On Sat, Feb 09, 2008 at 12:24:56PM -0500, Douglas A. Tutty wrote:
> hello,
>
> Me again with my project.
>
> Some people off-list have found me some low-MHz computers and will mail
> me the boards with CPU + memory etc. One is a Tyan dual Pentium
> {133|166}.
>
> Now I'm looking for a great case in which to mount it (them?). Starting
> with wikipedia on EMR shielding, and surfing fro there, I've learned
> that steel is much better for this than aluminum of the same thickness,
> and the thicker the better (see skin depth). Wouldn't you know it: my
> Athlon64's case is steel frame with thin aluminum panels. So, I guess
> its case should be changed too.
>
> Asthetics don't matter.
>
> I'm wondering if in your travels, have any of you seen a case (tower,
> desktop, or rackmount) that is:
>
> -- of heavy steel frame and panels.
Every *old* case I have fits your requirements more or less (I might
even have a spare, now that I think of it...). I suggest
you go to the local (is there such a thing?) computer reseller/parts
shop and scrounge for old cases. They are invariably steel all the way
around and an be had for next to nothing (even nothing sometimes).
You may need to add a couple baffles. Some of my old ones are all
steel all the way around except for some "cooling" holes on the
back. A simple baffle pop-rivetted over that would allow airflow but
eliminate the line-of-sight issue. The only other concern would be the
front panel. These tend to have lots of holes in them. Again a little
sheet steel and a pop-rivet gun would clean that up pretty
quickly. THe only things that should penetrate through that front
panel would be cd/floppy drives and those are generally wrapped in
steel anyway, so that might be no problem.
You mention good cooling and so forth, but I'm not sure how much of a
concern that really is on these lower power machines. A couple of good
fans strategically placed should be plenty.
Finally, if you have a steel framed case, probably the back panel is
steel and all you'd need are new sides/top/bottom. It should be
straightforward to add steel sides to an existing frame relatively
inexpensively.
A
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