Just take it slow and steady, maybe do a primary run with a smaller bore hole to catch the larger bit in place.
Also, maybe print a template to tape on for a guide? Just occurred to me
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Iāve got a template and will do a small drill, then larger. Still nerve-wracking.
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The small-drill-first is what I usually do whenever metal is involved, it really helps. Especially when youāre doing something in 1:12 scale for your motherās insane dollshouse collection 
I have drilled!
Iām reasonably happy with it. Hereās the finished pic:
And more here.
The ādesignā was a spiral, but intentionally cut off at the bottom 1.5 inches to avoid cutting the existing vent area, which Iām certain would have splintered.
I had sketched out a design for a āstarā pattern, but after discussing with $Wife I settled on the spiral. More holes, and since itās a more fluid design I figured it wouldnāt be as noticeable if Iām a millimeter off here and there.
Drilling was a two-step process as expected. Drilled out the center of each ābulls-eyeā with a small bit, then hit with a 15/64th as I was worried the full 1/4" bit would make the gaps between the inner holes too thin.
Tomorrow morningās goal is to do some sanding on the back holes, and maybe final assembly for the back section. Maybe even lightāer up!
Waiting for a replacement internal USB extender I can hopefully use for my front panel idea. Iāve decided to get the rear (mostly) done then refocus on the front.
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Looks good!
Are you going to use a really small fan with the outer parts of the spiral just for decoration? It seems like that would very restrictive if the fan isnāt wee small. But I can be a little paranoid about ventilation, ever since I had a 486, which they said didnāt need a cooler, but they were wrong, so it got way toastier that I would have liked.
That is venting for the Power supply fan.
First thing Iāll apply after the OS will be Monity to pull up whatever diagnostics I can. I should have a secondary fan, too, and the current layout is thankfully not that tight.Not sure where the secondary fan will go right now.
Iāll monitor. I can probably add some more holes in the pattern if the temperature is creeping up on me.
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We have boot!
This came with a downside, though: I need to go back and remove about a 4" by 1/4" piece of plastic from the case to make the video card fit better. As well, Iāll need to fashion another āshieldā for the motherboard and video card.
However, I ende dup hooking everything up and testing. We power up! I was able to:
- Boot from a USB stick (USB 2.0 ports only, though?)
- Run Unibeast, a tool to install Mac OS X on unsupported hardware.
- Install Mac OS X El Capitan
- Reboot into El Capitan!
Expected stuff was (mostly) working. I didnāt have time to do a really thorough checkout. I need to research a couple important and related things: Right now the fan runs at max, as thereās no fan control or temperature monitoring functioning. Thereās tricks to get this working, I think.
Some amusing problems while setting up the interior:
- SATA devices need power, if you want them to work.
- I had to toss my CPU cooler I had upgraded to and use the included one.The upgrade extended āoutā too far and would have prevented using a RAM slot!
- More with the CPU cooler: I had wanted the motherboard to be secure, so I sued every possible stand-off location. This included four holes right by the CPU. Four holes that were for the CPU coolerā¦
To do:
- Cut the last bit of case that needs to be removed.
- Recut the āshieldā
- Interior cable management.
- Add secondary SSD (Itās a 240 vs. the 120, so Iāll probably make that one primary).
- I may take a swing at rigging some additional āstrappingā to back-stop the motherboard so when you plug in something, it canāt be pushed away. I have an idea on how to do thisā¦
- The front bezel. (This is several items.)
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Ooooohā¦ Looks like thereās a follow-up tool to run after the install thatāll fix some of my issues. After the cleanup work!
More cleaning and fabricating acrylic this week. Iām much happier with the video card now that itās got a proper āshelfā to rest on.Need to take a tiny bit off the case when time permits, but Iāve got another couple projects I need to get working on, too.
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Stupid question, but Iām replacing the CPU cooler with another one that should be quieter and work better (as every source says the default Intel one is crap): Whatās the best way to remove old thermal paste?
Careful use of a plastic scraper (or a business card) followed by some isopropyl alcohol (using cotton buds) to remove the remaining traces.
Recent-ish (last 5 years or so I think) stock Intel coolers are supposed to be pretty good, if noisy.
Saliva and sandpaper.
Iāll second that. The last few Iāve installed were retail box with stock cooler and havenāt have any problems in several years.
Itās noisy and running a few degrees warmer than I hoped for in testing, so I figured Iād swap it out. Iām also going to have to fiddle with a lot of .kext selectors to get the video and other systems working correctly, although this is pretty stock hardware with good support.
I had to re-do the āshieldā and upgraded the support for the video card, which is definitely a change for the bestā¦ But both need to be painted so I can move forward.
I kind of want to get the āessentialsā stable-ish so i can cut my āwork areaā down and focus on the front panel like Iāve been wanting to do.
The spiral design for a cooling vent looks expertly and well done, although I can see that some holes are a bit off here and there, but it is not easily noticeable. Only an artisan or journeyman will pick it up straight away anyway.
It is things like these that make me wanna grab an old case and go wild 
Hopefully with my new job Iāll be able to set aside a few $$$ and make it a small hobby later on.
Yeah, making the spiral design was an interesting experience in convincing Illustrator to do what I want, essentially. Drilling was nerve-wracking, but easier than expected. I took it slowly and am pretty happy with it.
I do wish the back-of-case was a bit neater, but I donāt think thatās within my current skills.
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Best course of action. Do it slowly and at a relaxed pace for best results. No good if youāre in a hurry, that will lead to lots of charlie foxtrotsā¦
Iām fiddling with the OS config now while I get some work done on the front piece. Cable density is an issue, now that Iāve got everything wired up. The PS for the display will be external for sanityās sake.
Iām seeing some weird issues. I can install an OS, but not boot. Oddly, I was able to go further than this when testing previously. I think it must be an issue with the graphics card compatibility: Until recently, I didnāt have that card powered up and was using the on-board graphics. Now itās not booting, although I canāt get it to boot even with the card disabled.
Iāve got a few things to try when I have time.
In the past, Iāve had better luck installing the OS using onboard graphics, then adding the more powerful card in later.
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