scratch built hard drive cage

[Chiobe]

I'm working on designing a hard drive cage for my custom pc (will do build log later).

The hard drive room will be about 40cm wide, 35 cm deep and 30cm high.

It should have enough room for 12 hard drives and cables.

My current line of thought is to get 4 plates (plexiglass) and drill holes in the side so I can screw the hard drives in. Then mount each cage in a corner, diagonally from each other (need to get at the screws) and hope the fans on the side of the case is enough cooling (fans on both 40cm side).

Will the plexiglass handle the weight?

Also, will I need to try and do anti-vibration on the hard drives or will the plexiglass do it for me?

[TheKDub]

I'd suggest getting rubber o rings or something to put between the hard drives and the plexi glass, then if you're screwing the cage into your case or something like that, perhaps use more between the case and the cage for added vibration dampening.

[19_blackie_73]

I'm working on designing a hard drive cage for my custom pc (will do build log later).

The hard drive room will be about 40cm wide, 35 cm deep and 30cm high.

It should have enough room for 12 hard drives and cables.

My current line of thought is to get 4 plates (plexiglass) and drill holes in the side so I can screw the hard drives in. Then mount each cage in a corner, diagonally from each other (need to get at the screws) and hope the fans on the side of the case is enough cooling (fans on both 40cm side).

Will the plexiglass handle the weight?

Also, will I need to try and do anti-vibration on the hard drives or will the plexiglass do it for me?

depends on the kind of plexiglas and thickness....

Antivibration will  be usefull, flexible plexiglas is dampening these but this is not stable.

[MrYuriy]

I'm working on designing a hard drive cage for my custom pc (will do build log later).

The hard drive room will be about 40cm wide, 35 cm deep and 30cm high.

It should have enough room for 12 hard drives and cables.

My current line of thought is to get 4 plates (plexiglass) and drill holes in the side so I can screw the hard drives in. Then mount each cage in a corner, diagonally from each other (need to get at the screws) and hope the fans on the side of the case is enough cooling (fans on both 40cm side).

Will the plexiglass handle the weight?

Also, will I need to try and do anti-vibration on the hard drives or will the plexiglass do it for me?

 

Although the Plexiglass will hold the weight, it's going to be a prick-n-a-half to work with.... (will also depend on type, thickness, structure, etc)

Have you ever tried to drill hole through Plexi before? Honestly, if your answer is no, this is not the type of job that'll yield a great result. If you have done it and are confident and know what you're doing, it'll look great.. But I would still think of another material to work with that would be easier to cut into & so forth.

 

And yes, it doesn't matter what surface/material it is, when it's 2 Hard sources against each other, you'll want anti-vibration.

[Chiobe]

Although the Plexiglass will hold the weight, it's going to be a prick-n-a-half to work with.... (will also depend on type, thickness, structure, etc)

Have you ever tried to drill hole through Plexi before? Honestly, if your answer is no, this is not the type of job that'll yield a great result. If you have done it and are confident and know what you're doing, it'll look great.. But I would still think of another material to work with that would be easier to cut into & so forth.

And yes, it doesn't matter what surface/material it is, when it's 2 Hard sources against each other, you'll want anti-vibration.

I have 4mm thick plexiglass that I will use other places in my build, but I guess wood will be better for the hard drive cages.

My only problem with that is that it will be thicker, so I will need longer screws. Plus all anti-vibration I got is ment for thin metal, even the 4mm Plexiglas would be a stretch. So I have to rethink that.

[Chiobe]

Crazy thought, but would suspending the hard drives with zip ties work?

[MrYuriy]

Crazy thought, but would suspending the hard drives with zip ties work?

 

I like your train of thought, but..

No. They vibrate too much. Even if the HDD's don't actually hit anything else, doesn't mean it won't affect the HDD itself.

 

#DeepTechThoughtOfTheDay

[Chiobe]

I like your train of thought, but..

No. They vibrate too much. Even if the HDD's don't actually hit anything else, doesn't mean it won't affect the HDD itself.

#DeepTechThoughtOfTheDay

Okay, then what about using sponges as anti-vibration?

I wrap the HDD in sponges, then put it in a shelf thats just big enough and use zip ties on the ends, to prevent it moving.

Then its only a question of temperatures.

[Chiobe]

Okay, wraping the hard drives might not be the best idea.

Instead so will I zip tie a spong to each side of the HDD, the zip tie that to a wood structure, so it is wood-spong-HDD-spong-wood. Then put in a few screws in each end of the wood, so I can use zip ties to prevent the HDD from slipping out.

As long as the zip ties and the spongs can handle the temperature, so should that be a fairly cheap diy HDD cage with anti-vibration.