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View Full Version : Advice on drilling holes though the top of my case


Darkenreaper57
07-04-2004, 06:57 PM
Ok, I plan on externally mounting my heater core on the top of the case, with the barbs facing down. I need to drill 2 holes for the barbs. The holes need to have about 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 '' diameter.

Now, I know that I can go out and buy a large drill bit, but these things are expensive. I also know that I can get a hole saw, but these are even more expensive. I was thinking of drilling a bunch of small holes carefully in a circle (as I have smaller drill bits) and then cutting that out and filing around this. But, do you guys think that through this whole process of drilling and filing, that i will ding up my case? I plan on doing this with the case put together (but naked, of course). I was thinking that clamping some wood under the top might help, but my father says it will not...

I'm trying to make this all look nice, so I dont want the top of my case all bent up :P. Now, the holes themselves dont need to be perfect since I plan on cutting a small rubber tube the long way and lining them with it.

Can you guys think of any alternatives?

Also, what effect would it have on my cooling if I decided to just route the tubing around the back of the case and through a PCI slot (this would add about 3 feet of tubing to the loop). In this case I would put the core on the top of the case towards the back and point the barbs down and route that way.

Thanks

STEvil
07-04-2004, 07:34 PM
Backing with wood will not protect from dings and bends.. and drill multiple small holes then filing will take a long time as well as being quite hard to get right.

Smaller multisized hole saws are cheap, grab one.

Darkenreaper57
07-04-2004, 07:51 PM
Originally posted by STEvil
Backing with wood will not protect from dings and bends.. and drill multiple small holes then filing will take a long time as well as being quite hard to get right.

Smaller multisized hole saws are cheap, grab one.

Hmm, thats a good idea, but from what I saw at Lowes, the hole saws were not cheap :( It also looked like I needed to buy some sort of adapter so I could connect it to the drill.

So, how cheap are you talking? I dont wanna spend more than $10 since im doing such a small job.

STEvil
07-05-2004, 08:44 AM
$10-$30 depending on what you get

If you get a small white one (the best idea) it would be about $10 I would think.. I got a 120mm for $50 CDN.

lalPOOO
07-26-2004, 09:34 AM
Drill out the rivets for the top pannel and take it off. Cover the area you're going to be drilling with 2-3 layers of scotch/painters tape. Get a uh, pointy object (sorry, I forgot the proper name of the tool) to get nice starting points for your holes. If you want to be really cautious predrill the holes with smaller drillbits first. As long as this is done on the peice of wood, and done with care you shouldn't have any dings or dents.