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How-To Create a Custom PC Fan Grille Pictures of fan grilles that I have made are in the PC Modifications album. Tools/Equipment Required: sheet metal, dremel with cut-off wheels, glue, scanner, printer, existing grille or fan the size of the grille to be made, files and/or sand paper, primer, paint Caution: Depending on the design of the grille, and the environment of the PC, the designer needs to keep in mind that fan grilles are there on purpose, to keep fingers and/or pet tail's out of the fan while it is running. If the PC will be running in any environment where children or pets are then care should be made to design the grille so that tiny fingers or pets can't get through the grille. 1. Create or locate a black and white image that you want for the grille design. If the image is in color then I recommend that it is converted to black and white. This will help keep the grille design simple and more elaborate designs can be made as your experience progresses. 2. Take an existing fan grille that is the same size as the grille to be created and scan it into your PC using a scanner. Be sure to do a 1:1 scan and don't zoom. If no existing fan grille is available then you can scan in the actual fan or case opening, and develop your own grille ring used for connecting the grille to the fan or case. The reason for scanning the device is to allow the designer to edit the design based on actual dimensions. Although some people can and will develop their own design without scanning in an object from reference, my experience has taught me that this is much easier than doing it from scratch. Most image programs doesn't allow the user to provide accurate dimensions. CAD programs can seem very complicated for some users so I figured for this how-to I would recomend scanning in an existing object to get the initial size dimensions. 3. Turn the scanned image into a black and white image. 4. Using an erase tool in the image editor clear out the whole center of the scanned grille to allow space for the new design. 5. If you plan to make multiple designs then this would be a good time to save a template of the outer grille. 6. Open both the scanned grille image and the new design in an image editor. 7. Copy the scanned image into the same workspace as the design image. 8. Scale up/down the design image so that it fits inside the scanned grille ring. 9. Add any extra lines or material between your design and the outer grille ring as necessary for additional support. I recomend that you add extra support where ever you think you may need it. If you aren't sure about a spot add support there. It can always be cut away or trimmed down later, if it is sturdy enough. Once it is cut out though there is no way to add the metal back to it, if it is not stiff enough. If the final grille is not stiff enough then it can cause bending and warping or could be inadvertedly bent on accident into the fan blades if something comes in contact with it. 10. Print out the final design of the image, be sure that you print it out 1:1 and not fit to page or some other option. 11. Take the printed design and verify that it will fit the fan properly. Be sure that the case hole for the fan is completely covered, the screw holes line up, and the outer ring aligns with the fan's outer ring. If any modifications are need go back and make them now. 12. Once the design is complete, cut out a square around the outer edge of the grille leaving about 1/4" extra paper around the outer edge. 13. Cut a piece of sheet metal in a square slightly larger than your grille design. It doesn't have to be perfect as we just want to shrink down the size of the metal that we are working with. 14. Clean the piece of sheet metal fully and allow to dry. 15. Coat the whole piece of sheet metal with standard household glue (Elmers). This should be slightly more glue than would be used to glue two pieces of paper together but not a lot of excess. 16. Let the glue almost completely dry. Proceed to the next step when the glue becomes tacky in the area that has the most glue on it. 17. If any area of the glue has completely dried then recoat it with a very light coating of glue. Apply the new design that you printed out to the sheet metal, being sure not to trap any air bubbles under the paper. This allows us to use the image as a template for all of our cuts. 18. After the glue dries, coat the entire piece of sheet metal and paper with glue. This should be slightly more glue than would be used to glue two pieces of paper together. By doing this it helps to stiffen up the paper and eliminate tearing as we begin cutting later. The glue should dry clear. 19. Let the glue dry completely, preferably over night to ensure that all the layers have dried. 20. Take the proper drill bit and drill out the four mounting holes. If this is done at any later state then there is a greater chance at bending or warping the sheet metal as you drill out the holes. 21. I recommed that you round off any sharp corners around the edge of the sheet metal now to avoid cutting yourself. Don't trim it completely down to the proper size at this step though. This helps to avoid any warping or bending of the material as you cut out the design. This also allows more surface area for any heat to transfer to, keeping the metal slightly cooler as you are working with it. 22. Begin cutting out the areas that should not be part of your grille. Try to start in the center and with the smallest holes as possable and work you way to the outer edge. This helps to avoid warping of the material as you cut away more material. If the design has many thin lines in it then I recommend that you don't trim them comlpletely down to the proper thickness until you are close to finishing all the cuts. If using a dremal (or similiar device) with cut-off wheels then it is helpful to adjust which cuts are made with the size of the wheel. As more cuts are completed with a wheel its outer diameter will be reduced allowing it to fit into tighter areas. Basically the goal is to use the glued image as a template for all of the necessary cut lines. 23. Once all the other cuts are completed, cut all the excess material from the outer edge of the grille ring. 24. The glued image can now be peeled off of the sheet metal. If it cannot be peeled off then it can be filed or sanded off, but if the glue was allowed to dry properly in the correct thicknesses then it should peel off fairly easy. Any areas where the metal heated up and stayed hot for a while will cause the glue and paper to be difficult to remove. 25. File down and sand all edges. 26. Clean and dry the grille thouroughly. 27. Coat both sides of the Grille with primer. Be sure to coat the edges of any cuts that were made as well. 28. Coat both sides of the grille with paint. Once again be sure that the edges of all cuts are coated as well. 29. Install the new grille on the fan/PC. 30. Stand back and take pride in the work that you completed. If the user would like to design another fan grille with the same design but a different size then this can be accomplished by using the scanning method used previously or with careful resizing of the original.
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This file last modified 05/21/21 |