Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
I still have my iMac that I have modded to hell and back. I tryed craming the iMac into a old DVD player case and sadly it just didn't have enough room. I have got a idea for a small cube like case out of plexi-glass. I found some precut stuff at home depot but I'm facing a problem. What kind of drill bits would I need to drill holes into the plexi-glass? I have messed with plexi-glass a ton of times but I only cut/shape and glued the stuff.
The idea is to shape it and drill it into some wooden dalrods that have been cover with a carbon fiber decal and also a piano henge on the top or side to make the inside accesable.
I'm just doing this to get my iMac finaly finished and then start on my iCar mod.
I think most wood bits are fine with plastics.... or is it metal bits.... crap I can't remember...It has to do with the angle of the tip of the drill bit. Definitely don't use spade bits, if there is any need for big holes. If it is thick you can use cutting oil to reduce friction, but I wouldn't bother with that if it's less than 1/2". Drilling a small pilot hole will help keep thing straight, and go slow... not in rpms but let the drill do the work. I guess I mean don't use tonnes of pressure, you want to keep the friction down so that the plastic doesn't melt. Oh yeah, you probably already know this (but for any newbies), don't peal the thin coating off until you've finished all the work on it!
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>Mac mini PPC / 1.42 Ghz / 1GB RAM / 74.41GB 4200rpm 2.5" / Airport + Bluetooth / 10.4.7 / 20.1" LG widescreen >G4 400 PPC / 20 gig / 768MB RAM / ZIP drive / 10.4.7 /17" apple SD / Back up system >Powerbook Titanium 1Ghz / 40GB / 512MB RAM / mashed up and waiting for a good mod! >Macintosh SE/30
I don't think plexiglass is all that brittle. The friction should help it to melt before it cracks. Best bet is to find a test piece somewhere of course.
What you need to find is some one with a laser cutter! We have one in our research center and its great it cuts just about everything Plexi, Wood, Plastic, Etch metal and glass, Cardboard, Paper. No more drilling or anything.
A plexi knife will work wonders. Some tape over your drill holes and new sharp bits are the way to go. I must say that I end up buying alot of plexi, cuz I always end up cracking it at some point. >:D
Registered: 11/16/07
Posts: 1816
Loc: Florida, USA
I don't need to buy more drill bits I have drill bits made out of colbalt andis made for plastic and glass.
I'm going to try this out frist on a case im building for my future father in-law. If it works as planed then i'll build one for the iMac. I know somewhere down the road im going to screw it up again, like the B&W case i choped up.