Could you please upload some pics of your case (and especially the way drives are supposed to be mounted in the drive bays)?

I do remember having seen such a thing before, but this was veeery long time ago and back then I had no idea what these were for.

If you aren't able to find these drive rails you seek (and chances are you won't), you'd need another way to mount anything inside your case. It's doable but it will probably require some creative thinking.

It's things like this that make me glad I got into 3D printing... Do you have any CAD experience and access to a 3D printer? Rails are really basic objects, it wouldn't be too difficult to whip something up and print a few pairs.

FesterBlatz wrote:

It's things like this that make me glad I got into 3D printing... Do you have any CAD experience and access to a 3D printer? Rails are really basic objects, it wouldn't be too difficult to whip something up and print a few pairs.

You could literally just buy a piece of plastic from a hardware supply place like McMaster-Carr or even Home Depot or Ebay and just trim it down with... well, practically anything from a Dremel to a grinding wheel to a powered saw (like a jigsaw or scroll saw) to a router to a hand saw (like a hack saw or coping saw). They can literally be rectangles and don't need to be rounded or anything (though the tapered ends on the commercial rails do make it slightly easier to get the rails aligned properly since they will have a little bit of self-centering action from the taper).

3d printing is cool and you can definitely 3d print drive rails but you don't need to invest in a 3d printer for drive rails.

I had several AT cases over the years and they often used slightly differently sized rails. I don't think it's necessarily easy to tell by eye.

I didn't suggest he buy a 3D printer, I asked if he had access to one. The cost of entry is becoming so low, there are half-decent printer kits out there for less than $400 so they're becoming pretty popular. Besides myself I know at least two people in my circle of friends who have one, so I don't think it's unreasonable to assume the OP may too.

And for what it's worth, I'd wager a small bet I could whip up a simple set of rails in Fusion 360 and have them printed faster than you could hack away at some plastic with a dremel too. 😉

Probably, but I could have quite a few sets made up by the time OP's 3d printer arrived in the mail :D

I'm not anti-3d-printer or anything, no need to be defensive. 3d printers are pretty awesome. I'm just pointing out the simple option.

Actually I ordered a 3d printer a couple years ago from a no-name site, turned out to be a scam :( I'm going to buy a real one (from a reputable site) at some point myself.

No defense taken, just clarifying the facts.

You're definitely right though, 3D printers are pretty awesome. I've built several, the first was a cheap acrylic kit which ended up being a real POS that needed almost half of the printer rebuilt to get respectable results out of it. Fortunately it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the things I learned along the way really taught me the ins and outs of 3D printing. Since then I've built two more, the last being a completely scratch built Delta platform that's a real Cadillac of a machine. The 3D printing hobby has forever changed my way of approaching home-brew projects. You can literally take an idea, draw it up in CAD, and hold a tangible object in your hand in a matter of minutes.

Anyway, I digress...

I'm jealous I'd love to be able to 3d print replacement parts like case bezels, custom front panels, drive rails, ect so jealous of you

candle_86 wrote:

I'm jealous I'd love to be able to 3d print replacement parts like case bezels, custom front panels, drive rails, ect so jealous of you

^Agreed 😀

Seems like a nice new challenge.