Metal Cases

[Indybird]

Heres what happened today. I brought my computer over to my friend's house for a Unreal Tournament III LAN Party. Everything went fine until I packed up my stuff to leave. I put my external hard drive in my regular fabric bag and took it outside. As I was putting it in the trunk of my car I hit it on the bumper. When I got home I checked it out: the case of the drive was dented but the drive was ok. Now this isn't the first time this has happened. I've banged up several items in the past, and now I am going to do something about it.

I want to buy a metal case and put some accessory-shaped foam pieces on the inside. The kind of case I am thinking of is like one of those gun cases or tripod cases. I think they usually have a ribbed aluminum exterior. To hold all of my items I'd need a case that is 7" thick, 26" wide and 18" tall.

Where can I buy a case like this?

Second, I want the foam to fit to all of my items. This would probably mean custom cutting the foam.
What is the best tool to:
A) cut large pieces of pieces of foam
and
B) cut detailed shapes in foam.

Thanks,
Indybird

[Bopher]

I think my brother picked up one of those cases from Wal*Mart for his paintball gun. I'll throw him an e-mail and ask. I would say any Wal*Mart, Home Depot, Lowes. I would even check out gun stores. I've seen some setup for the smaller handguns.

Quick Ebay for "Metal Equiptment Cases" (http://search.ebay.com/metal-equipment-case_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQcatrefZC6QQdfspZ1QQfromZR10Q QfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQftrtZ1QQftrvZ1QQpqryZMetalQ20Equi ptmentQ20caseQQsabfmtsZ1QQsacatZQ2d1QQsaobfmtsZins ifQQsofocusZbs)

[Spawn-Inc]

i went to zellers (like walmart) and picked one up for i think 20 and it was empty, with 2 locks and a couple of pockets. as said above try walmart, home depot etc.

i guess i'm used to my vantec external case but how do you dent such a thing? are you buying cheapo externals? the vantec one is at least 1-1.5mm thick aluminum.

[Indybird]

I think I want to go to a place that specializes in this stuff, so that I have a really good selection.
The thing about my External is that it is made out of about 1mm thick aluminum, but every once in a while I'm not very careful and stuff like that happens.

Thats not my main reason for wanting this. The main reason is so that I can have my monitor, keyboard, mouse, CDs and cables all in one case.

-Indybird

[Bopher]

Found these while browsing last night:

SBC Cases (http://www.sbccase.com/)

Custom Cases (http://www.customcases.com/laptop/?c1=payperclick&source=Overture&kw=competition)

Hope those help some.

[chaksq]

Said it once and I'll say it again: Pelican cases. Not metal but these things are great. Slightly expensive but can be set up to do exactly what you want.

[Indybird]

I like the cases on that SBC site, but I wonder if the quote is free.

-Indybird

[Airbozo]

I too like the pelican cases. Less likely to get damaged in high abuse situations. I have taken mine to Alaska kayaking. Tied the case off to the kayak and it fell in and floated behind me for a while until I needed the camera. Got tossed around in a Beaver with no ill effects and survived a 4x4 trip bouncing around in the back of our Landcruiser.

Most of the Pelican cases come with a foam block, you cut to size.

EDIT: BTW, the SBC cases are _EXPENSIVE_!