How Do I Cut the Case Fan Port Without Dremel?

G

godzillasdm

n00b
Joined
Feb 23, 2004
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Hi guys,

I wanted to know if there was any way I can cut out the stock fan "holes" on the case and put on a fan grill, without dremel tools?

Any way to cut it out using standard knife, cutting blade.... ? will a cutting blade slowly but surely saw thru the case ?

any other ideas? im not a big modder, and i dont' wanna buy a dremel just to cut out the holes. Any cheap ideas?

thanks
GODzillaSDM
 
Originally posted by IYIENACE
If you don't own a drill and a metal cutting hole saw, I dunno.
Click to expand...
Hole saw's the best way to do it even if you had a dremel. They cost maybe six bucks at Home Depot. And I seriously doubt you're gonna cut through steel/aluminum with a knife.
 
Hole saw(attaches to drill) or jigsaw. Those options are usually better for cutting holes and stuff than a dremel is. Knives and saws are two entirely different tools, and I doubt you can slice steel with a regular knife and just your hands, so I'm pretty sure a knife wouldn't work. If you don't have a drill or a jigsaw, try borrowing one from a neighbor or somebody. Somebody is bound to have one.
 
Tin snips if your just cutting out stock fan grills. Just snip all the little pieces then take a file to it so that the edges are nice and smooth.
 
For 80mm fans get a 3" HOLE SAW. Mine was 9 bucks from sears and attaches to a power drill. Perfect cut everytime.
 
He might not have a power drill. You could look at the nibbler. They sell it everywhere for about 8-10 dollars. Takes a while, but it does work.
 
You actually *can* cut aluminum with a knife, it just takes forever. I used a knife to slice off some of the little protruding slivers after dremeling, went through the tiny little pieces really easily. If you wanted to saw away forever with a decent knife, you could probably get through a fan grill, but you'd probably ruin the knife and it would take forever. Of course, you'd have to have enough space to even fit the knife in there, which might be a problem.

In the long run.....power tools are your friend.
 
actually my ROOMMATE DOES have a drill. What is a HOLE SAW?? Just pick it up at home depot?

i don't know my neighbors =(. cuz i live in an apt, and i play games all day in my room like a hermit crab. lol

thanks for your infos!
GODzillaSDM
 
a hole saw looks like a tin can riped in half, and it may or may not have a drill bit in the center, you atach it to a drill, and the cylender has a saw blade for and edge, (its like wraping a hack saw around a can, and spining it realy fast) so it takes out the matal at the edge, but leaves everything inside and out, so youll be left with the material in the center (it will be inside the "can" or fall out) so you get a perfect hole

bolt cutters and rasp can work, if you dont have powertools and a hell of alot of time


REMEMBER!!! dont have anything in the case your doing this to, and clean out the case well when your done you dont whant a little metal shard to short somethign out, also file or grind the edge of the hole down to make sure its A. not sharp B. theres no little metal bits that may come loose and screw you


good luck
 
You're talking about the ghetto "grill" that's stamped into the case metal, right? Wire cutters, tin snips, those really good scissors that cut through pennies.
 
102-0227_IMG.jpg

Hole Saws with mandril detached

101-0183_IMG.jpg

Hole Saw with mandril attached

102-0210_IMG.jpg

Hole Saw in use.



You WILL need the center mandril to use the saw, it's how you attach it to the drill and is interchangeable with different saws for different size holes. Without it you couldn't even cut plexi with a drill press if you could somehow get it attached to the drill.

When getting the holesaw you will want the one slightly smaller than the hole you are trying to cut. You don't use an 80mm holesaw for 80mm fan holes. I don't think they even exist anyway. The right size is a few mm smaller than the fan size. I think the saw I used for 80mm holes was actually a 76mm saw. Extrapolate out from there for the larger ones.

Masking tape the hell out of what you are going to cut, even if you are planning on painting it, metal shards will get everywhere and if something slips it might not mark your case up that bad if the tape saves it. I usually use 2-3 layers of masking tape.

Using WD-40 or some kind of lubricant will make cutting easier but messier. It will take some time regardless. The holes in the 3rd picture took about 45mins apiece to cut in 2mm steel. Let the tool do the work, don't try and force things.


Good Luck
 
Originally posted by Ravenrex

Using WD-40 or some kind of lubricant will make cutting easier but messier. It will take some time regardless. The holes in the 3rd picture took about 45mins apiece to cut in 2mm steel. Let the tool do the work, don't try and force things.


Good Luck [/B]
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Do you really mean forty-five minutes, or four to five minutes?
 
Everyone always forgets about the lowly nibbler. it is one of my personal favorites for cutting most anything.
 
Originally posted by Comte
Do you really mean forty-five minutes, or four to five minutes?
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FOURTY-FIVE

not 4 to 5, it was steel, not an aluminum case

102-0218_IMG.jpg

This became...

102-0220_IMG.jpg

This.


The material was not easy to cut and I was not trying to force things and either ruin the case or ruin the holesaw.
 
Heh, it took like......30 seconds to do my aluminum case with a hole saw. Maybe I could have gone slower and saved some wear on the saw, but I still can't see it taking 45 minutes of constant pressure. It did turn out well for you though.
 
Originally posted by ShadowRap3r
Really strong wire cutters maybe?
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personally i used tin snips once. people thought i had made my circles by cutting a fork. really not a good idea unless you really know how to use thing things hehe. the hole saw is the best bet. just make sure you get one meant for metal and not wood :D.
 
Lets see. You could use a: Sawsall, Cuttting torch, a File (hey people use it to get out of jail right?)

I picked up a cheap dremmel nockoff for $20 at a store and have been using it a ton with no complaints.
 
Originally posted by godzillasdm
what is a nibbler?

thai
Click to expand...
A nibbler is a tool that you squeeze and it cuts away an almost insignificant piece of metal each time(it nibbles through the metal). It cuts a path about a quarter inch wide in the metal. You have to keep squeezing and squeezing until your hands are all blistery and you decide to just use a jigsaw instead. They are good for cutting out small things like holes for panel buttons or indicators or something, but they are horrible for cutting out a fan hole or window or anything big like that.
 
Originally posted by Ravenrex
FOURTY-FIVE
not 4 to 5, it was steel, not an aluminum case

http://www.gosson.org/case1/images/102-0218_IMG.jpg[/IMG]
This became...

http://www.gosson.org/case1/images/102-0220_IMG.jpg[/IMG]
This.

The material was not easy to cut and I was not trying to force things and either ruin the case or ruin the holesaw.
Click to expand...

45? I saw this the first time around, but I figured hey, somebody else will catch it.

Dude. 45 minutes for cutting each hole? I'm going to take a gamble and say you're doing something very wrong. In 45 minutes you could use dentures to cut that out. There is something seriously wrong. I've used a wood-cutting holesaw on 3.175mm(1/8") Al, had the hole out in 5 minutes (including tool-cooling breaks) and the holesaw isn't much worse off for it.
 
Originally posted by phasmatis_nox
45? I saw this the first time around, but I figured hey, somebody else will catch it.

Dude. 45 minutes for cutting each hole? I'm going to take a gamble and say you're doing something very wrong. In 45 minutes you could use dentures to cut that out. There is something seriously wrong. I've used a wood-cutting holesaw on 3.175mm(1/8") Al, had the hole out in 5 minutes (including tool-cooling breaks) and the holesaw isn't much worse off for it.
Click to expand...

He just said it was not an aluminum case...:rolleyes:
When I cut fan holes out of my steel case it took a metal cutting holesaw not wood - yes metal cutting holesaw bit and chewed the fucking teeth off it like they were made of top ramen noodles. :D
I ended up buying a very expensive carbide holesaw and going slowly.
 
<rant/>
The thing I love about a nibbler is it isnt a power tool.

Stay with me here even though i know it is blasphemous.

Everytime I get a power tool in my hand I am unhappy with the result, the reason is at some point during it's use I had the slightest lapse of concentration and focus and in that instant I ruined my workpiece! My dremel gouges an unwated line into my plexi, my circular saw gets a little off angle, my sander sands JUST past where I wanted it.

With a nibbler these problems cant exist, you are in control and it may be slow, but you always know where it is going, and I invariably end up with better results.

<end rant/>
 
Originally posted by IYIENACE
He just said it was not an aluminum case...:rolleyes:
When I cut fan holes out of my steel case it took a metal cutting holesaw not wood - yes metal cutting holesaw bit and chewed the fucking teeth off it like they were made of top ramen noodles. :D
I ended up buying a very expensive carbide holesaw and going slowly.
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Thanks for your input! I now know that it's harder to cut through 2mm steel in 45 minutes, than through 1/8" Al in 5 minutes. Your knowledge of mettalurgy and machining has enriched my life.
 
I'd like to thank all the metalurgists out there who pointed out that they could cut a fan hole in their spanky new aluminum cases with a holesaw made out of baloney in 3.2 seconds.

Way to go Mr. Obvious.

Take a look, if you get a chance, at a Yeong Yang server cube and see how sturdy the side panels are. By the way, like I stated before, THEY ARE MADE OF STEEL. And it's not some flimsy $40 case type of bend-if-I-sneeze on it steel.

If you think you could have cut them faster or better then great, rock on with your bad self. Comparing cutting aluminum to steel is an apples to oranges thing.
 
Originally posted by phasmatis_nox
Thanks for your input! I now know that it's harder to cut through 2mm steel in 45 minutes, than through 1/8" Al in 5 minutes. Your knowledge of mettalurgy and machining has enriched my life.
Click to expand...

Don't mention it! Anytime you have a question be sure and ask. We will try to help you if we can. jUST REMEMBER -

Steel = hard
Aluminum = not as hard
 
Okay I think maybe my sarcasm detector has been throwing off some false readings. I really have no idea what is going on in this thread anymore.
 
yeah no kidding.

was originally suppose to be...how do i cut the fan ports. =)

to clear things up, im not cuttong out a hole piece off a wall or something like that. Basically im trying to cut out, an existing port with "holes" on it already. So i have to cut out like 8 pieces of 1-2mm width legs, connected.

maybe i'll take a picture to help u guys see. how do i attach pics to the thread to show automatically?

thanks
GODzillaSDM
 
Originally posted by godzillasdm
yeah no kidding.

was originally suppose to be...how do i cut the fan ports. =)

to clear things up, im not cuttong out a hole piece off a wall or something like that. Basically im trying to cut out, an existing port with "holes" on it already. So i have to cut out like 8 pieces of 1-2mm width legs, connected.

maybe i'll take a picture to help u guys see. how do i attach pics to the thread to show automatically?

thanks
GODzillaSDM
Click to expand...

Yeah, I thought so. Wire cutters. A dremel if you want to invest. Get some high-quality double action wire cutters, they're definately worth it over some Chinese-made junk. This is what I have:

http://www.phasmatisnox.com/teamcombustion/images/Hitec_diode_fix.jpg
Ignore the comment, this is an old image I had taken for something else.

After you snip away all the metal you can, use a round or triangular file to get the edges smooth. This is where a dremel is really nice.

Good luck!
 
If you're going to use a dremmel or a file make sure the case is empty, you don't want metal filings getting in there at all.
 
Cut a 92mm fan hole in my PSU sides today using a nibbler/big plier cutting thing, took ages(well, 2 hours to be exact) and it didn't look too good around the edges but some good tape around the edges pretty much fixed everything the file couldn't..for your sake though I recommend getting one of those hole saws much easier(i'm getting one tomorrow, don't wanna repeat this ever again:D )
 
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