November 19, 2004

4:35 PM

Let's say you had a wooden box you wanted to turn into a PC case. Where would you buy a metal 5.25" bay assembly? I'm talking about a U-shaped piece of flat metal that will screw onto the wood box wherein a couple of drives can be mounted. There's just way too much noise in Google on this one. Thanks!
posted by scarabic to (7 comments total)

Don't, suspend the drives using bungee cords to allow extreme vibration dampening. Refer to SPCR for tips on how to do it.
posted by riffola at 4:40 PM on November 19, 2004

Or check office park dumpsters for old PCs.
posted by Tubes at 4:44 PM on November 19, 2004

riffola - that's actually exactly what I plan to do. I want the 5.25" bay so I can suspend a 3.5 inch hard drive :)

Salvage is a good suggestion. Hm...
posted by scarabic at 4:54 PM on November 19, 2004

Oh right hmm, besides buying an el cheapo cage or salvaging one from the dumpster, I am not sure anyone sells 5 1/4" drive cage as a spare part.
posted by riffola at 5:10 PM on November 19, 2004

Your friendly neighbourhood thrift store probably has a pile of old & unloved 386-era PCs for a song. Buy one and cannibalize whatever you need, chassis-wise, then turn the motherboard into an attractive clock or something.
posted by arto at 7:51 PM on November 19, 2004

Some brands have removable cages -- the HP consumer models, for example -- that can be easily removed. Also, old PS/2 (that's IBM PS/2, mind you) systems are all highly modular -- no screws, just plastic clips.

Good luck. Sounds like a cool project.
posted by lodurr at 8:14 PM on November 19, 2004

Your friendly neighbourhood thrift store probably has a pile of old & unloved 386-era PCs for a song.

YES! THANK YOU.

Oh man, you're right there are so many of those around. I actually know thrift stores that refuse donations of computer stuff now because it goes so completely obsolete by the time they get it that it might as well be donated bricks. But 5.25" bays aren't any wider than they ever were :)

There are also several small, independent "computer stores" around. I think those places usually build and sell PCs (though I've never really known for sure what the heck they actually have/do in there). I guess now's my chance to find out.
posted by scarabic at 11:43 PM on November 19, 2004