Best recomondation for cutting through a steel case

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  1. Posts : 597
    windows 7 Professional
       #1

    Best recomondation for cutting through a steel case


    for a while if been wanting to put a window in my NZXT phantom where the 230mm fan sits on the side. if you have tha case, or have seen the case, its the large trapozoid shaped mesh on the side. iwant to put a pane of acrylic there, however, im not exactly "handy". i have called water jet places, but the minimum charge is 80 for the most part. i have tried a steel cutting disk on my dremel on a test case, but the line is charp and is not streight ENOUGH. because on the nzxt phantom the shape is very Stright edge, streight edge, streight edge, i am looking for a tool that will easily cut through 1/8in of steel and is EASY TO KEEP IN A STRAIGHT LINE. if you would have a prefference in my position under my circumstances, any help you can give would be appriciated.
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  2. Posts : 6,668
    Windows 7 x64
       #2

    It takes practice to be good at it, I have personally used a dremel for case modding in the past myself, but I had a lot of experience with it already when I first tried that. It still took a little practice on a old junk case before I was confident in my ability.
    They also sell tools made specially for cutting cases.
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  3. Posts : 597
    windows 7 Professional
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Maguscreed said:
    It takes practice to be good at it, I have personally used a dremel for case modding in the past myself, but I had a lot of experience with it already when I first tried that. It still took a little practice on a old junk case before I was confident in my ability.
    They also sell tools made specially for cutting cases.
    i see people who use JigSaws, i have some experience wit hthem, but not enough to say im great with them, iv always used the big heavy duty ones though, i see people who use the small single hand ones, i have no clue how easy those are to keep streight. another possibility, is if there is somewhere inexpensive i can take my case to who would do it for me.
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  4. Posts : 6,668
    Windows 7 x64
       #4

    well see here, he gives some good pointers and ideas to make it easier.
    Case Modding Guide: Part 1

    I have also used one of these
    They take tiny little bites out at a time Case Cutting Tool Nibber - Metal Cutting Made Easy, -cg-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com
    It's time consuming but probably a lot easier to use for someone in your position.

    I'll even vouch for directron they're here in houston and I've personally bought tons of stuff from them here locally at their warehouse.
    A large majority of the parts that make up the system I'm using also came from them.
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  5. Posts : 597
    windows 7 Professional
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Maguscreed said:
    well see here, he gives some good pointers and ideas to make it easier.
    Case Modding Guide: Part 1

    I have also used one of these
    They take tiny little bites out at a time Case Cutting Tool Nibber - Metal Cutting Made Easy, -cg-Best Computer Online Store Houston Buy Discount Prices Texas-Directron.com
    It's time consuming but probably a lot easier to use for someone in your position.

    I'll even vouch for directron they're here in houston and I've personally bought tons of stuff from them here locally at their warehouse.
    A large majority of the parts that make up the system I'm using also came from them.
    thank you, i think id like to stay away from specialty tools, seeing as how this is probably the only case window ill make in a while, probably. i like the nividea guy, hes praticularly helpful
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  6. Posts : 1,846
    Windows 7 Ultimate x64, & Mac OS X 10.9.2
       #6

    use a dremel. I used mine to cut cable routing holes in my antec 900.

    just make sure youve got plenty of blades, as i went through about 1 blade per 8"s lol
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  7. Posts : 8,135
    Windows 10 64 bit
       #7

    I have used a "nibbler" tool for many metal projects over the years. It will take a while with a nibbler but it does the job. I'm an ex ham radio operator and have built many "homebrew" devices over the years and the nibbler was one tool that I used.

    The Dremel tool or something similar will also work.
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  8. Posts : 2,164
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
       #8

    Plasma cutter works great, that is what was used to cut the hole in the side of my cube case.
    you still have to smooth out the rough edges though which is no big deal.
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  9. Posts : 6,668
    Windows 7 x64
       #9

    ...yeah a plasma torch isn't exactly something everyone has laying around though.
    If you are cutting a large area and don't mind cleaning the line afterwards you could even use a hand grinder with a cutting wheel on it.
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  10. Posts : 597
    windows 7 Professional
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Maguscreed said:
    ...yeah a plasma torch isn't exactly something everyone has laying around though.
    If you are cutting a large area and don't mind cleaning the line afterwards you could even use a hand grinder with a cutting wheel on it.
    thats what i sometimes see people use, it gave me the idea to try out my dremel on an old side panel, im ok, but the line still could be allot straighter, im gunna try again on a smaller area, i wore down the wheel and stoped half way through. but like ive sayed, ive seen people who use just like a $100 DeWal jigSaw who seem to be able to make a straight line, but i have no clue if its from lots of practice, some practice, or its just as easy as they make it look.
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