oliverw92

Hello all you UK modders and PC builders! I have made this thread as a resource for all UK people on OCN to use as a place to come and find the best places to get modding supplies and services. As most of us know, things are more expensive in the UK than in the US and also a lot harder to come by.

I will list all i know in categories. Please contribute! I want to try and get this stickied so it is a permanent resource for people to use. Just post a link and what it is you have found, that is all. I will update the op



General Modding Supplies

These are places that supply general stuff for modding.

Kustom PCs <-- One of the best modding shops. One of the only places in the UK i found to supply things like molex plugs of all sorts and the pins to go with them

Chilled PC <-- Good watercooling supplier and has an ok modding section. One of the cheapest places for vandal switches

AquaTuning UK <-- Has lots of small modding stuff. Very good for cable management supplies.

SpecialTech <-- Nice modding collection there too, a little more expensive than KustomPC though.

Overclockers UK <-- Ok resource for things like cathodes. Also stock drive bays.

B&Q <-- Good place to get power tools, general gubbins.




Cable Management

This section outlines everything from sleeving to heatshrink to zip ties to cable clips.

Sleeving

http://en.mdpc-x.com/ <-- By far some of the best sleeving in the world. Nils the owner is a great guy and will give you a small free gift if you spend a fair amount. Each customer also gets a unique hand drawn picture on the packaging which is a nice touch Be prepared to pay a premium though! The quality comes at a fair cost. It is well worth it though! MDPC do packs of sleeving to make your life very easy too with full instructions on how to sleeve.

Rapid Online <-- Not normally known for anything to do with PC building. They are the biggest UK electronic component supplier, but also do rather nice sleeving. It is also incredibly cheap. You can get a 100m roll for £30 which is VERY good. Unfortunately they only go down to 5mm heatshrink. They do grey and black sleeving

Kustom PCs <-- Get TechFlex Cleancut. It is by far the best they do. Cuts very neatly. AC Ryan sleeving is NOT good. I have found it to set on fire when trying to seal the ends, whereas all other types just melt and seal nicely.

Chilled PC <-- Do a nice range of top quality sleeving

Heatshrink

One place. Rapid Online. They are the cheapest and best value. 3:1 is the best, but if you know what sizes you need then 2:1 mini reels are great value, 12m for £5.

Cable Management (bases, zip ties, clips)

AquaTuning UK <-- So many different types of cable clips and zip tie bases you will lose yourself!

Kustom PCs <-- Nice selection of things, some times run out of stock though.




Fittings

Screws and fittings are very hard to come by, and you can guarantee you will get ripped off by the actual PC companies if you buy fittings through them. Especially hard to come by are black oxide screws. In the US these are abundant in all hardware stores, sadly the 'hardware store' has died out in the UK and has been replaced by the monstrosity that is Homebase. We need McMaster in the UK...

Model Fixings <-- This company saved me from paying a ridiculous amount of money importing machine screws from the US. They have EVERY kind of nut and bolt you could imagine. Particularly good are the black hex screws. They do all types; cap, button, countersunk, you name it. They do it! Also do it in all sizes including UNC (imperial basically) and metric. NB: Oxide means black. They have pictures though so you can normally tell.

Rapid Online <-- If you need some standoffs, go there. They have every possible kind in any length from 3mm up to 3cm, sometimes more. They also do nice silver ones which look better than the brass ones. Also do an OK range of other fittings.

Maplin <-- They have an ok range of standard PC fittings. They can be expensive though, and the staff are idiots so order it online.




Lighting and Electronics

Making your case pretty and glowing can be expensive. Here are the top places to buy cathodes, LEDs and general electronics.

LED HK <-- THE place to buy LEDs. Don't you dare buy them and pay £1 per LED from Maplin, this places sells you 100 for £8. They are very good too. Come packaged in a static bag and everything. Come from the Hong Kong so expect around a weeks delivery time.

Rapid Online <-- The best place in the UK to buy electronics. Whether you are making a PWM fan controller or just buying some resistors, they do it cheap! We are talking 50p for 100 resistors here guys They also have a massive range of ICs and rare components. However shipping is massive until it becomes free at around £40. Make big orders here or you will be paying more than the value of the products in shipping!

Maplin <-- I do not like putting Maplin down, I have had bad experiences with them. However they do have some things that i can't get anywhere else and they have a massive range of things that are very useful such as soldering irons etc. NEVER buy computer hardware from them, their returns policies are ridiculous, as are their prices. They have saved my bacon and alot of time a few times though and are cheap on things like capacitors. Not LEDs though, they are expensive, you have to find them in stock first though... but that is another story!

http://cpc.farnell.com/ <-- Nearly as good as rapid, and apparently there is an advantage with it being in Preston(?).




Switches

Alot of people don't know what to use for a switch on their case. Vandal switches are the way to go! Expensive, but look amazing

Kustom PCs <-- Normally have lots of types in stock but few of them. Email them to find out when they get them in and ask them to notify you when they come in, they are very nice there and great service. Even have latching vandal switches which are a rare things to find.

AquaTuning UK <-- Very good stock indication system and nearly always have them in stock. Do not have latching ones however. They also have a massive supply of flip switches and things for lighting.

Rapid Online <-- Not very many vandal switches and they are all silver, but they have a nice range of other switches.




Taps

Taps are used to make threads for PCB pillars and mounting hard drives etc.

Model Fixings <-- The only place i would recommend. Excellent service and great quality taps.




Powdercoating

Powdercoating is an alternative to painting. It is better than painting in that you get a smoother finish which is also very resistant to scratches and impact. You will find that most consumer cases are powdercoated already on metal parts. You can normally only powdercoat metal, although some plastics have been known to work. Powdercoating works by spraying a coloured powder over the items. These are then placed in a very hot oven in which the powder melts and adheres to the surface.

WatercoolingUK <-- The best place i know of. Marcus, their powdercoater, runs a worklog of his stuff on here. It is stunning. He can do whatever you need. Also relatively cheap. £120 to do an entire case and they do all the work for you.

Yellow Pages! <-- Must for powdercoating, find your local and they can do it cheaper than the 'specialist' computer powdercoaters. Also means no shipping costs!

TTL Customs <-- Website is down, but the guy still does stuff on the forums. Can be done for around £50




Laser Cutting and Water Jet cutting

Sometimes you just can't be bothered getting the dremel out and cutting your own window then having to finish it nicely and then put c-strip on and fuss with all of that. Laser cutting and water jet cutting is the answer. This gives a perfect finish and can allow for very precise designs to be done. Virtually anything can be cut by laser and water jet as long as the machine is powerful enough.

WatercoolingUK <-- Good laser cutting service. Not much to comment on really, will do anything.

Chilled PC <-- Have water cutting service




That is all i can think of now. I need your help to keep this thread going!

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biatchi

http://cpc.farnell.com/ sell basically everything Rapid do and have the added bonus of being based in Preston

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Basically Random Idiotic Terrible Insanely Stupid Humour

oliverw92

Will add it up! They don't have alot of the really complex electrical stuff like they have at rapid, but looks like they have some nice stuff!

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Starbuck5000

B&Q for general gubbins.

Yellow pages is a must as well. The sites like Kustom/Watercooling charge 70 quid to powder coat a case. Call up local places and you'll find they will do it for 30-50 quid. Don't have to worry about postage either

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Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Student (Joint Bsc Hons)
STUDENT FINANCE HURRY UP!!!

Has far to many components for a 20 year old, and while you're at it forgive my spelling, the keyboard is dyslexic

coffeejunky

ChilledPC do water cutting and also nice sleeving.
Theres also TTLCustoms, site appears defunct but he's still active in the forums, he does powdercoating insides for £50 and offers numerous custom services.

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oliverw92

Awesome i will add it up

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noobclocker1277

dude you forgot ebuyer

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oliverw92

Their modding supplies are very limited, if i were to put them down i would have to put loads of other sites that sell cathodes or fans etc.

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waqasr

Oh man, Excellent Sites there oliver, rep+ for sure, this needs to be stickied...

off topic, did you get the xbox controller?

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SEX
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Jay Scott

Great post, will bookmark this one!

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