But don't worry - not every case is a warren of sharp edges and corners. To our surprise, many manufacturers have either properly filed down or rounded the sharp edges. Thanks to their consideration, our test cucumber survived the acid test. In yet other cases, more than one cucumber had to be sacrificed; in the worst case, almost every edge harbored a risk.

You even have to be wary of sharp edges on the case cover.

This is how painful injuries occur.
The worst areas are generally the 5.25" drive bays. Almost all of the cases sport a faceplate that has to be snapped out before the drive can be installed. These plates are attached to the case at several perforated breaking points; but snapping them out is already dangerous. Even the smallest burr left on a breaking point can tear off a piece of skin. The images below clearly illustrate this danger. You should also watch your fingers when installing the power supply.

This case still has some sharp edges left on the breaking point.

The breaking points aren't the only dangerous spots. Here are some internal edges that haven't been filed down.

The power supply mount is often overlooked.
Case interiors aren't the sole source of injuries; the front door and corners of the case can also be a potential danger. One egregious example is the Wavemaster from Coolermaster. This case starts out with several danger areas. Above and beyond the cucumber test, simply lifting up the case will tend to break the door loose from the weak magnet latch, leaving it to swing wildly back and forth.

Sharp edges
- Cucumber Salad Or Band-Aid?
- Ouch! The Pain Of Razor-Sharp Edges
- The Cases: Up Close And Personal
- Simple Motherboard Installation
- Hard-Drive Trays
- Fresh Air With 120 mm Fans
- Rails For 5.25" Drives
- Perfect Construction
- Casetek C1020: Enter The Dragon
- Easy Installation Of Motherboards, Graphic Boards And Hard Drives
- The Hazards Of Installing 5.25" Drives
- Pros
- Chieftec BX-01: Plenty Of Room For Hard Drives
- A Glimpse Inside The Case
- 90-Degree Carriage Rotation Simplifies Hard-Drive Installation
- Safe Installation Of 5.25" Drives
- Pros
- Coolermaster Wavemaster: All Metal With Sharp Edges
- Coolermaster Wavemaster, Continued
- Installing The Motherboard Outside
- Hard Drives Screwed Directly On The Case
- Pros
- Inter-Tech Sportcar Design: Typical Engine Sound With 6 Fans
- Roomy Interior
- Up To 11 Drives Fit In The Case
- Razor-Sharp Edges And Corners
- Pros
- InWin IW-J568G: With Fan Speed Controller And Card Reader
- Motherboard Installation A Hassle
- Old-Fashioned Card Holders
- Waste Of Space
- Pros
- Lian Li PC-V1000: Innovative Interior
- Ingenious Innards
- The PSU Down Under
- Room Enough For Six Hard Drives
- Screws Into Threads Not Into The Case
- Front Bevel Included
- Gotcha: Two Minor Weaknesses
- Pros
- NZXT Guardian: Zylon From Battlestar Galactica
- No Sharp Edges Inside
- Complicated Rail System For Drives
- No Dust Filters Inside The Case
- Revoltec Midi Tower: Chieftec With A New Design
- Traditional Hardware Installation
- Rails For 5.25" Drives
- Special Carriages For Hard Drives
- Pros
- Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ02: Struggle With Drive Rails
- Rails Secure Drives Firmly
- Pros
- Silverstone Temjin SST-TJ03S: Pricy XXL Format
- Spacious Interior
- Screws And Expansion Cards
- Complicated Front-Port Cabling
- Superflower X-Mask SF-462: Spider Design
- Roomy Interior For Many Hard Drives
- Card Installation With Brute Force
- Are These Designers Crazy?
- Thermaltake XaserV V5000A: Full Metal Jacket
- Problems With Graphics-Card Installation
- Pros
- Yeong Yang YY-5603: No Major Flaws
- Tidy Accessories
- Anti-Vibration Rails For Drives
- Break-Away Face Plates
- Jet-Computer Last Samurai: Shades Of Darth Vader
- Testing Procedure
- Ratings
- Features Chart
- Features, Continued
- Features, Continued
Create a new thread in the Reviews comments forum about this subject
-
0 Hidedovah-chan , June 24, 2014 8:55 AMafter over 10 years this is the first comment on this article