donnybrook

so i have about 3 or 4 old computers/cases layin around, and the possibility of a few more. reading around on here and a few other places ive seen people get pretty creative with some old cases and wanted to try my hand, as i have plenty of ideas floatin around up there.

first a couple of questions.

do you do your own paint finishing, and if so, do you/how do you heat try it? your normal cooking oven? do you send it out to get painted(i hope not, im gonna try and do this 100%in-home)? do you have a special oven for curing the paint, and if so what would the cost be?

i have a couple other questions, but lets start off with those as they are first and foremost in my head. thanks guys, i love having you here to answer my random questions i have that pop into my head.




also, to those that do this for money. is it more profitable to build custom cases and leave it at that? or to finish the job and build whole systems.

when i was in high school i did a little home-run clothing company. jeans, shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts and everything was done out of home. i actually learned how to use a sewing machine. i missed those days, but wasnt really into the whole clothing designing work, and the idea came to my head after seeing some of the custom cases people have made with old gateway cases and what not, i have a good amount of garage space these days and have been trying to decide on a hobby to pick up now that im getting a bit older and have less "go out and skateboard" energy. thanks in advance and im looking forward to getting some projects underway for you guys to criticize to death lol.

CattleRustler

theres really no one way of doing it. i have seen baked paint that looks great, I have seen wet sanded rattle can paint that looks great, I have seen pro paint that looks great, and I have seen all of the above look crap as well.

If you have the space in your garage then you might want to stock up with some essential tools and stuff, and take one of them old cases, and start experimenting

my gumdrop build (link in sig) is an example of a humble diy garage build, biege case resurrection, with pro paint. My best advice is read the logs on this site and see what everyone is doing and how they do it - you be nothing short of amazed at the talents here and the myriad of techniques people use to accomplish things. Good luck and get modding

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repo_man

For PC cases you can just use rattle can spray paint. You don't need an oven to 'cure' it, just give it ample time to air dry, around a day or so.


Sand, prime, sand, color coat, done! Thats a pretty basic step by step. Yes you can go wet-sand between all the coats and get fancy, but inthe end, just keep it simple unless your looking for some really glass-smooth pro finish.

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donnybrook

ya im going for the super gloss look, i have a tattoo artist friend that is willing to do design work on stuff for me as well. i was a bit unsure as the paint drying, if you let it air dry and it would turn out the same as a proffessional easy bake oven would do, just with less time. question answered! hehe

next question. if i were to want to do this as a side job, for some income out of this, would it be more profitable to build simple systems and sell them as a "turn-key" out the door type? or as cases by them selves. im handy enough i have no problem figuring anything out on my own, with a bit of personal, expert advice of course, my system im on now was the first time ive attempted anything, and other then my crap 9600 choice, this system is flawless and it cost me under 600 bucks, so i knowi woldnt have a problem there, but is it worth the extra investment/time to do it like that? or is it better to design/build custom cases and sell them off that way.

I live in socal so my market is plenty big. its a weird question i know, and i dont plan on getting rich off it. but it will help to pay the bills and allow me to finish going to school without having to work graveyards at a second job.

thanks again in advance you guys are the best!!



current mats: Garage, basically empty minus some storage in the rafters and my roomates, girlfriends, and my road bikes. thinking about putting a large worktable/station in the middle of the carport area. skillsaw, jigsaw, table saw, band saw. dremmels with about 25 attachments.
now saying that i have them, not saying im good with them yet lol. wasnt exactly the ace in wood shop, but other factors effected my performance. I inherited the tools when my father died and havnt had anything ive wanted to use them for untill now. honestly, im excited about this, and have been frantically drawing out plans (horribly i might add, maybe i should take a drafting class or something lol) and collecting cases/parts ive seen lyin around and what not.

ps. appoligies for the ranting, ive no mary-jane to calm the nerves this week so im pretty damn scatter brained.

/cheers!

repo_man

If you want a really glossy look use multiple coats of clear-coat and then wetsand them smooth, followed by buffing them out. The sanding makes it even and gives the glass smoothness, the buffing will polish it back out.

I'm not sure how profitable it will be. CyberDruid here sells custom rigs and I'm sure he can attest, it takes a bit before it gets marketable. Perhaps custom themed cases geared towards local scenes? Maybe a skateboard themed/LAN party theme (think some LAN game or something) would be better as it would appeal to a certain market. As far as a regular joe coming in and buying a pre-built system they won't pay what you'd have to charge to make a profit, they don't know enough, just want to get online,lol. Which would just be as easy as getting a *gasp* Dell from best buy or something.

So in short, I think getting a clientele base with more specific themed cases would be more profitable than per-say making some painted cases and trying to sell them to average joes.

*Take my .02 FWIW, I have no experience trying to market or sell PC's or cases, so my input may not be very credible*

__________________


Current Projects - Sanguineus Cinis Cineris Hinges for Syrillian's Silentium

Completed Build Log's Project: Phoenix Flip this Tower
My guides and How-to'sBondo Q & A Rivets!

donnybrook

ya i wasnt plannin on building benchmarkers. i was thinking of building sub 300 dollar internals and customing a case trying to get 7 or 800 bucks out of it. but ya, i understand what you mean, bestbuy is just a car ride away.

i wish i had the skills cyberdruid has. i even thought about breaking the bank once or twice for my own build from him, but the past year has been one tight budget, and with marriage, more school, and higher rent, the rest of the year doesnt look too bright either. thats another reason i want to start building cases. i love my cm690, but i hate boring black cases and thats exactly what i have. boring. black.

besides, my puny system doesnt deserve to be in a cyberdruid case anyway :P and im not anywhere near able to afford the barn burner i want. mmmmm quad core... *shakes out the thoughts* im on a budget dangit!