Custom laser cut case windows

[sotacs]

What if there was a company that created custom cut case windows utilizing lasers?
What if the acrylic windows were laser cut as well to fit precisely into the case windows so that the windows would fit flush to the outside of the case and there were no unsightly brads or fasteners holding the acrylic in place?
What if you could get custom fan guards cut right into the sides and top of the case as well?
What if you had hundreds of choices?


Does the idea of being able to get custom laser cut case windows and fan guards appeal to you?
If it does, what would your ultimate window shape be?

[sgtspector]

I think it would be great. The fun of modding is to be custon and to do it yourself. But not everyone can cut the design accruately by jigsaw or dremel or dont have the tools. And then some designs like yours that are far to intricate for the average handyman. Probably not econically viable way to make a living on its own tho. The machine would be pretty expensive i would guess and to have it sit there most of the time would be a waste. It would have to be good for some other more popular use also. Maybe custom automotive work.
Yours by the way is quite good Is is safe to assume thats how you did yours?

[TwoRails]

Are you buying or selling? In other words... is this an ad?

[David M]

My alarm bell went off that this might be an ad in disguise as well.

[rspassey]

Im thinking so too, but there was no hint of a website or Company name - unless it was edited out. But Yes - Heck Yeah, I want one. How much does something like cost?

[blue60007]

Not a good ad if it doesn't include a company, organization, or any contact info.

"hey, I'm selling something you might be intereseted in"
"OK, who are you?"

Looks cool, but it's not really my thing.

[apollo]

Impressive. I've thought about something like this before - I like the idea of the case window being flush with the panel w/o any rubber seals or other unsightly hardware. I have a friend who has his own CAD/CNC shop and someday I hope to talk him into doing a custom case project. Although I appreciate the artistry, I personally don't go in for the complicated designs... simple and clean is the way to go for me.

Coolness aside, though, the rules are pretty clear about advertising and this sure sounds like one. Say it ain't so sotacs.

[rspassey]

Originally Posted by sotacs If it does, what would your ultimate window shape be?

My ulitmate shape would be..... A city skyline with sky scrappers and what not at night time with the lights glowing.

[MaxRat]

I really like the image myself...People would probably pay to have this service done to there case...but.... I think lazer cutting the plastic is a bad idea....

If you don't want all those brads holding ing the plastic...Use clear adhesive silicon....works good at sealing and come off with a little effort....I think that would be more realistic...just my 2 cents

Edit: Same goes for the fans....Lay the fan on the plastic or case side flat ways...put a 1/8in bead of clear silicon all the way around it...15 minutes later...You have attatched fans with no unsightly screws....

Man I should get paid for this....

[Jaggannath]

I like the skyscraper idea too Ryan, although a vehicle would go well for me as well, as I'd just put different coloured diodes for each of the lights etc.
The potential is virtually unlimited

[sotacs]

This is not an add, I am not trying to sell you any tangible item here. This is more of an information gathering or feasibility study if you like.

In order to convince investors to drop the half million plus on such an endeavor, they would like to know that there is an interest in such a thing.
Not to worry, when the time comes, we will buy advertising.

The photos are of the prototype. The windows and fan guards are laser cut and finished. The results are incredible. Personally, I think that there could be a huge market for such an idea as this, and if I had the big bucks to throw at it, I would take the risk. But hey, I’m just a lowly entrepreneur with big dreams.

There would be hundreds of choices for windows and fan guards. Several initial colors of Plexiglas would help round out the choices.

Initial cost projections for the product were unexpectantly low at around $30.00 over the case cost for a simplistic window. More complex windows would of course cost proportionally more. The extra cost would be dependant on time to cut, and time to assemble. The whole idea is to offer an exceptional product at a reasonable cost.

Here are a couple more pics to wet your appetite. The first is of the top window with a fireball chimney fan,



and the second is the mirrored windowed right hand side.

[rspassey]

Could you like attach those as links to your site or attachments.. I am not a mod, but I know the rules here and those pics are way to big

[Stryker]

Hey sotacs,
Looks like a pretty cool idea, and I would probably go for one.

My only suggestion would be to somehow blacken the cut edges of the metal so you don't see the raw metal under the paint. In a couple of the pics, the raw metal reflects too much (I would assume it looks similar in real life) and it takes away from the effect of having the light shine through the shape. I think it would look a lot more professional and clean if it was solid black.

Just an opinion,
Stryker

[Jaggannath]

Originally Posted by Stryker Hey sotacs, Looks like a pretty cool idea, and I would probably go for one. My only suggestion would be to somehow blacken the cut edges of the metal so you don't see the raw metal under the paint. In a couple of the pics, the raw metal reflects too much (I would assume it looks similar in real life) and it takes away from the effect of having the light shine through the shape. I think it would look a lot more professional and clean if it was solid black. Just an opinion, Stryker

Good point, I was just abouts to make it myself... it's pretty obvious

[TwoRails]

A black magic marker would take care of that

[MaxRat]

Boy aren't you guys picky...

I saw an episode of OC choppers and they used one of those machines to make bike parts...

I think 30.00 is inline but much more maybe a deterant....

[David M]

Isn't that a water jet that OCC uses to cut metal?

[apollo]

Originally Posted by sotacs But hey, I’m just a lowly entrepreneur with big dreams.

Good on ya sotacs! Someone's gonna do it, so it might as well be you.

Like I said, I'd go more for a simpler design - maybe a geometrical thing. I've also always liked the work of M.C. Escher... some of his simpler work might look pretty cool on a case. Cost wise, $30 for a basic design sounds fairly reasonable to me. More than that might be pushing it but if you want a more complex design you just have to cough up. For the sake of reference, how much would you see a design like the one you've shown us costing? I love the mirror behind the right side cut-out - I should have a mirror in my case!

I wonder about airflow being restricted with some of those fan openings but that's the customer's choice - not your problem. Maybe have some kind of disclaimer to cover your butt. Get yourself a small paint shop and you're a one-stop custom case shop.

Just out of curiosity, and if you don't mind me asking, where in The Great White North are you?

[Designer]

Originally Posted by David M Isn't that a water jet that OCC uses to cut metal?

Not sure but i do know you can use a water-knife to cut pretty much anything with a good clean cut, we have a 6-axis robot at work with a water knife head and it's used to cut out holes in plastic car parts when it's working properly otherwise it's cutting into the drop ceiling or the concrete floor

That'd probably be a cheaper alternative than a laser cutter and would be cheaper to run as the only consumable used would be water where a laser often requires the use of a gas such as nitrogen (ours use that) or co2 depending on laser type and can go through quite a bit in a short space of time, plus with a water knife you could also reduce pressure and use it to etch metal rather than cutting for say wording etc.

[nocturnx]

Wow this seems really kool. If this service is around for my next build I will definatley consider it. I am curious of the approximate price for the one your showing us would be. I was also planning a mod with a case that had a window with holes in it where my water cooling tubes could run through it, in and out fashion, thought that would be totally geek. This service would make it alot easier for a custom window since I admit my dremel skills are lacking.

[MaxRat]

Yea it was water...my bad...

[sotacs]

You guys seem to be pretty hot on the idea. You have made some great suggestions and have fielded some good questions. I'll try to answer them the best that I can.
First, during the research for an appropriate laser machine to use, I solicited prototype cuts from a handful of them. Some turned out, some didn't, and some couldn't. The images were hand drawn, scanned into a computer, retraced with software, vectorized with a Raster to vector program, cleaned up a little bit in AutoCAD. When it was translated to the CNC code necessary to run the lasers it consumed literally hundreds of thousands of lines of code.
The final image as you see it, took nearly an hour to cut. Live and learn. Before offering these particular images to a public, I will need to redraw it by hand in a CAD program. I would need to get those 400,000 plus points down to a few hundred. At that time it could be cut in 3 to 5 minutes. Once that happens, I figure it could be offered in the $50 to $65 range.
One of the main ideas to doing all of this is to try and make it available to the greatest amount of customers possible by keeping it as economical as possible.

[Stryker says] My only suggestion would be to somehow blacken the cut edges of the metal so you don't see the raw metal under the paint. In a couple of the pics, the raw metal reflects too much (I would assume it looks similar in real life) and it takes away from the effect of having the light shine through the shape. I think it would look a lot more professional and clean if it was solid black.

Well, you are corect there. Even though the acrylic windows were supposed to fit flush with the case windows, I solicited their cuttings from manufacturers of lower powered lasers. Since I had little control over the final product at this point, many of the pieces did not fit as precisely as I had hoped. With those parts that did fit precisely, the inside edges could not be seen. In the final products, we will be striving for absolute precision in this respect.

[Apollo observes] I wonder about airflow being restricted with some of those fan openings but that's the customer's choice - not your problem. Maybe have some kind of disclaimer to cover your butt. Get yourself a small paint shop and you're a one-stop custom case shop.

Just out of curiosity, and if you don't mind me asking, where in The Great White North are you?

You are right about some fan designs being restrictive. The price you pay for fancy fan guards, like the yin and yang dragons, is restricted airflow. This is something the consumer may wish to be aware of if super cooling an OC'd PC is an issue. Good point.

The part of the Great White North I am in is Alaska.

[To Designer] I did look into water cutters briefly, and read up on some comparison reports, then decided that lasers would work best for our application. This is not to take anything away from water cutters; they are incredible machines in their own right.

Also etching on metal could be accomplished with the lasers as well as most of their power can be adjusted to 10% with 1% to 2% increments from there. So a 2 kilowatt laser could be stepped down to 200 Watts minimum. Etching on acrylic would be accomplished through the use of lower powered lasers in the 20 to 30 Watt range. The same ones we would use to cut the acrylic pieces with

[Jaggannath]

Sotacs, you've definitely thought this out well and are, IMO, doing all the right things... I wish you luck

[jayb1234]

A friend of mine runs a commercial display business and uses both laser and water cutting on his custom jobs. He made a very impressive Harley eagle window for his wife's computer that is similiar to what you are working on using a combination of both. With any one of a kind project, your biggest expense will be in the time involved in getting it set up in your cad program, but if you start off with a few standard designs, you should be able to keep the price affordable. And the people who want something unique would probably be willing to pay more to cover your expenses.

[apollo]

Originally Posted by sotacs The final image as you see it... could be offered in the $50 to $65 range.

If you can create that image (which seems pretty complicated) for that price, I think you're on to something.

Originally Posted by sotacs The part of the Great White North I am in is Alaska.

Wow... that really is The Great White North. I was thinking it'd be cool to visit your shop if everything works out but that's a bit of hike. Mind you, Alaska would be doable if I had a place to stay when I got there

Given your location (unless you're planning on relocating for the business), I assume you're planning on shipping a lot of product to your customers. Have you explored the shipping side of things at all? Your price on a $50 item could increase dramatically once you factor in the cost of packaging, shipping, etc. Sounds like you've got a good thing on the go here... just trying to help

[sotacs]

Originally Posted by apollo If you can create that image (which seems pretty complicated) for that price, I think you're on to something. Wow... that really is The Great White North. I was thinking it'd be cool to visit your shop if everything works out but that's a bit of hike. Mind you, Alaska would be doable if I had a place to stay when I got there Given your location (unless you're planning on relocating for the business), I assume you're planning on shipping a lot of product to your customers. Have you explored the shipping side of things at all? Your price on a $50 item could increase dramatically once you factor in the cost of packaging, shipping, etc. Sounds like you've got a good thing on the go here... just trying to help

Man did you hit the nail on the head! The plan from conception was to start this business in the lower 48 somewhere. Shipping to and from Alaska would kill the company quickly. We have had our eyes on the Seattle Washington area.

[kewlman]

good idea.. i think it is a service that can help people personalize their pcs. I cut this case by hand using a dremel tool! turns are rough.

Matthew Benedict kewlman@localnet.com
System Builder / Technician / Case Modder
Kewl Kreations http://www.kewlkreations.com