Best material for custom built case?

[Kazooey]

I would like to try to build my own custom case. I've been drawing it up in sketchup, and its going pretty good so far, but I'm not really sure what material to construct it out of.

 

My dad's job get;s me access to most any plastics that I need, but I don;t really know what kind of plastics to use!

 

I'm leaning towards black HDPE, because I like the surface finish, but after watching Luke's video today on brushed plastics, I suppose I could use acrylic and just brush that.

 

Help?

[givingtnt]

1/16 " steel with powder coating ?

[Enderman]

a case made of plastic is just going to bend and warp when you attach 50lbps of parts to it

plus the heat

 

cases need to be made out of steel or aluminum

some people use wood, but thats a fire hazard and more difficult to work with

[Kazooey]

1/16 " steel with powder coating ?

 

I was hoping to work with plastics, since I don't really have the tools to work with metals.

 

a case made of plastic is just going to bend and warp when you attach 50lbps of parts to it

plus the heat

 

cases need to be made out of steel or aluminum

some people use wood, but thats a fire hazard and more difficult to work with

 

How much will it warp, and do you think I could reinforce it?

[ELSknutson]

cereal boxes 

[Kazooey]

cereal boxes 

 

Why didn't I think of that! 

[Enderman]

How much will it warp, and do you think I could reinforce it?

depends on the plastic

if you use some high temperature industrial hard plastic you might be able to make something that can hold together, but that would basically be as difficult and expensive as working with metal

[ELSknutson]

as far as ease to work with would be acrylic or steal 

[cheeze_tartz]

aluminum

[givingtnt]

I was hoping to work with plastics, since I don't really have the tools to work with metals.

 

 

How much will it warp, and do you think I could reinforce it?

uh.. idk. and tbh if you don't have the tools, you probably don'T have the experience. not that im saying you shouln't . but its not going to be perfect.

its pricey ,  71$ for a 2' X 4'   steel plate thats 0.24 inch thick : http://www.metalsdepot.com/catalog_cart_view.php?msg=

[Kazooey]

depends on the plastic

if you use some high temperature industrial hard plastic you might be able to make something that can hold together, but that would basically be as difficult and expensive as working with metal

 

Do you know of any such plastics?

 

 

as far as ease to work with would be acrylic or steal 

 

Can you get matte acrylic? The only kind I've seen is glossy,

[Kazooey]

uh.. idk. and tbh if you don't have the tools, you probably don'T have the experience. not that im saying you shouln't . but its not going to be perfect.

its pricey ,  71$ for a 2' X 4'   steel plate thats 0.24 inch thick : http://www.metalsdepot.com/catalog_cart_view.php?msg=

 

Thanks for the link, I'll look into it!

[CalebTheEternal]

cereal boxes 

I was thinking more of the Kool Aid juice boxes like what people make purses out of. 

[Toxicable]

Wood.

As long as it's very cleaned up with some sort of finish on it then why not?

[Kazooey]

Wood.

As long as it's very cleaned up with some sort of finish on it then why not?

 

Wood tends to be flammable

[Speedyv]

This might be of your interest:

[Kazooey]

This might be of your interest:

 

Thanks for the link! I will definitely watch it when I can. 

[Kazooey]

aluminum

 

Do you have any idea on what the thickness should be?

[cheeze_tartz]

Do you have any idea on what the thickness should be?

Well i did get the aluminum idea from that youtube video. It's worth watching.

[Speedyv]

Thanks for the link! I will definitely watch it when I can. 

 

It's pretty cool he talks about his methods and materials and stuff too.

[Kazooey]

It's pretty cool he talks about his methods and materials and stuff too.

 

Well i did get the aluminum idea from that youtube video. It's worth watching.

 

I guess I ought to get to watching it then!

[Toxicable]

Wood tends to be flammable

You're right, wood is flammable.

But you must not know that the flash point of most wood (point where it will simply combust) is 300 degrees celcius.

And since the wood you'd use would be tick/dense there is no way that even in direct contact with a GPU (for argument sake, no ones gonna do this ) would it even catch fire, unless for some reason you got yourself some Scottish pine and make strips 1mm thick but even then you'd have a hard time since it would just turn to charcoal before it ignited.

[W-L]

Wood tends to be flammable

 

Wood is a good material for cases if you want to go that route a PC will never reach any temp that is dangerous for wood to burn or scorch, you may see the wood age and yellow a bit depending on the finish applied but no problems.

 

If your thinking of using plastics I suggest using something like HDPE like you said or Acrylic with the appropriate thickness, another good ones is UHMW but it usually very expensive due to it's unique molecular properties.

 

For metal steel or aluminum, are both good choices if you don't have a bench brake to bend the metal and want to DIY it I would suggest using aluminum , something like 20 gauge aluminum or 22 gauge steel is a good choice, I would recommended using cold rooled steel since it's harder as a material so it will be more rigid but hat also makes bending more difficult.