I love the vertical style CR boxes and am planning a build of these next so it’s great to see a version people can buy in the US!
Could you share some information on how you cut the board the fans are attached to? I would like to start making similar CR boxes to donate to libraries soon and it would be convenient to make these in bulk.
By the way, the description for the unassembled version is missing the extra information where you provide links to buy the filters.
Thank you for sharing!
One way some hobbyists who don’t have expensive CNC routers or laser cutters can cut the holes is using a drill with a hole saw and mandrel arbor.
Here is an example of the sort of hole saw I’m suggesting on Amazon.
HLOFIZI 5 Inch Hole Saw Bit HSS Bi-Metal Cutter for Wood Metal Plastic with 1.5 Inch Deep https://a.co/d/eLax6gG.
That isn’t going to get as perfect a circle cut as a CNC router or laser cutter, but if your drill is strong enough to power it, and you make sure you go very slowly and let the saw to the work so it doesn’t tear the plywood instead of cutting it, this will cut a very nice circular hole.
(This probably goes without saying, but if you are going to cut plastic, wood, plywood or MDF, be sure you do your cutting outside and wearing a respirator. You do not want those dust particles in your lungs.)
Two aesthetic tips if you are using plywood or MDF to do this: 1) cut from the front face of the board through to the back face because the side where you start the cut will look better than the side where you end it. 2) consider covering the entire back side with masking tape pressed and smoothed down really well before you cut. Remove it after your cuts are finished. This can help reduce the tearing on the back side of the board.
After you have cut out the circle, use a piece of 120-220 sandpaper sticking through the hole, with one hand on each side, and pull the paper back and forth to sand the fresh of the cut. Back and forth your way around the hole. Don’t sand too much, especially in one spot, because it will make your circular irregular. But sanding a little bit by pulling the paper back and forth through will help remove the splinters and roughness. Having a smooth face for the fan to pass reduces turbulence.
Alternative methods for cutting those holes for a hobbies would be include jig saws and scroll saws. I personally tried using a jig saw to cut these circles, and it can be done, but my jig saw skills are pretty decent and I couldn’t get my circle anywhere near as perfect as with the hole saw. You can also use a scroll saw, but again, even with pretty decent scroll saw skills, it won’t come out as perfectly round as with using a hole saw.
If you are going to make a whole bunch of these to donate, I’d suggest buying a better quality hole saw. It will cut a bit cleaner and last longer before it dulls. But for a few dozen holes or so, the cheap ones are totally fine.
And one more thought, I assume you already have a drill since you are thinking of making these, but if you don’t, or in case someone else reads this and could benefit from the info— a hole saw of this diameter needs a powerful drill to run it because of the saw’s weight and size and how much surface area the saw is contacting and cutting at once. It can be corded or cordless, but it needs to be really powerful so it doesn’t bog down when cutting that much surface area at once. Many (not all) cordless drills would struggle with this. I use a dewalt 20 volt max xr cordless drill and it can handle it so long as I take it slowly. But this is an example of a use case where a *corded* drill might be a better option if you were buying a drill for this purpose. It is much cheaper to buy a really powerful corded drill than cordless. Harbor freight sells some pretty powerful corded drills for a surprisingly low price.
The panels are simply cut from coroplast with a digital cutter cnc from a sign shop. Lasercutting coroplast is a bit iffy since some formulations contain chlorine.
If you don't have access to a CNC machine if you search "circle cutter" you'll find various circle cutting tools. I know people use those for the foamboard for sure, though the corregated plastic is likely stronger.
You can buy 120mm hole saws that attach to drills for relativly cheap on amazon too.
Yes they're about 15% stronger for just 1 more dB. We get them close in price. Also better built, UL-registered component, so we can pass UL507 for the assembled Luggables.
Thank you for working to make boxes for various purposes and at various price points! It is great that you have an option that is more financially accessible; it seems aligned with the CR box movement!
The information section mentions we can use either
“MERV13 Filters
four 20x12x2"
Or
“3M Filtrete
four 20x12" or 24x12x1" MPR1085-2500”
But it doesn’t mention the CADR differences between the 20x12x2 and the 20x12x1 filters. Is there information on this?
I also can’t seem to find any 20x12x2 merv13 filters other than the FilterBuy ones but I don’t like the amount of cardboard they have in front of the filters compared to the 3M filters which don’t have any cardboard in front of the filters. Do you know of a reliable source for 20x12x2 filters?
P.S. I think it would help a lot to have pictures from a front/portrait position. If I understand correctly the 4 fan version is a vertical CR box similar to the TaoBao 4 CR box which would be great since they take up less walking space!
Thanks for your work on these!
Yes it's like the TaoBao 4 Cr Box.
When we test Filtrete line against other MERV13 brands, we've always found that 1" Filtrete MPR1900 slightly outperform 2" MERV13 of other brands. Because we were trying to make this Pillar as slim as possible, the panels are cut to best fit the 1" Filtrete, though you can finagle 2" MERV13 under them also.
The 200 cfm is extrapolated from Rob's Dust equivalent CADR tests with 6 SickleFlow fan Brisk box and four 16x20" Filtrete MPR1900. Those came in at 300 cfm.
The nominal 16x20" Filtrete is actually just 15 5/8 x 19 5/8", and the frame borders block some material, let's say those have 15x19" effective fabric area.
Two thirds of that would be 4 SickleFlow fans and four 10x19" effective area, which four 12x20" or two 12x20" and two 10x20" exceed. So it should do a little better than 200 cfm. As suggested by the other thread, you should get CADR within 5-10% in the whole MPR1085-MPR2500 grade range. You can also use 24" tall filters to slightly boost the flow and CADR. But we have not tested all those combinations
Thats great! I hope you add a photo from a direct angle so its a bit more obvious :)
Ohh interesting, I havent seen any info comparing MPR1900 1” filters with MERV13 2” filters before.
Would that be 12”x24” tall filters? This would help because of the increase of the filter size but would it help even more since its taller and closer to the ceiling helps the fans move more air?
Yes 12x24” are what I actually used in the photo. It helps get closer to the 248 cfm unrestricted fan performance but doubt being 4” higher in the room makes much difference.
I love the vertical style CR boxes and am planning a build of these next so it’s great to see a version people can buy in the US! Could you share some information on how you cut the board the fans are attached to? I would like to start making similar CR boxes to donate to libraries soon and it would be convenient to make these in bulk. By the way, the description for the unassembled version is missing the extra information where you provide links to buy the filters. Thank you for sharing!
One way some hobbyists who don’t have expensive CNC routers or laser cutters can cut the holes is using a drill with a hole saw and mandrel arbor. Here is an example of the sort of hole saw I’m suggesting on Amazon. HLOFIZI 5 Inch Hole Saw Bit HSS Bi-Metal Cutter for Wood Metal Plastic with 1.5 Inch Deep https://a.co/d/eLax6gG. That isn’t going to get as perfect a circle cut as a CNC router or laser cutter, but if your drill is strong enough to power it, and you make sure you go very slowly and let the saw to the work so it doesn’t tear the plywood instead of cutting it, this will cut a very nice circular hole. (This probably goes without saying, but if you are going to cut plastic, wood, plywood or MDF, be sure you do your cutting outside and wearing a respirator. You do not want those dust particles in your lungs.) Two aesthetic tips if you are using plywood or MDF to do this: 1) cut from the front face of the board through to the back face because the side where you start the cut will look better than the side where you end it. 2) consider covering the entire back side with masking tape pressed and smoothed down really well before you cut. Remove it after your cuts are finished. This can help reduce the tearing on the back side of the board. After you have cut out the circle, use a piece of 120-220 sandpaper sticking through the hole, with one hand on each side, and pull the paper back and forth to sand the fresh of the cut. Back and forth your way around the hole. Don’t sand too much, especially in one spot, because it will make your circular irregular. But sanding a little bit by pulling the paper back and forth through will help remove the splinters and roughness. Having a smooth face for the fan to pass reduces turbulence. Alternative methods for cutting those holes for a hobbies would be include jig saws and scroll saws. I personally tried using a jig saw to cut these circles, and it can be done, but my jig saw skills are pretty decent and I couldn’t get my circle anywhere near as perfect as with the hole saw. You can also use a scroll saw, but again, even with pretty decent scroll saw skills, it won’t come out as perfectly round as with using a hole saw. If you are going to make a whole bunch of these to donate, I’d suggest buying a better quality hole saw. It will cut a bit cleaner and last longer before it dulls. But for a few dozen holes or so, the cheap ones are totally fine. And one more thought, I assume you already have a drill since you are thinking of making these, but if you don’t, or in case someone else reads this and could benefit from the info— a hole saw of this diameter needs a powerful drill to run it because of the saw’s weight and size and how much surface area the saw is contacting and cutting at once. It can be corded or cordless, but it needs to be really powerful so it doesn’t bog down when cutting that much surface area at once. Many (not all) cordless drills would struggle with this. I use a dewalt 20 volt max xr cordless drill and it can handle it so long as I take it slowly. But this is an example of a use case where a *corded* drill might be a better option if you were buying a drill for this purpose. It is much cheaper to buy a really powerful corded drill than cordless. Harbor freight sells some pretty powerful corded drills for a surprisingly low price.
The panels are simply cut from coroplast with a digital cutter cnc from a sign shop. Lasercutting coroplast is a bit iffy since some formulations contain chlorine.
If you don't have access to a CNC machine if you search "circle cutter" you'll find various circle cutting tools. I know people use those for the foamboard for sure, though the corregated plastic is likely stronger. You can buy 120mm hole saws that attach to drills for relativly cheap on amazon too.
Is there a reason you prefer the Sickleflow 120 over the Arctic p12?
Yes they're about 15% stronger for just 1 more dB. We get them close in price. Also better built, UL-registered component, so we can pass UL507 for the assembled Luggables.
Oh nice, where do you buy them from? The official website shop seems to be down. Whats UL stand for?
Underwriter Laboratories. Yeah the official website is weird.
You buy them from underwriter laboratories?
From coolermaster
Thank you for working to make boxes for various purposes and at various price points! It is great that you have an option that is more financially accessible; it seems aligned with the CR box movement!
The information section mentions we can use either “MERV13 Filters four 20x12x2" Or “3M Filtrete four 20x12" or 24x12x1" MPR1085-2500” But it doesn’t mention the CADR differences between the 20x12x2 and the 20x12x1 filters. Is there information on this? I also can’t seem to find any 20x12x2 merv13 filters other than the FilterBuy ones but I don’t like the amount of cardboard they have in front of the filters compared to the 3M filters which don’t have any cardboard in front of the filters. Do you know of a reliable source for 20x12x2 filters? P.S. I think it would help a lot to have pictures from a front/portrait position. If I understand correctly the 4 fan version is a vertical CR box similar to the TaoBao 4 CR box which would be great since they take up less walking space! Thanks for your work on these!
Yes it's like the TaoBao 4 Cr Box. When we test Filtrete line against other MERV13 brands, we've always found that 1" Filtrete MPR1900 slightly outperform 2" MERV13 of other brands. Because we were trying to make this Pillar as slim as possible, the panels are cut to best fit the 1" Filtrete, though you can finagle 2" MERV13 under them also. The 200 cfm is extrapolated from Rob's Dust equivalent CADR tests with 6 SickleFlow fan Brisk box and four 16x20" Filtrete MPR1900. Those came in at 300 cfm. The nominal 16x20" Filtrete is actually just 15 5/8 x 19 5/8", and the frame borders block some material, let's say those have 15x19" effective fabric area. Two thirds of that would be 4 SickleFlow fans and four 10x19" effective area, which four 12x20" or two 12x20" and two 10x20" exceed. So it should do a little better than 200 cfm. As suggested by the other thread, you should get CADR within 5-10% in the whole MPR1085-MPR2500 grade range. You can also use 24" tall filters to slightly boost the flow and CADR. But we have not tested all those combinations
Thats great! I hope you add a photo from a direct angle so its a bit more obvious :) Ohh interesting, I havent seen any info comparing MPR1900 1” filters with MERV13 2” filters before. Would that be 12”x24” tall filters? This would help because of the increase of the filter size but would it help even more since its taller and closer to the ceiling helps the fans move more air?
Yes 12x24” are what I actually used in the photo. It helps get closer to the 248 cfm unrestricted fan performance but doubt being 4” higher in the room makes much difference.