[Sanjan]

ok So i want to make a external HD enclosure myself from my own design.... so i've got my drawings ect of what i hope to make... what do i do next i would like to make the enclosure out of aluminum... where can i take my drawings to be made? or how can i make them myself? Any help would be appreciated.

Sanjan

[mduell]

Find a local machine shop or buy a mill.

[MichiganRich]

Is this guy serious?

I want to make a bulldozer, myself, from my own design. I have drawn a picture of what I hope to make, so what do I do next?

Where can I take my drawings to be made? I mean, come on.... fo' rill?

[vmarks]

Sanjan,

Big Blue Saw - Waterjet cutting for metal & plastic turns your idea into reality will use a waterjet to cut plastic and metal parts for you. They won't use a sheet metal brake to bend parts, but they can cut shapes and you could assemble that way.

[cgc]

Originally Posted by MichiganRich 

Is this guy serious?

I want to make a bulldozer, myself, from my own design. I have drawn a picture of what I hope to make, so what do I do next?

Where can I take my drawings to be made? I mean, come on.... fo' rill?

That's exactly what I was gonna say...maybe Legos?

Other than the actual physical enclosure, have you selected the power supply, bridge controller (e.g. USB/Firewire to SATA), etc? There's not a lot to a HDD enclosure but there's enough to require some skills.

[vmarks]

power supplies are easy. You need 12v and 5v. Plenty of cheap asian supplies have this.
Bridge boards are also easy to come by.
I have a few dual firewire 800 bridge boards here. I've got one that I've put in 'forensic mode' (read only) and another that I put in an ancient apple scsi drive enclosure with the rainbow logo on it.

You guys are acting like this is an impossible task. It isn't, if the fellow is determined.

[slpdLoad]

Yeah this would be very doable. The biggest challenge I would think is to make sure you have a chassis that you can screw the HD into, and a way to mount the power and bridge boards to the casing, along with a way to ground the appropriate pieces. I would really suggest you buy a HD enclosure, and take out the controller board, LEDs, and HD brackets that you know will work together. Then just fit them into your design.

Edit: Also make sure you design in appropriate ventilation so you don't cook your drive. Since you're using Al you might be okay with just the metal touching the drive to draw the heat away.

Sounds cool, post pictures along the way as you build it!

[CharlesS]

I recommend that you use a chipset from Oxford Semiconductor if you plan to make the enclosure FireWire.