making a case

[ToeJam]

ive been told to think of a project for my course next year in product design, and i was thinking about making a computer case , how ever im not really sure whether i should and if i could.

How much time does it require?

How much experience does it need?

What will be the costs for the build?

Based on the answers im not sure what type of case weather it be a tower, or just for my mini itx.

 

[PeterStoba]

It has a alot of variables.

It's gonna depend on your tools, what you wanna do, what you wanna make it from, if you want quality or not.

 

[ToeJam]

It has a alot of variables.

It's gonna depend on your tools, what you wanna do, what you wanna make it from, if you want quality or not.

well could you tell me the tools required? also what do u mean what i wanna do :S? im not sure what to make it from so that would be nice if you could help me, quality is something i would say is high priority but because of the positive correlation with price it may have to giveway abit.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Aye Pete is right, so many of your questions need more details to get anywhere near a rough idea on price. just dont go expecing your own lian li or coolermaster and youll be ok.

Tools will depend on materials, but a jigsaw and a decent drill will deffo be top of the list

 

[ToeJam]

Aye Pete is right, so many of your questions need more details to get anywhere near a rough idea on price. just dont go expecing your own lian li or coolermaster and youll be ok.

Tools will depend on materials, but a jigsaw and a decent drill will deffo be top of the list

yeah my expectation arnt high at all as for its for school and nothing is as good as it shud bee at school . Drill and Jigsaw i got if u could give me a template of what you need to know to help me would be good

 

[PeterStoba]

I meant it depends if you want a proper case or test bench sort of thing, full, mid tower, htpc, mini itx?

I've never built a case so I'm not 100% sure this is a definitive list.

A clear idea of what you want is priority.

Quality material (3mm aluminum for side panels)

Steel or alu again for the frame

lots of rivets

tap and die kit

might be easier to build it around a motherboard tray if possible

Tom will be able to help you out

 

[Youngie1337]

Welding also. TBH I'd buy a nice big piece of ali, bend it around a template, then weld it at the bottom. From there I would add front and back etc, obviously cut holes and stuff in first.

 

[Chris1303]

Ali? Steel? What you need is Carbon Fibre & Titanium (project i plan to start working on soon .)

 

[Rastalovich]

OP needs to look through all the rig galleries and logs on here and perhaps other forums too.

Often u'll see people make hint of how long things took.

 

[ToeJam]

ive decided to go for a mini itx case and was wondering what the best programme to help me design it?

 

[monkey7]

Out of the free programs google sketchup is your best bet. If you have sources (aka you're a student on a recognized university) autoCAD (2010, vanilla) is great for 2d and good for 3d work.

 

[TopSecret]

Before you go mad on CAD, it's best to have an idea of dimesions etc on paper first. CAD programs can be tricky to get into, that's why it's best to have a good idea of the result you want first, even if it's rough sketches and dimensions.

 

[ToeJam]

Before you go mad on CAD, it's best to have an idea of dimesions etc on paper first. CAD programs can be tricky to get into, that's why it's best to have a good idea of the result you want first, even if it's rough sketches and dimensions.

yeah yeah ive got a few ideas in mind its just weather making it practical or just fun im deciding upon. CAD does my nut in at school so using it is not wise, any other methods?

 

[monkey7]

If you're not that good at CAD, paper and pencil are your next best bet.

 

[ToeJam]

any one got any experience in making mini itx cases/shuttles.? any advice where to start and how much its gonna cost?

 

[I Hunta x]

sketchup or auto cad, totaly recomend them