Is that something you have in your toolbox Nix?

Generally I find CO2 lasers a bit big to lug around

BTW, thanks for the tip about lubricants Rattail, that's worth remembering

[Nix]

You could modify a CD-RW or DVD-RW drive to generate huge amount of power and then just hold it up and point. LOL

[bistro]

Laser ?

Well...now that you mention it....I once used a 125 gigawatt electromagnetic pulse gun on a piece of acrylic....they found the acrylic in the other county from what I understand.

[Nix]

This from the PowerBook G4 Internal CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive User’s Guide.

Laser Information
Warning: Making adjustments or performing procedures other than those specified in your equipment’s manual may result in hazardous radiation exposure.

Do not attempt to disassemble the cabinet containing the laser. The laser beam used in this product is harmful to the eyes. The use of optical instruments, such as magnifying lenses, with this product increases the potential hazard to your eyes. For your safety, have this equipment serviced only by an authorized service provider.

Your computer is a Class 1 laser product. The Class 1 label, located in a user-accessible area, indicates that the drive meets minimum safety requirements. A service warning label is located in a service-accessible area.

High-Risk Activities Warning
This product is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communications systems, or air traffic control machines, or for any other uses where the failure of the computer system could lead to death, personal injury or severe environmental damage.

Nice bit of ar$e covering in that last paragraph. You think they'd stick that on the first page rather than the bottom of page 5.

ie you've just destroyed half the known universe and they come out and say "ah well we did warn you on page 5". LOL

[SuperSparks]

By sheer coincidence I happened to see an advert in a PC mag for this:

http://www.versalaser.com/english/index.html

It's not quite in the realms of affordability for home use, but I'm frankly amazed that a CO2 laser could be even that low priced. Give it a few years for the price to come down more and maybe we'll all have one

[Nix]

I went to Thailand in 1998 and got a laser pointer for the equivalent of A$10 back in Australia I had seen them priced for A$160.

Needless to say now you can pick them up for a 'dime a dozen'.