Still learning...

[Darth Baby]

Any advice on where I should be looking for these things? Thought maybe a place like Michael's (US craft store) might carry em, but no such luck. Tried just typing "studio gels" into google without any decent results as well, so I'm at a bit of a loss.

[Matthew]

A quick google search lead me here. It has things like peach and rough...I think that will do you just fine. Good price too. Here you can find the different links to see all the stlyes you can choose from...hope this helps.

[Darth Baby]

Yeah it does, thanks again for the links. Have to just give em a call and see what they can recommend.

Thanks again to everybody for the help. Lookin forward to putting these ideas in action.

[Matthew]

Not a problem...if you need anything else just ask.

[Darth Baby]

Well, the time has come again to seek the knowledge of the experts . The case is comin along, albeit kinda slow. Everything's been painted and is ready for some clear acrylic soon as things are about ready to get put back together. However, there is a point of interest that I'd like to pass by everybody here.

Using a Dremel tool with the Circle Cutter attachment and Multipurpose bit, I cut out a circle for an 80mm fan on the side of my case. Now, problem is, things didn't really go that well during the cut. It's as pretty as I could get it, but the bit had a tendency to wobble while I was cutting so the circle is too big in sections. 'No problem', I said to myself. 'I'll just make a bigger hole and install a 120mm.' There was poor planning on my part in that I painted the whole thing BEFORE making this decision, but that's the price I pay for getting too eager and not being patient enough. Bottomline though is this: Are there any recommendations on how to perform this cut cleaner and better than before?

First thought I've had is to trace out a many-sided polygon, cut it with the Dremel cutting wheel, then either leave as is or grind out the flat sides to make it more circle-like. However, I am very open to better alternatives if anyone has suggestions. Thanks again.

[Matthew]

The way I cut circles is I start by cutting a cm or so away from my line. I try not to get on the line at all possibal and cut around it. Then I take a sanding bit and go to the line. Take it slow and just sand it to the line. You should end up with a good clean circle. This will not work on aluminum though...as you cant really sand that much of it. In that case there is a circle cutting tutorial somewhere in the forums or on the home page of this site. I will look later and post it.

[Darth Baby]

Discovered what seems to be a fairly good article on using the Dremel for freehand circles. It's definitely worth the perusal of the folks around here:
http://www.mnpctech.com/Dremel.html

I couldn't find any circle cutting tutorials on this particular site, though that's not to say it isn't here. Anyhow, comments, advice, and/or suggestions are always welcome.

[Malatory]

Cutting Circles.. Most tend to use hole cutter attachments on the Drill. like this linkie

[Darth Baby]

Mal, I would look into that if I could afford it, but unfortunately I just gotta make do with what I got. I must say that the mnpctech article worked like a charm. Angling the cutting wheel like that turned out to be a great way to cut through it, and the circle is much more perfect than anything I had done before. I'm hoping that after all this is said and done I'll be able to look back and post a recollection of the whole project as I've learned loads trying to get all this stuff done. So until the next seemingly insurmountable hurdle approaches, bienvenue, adios, aloha, good-bye, thanks again.