This may be my last worklog entry for a couple of weeks; I’m going to be very busy with University and exams. So an update on progress for now!

Ok, last time, I’d cut out one hole to see how things were going. Well, today my last cutting disk holder broke (I can’t remember what they’re called). Anyway, not to be beaten, I pulled out the jigsaw and shoved in a metal-cutting blade. Then I oiled the blade, and got to work.

I have to say, the jigsaw is the way to go for cutting this steel. It made sort work of everything; it made the cuts accurately and with a minimum of mess. Although the cross-hatch pattern needs to be finished off with a huge amount of filling, I’m damn pleased with the results. Then I took out the 4mm drill bit I just bought and got to work drilling holes for all the screws. I was very pleased with the results, especially on the top of the case.

Then I pushed my luck. I figured I’d try the 400watt jigsaw on the pathetic pressed steel of the side panel. At first, things went well, but as soon as I tried to get a curve in, the whole thing went nipples-up. The jigsaw severely buckled the metal in a lot of places, and because of this, I had to cut miles away from my guidelines. Not only that, but the metal got distorted and moved my fan holes by about 1mm each-so I had to ‘widen’ each hole in order to get the screws in. Which sucked. I tried the fan in, then measured up my plastic. I drilled the holes for the fan and then bolted the whole thing together with some nuts and bolts that I bought on the cheap; they’re not much to look at but they’ll do for now until I can find something that’s nicer to look at.

Anyway, this is a very preliminary ‘Work In Progress’ shot, so you can see where this is going to go. I haven’t figured out how to cut the aluminium yet, at the minute I’m thinking a mixture of cutting discs and coping saw action. Suggestions welcome.

I also went out the other day and bought some analogue meters; as I haven’t even finished planning the front end yet I’ll leave that for the next update. Needless to say, they look sweet, and really fit in with everything else that I want to put into this case.

Well, that’s all for now; comments are welcome, as are suggestions about how to beat the side panel back into shape.