Making a plexiglass case.

**thenewbreed** · 02-22-2009, 03:46 PM

I have 1/4 inch plexiglass I want to make my case out of. What is the best way to form and connect the corners and will there be any tyoe of grounding issues.

**Uraijit** · 02-27-2009, 05:53 PM

Heat and bend. You can connect the edges with a plexiglass glue, or just heat them together with a hot iron, like a soldering iron or plastic welder.

You'll have to ground your parts but it's easy to just jump a wire from the different mounting screws, and then ground it out to the vehicle.

You can see some of the stuff I did with plexiglass in my worklog.

EDIT. I just added some pictures to the grounding job I did on mine.

**WuNgUn** · 02-27-2009, 09:03 PM

I had my plexi machined...but I only use a plexi top and back on my 'case'...
Also plexi surround on the amps (blue protective film still on it)

**rdholtz** · 02-27-2009, 09:53 PM

Here's the link to greatwhite's writeup on making a bender.

You can also cut flat pieces and glue the corners with a plexiglass bonding agent. It takes some practice on scrap; if you're careful, you can make some very clean bonds.

**TexasAggie** · 02-28-2009, 12:31 AM

With the above post, why wouldnt you just do flat sides and use an adhesive to bond them together? That seems like the easiest thing to do. I just thought about it tonight and I think im gonna make a plexi case just for ease of making it my self.

**rdholtz** · 02-28-2009, 02:51 AM

Here's the link to the thread about gluing plexiglass.

**thenewbreed** · 02-28-2009, 08:22 AM

that home made heat coil is a great idea. The bends looks so clean. That might not be my first case, but it will definantly be my secong. I need some practice first.

**Salmizar** · 03-01-2009, 12:26 AM

Having made a few cases myself. These are my recommendations.

Use weldOn 3. And a needle type applicator.

If you have a table saw, use it to make perfect cuts. Otherwise a circular saw and a straight edge will work. Use at least a 40 tooth laminate blade.

You can use a box cutter and straight edge if you are cutting 1/8 or less. Score a line and snap it alone the line. Its best to score on both sides for a prefect edge.

Once all pieces are cut, I always use a fine file and smooth all sides for a perfect fit. A sanding block would also work. Just be careful, its easy to round the edges.

Take care when drilling acrylic with a big bit. before the bit plunges through the other side (when you see it start to dimple). Back off and give it a second to cool off, otherwise the bit can bite fast and crack your piece.

**MindDrive** · 03-01-2009, 02:56 AM

instead of using acrylic or plexiglass try using polycarbonate -- its a bit more expencive but its almost indestructable - i used 1/4" to build my pc case in my seville - you cant break a 1/4" thick piece with a hammer and it machines very nicely... its so dense you can tap and thread machine/wood screws directly into it... so strong that if you are only a few thousandths too small with the drill bit you can break the fastener off in the polycarbonate... heres a pic of what a case looks like using 1/8" machine screws:

mounted:

i found a supplier that i picked up a 4'x8'x1/4" for $150 and a 4'x8'x3/8" for $260. good thing bout the polycarbonate is that the weldon as mentioned works great on it and also makes for crystal clear edges

another thing i like about the polycarbonate over plexiglass is that it doesnt chip or snap if you bend it, like i said, its almost indestructable, you can bend it so much that it will heat up and actually burn you, but at that point it will eventually fatigue and melt/break apart

as for grounding issues, all computer components have built in grounding within the cables that are used, there is no real need to ground everything together, but if there is some sort of ground short, then the cable will take the blunt of the spike as opposed to the metal of a case, a quick and easy way to ground your components is to goto a hardware store or automotive store and get crimp style 1/8" eye connectors and run a piece of wire from say your hard drive case screw to the power supply case screw and from the power supply to the motherboard (the hard drive is already grounded to the motherboard through either the SATA or IDE cable) but it doesnt hurt to have more than enough grounding