metalworking question...

[artoodeeto]

Hey guys, how easy/hard would it be to get some aluminum or steel sheet metal, as thin as possible, and, using a hacksaw, pliers, and drill, make a couple long strips bent into essentially an upside U shape with the cross-piece flat instead of curved? I want to use metal, but I don't *really* have metalworking tools is what it comes down to.

I have my metal motherboard tray mounted on 1" tall pieces of wood stake in my sandcrawler, to raise the mobo up. These stakes stick out slightly from under the metal tray, and I want to make 2 of the aforementioned aluminum strips to screw into the tops of these stakes and the flat crosspiece would hold a 15" radiator over the motherboard. not really my first location choice, but it's about the only place the thing can go and get decent airflow.

[Trace]

If its thin metal, you could use some boards clamped top and bottom of the metal, clamped to a table and bend using another board to push.

[artoodeeto]

yeah, the bending shouldn't be too much of an issue, I was more worried about being able to cut strips of it, since they'll need to be relatively long, probably a couple feet total. might be able to use my jigsaw though, but cutting in a straight line with it is tough....man I need a table saw.
Anyone out there able to do it for me if I gave you the measurements? I'll add a shot of a sketchup model later today so you can see what I have in mind.

[Airbozo]

Before cutting anything, check your local home center. Stroll down the aisle with the "Simpson Ties". They may have exactly what you need...

I used some flat bar with holes in it for mounting some hard drives while doing some benchmarks. It actually worked really well.


Here is an example of what I used:

http://www.strongtie.com/products/connectors/HRS-ST-PS-HST-LSTA.asp#gallery

Check out their site for more or just wander through Home Depot...

[Trace]

I might be able to do it for you.

[artoodeeto]

http://i597.photobucket.com/albums/tt53/artoodeeto/crawler%20update/radmount.jpg

this is sort of what I'm going for - the bottom tabs will screw into the stake tops holding up the motherboard, and the radiator will be mounted along the top portion of the bar, which in this model is about 8" long (I think that's about how wide the rad is). there'd be 2 of these mounts at the front and back of the rad.

[Trace]

Angle Measurements?

[artoodeeto]

no idea. well, not yet anyway. see, a lot of the problem is I hadn't planned on putting a radiator in there, so now I kinda have to fudge it given the space available. and I can't see inside the case, much less stick a ruler or protracter in there...so a lot of it is guesswork. I'm going to see if I can figure all that out, maybe do a mockup in cardboard first before making the real one from metal....

[Trace]

Let me know if you need any help

[billygoat333]

I would recommend the cardboard mockup :P good luck.

[blueonblack]

I second Airbozo's suggestion. How wide do you need these? If you don't have to have them some weird exact measurement (1.3245454 inches), I'd be very surprised if these aren't available ready-made for some other purpose, just waiting for you to cut them to length. They use flat metal strips that are about an inch and a half wide as tie-downs for mobile homes, for instance.

[artoodeeto]

yeah, I went to Home Depot today and picked up a couple 3 foot long aluminum bars, 3/4" wide and 1/8" thick. All I have to do is bend them to fit, drill holes in the right spots, and cut off the excess (I only need ~26" of the 36" inches for each). Width almost didn't matter, just as long as they were wide enough to put in the type of screws usually used to mount fans...which reminds me I need to go back to the store with a screw so I can get a few more longer ones...kicked myself when I got there today and realized I forgot. oh well :) got the bars, and that's a start.