A Cup of PC (PC Case)

The Death of My Shoebox

My PC lived happily in a shoebox. However, one day, the shoebox died in an accident. So I decided to use some acrylic sheets on hand to quickly make a new chassis according to the layout of my studio and upgrade my PC a bit in the meantime. I took the InWin H-Frame Series as a reference. The steps are as follows:

[ Materials ]

• Acrylic Sheet (3mm): About 1300 x 500 mm in total
• Hex Spacer (M3, Male, 25mm + 6mm): 34 pcs
• Hex Spacer (M3, Male, 5mm + 5mm): 9 pcs
• Bolt (M3, Pozi, 15mm): 1 pcs
• Bolt (M3, Pozi, 6mm): 23 pcs
• Nut (M3, Hexagon, Full): 12 pcs
• Spray Paint: Green
• Acrylic Adhesive

[ Specifications ]

• Motherboard Support: Mini-ITX
• GPU Clearance: L: 190mm, W: 2 Slots, H: 156mm (excl. power connector)
• Storage: 2 x 2.5" Drive Bays
• Power Supply Support: Standard SFX form factor

Step 1: Prepare the File for Laser Cutting

1-1. Download and modify the file based on your needs.

There are neither I/O panel nor power switch in the original design, please feel free to add them yourself.

There are two different colours of vector lines:

Red: Cutting

Blue: Vector etching

Step 2: Spray the Logo

I am sorry I forgot to take pictures for this step... : (

2-1. Carefully remove the protective film on the engraving area on frame 0

2-2. Spray the area without the protective film

2-3. Remove the rest of the protective film on frame 0

Step 3: Assembly - Drive Bay, Motherboard, Power Supply

3-1. Glue the drive rack on frame 1

3-2. Install a Mini-ITX motherboard on the same frame with 4 * 5mm spacers

3-3. Install a power supply on the same frame

3-4. Connect frame 1 and frame 0 together with 5 * 5mm spacers

3-5. Screw 5 * 25mm spacers on frame 1

Step 4: Install Drives

4-1. Install drives on the drive trays

4-2. Put the trays on the drive rack

4-3. If you install a traditional HDD, you may consider fixing the tray on the rack with a small amount of adhesive

Step 5: Install a Graphics Card

5-1. Insert a graphics card into the motherboard

Step 6: Assembly - Frame 2 to Frame 5

6-1. Assemble frame 2 to frame 5 with 25mm spacers:

• 5 spacers are used between frame 1 and frame 2
• 5 spacers are used between frame 2 and frame 3
• 6 spacers are used between frame 3 and frame 4
• 6 spacers are used between frame 4 and frame 5

Step 7: Secure the Graphics Card

7-1. Secure the card's bracket to frame 5 with the 15mm bolt and 2 nuts

Step 8: Assembly - Frame 6, Cables, Frame 7

8-1. Connect frame 5 and frame 6 with 25mm spacers

8-2. Connect any cables required (don't forget the power switch!)

8-3. Connect frame 6 and frame 7 with 25mm spacers

8-4. Secure frame 7 with nuts

Step 9: There You Have It!