Working with acrylic

[rafe_28]

So i got some acrylic panel (2mm thick) and i want to do a psu shroud mod. I will need to bend it 2 tiles since the tt core p3 offers no shroud at all and i want it to cover the cables. The  cade still has some left over m3 screw in poibts for longer psus but i wont be able to use em as the acrylic has none and there is no way of drilling through the acrylic first. So is there a way to make an m3 thread into acrylic? Or will it shatter. I saw that the G1/4 was very hard for LTT to do in their own res

[Bombastinator]

55 minutes ago, rafe_28 said:

So i got some acrylic panel (2mm thick) and i want to do a psu shroud mod. I will need to bend it 2 tiles since the tt core p3 offers no shroud at all and i want it to cover the cables. The  cade still has some left over m3 screw in poibts for longer psus but i wont be able to use em as the acrylic has none and there is no way of drilling through the acrylic first. So is there a way to make an m3 thread into acrylic? Or will it shatter. I saw that the G1/4 was very hard for LTT to do in their own res

Acrylic is brittle and will scorch my favorite way to Ben acrylic is to lay the cool acrylic over a pipe and put a hair dryer in the pipe and walk away.  An Electric oven on very low also works.  It’s got to stay under some specific low temperature or it will bubble which kinda ruins it. 189f? I forget.  As for drilling it likes to chip.  Bits need to be REALLY sharp.  They also sell plastic cutting bits which have steeper edges.  Step drills also help, and are more or less required for really big holes.

[Kadzo]

Drilling wise the best advice i can give you have multiple replacement parts (it is super easy to chip it and it tends to brake) like @Bombastinator mentioned have a brand new drill bit when drilling especially because m3 is a small diameter so you will need a 2,3 or 2,4 mm drill (buy multiple ones, those tend to brake off even by looking at them).

What is your preferred method of tapping tread? if its with a regular tap take time and use lubricant.

[rafe_28]

I have been only recently getting into physical moddibg of things as i was never interested and so i have only a limited ammount of things available. What i'd do is drill an inthreaded hole tgat matches the diameter of the m3 screws (i have no idea what that is outta my head) and then use 3 bits that alway step up in size to make the thread. Oh also should say that i'm usinga Drill and not by hand@Kadzo

[Kadzo]

Best practise for drilling holes is multiplying the hole with 0,8 (example 3*0,8=2,4 so the drill bit can be 2,4 2,5 mm) this way you will have enough space for the threaded part but not too much resistance. 

You can use the drill and just place the tapping screw in the drill jaws, just be careful with acrylic due to its ability to shatter and crack when applying a lot of force, which is easy with a drill, this is the reason why mention maybe in this case would be smarter to go with the hand.

If you still decide to go with a drill just go slow and pay attention to your angles.

 

[tdkid]

acrylic is basically plastic and plastic can be heated and formed into different shapes like most soda bottles. so it wont shatter easily if heated HOWEVER this does not mean its easy to work with. to get it into most shapes companies use a process called vacuforming in which they place the plastic or acrylic on a table with lots of holes in it. they heat the acrylic up, lay a mold shape under it and then suck out all the air making the plastic take the shape of the mold. 

 

i would give more precise and info but have to leave for work now

[rafe_28]

48 minutes ago, tdkid said:

acrylic is basically plastic and plastic can be heated and formed into different shapes like most soda bottles. so it wont shatter easily if heated HOWEVER this does not mean its easy to work with. to get it into most shapes companies use a process called vacuforming in which they place the plastic or acrylic on a table with lots of holes in it. they heat the acrylic up, lay a mold shape under it and then suck out all the air making the plastic take the shape of the mold. 

Thats basically impossible for me to do

 

48 minutes ago, tdkid said:

would give more precise and info but have to leave for work now

Np

50 minutes ago, Kadzo said:

example 3*0,8=2,4 so the drill bit can be 2,4 2,5 mm)

Ye that was what I wsd thikking of but couldnt quite get

 

I will try drillikg first (i got enough excess) and if it diesnt work i will nwed to go get something to do it by hand

 

[tdkid]

1 minute ago, rafe_28 said:

Thats basically impossible for me to do

 

Np

Ye that was what I wsd thikking of but couldnt quite get

 

I will try drillikg first (i got enough excess) and if it diesnt work i will nwed to go get something to do it by hand

 

Yes it's impossible to do without machines that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

 

You have the acrylic it sounds like so you can do the process slowly if you want. If it does work, try looking up performancepcs.com out of Florida USA. The make custom acrylic pieces

[rafe_28]

12 minutes ago, tdkid said:

If it does work, try looking up performancepcs.com out of Florida USA. The make custom acrylic pieces

Oh no ty. I am really doing it kidna for experience and if it wont work, not a big deal but ty for the heads up. 

[rafe_28]

53 minutes ago, James Evens said:

You can glue nuts onto the acryl part. No need to drill holes

This would sadly lead to the acrylic not being flush wtih the case. And i would need to watch out for screw length

[rafe_28]

2 hours ago, James Evens said:

You can always make your own short screw:

1. measure how many mm you need to remove

2. nut on the screw

3. hand saw or dremel the screw of

4. use a wrench to remove the screw and somewhat restore the edge in this process

Sounds plausible but would still lift the acrylic panel by a few mm