Acrylic Case Mini-ITX

[crk1973]

Well after hours of research on acrylic construction and asking about a million questions I have begun construction of the Mini-ITX Acrylic Case. Considering this is my first attempt at Mini-ITX moding and the first time I am working with acrylic I decided to keep it extremely simple.

An 9" x 8" x 3" acrylic box with rounded edges. There is No optical drive in this unit for two reasons. 1) It is not needed in my application. 2) Based on my layout it would have required additional width which I was unwilling to provide.

The box has a mini-itx board, 2.5" Harddrive, 40mm fan and a mini-itx dc-dc converter for the power supply. A single LED for the HDD and a combo power button/Power LED....

The front panel will be sprayed with White Gloss paint from behind...The remaining panels will be clear.

Take a look at my work so far. Please keep in mind that I am very new to working with acrylic and the stuff is so so so brittle....the edge sanding is not complete...and the motherboard was mounted today.

[gvblake22]

Looks like a fun little project (literally)! I've always wanted to try making a little mini PC like this but never knew enough about the components to get into too much.

How are you securing the side panels to each other?

[crk1973]

For now I am going to connect the side panels using the acrylic cubes from frozencpu........but I also have Acrylic weld #3 which i think would be a better solution....but I like the screws in the front panel..gives it a nice look..I painted them white..will attched a picture tomorrow..once the front panel is done drying!!!!

BTW: GV thanks for all the help.....I want to add that cutting and sanding acrylic IS AWFUL!!!

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by crk1973

For now I am going to connect the side panels using the acrylic cubes from frozencpu........but I also have Acrylic weld #3 which i think would be a better solution....but I like the screws in the front panel..gives it a nice look..I painted them white..will attched a picture tomorrow..once the front panel is done drying!!!!

Aaahhh, I See. Seems like the Weld-on would work fine since it is such a small enclosure. But good luck with the cubes, I hope they work out better for you than they did me...

Originally Posted by crk1973

.....I want to add that cutting and sanding acrylic IS AWFUL!!!

HAHAHAHA, it takes some getting used to. you just have to pay attention at all times and be really careful. For cutting, you really have to have the right tool for the job or else you will chip and crack the material. Sanding just takes patience (as with anything). I found that using a really fine file after the initial cutting helps get rid of the large ridges and gouges from cutting and makes sanding much easier.