3D printable Hard Drive Cage

Todays case market is not exactly catered to people who are still using spinning rust for their data, and typically only supports a single or two drives. This is because M.2 ssd's have become the standard and 1-2TB capacities being more than plenty for the average user.

Why not more drives? Because people who need more than two hard drives typically are the types to need MUCH more. The crowd that sees a youtube channel documenting different mineral types and goes "Wow, this is worth preserving offline in case YouTube closes down, or the channel owners wife gets tired of the constant deliveries of rocks".

So we made a 3D printable, stackable harddrive cage that fits both in our infinirail cases, but also most cases with a standard 120mm fan mount. Each with room for three drives, so nine drives in the Frame 4000D (10 if you count the single drive you can mount on the stock drive plate).

You can find the files for these on the CORSAIR printables page.

We have made two versions:

• Infinirail version - fits FRAME 4000D series and FRAME 5000D Series with support for three cages in each case = nine drives (10 if counting the stock drive plate)
• Universal version - fits most cases with a spare 120mm fan mount

Please note that installing all three cages in the front reduces the maximum GPU/raid card length by 155mm for both the Infinirail and Universal mount. If you have a large add in card in your build, you can make room for it by only using one or two cages.

This will reduce the maximum add in card lengths for the FRAME series of cases

• FRAME 4000 Series to 275mm
• FRAME 5000 Series to 295mm

Both versions are designed to work with 120mm fans providing ample airflow for your drives and rest of your system.

Will there be a 140mm version? Maybe - it could potentially allow 4 drives for each cage (so 12 drives in a frame 5000) but lets start out slow shall we.

We are also checking if it makes sense to create a "DIY backplane" so drives can be taken in and out without having to take off the wires, but for now we want something that works, and requires minimum extra purchases.

All files are made so they can be printed without supports, and will fit any build plate that is 120x154mm with a build height of 138mm (or larger).

• Main part A & B – These are the only parts that changes between the infinirail version and the universal version.
• Internal support – joining pieces for Main part A and Main part B. six required per cage. We recommend printing one of these in 100% scale, and one in 95% scale to see which fit best for you and then print the remaining five.
• Stacking connector Front – (not shown above) Connector for stacking multiple cages and joining them together.
• Stacking connector Rear - (not shown above) Connector for stacking multiple cages and joining them together.
• Top and bottom cover – optional top and bottom covers to partially enclose the drives and direct airflow.
• HDD bracket Left & HDD bracket Right – anti vibration drive inserts. One of each per drive, six in total for a full cage.
• HDD bracket support – (not shown above) Support piece used if you are printing the HDD brackets out of TPU (recommended for vibration dampening, but PLA/PETG will also work)
• Zip tie bracket Single - Cable tidying solution for single cages.
• Zip tie bracket End piece for stacking - (not shown above) cable tidying solution for when using two or three drive cages.
• Zip tie bracket Middle piece for stacking - (not shown above) cable tidying solution for when using three drive cages.

Below is a list of hardware needed below, this is per cage. If you are printing more than one you will need to multiply these by the number of cages according to which version you print.

Infinirail version

• 8x M3 nut (only four is required if you are just printing a single cage)
• 6x M5 nut
• 6x UNC 6-32 screws for each hard drive (The same type you will use on a motherboard). Around 6mm length is optimal here
• 8x M3x12mm screws– (only four is required if you are just printing a single cage) 18-20mm are suitable
• 6x M5x18mm screw – screws between 18-30mm are suitable
• 4x Case fan screws
• Super glue
• 1x UNC 6-32 screw for each hard drive. This is an optional screw to fix the harddrive to the cage if the drives slot opening points downwards. 10mm length is needed here.

Universal

• 8x M3 nut (only four is required if you are just printing a single cage)
• 6x UNC 6-32 screws for each hard drive (The same type you will use on a motherboard). Around 6mm length is optimal here
• 8x M3x12mm screws– (only four is required if you are just printing a single cage) 18-20mm are suitable
• 4x M4 nut
• 4x M4x35mm screws - 30-35mm works
• Super glue
• 1x UNC 6/32 screw for each hard drive. This is an optional screw to fix the harddrive to the cage if the drives slot opening points downwards. 10mm length is needed here.

Depending on your use case, and system temperature you can use various different materials. We have printed the main parts in both PLA, PETG and PC-CF in .2mm layer height and the brackets in PLA and TPU in .2mm layer height.

We do recommend that you print the drive brackets in TPU to reduce vibrations. For this we have also included a support piece that you must print first (print six of these, or however many brackets you intent on printing at once), and then pause the print to insert this since TPU does not handle bridging very well.

Aside from the two core pieces, Main part A and Main part B, you will need the following depending on how many drive cages you want to print.

Single cage

• 6x internal supports
• 2x Zip tie bracket Single
• 2x Top and bottom cover – optional

Double cage

• 12x internal supports
• 1x Stacking connector Front
• 1x Stacking connector Rear
• 4x Zip tie bracket End piece for stacking
• 2x Top and bottom cover - optional

Tripe cage

• 18x internal supports
• 2x Stacking connector Front
• 2x Stacking connector Rear
• 4x Zip tie bracket End piece for stacking
• 2x Zip tie bracket Middle piece for stacking
• 2x Top and bottom cover - optional

For printing the HDD Brackets in TPU we need to first print the HDD bracket support file. These support brackets should be printed in PLA or PETG to avoid fusing with the TPU

Above you can see how the TPU uses the support piece as a bridge, making a clean surface.

We recommend printing one set of these brackets in original scale, and then scale up/down by 3% if they are too loose/tight for your setup (only the two "thin" sides, not the long side as that will make it not fit into the drive/cage)

Start out by adding all six internal support pieces into one of the main parts. If these are very tight, then reprint in a smaller scale - they should slide in with without major resistance. You can add a dab of glue in the holes they go into, but make sure not to get any one the sides just yet.

Before mounting the parts together, add another small dab of glue into the pin hole of the other part, as well as on the six pillars. You do not need a lot as we do not want any to squeeze out.

With the parts pushed together, either hold them securely while the glue dries, or add a weight to the top (does not have to be a red Staub cast iron skillet - as long as you trust it)

While the glue is setting, we can turn our attention to HDD Bracket left and HDD bracket right. These will need some UNC 6-32 screws - the same type you will use to secure your motherboard into a case with, typically coming in 6mm lengths.

The cages has a "locking screw" hole on the outside to firmly lock the drives in place for transport. This locking screw should not be needed for regular use, but in case you do want to you will need to leave the center screw off the left bracket (so a longer screw can later be installed through both the cage and the bracket).

Before installing fans, you will need to install the M5 nuts used to secure the cage to the infinirails.

Insert the M5 Nut into the six mounting holes along the inner edge of the cage. These will pull into the recess when tightened locking them in place. You can add glue here, but it should not be needed and risk getting into the threads of the nuts.

The fans can be installed/removed with regular fan screws, or quickturn screws at any time so long as no drives are installed in the cage.

If you are using iCUE LINK and multiple cages remember to add the LINK connectors to your fans. If using PWM fans, each cage has a hole for the cables - align the fan so that the wire is on this side.

For a single cage you only need 2x Zip Tie bracket single. You can easily build without them, but they are handy to zip tie power and data cables to.

To install these, first add the 4x M3 nuts into the cage

Then simply attach the brackets with the M3x12mm screws.

For multiple cages, we will need to add a few more parts to add rigidity to the entire assembly.

Keep in mind the front/rear stacking connectors are different per side with matching cut outs in the main drive cage.

For two cages you will need

• 2x zip tie bracket end piece
• 1x stacking connector rear
• 1x stacking connector front

The process for the tripe cage is similar to the double cage, except you add the Zip tie bracket Middle piece for stacking to the middle cage then the Zip tie bracket End piece for stacking on each end.

For three cages you will need

• 4x zip tie bracket end piece
• 2x zip tie bracket middle piece
• 2x stacking connector rear
• 2x stacking connector front

With the fully assembled drive cage you can now fit this into your case. For ease of handling, do not insert the drives until the drive cages are fully fitted.

For the infinirails version installation is very straight forward

• Remove the plastic fan mount tabs from the infinirail if present
• Place the new drive cage into the case, against the infinirails (make sure these are in the "120mm" position
• Install the M5 bolts while supporting the drive cage.
  • If using a single cage, use all six bolts
  • If using dual or triple cage, four screws per cage is plenty

From the front of the case secure the M4x35mm screws through the fans into the nuts while supporting the cage. The screws should go through your case first, then the fan and then into the 3D printed HDD cage.

Please make sure you use four bolts per fan to spread the weight of the drive cage.

With our drive cage installed we are ready to get some drives in there. The drive brackets are made with small clips and notches that works regardless if they are printed in PLA/PETG or TPU material. These will keep the drives in place once installed.

If you need added security, you can use the hole in the side of the cage as described earlier.

With the drives inserted you can now use the zip tie brackets to help organize and tidy the cables for both your fans and drives. Once done, your drive assembly is now complete and ready to use.

Should you need to remove a drive, the process is just as simple

• Disconnect the drive power and data cables.
• Remove the optional drive locating bolt (if used)
• Pull the two bracket tabs toward each other slightly.
• Holding both tabs gently pull the drive out of the cage.

So there we have it - an easy way to make sure you have ample room for your absurd amount of linux distro's in a case that has modern features while not costing a fortune.

Now we just need to build an actual NAS with these cages, so stay tuned!