ADD :: Sorry for the load times on the pix, they are hosted of my site, which is hosted of my computer



Check next post for the rest of the pix, stupid limit......
Im not sure which section this belongs in, but im putting it here. IF it needs to be moved, go for it.


After cutting the window for my dragon project, I had a lot of scrap metal from the window. I decided to make some custom fan grills out of it. Heres a little guide on how I did it.

First you need to make a plan, I decided on a 80mm grill with an AMD logo in the middle.





If you have Photoshop, this step is simple, just make a canvas 80mm * 80mm and design what ever you want on it. Then after you have it designed, fill in black what ever you want to cut out. Print it out, and cut out the black areas with a razor blade or something. Then tape the design onto your piece of metal (sorry dont have pix of this step). After its all taped on, take some spraypaint and spray over the whole piece, this will leave the parts you want cut out on the metal.




Now comes the fun part, cutting it out. I used my trusty dremel with emery discs and jewlers files. Not really much I can say about this step except for WEAR EYE PROTECTION, gloves help too. Its not very plesant to have a piece of metal get shot in your eye. If your using reiforced fiberglass discs, wear a mask of some sort. The fibers get in your lungs and are carcinogens (not healthy!).










Ok, after you get it all cut out, its time to either polish it to a mirror finish or paint it. I chose polish. First you will need to sand it with 80 or close to grit sand paper, make sure all the deep scratches are out. After that, take sandpaper ranging from 150 to 1000 grit and sand the whole thing, by the time you get to 1000, it should look like this.


Then you can go to any auto store (murrays, autozone, napa) and pick up some 3M rubbing compound. Link. Now take a little bit of the compound and put it on a sock (or anything cotton) and rub down the grill. Rub it in one direction and put some juice on it, other wise it wont work to good. After you can see that it wont get any shinyer, it should look something like this.







Now if your a cheapo like me and didnt want to buy stainless steel or aluminum, you need to pput on some turtle wax or something to prevent rust. You can even get some clearcoat spraypaint and cover it, it will stay just as shiney and not rust.

Heres the final product, enjoy!

Nicely done. You can see that it's custom cut around the edges. You did a great job on the AMD symbol, but then the rim and screw areas got a bit wobbly. I think it still looks totally pimp though, and don't have to fork out big money for a custom grill.

Very nice guide. Altough, I'd clean up those cuts a little more.

hows the air flow?

god some of the grills today have like 2 1 inch wholes in it...

Air flow is ok, it def makes an audible dif when you put it on. But you cant hear a diffirence when I put it on my low speed PSU fan.

Thx for the comments, Im going to do another guide that I will get up by tonight or tommorow. Look out for it.

Bump for the night crew!!!!!!!!!!!

ADD:: To not make this a completly wasted post, why dont we have a member guides section? We have member reviews but not guides......I know I have a few more coming, J-dogg has his heatsink guide. I think it would be nice

Quote: Originally Posted by Dimazz Bump for the night crew!!!!!!!!!!! ADD:: To not make this a completly wasted post, why dont we have a member guides section? We have member reviews but not guides......I know I have a few more coming, J-dogg has his heatsink guide. I think it would be nice

Nice work there, Dimazz

I'm sure Glitterkill would be happy to find room for well written, well photographed pieces like this in the Pimprig Guides section, both ZENNZZO & I had items published there before we became staff