best way to cut hole in side of case

I bought the Thermaltake Tsunami case, but the one without the clear door.
The clear door model has a hole for a fan to blow air in the side toward the
CPU. I didn't think I needed it. And I still don't want to blow into the
case from the side. What I DO want, though, is that same hole so that my
huge Zalman 120mm cpu fan can blow air out that hole. From the testing
I've done where I take off the side door, it makes about 5c degrees
difference.

But my door is solid. What should I know about cutting a hole in the side
aluminum door? If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill, I can
only imagine that it will skip, leave rough edges and be a mess.
Suggestions anyone?

But my door is solid. What should I know about cutting a hole in the
side
aluminum door? If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill, I
can
only imagine that it will skip, leave rough edges and be a mess.
Suggestions anyone?

You could clamp the panel to a block of wood, so that the pilot bit of the
hole saw is held in place by the wood. Or cut it out with a jig saw, and
clean it up with a dremel.

steve

"Steve Wolfe" schreef in bericht
...
But my door is solid. What should I know about cutting a hole in the
side
aluminum door? If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill, I
can
only imagine that it will skip, leave rough edges and be a mess.
Suggestions anyone?

You could clamp the panel to a block of wood, so that the pilot bit of
the
hole saw is held in place by the wood. Or cut it out with a jig saw, and
clean it up with a dremel.

steve



The traditional way for the homeworker of doing this is to drill small holes
(eg 4 mm) next to each other at the inner side of the circle, the whole 360
degree. After removing the inner material you take a half round file and
make a clean circle.


Fred L

go to a hardware shop and buy a 120mm holesaw!

"AFN" wrote

If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill, I can
only imagine that it will skip, leave rough edges and be a mess.

Yes you're right, I did this with a drill and hole saw: you must cut at very
slow speed, and use oil to lubricate the drill saw. You will get a rough
edge, but a few minutes with a file will sort it, plus you will be putting a
fan guard on, right? That will cover the edges too.
hth
Neil

"AFN" wrote in message...
I bought the Thermaltake Tsunami case, but the one without the clear door.
What I DO want, though, is that same hole so that my huge Zalman 120mm
cpu fan can blow air out that hole.

Which model of heatsink do you have? IIRC the Zalman CNPS-7000 and 7700's
fans blow air down onto the heatsink, not away from it, and you're also
likely to find that you'd gain a cooler CPU by pulling cold air in from the
side of the case and down onto the heatsink, rather than take it the other
way. To be certain of the air going in/out the hole, you'll need to
construct a duct between the fan chassis and the side of the case.

From the testing I've done where I take off the side door, it makes
about 5c degrees difference.

That implies that there simply isn't enough air throughput through the case.
What intake/exhaust fans does the case come with?

But my door is solid. What should I know about cutting a hole in the
side aluminum door?

It's easy enough if done right, but also easy to screw up if not done right,
which sounds like a risk for you at the moment.

If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill,

**** you're joking aren't you? That sounds more like a recipe for a trip to
hospital than anything else, even if, of course, you can actually make/find
the arbor you'd need to attach a circular saw blade to a regular drill. Even
if you had access to a real circular saw, it would be totally the wrong tool
for this job.

Suggestions anyone?

There are a number of ways you could make this hole, the easiest would
largely depend what tools you have access to. You could use a jigsaw with an
HSS or TCT metal cutting blade, or, seeing as we know you have a drill, you
could make a ring of small holes with it and then join them up with a file
or Dremel (with an HSS cutter), smoothing out the burrs to make your single
large hole.

As you're cutting aluminium, you'll have to prevent galling/pickup, so use
plenty of lube when drilling/sawing, no use of stones in the Dremel, and a
fairly coarse file to prevent clogging. You'll also need to protect the
surface finish of the aluminium from damage/scratching before you start -
probably by covering it in masking tape or similar.
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace .nospam with .com in reply address)

The UK's leading technology reseller www.dabs.com
Get the most out of your digital photos www.dabsxpose.com

what do you mean by a fan guard?


"Gripper" wrote in message
...

"AFN" wrote

If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill, I can
only imagine that it will skip, leave rough edges and be a mess.

Yes you're right, I did this with a drill and hole saw: you must cut at
very
slow speed, and use oil to lubricate the drill saw. You will get a rough
edge, but a few minutes with a file will sort it, plus you will be putting
a
fan guard on, right? That will cover the edges too.
hth
Neil

That's a good point. I thought the fan was pushing air out and not "in"
toward the CPU. In which case I might want to pick up the Thermaltake door
that has a hole WITH a fan on it

I replaced the original Thermaltake case fans with Nexus quiet fans. They
run a little slower, and thus the problem. I won't go back to the original
ones, though, because I don't, personally, like the sound of a jet engine
next to my ears as I work on the computer.

By circular saw bit, I meant a hole saw bit. I didn't mean using a giant
straight-bladed circular saw. Yeah, that would be pretty funny.
Fortunately, I know how to use both but my experience is with wood and not
metal.


"Richard Hopkins" wrote in message
...
"AFN" wrote in message...
I bought the Thermaltake Tsunami case, but the one without the clear
door.
What I DO want, though, is that same hole so that my huge Zalman 120mm
cpu fan can blow air out that hole.

Which model of heatsink do you have? IIRC the Zalman CNPS-7000 and 7700's
fans blow air down onto the heatsink, not away from it, and you're also
likely to find that you'd gain a cooler CPU by pulling cold air in from
the
side of the case and down onto the heatsink, rather than take it the other
way. To be certain of the air going in/out the hole, you'll need to
construct a duct between the fan chassis and the side of the case.

From the testing I've done where I take off the side door, it makes
about 5c degrees difference.

That implies that there simply isn't enough air throughput through the
case.
What intake/exhaust fans does the case come with?

But my door is solid. What should I know about cutting a hole in the
side aluminum door?

It's easy enough if done right, but also easy to screw up if not done
right,
which sounds like a risk for you at the moment.

If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill,

**** you're joking aren't you? That sounds more like a recipe for a trip
to
hospital than anything else, even if, of course, you can actually
make/find
the arbor you'd need to attach a circular saw blade to a regular drill.
Even
if you had access to a real circular saw, it would be totally the wrong
tool
for this job.

Suggestions anyone?

There are a number of ways you could make this hole, the easiest would
largely depend what tools you have access to. You could use a jigsaw with
an
HSS or TCT metal cutting blade, or, seeing as we know you have a drill,
you
could make a ring of small holes with it and then join them up with a file
or Dremel (with an HSS cutter), smoothing out the burrs to make your
single
large hole.

As you're cutting aluminium, you'll have to prevent galling/pickup, so use
plenty of lube when drilling/sawing, no use of stones in the Dremel, and a
fairly coarse file to prevent clogging. You'll also need to protect the
surface finish of the aluminium from damage/scratching before you start -
probably by covering it in masking tape or similar.
--


Richard Hopkins
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom
(replace .nospam with .com in reply address)

The UK's leading technology reseller www.dabs.com
Get the most out of your digital photos www.dabsxpose.com

"AFN" wrote

what do you mean by a fan guard?

one of those wire guards that prevents you poking your fingers into the
moving fan blades....

Neil

Perhaps this is one project you ought to skip!

Pete

"AFN" wrote in message
...
what do you mean by a fan guard?


"Gripper" wrote in message
...

"AFN" wrote

If I take a circular saw bit and put it on my drill, I can
only imagine that it will skip, leave rough edges and be a mess.

Yes you're right, I did this with a drill and hole saw: you must cut at
very
slow speed, and use oil to lubricate the drill saw. You will get a rough
edge, but a few minutes with a file will sort it, plus you will be
putting
a
fan guard on, right? That will cover the edges too.
hth
Neil