# Custom Fan Grills?



## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

I'm thinking of buying a nice scroll saw... and starting to make custom fan grills out of aluminum and acrylic...

Would anyone here be interested in buying custom fan grills or even getting custom jobs done by me if I can get good enough at it? 

The idea behind what I would do is that I'd provide templates for people to design their own grills which I would then actually fabricate from sheet aluminum or acrylic... 

Prices would be based on complexity of the design, time spent and amount of grills made.

I'll probably end up buying the scroll saw for making fan grills on my own projects... but would anyone else be interested?

The grills would be priced well within reason because I won't have any operating costs besides the materials I cut up... 

What do you guys think?

I know no one would commission me without having an established portfolio, but I plan on building up a collection of completed grills and other works before starting any such business up.

edit:

oh yeah, and turnaround time would be pretty short unlike the big guys who always take weeks to get jobs done... estimated work time would be 1-3 days for simple designs and small jobs


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## Eclecticos (Apr 25, 2008)

I wouldn't. Only because laser cut fangrills are cheap.
Now if you made them with "Perforated metal" I'd probably buy a couple.


Something similar to this:


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## sneekypeet (Apr 25, 2008)

I say make a few and post some pics....I could see this taking off like the waterfall resevoirs.

Plus the fact that I dont have to settle on everyone elses ideas of "cool designs". 

Im sort of tired of aliens and plain mesh style. I think this could make a themed case take just that extra step to completion.....Good luck with this !!!!


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## Nitro-Max (Apr 25, 2008)

I would like to view a few examples first.


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

Eclecticos said:


> I wouldn't. Only because laser cut fangrills are cheap.
> Now if you made them with "Perforated metal" I'd probably buy a couple.
> 
> 
> Something similar to this:



you misunderstood

I realize that a CNC machine will own me anyday in mass producing a grill... (mnpctech uses cnc not lasers) but I will be making 100% custom ones... grills that will never be made again (unless you ask for it)

I'd focus more so around designs that look cool rather then perform amazingly since the best performance comes without a grill.

This would be aimed towards modders who want to "bling" out their projects and to customize it to the smallest extent.


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## Nitro-Max (Apr 25, 2008)

i think if u make some samples people might like what they see if the qualitys good i cant see why people wont buy.


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## Nitro-Max (Apr 25, 2008)

Id like to see color choice too other than silver like gold or red etc..gold fan grills on a black case would look mint!


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

colors would be hard to do unless I just spray paint them... which wouldn't be a high quality finish

powder coating is too much work since it takes forever and I need an industrial oven

I could spray paint them for a small fee (ie. ~5-10), but it wouldn't look as good as a nice powder coat which would rack you up around ~20


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## Nitro-Max (Apr 25, 2008)

couldnt you just buy the metals in that color like anodized or somthing obviosly this would bump the price up but custom jobs aint always cheap.


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## GJSNeptune (Apr 25, 2008)

Definitely need some samples. Try to find some images of Bonzai Mods' grills. His custom grills were pretty damn good, and would be a good standard to match or transcend.

You need to find something different to do to entice people though. Maybe if you could incorporate filters with your grills?


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

the way my grills would be different is that I don't stock them...

I'll have a template readily available once I get used to the scroll saw and you can design your own grills according to your projects, PCs or whatever else you'd use them for.

I may consider buying an anodizing kit (~100-200) for anodizing the parts at home... that would be quite nice and I could get some good results.

and by bonzai grills you mean like this






anyways...

feel free to post up some designs you'd like to see cut out as samples

I'll be getting the scroll saw relatively soon


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## GJSNeptune (Apr 25, 2008)

You should keep a stock, like jewelers have jewelry in their storefront. Cheaper grills you can sell while you're making custom ones.


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## AsRock (Apr 25, 2008)

Eclecticos said:


> I wouldn't. Only because laser cut fangrills are cheap.
> Now if you made them with "Perforated metal" I'd probably buy a couple.
> 
> 
> Something similar to this:



LOL.  were ya find them  i need some.. Chances are they do not  have 40mm one though.

On subject.  yeah i would need to see samples.  I'm after ones that are 120mm\92mm\40mm which are kinda hard to find a matching set.

I'd spray the frame of that one yellow for what i'm about to start.


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

lol the url is right there in the picture...

mnpctech.com

great place, owned by Bill Owen, monster modder


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## GLD (Apr 25, 2008)

The AMD arrow would make a good grill imo.


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## sneekypeet (Apr 25, 2008)

what about using colored lexan for color choices...they sell it in solid colors, not all of it is see through!


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

ahh lol good idea, colored acrylic/lexan/plastic/whatever

already colored and all ready to go!

not to mention cutting the plastic will be much easier then the metal and will take much less time and blades...

anodizing seems like something fun I could do though, so I'll probably try that during the upcoming summer months


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## Kreij (Apr 25, 2008)

Don't try to save money by purchasing cheap scroll saw blades or files.
Olson has been making excellent blades for a long time.


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## SuperStarr (Apr 25, 2008)

Friend make some with dremel:
http://benchmark.co.yu/forum/showthread.php?t=157608


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

Yeah I know, I didn't mean that I would be buying cheap blades, I just didn't want to have to pay as much in replacing the blades over and over while doing a job

edit:

superstarr... jesus, those are beautiful

must've taken forever with a dremel...


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## Kreij (Apr 25, 2008)

commandercup said:


> Yeah I know, I didn't mean that I would be buying cheap blades, I just didn't want to have to pay as much in replacing the blades over and over while doing a job



I didn't mean to imply you would use cheap blades, I was just reminding you 
Better blades will last longer and you will have to replace them less often.


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

yeah heh, I cant wait to get my hands on a scroll saw... seems like quite an awesome machine to work with


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## Kreij (Apr 25, 2008)

I have a Ryobi for woodworking. Works just fine.
Just make sure to check the tension on your blade often.
If the blade stretches from the lateral pressure, the cuts can get sloppy, and you won't be a happy camper if you are almost done with one and it gets borked.


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

yeah

btw, do you think its worth getting a saw with a long throat? (distance between blade and arm) 

I'm pretty sure that I'll only be cutting grills... which can be cut into small managable peices with a jig

could save quite a bit..


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## AsRock (Apr 25, 2008)

commandercup said:


> lol the url is right there in the picture...
> 
> mnpctech.com
> 
> great place, owned by Bill Owen, monster modder



Cheers for pointing the link out.  BUT there's no 40mm ones, as i said i need 120mm 92mm and 40mm.


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## commandercup (Apr 25, 2008)

oh, I misread your post, thought you meant you just wanted that type of grill...

just go to somewhere like performance-pcs.com or xoxide.com and check out the various grills they have

they have quite an extensive selection

if you want a simple wire grill type, performance-pcs has a bunch which come in all sizes (i think)


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## AsRock (Apr 25, 2008)

commandercup said:


> oh, I misread your post, thought you meant you just wanted that type of grill...
> 
> just go to somewhere like performance-pcs.com or xoxide.com and check out the various grills they have
> 
> ...



Maybe i should of said not the wire type...  But thanks for trying..


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## Nitro-Max (Apr 25, 2008)

SuperStarr said:


> Friend make some with dremel:
> http://benchmark.co.yu/forum/showthread.php?t=157608



thats really good work for a dremel


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## Eclecticos (Apr 26, 2008)

commandercup said:


> you misunderstood
> 
> I realize that a CNC machine will own me anyday in mass producing a grill... (mnpctech uses cnc not lasers) but I will be making 100% custom ones... grills that will never be made again (unless you ask for it)
> 
> ...



Nah. . you don't need a CNC to make those. I'd recommend a band saw to cut out your squares or aluminum, plexi, or acrylic. A hole saw attachment for your drill, and a router to recess your bolts. Here are some Perforated Metals Types for anyone interested.

. .Yea i see what your doing now making custom graphic type fan grills. Thats cool.


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## commandercup (Apr 26, 2008)

no I mean, those are specifically cnc machine billet aluminum fan grills, thats how MNPCtech makes them and thats why it costs so much

but yeah, you can make that pretty easily with a nice jigsaw or even an experienced dremel hand

I hate hole saw attachments lol... atleast the 4 1/2" ones... crazy torque


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## Eclecticos (Apr 26, 2008)

I know exactly what you mean about the holesaw attachments. 
Best thing to do is drill a pilot hole in the center so it dosen't start walking around.
I'd also recommend using a Hammerdrill, and a Micrometer.

You want to see a dremel master? His name is Ulysses Cazuquel . .and he is the mannn! Link <=-

A also found a guide for creating fan grills. Link <=-


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## commandercup (May 4, 2008)

GJSNeptune said:


> You should keep a stock, like jewelers have jewelry in their storefront. Cheaper grills you can sell while you're making custom ones.



thats actually a really good point...

but heres the new dilemma... how should pricing work out? There will definitely be dynamic pricing based on how complex the requested design is... but what should be the price range? 5-30? is 30 too high? 5 too low?

consider in that each grill will be custom made... and quality will be very important, if there are any flaws, the old one will just be scrapped (probably sold off later as a messed up grill) 

I will also be buying a decent small drill press to make sure that all the holes for the grill are perfectly aligned and that there are no scratches on the grill from drilling mistakes.

anyways... I just got the scroll saw today, so I'll be ordering off for some nice blades tonight, in the meantime I'll be doing some mock up cuts to see how this thing works.

orders will be taken around the end of next week, samples will be up by the end of this week


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## Nitro-Max (May 4, 2008)

Well paying for custom jobs aint always cheap so you pretty much name your price if they say no then its up to you if you lower it or not but just dont loose out i mean you have to cover costs plus time.


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## Nitro-Max (May 4, 2008)

Ill be interested in a 120mm fan grill to match my 2 80mm ones ill have to see what the works like first though obviously or i may buy another custom set .


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## commandercup (May 4, 2008)

well for all custom things, I'd probably require advance payment... since the turnaround time would be less then a week for each job and because like you said, I don't want to do some intricate work to find out that the person is no longer interested...

of course... if the work turns out sub par, I'll either redo it or give a refund.

edit:

nitro, are you interested in getting a grill in any particular design? I could make some samples out of your designs or w/e which I could sell you for cheaper then I would normally charge.


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## Nitro-Max (May 4, 2008)

Well they are atom design if you google search you will find it easy enough i have 2 80mm ones but the fron one is just standard mesh. As for a custom set ill have to see what i can come up with and let you know.

If you look at my rig in the link below my sig youll see the 120mm front fan its just plain mesh.
i would like some gold ones tbh but that might work out expensive inc shipping to the uk but i think that would look good with black and red.


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