ATC210 Panel Mod.


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I like to cut a nice and clean windows in my ATC 210 for the transparent windows case.

I heard that most use dremel cutter. After browsing around, there are like 100 different types of cutting. Which one do you use for cutting aluminum?

I want a nice and clean edges no jagged.

If you have mod your case, please assist a newbie.

I feel like a complete fool, i know exactly what I want. But I don't know where to start and what to ask. Please be patience with me.

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*Image courtesy of Atlas SF 201.

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I found this review. Add any suggestion you like.

Dremel

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If you don't have a Dremel, you're not a case modder. If you do have a Dremel and you don't use eye protection, you won't have eyes for long.

There's more than one kind of high speed hand held rotary tool. Dremel are the market leaders and make a variety of models, including lower powered cordless models, but Black and Decker and Ryobi both make consumer-market Dremel-equivalents, and there are more than a few others.

If you need something that'll last for hundreds of hours without switch, brush or bearing failure, and that has more power, too, then you don't want any of these. You want a Foredom flexible-shaft tool. You're looking at around $AUD600 for one of those, though. Dremels and their other-branded relatives start, in kits with a few extra bits, from less than $AUD150.

Generically, "Dremel" sounds better than "high speed hand held rotary tool", so people tend to disregard the Dremel company's trademark and call any such widget a Dremel.

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For computer-modifying purposes, the most useful Dremel attachments are the abrasive cutting wheels. The super-thin emery wheels are great for shortening screws and very fine work, but they're very brittle. The big fibre-reinforced wheels, in contrast, let you use the tool as a bonsai angle grinder.

There are, of course, a zillion other attachments.

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Amateur dentistry, anyone?

For cutting lots of steel, even the thin mild steel of the average computer case, no hand held rotary tool is a brilliant choice. It'll do it, but you'll go through a lot of cutting wheels.

For cutting plastic or softer metals, though, or sanding smooth the inside of a hole you've cut with a jigsaw, or putting a nice neat small hole in something, or any of the thousand and one other household cutting and grinding and polishing tasks that the advertisements go on and on about, it's hard to beat a Dremel.

Buy your Dremel wheels from a hobby shop, or most hardware stores, and you'll pay too much. FAR too much. You can pay five Australian dollars per unit for Dremel-brand 7/8th inch fibre-reinforced wheels at hobby shops.

Back in the land of sanity, a pack of 25 lower quality 1.5 inch fibre-reinforced wheels from Widget Supply will cost you $US7.95 plus shipping. These wheels aren't rated for speeds above 15,000RPM (about half speed, for mains powered Dremels), but that's quite fast enough, considering their size. Even including international shipping, they're far cheaper than brand name wheels. Widget Supply have a big range of similarly cheap Dremel accessories.

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i used a dremel (brandname one too) on my case. I found it very easy to work with. My recommendation is to get two bits. One for cutting a rough hole and then another for smoothing things out.

I'm not sure which type you'll need, but realize the bits can go pretty quick if their the disc ones. I used a round one to do my cutting and it performed very well.

I'd see about getting a peice of aluminum to practice on too. It may turn out better if you know where you're gonna be making mistakes ahead of time...

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Are you using this one?

I am just curious which type is the right one?

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So far I see 3 different type of blade for cutting: filer-type, rounded type, and disk-type. Which one is optimal?

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