Wall-mounted IKEA components CR-box
One IKEA SAMLA tub with sections cut out
The IKEA tub is Polypropylene. That splits if you're attempting to cut it with a utility knife.
Here's I've sawed out part of the IKEA tub. These were hand-holds that were recessed. I used a Japanese style hand saw to start, then a short tennon saw to complete.
Then I placed in the three-gang fan, and uses a sharpie to draw the inner circle of two of the outer fans:
I should have drawn again with widen that circle by 5mm.
Then I drilled wee holes to mark the circle. These allow for less cutting in the next step
They also allow any splits to terminate better. You can see one here - I attempted to use the tenon saw to make narrow snappable sections, and a split happened, then terminated at a drill hole rather than keep going.
After this, some wiggling and then some sanding, the fan cutout was complete. I'd previously tried a hobbyist "hot knife" to cut with - not hot enough and too slow. I've yet to try a Dremel, but will do soon.
I placed the PC fans in the short edge. It might be better to place them in the long edge. As it happens, that might be a slightly easier cutout to do.
Polypropylene as a material: the melt point is Melting point, 130 to 171 °C (266 to 340 °F). That's if the fan is running so hot that is hasn't shutdown in some over-voltage scenario. And these PC fans are deigned to fail safe. In my garden I took a kitchen blowtorch to it, and even though I could get the plastic to melt, I couldn't get any flame on the plastic to stay lit.
Really though, this wall-mount cr-box needs a better material than this type of polypropylene for construction. It is tough to cut holes in and splits are always a risk - perhaps even after completion :-( PP is better if injection-molded, as it happens. Then, if you're talking about that manufacturing technique, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) is compelling, too.
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