Modding Questions

[silver_tounge]

hey

just needing a few things answered

what is the best paint for computers (metal and plastic)

what is the best paint for fans (plastic)

what is the best tool for cutting windows in side panels with sound proof foam on them

what is the best way to make a rear I/O led light thingy

what is the best material for a window glass or plexy or plastic

what are the best led strip lighting to use

what are the best single leds to use, to re place power and hdd led lights in the front panel.

what is the best material to make a PSU cover

thanks in advance for any answers

[simson0606]

@silver_tounge please follow your own topics to see all replies

 

don't know much about paint but the tool for the side panel would be a dremel or jigsaw (remove the soundproofing by hand or use a bit of heat to remove it)

 

io: use a small led strip and connect it to a usb port, or rout it to the inside of the case

 

best window would be glass but acrylic would do

 

led strip: darkside is one of the best (or even the best) for the power en reset, just buy some cheap ones (doesn't really differ much)

 

psu cover: steel/aluminium or use acryllic, it's easier to work with and you can paint it or cover it with carbon wrap

[silver_tounge]

@silver_tounge please follow your own topics to see all replies

 

don't know much about paint but the tool for the side panel would be a dremel or jigsaw (remove the soundproofing by hand or use a bit of heat to remove it)

 

io: use a small led strip and connect it to a usb port, or rout it to the inside of the case

 

best window would be glass but acrylic would do

 

led strip: darkside is one of the best (or even the best) for the power en reset, just buy some cheap ones (doesn't really differ much)

 

psu cover: steel/aluminium or use acryllic, it's easier to work with and you can paint it or cover it with carbon wrap

 

I am follwoing my post, thanks for asking though

 

thanks for the advice very helpful

[W-L]

hey

just needing a few things answered

what is the best paint for computers (metal and plastic)

what is the best paint for fans (plastic)

what is the best tool for cutting windows in side panels with sound proof foam on them

what is the best way to make a rear I/O led light thingy

what is the best material for a window glass or plexy or plastic

what are the best led strip lighting to use

what are the best single leds to use, to re place power and hdd led lights in the front panel.

what is the best material to make a PSU cover

thanks in advance for any answers

 

That's a lot of questions 

 

Painting in general it's all about the proper prep and paint for the material, some of the go to ones I go for is Krylon or Rustoleum, but if you need a large selection of colors or more vibrant or bright colors automotive paint like Duplicolor or artist/graffiti spray paints are good choices.

 

Cutting panels are best done with a Dremel or Rotary tool, I would take off the sound proofing first before making my cuts into the metal, be sure to mask the entire panel and mark your cuts on the masking. When cutting cut away from the lines and finish it off with a metal file and file towards to lines to straighten things out. Note you will need to refinish the edge since it's bare metal at that point.

 

For windows I personally like glass due to it's clarity and hardness at preventing scratching but plexi-glass (acrylic) is a great material to use also make sure to get the stiff stuff not to super flexible stuff that's easily scratched.

 

This LED strip is for the ear light up IO as Linus did on a video previously, and internal LED strips look for SMD5050 LED strips those are the brightest LEDs for the size.

http://www.amazon.com/Generic-Strip-Bright-Waterproof-1-65ft/dp/B00INJ5JA6

 

PSU cover you can do it with metal (aluminum or steel) acrylic is also another option whichever is easier for you to work with.

[Insomaniac]

1. I like Rust-Oleum 2X coat. Not the primer mixed in, I still like to primer separately first but this lays on a good coat when you lay it on.

2. Again same stuff. Mostly painting will be about roughing up your surface with some high grit sandpaper. Then primer then paint then some clear coat. Although for many things it is a bit excessive. 

3. Definitely Dremel for smaller cuts, or a grinder with a cutting blade for the larger straight cuts (if you can control it well enough, it's faster than a dremel) And then file as W-L said.

4. Depending on what you want you can design a few different ways. I imagine you are thinking more simple so basically you can order any kind of 12v LED strip from eBay for about $1 a foot. Then all you need is to wire that to a molex pin and you can attach it to your PSU like you would a fan. 

5. If you go to Home Depot or a similar store you can find Polycarbonate sheets. This is much stronger than acrylic and for the same size is like $3 more than acrylic. Glass is probably more scratch resistant than both. Definitely much harder to work with as well.

6. Most of the LEDs in fans are 3MM or 5MM. Don't worry about brand or anything, they are basically all of the same quality. They are mostly just hotglued in so you can pull them out pretty easily and measure the diameter to make sure the size LED you need. 

7. Typically you would make it out of metal or your plastic sheeting of choice. Acrylic sheeting most of the time you cannot bend like you would acrylic tubing, but metal you can bend fairly easily if it is higher gauge though you must be careful not to induce wrinkles and such when bending. You could join two pieces but then you would put your work into blending the joint between them.

So I agree with pretty much all W-L said plus a few things