Fan grills- overly priced, or overly ugly

Hey guys, im working on my first mod. I'm working on a medium end budget- i spent alot on components, so im not afraid ma little on eye candy.

I bought some of those cool looking clear fans with Led's in them. Now im looking around for the grills for them. I dont wan't the typical spider web design thing... i think its ugly, and it won't let people see the lit up fan well.

I've also come across some custom grates- laser cut, etc.... they're pretty sweet looking, but also very expensive.

Im going for maximum airflow, and maximum visibility for the fans, i think something might be possible with good old plexi glass.

As anyone ever made a fan grill from plexi? Any advice on the issue? Any guides out there for DIY fan grills?

 

I've never done it or anything but this sounds like a pretty cool idea.... you could easily cut a custom design and color it however you want (if you want) depending on how hands on you are and how much time you want to spend on it i think you could make something really cool.... if you do do this and it looks nice you better put up pics for us to look at!!! if you have an arts and craft store near you you could try asking them, the might be able to inform you how best to cut and color plexi glass....

 

If you want maximum airflow and maximum fan exposure, then I'd go with no grills at all. Putting anything over the fan will hamper air flow, and you will be covering up part of the fan as well. The spider web cages aren't that bad since they protect the fan yet don't affect airflow that much, even though they're pretty ugly. I haven't played around with the plexi glass idea, but I'd imagine it would be hard to make a design that wouldn't restrict airflow.

 

hmm... well heres what i think im going to try.
I'm not looking for total protection for my fan, but i do want something on there.

On my front fan, im going to buy one of those fancy lazer cut grills, the rest im going to try home-made plexi grills.

Ill use the same plexi im using for the windows- something without a whole lot of give to it.

Ill trace the pattern on the film cover, then ill etch it with a razor. Ill jst keep etching it deeper and deeper untill I'm through. Sand paper the edges, drill a few holes and wullah!

I'm going to need probably about 6 grates, so it will be pretty time consuming.

Im thinking jst your basic circle with an x through it. or maybe thirds like a peace sign.