Part 7 - Rear Panel
To create the rear panel, I carefully measured the height and width of the case and transferred them to a piece of 3/4" (≈19.1mm) acrylic sheet. The position of the PCI slots, power supply, and I/O area were also taken and transferred. Before cutting the acrylic to its final size, all the cutouts were made using a drill press and a jig saw. Then, the panel was cut to its final size on a table saw using a tungsten-carbide-tipped finishing blade. Each finishing cut required eight passes, just under 1/8" (≈3mm) at a time. Finally, I used a router to round the outside edges and the inside edges of the PCI and I/O cutouts. I left the power supply edges square.

In order to attach the rear panel to the case, I cut two 3" (76.2mm) lengths of 3/4" square aluminum angle and drilled three holes in each where they would be attached to the case. Corresponding holes were drilled in the case sides. Then, two more holes were drilled in each angle where the rear panel would be attached. The position of these holes was transferred to the rear panel itself and drilled out. I cut two smaller pieces of angle for stabilizing the bottom and attaching the top of the case as well. Their positions were also transferred to the rear panel, drilled out, and tapped.

The power supply was going to be mounted outset by 1" (25.4mm), so I cut two blocks of acrylic to 1" x 3-1/2" size. These were tapped and attached to the rear panel with plastic solvent and recessed Allen bolts. Then, I milled out the slot above the PCI cutout and tapped holes where the PCI cards would be bolted down. I nearly forgot to put in a power switch hole and a hole for the Griffin gPort, so I located likely spots and drilled some more. I carved out a roughly hex-shaped area on the inside of the panel around the power switch hole. There, I used cyanoacrylate adhesive to fix the power switch nut in place. I then made a plastic panel from polystyrene sheet using the Yosemite I/O panel as a template. I temporarily fitted the actual motherboard and the rear panel to the case to get the most accurate fit for the I/O panel, which was glued to the inside of the rear panel using plastic solvent. Finally, I removed the rear panel and rough-sanded it for later painting.

	Rear panel cut out, trimmed, tapped, sanded, and ready for painting. Note the aluminum angle attached to the inside for securing to the case top and bottom. Once attached to the case, the rear panel provides tremendous strength and resistance to twisting for the whole case.

	Rear panel outside view.

« PREVIOUS	« HOME »	NEXT »
•  Introduction  •  Planning  •  Patterns and Templates  •  Case Preparation  •  SuperDisk  •  CD-RW  •  Drive Activity Lights  •  Rear Panel  •  Switches  •  Test Fit  •  Cable Management  •  Painting  •  Final Assembly  •  Gallery  •