If you're not used to such things, I'd take it to a craftsman, like a window frame maker or such, even a pc modding guy if you can find one. A Lian-Li is too nice to bork up.

I'm comfortable with tools, enjoy building things and prefer the DYI route when possible, though messing up a Lian would be a major drag! Which is why I was hopeful for cutting advice from people who have some experience themselves. I can get hold of similar mil sheet and just practice. I'll also check out the case mod sites..

I was wondering about things like the best type of saw blade, pre-scoring, hole cut corners vs right angle - and which side to work from for best results.

I'm in no hurry - This is a very nice little case: fits a Noctual D14 and stays pretty cool with an unorthodox rear-to-front venting scheme which caught my attention given the layout of windows and air flow in my computing area. So far very good results, but a little window would be nice!

If you have a steady hand, a small angle grinder (500-750W) with an 1mm disc will probably be the fastest and easiest way to do this. Drilling holes in the corners first is definitely a good idea. And use some WD40 to prevent the aluminium from sticking to the disc (or whatever tool you're going to use).

By angle grinder do you mean a rotary Dremel tool? They are rated by volts/amps/rpm here. I doubt my current 12v is up to it but I will take a look at the tool shops this week end.

My thought was hand cutting with a metal straightedge clamped to the panel might give the straightest cut even if it might take longer - and less filing.finishing work. I need to assemble by testing materials soon and try out some techniques..

If you want to be extra careful while drilling the corner holes, you can take the aluminum panel and lay it flat on some veneer before drilling.

MaxWar wrote:

If you want to be extra careful while drilling the corner holes, you can take the aluminum panel and lay it flat on some veneer before drilling.

Absolutely! and pilot hole the center point before making the hole cut I think. The hole cutters I used in the past had a rather coarse drill bit fixed to them and wouldn't want that to wander.. Gotta get to the hardware store..

The design of this Lian has no 'designed' curves except for the radius corners of the top inlet grill and I will duplicate that radius for the side widow corners.

I meant one of these things:
http://img.directindustry.com/images_di/photo … 060-2460993.jpg

That might seem like an imprecise tool, but with some practice it's really easy to use and quite accurate. The gyroscopic effect of the spinning disc helps to keep it stable. The larger models (1000-2500W) use even larger discs but they're heavy and cumbersome to use, making precise cuts more dificult. Dremel discs on the other hand are much smaller, making it harder to cut along a straight line.

Clamp the panel tightly to a piece of board, you don't want to move it while cutting and risk scratching it. Get some pieces of scrap aluminium and practice first, cutting aluminium is quite different from cutting steel. You should move it carefully along the marked line a few times and cut slightly deeper each time, instead of just letting the disc dig it's way through.