How to make a DIY plexiglass / arcylic pc case?

[farzher]

I already know all the hardware I want.
But I want a case that's literally as small as possible.
Building a custom case around the hardware will allow me to do that, also it'll look super cool

I just don't know where to start. I don't have any tools. I don't know how to build stuff.
A video tutorial of someone doing this would be the best, but I can't find anything good.
Should I just hire someone to build it for me? How would I find someone to do that?

It'll be a Mini ITX build, with a PCIE riser cable so the GPU can lay flat.

Any tips on how I can make this happen is appreciated!
 

It should look similar to this, but smaller

[Jamtoad]

Umm make a lot of proto types using cheap shit like wood to see if you can even do it or want to do it. 

 

I guess you can put an ad out on like Craigslit or something for someone to build it for you  

[farzher]

Those are both good suggestions, thanks

[Himommies]

yOU WOULD WANT TO BUY A pc CASE TAKE EVREYTHING OUT AND TRY TO BUILD A PLEXI THING THAT LOOKS LIKE A FAN MOUNT OR SOMETHING

[W-L]

19 minutes ago, farzher said:

I already know all the hardware I want.
But I want a case that's literally as small as possible.
Building a custom case around the hardware will allow me to do that, also it'll look super cool
I just don't know where to start. I don't have any tools. I don't know how to build stuff.
A video tutorial of someone doing this would be the best, but I can't find anything good.
Should I just hire someone to build it for me? How would I find someone to do that?
It'll be a Mini ITX build, with a PCIE riser cable so the GPU can lay flat.
Any tips on how I can make this happen is appreciated!

It depends on the thickness of the material you get and methods used for building the case but in most cases with acrylic cases either use mounting blocks or rods to bolt and hold everything together. Parvum is a great example of this with their acrylic cases, they could also potentially if requested make a 100% clear version but in general though if you wanted a custom design you would need to provide drawings and such, another that might tackly it is Protocase.

http://www.parvumsystems.com/

 

-Moved to Modding Section- 

 

[farzher]

Thanks for the references, I'll check those out

I just realized that I can probably use a cereal box, like cap'n crunch or whatever haha.
But I do want it to be see-through. It'll be really expensive hardware with maybe some lighting
I might prototype with cereal though

[Protocase]

On 1/4/2017 at 0:06 AM, W-L said:

It depends on the thickness of the material you get and methods used for building the case but in most cases with acrylic cases either use mounting blocks or rods to bolt and hold everything together. Parvum is a great example of this with their acrylic cases, they could also potentially if requested make a 100% clear version but in general though if you wanted a custom design you would need to provide drawings and such, another that might tackly it is Protocase.

http://www.parvumsystems.com/

 

-Moved to Modding Section- 

 

Thanks for the mention, @W-L. We do offer acrylic in our custom manufacturing - to my knowledge we haven't ever built a case completely out of acrylic, it's more often used for one panel of a case (like with the case we built for Linus, and the one we manufactured for Lukasz Dyjakon) to best showcase the inside components. 

 

Would look awesome though!

On 1/4/2017 at 0:15 AM, farzher said:

Thanks for the references, I'll check those out

I just realized that I can probably use a cereal box, like cap'n crunch or whatever haha.
But I do want it to be see-through. It'll be really expensive hardware with maybe some lighting
I might prototype with cereal though

Cereal box prototyping, love it!

 

(Feel free to play around with our free CAD software Protocase Designer, if you want - we also have this handy PDF about designing enclosures for motherboard-based systems like Mini ITX). 

 

Good luck!

[Bigbootyjudy]

you could go with your cereal box idea and just take another cheap case, cut it up,  and experiment with how the components fit inside.

[KazerTheKeen]

When your done prototypeing, there's a clear mini itx acrylic back plate over at https://www.moddiy.com. They might have other stuff too but I don't know. Sorry for it not being direct link.