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Brad: if you could make one that would work as a 5.25" to 3.5" converter, not take up any more bays, and actually cool the drive ok, then you'd have a very good market
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Well that would be possible, but not necessarily with top/bottom cooling. There is considerable variation in the height of a 3.5" HDD. some low profile drives could have a top/bottom cooler attached and still be less than a bay high. Some of the higher profile drives push bay heights as it is, so no way. I wanted to stick with the ability to use 3.5" bays and wasn't worried about height that much, so I concentrated on a design that didn't try to do the conversion.
If one wanted to do conversion, the simplest approach would be to go with side cooling, and make two blocks w/ lids per drive, each the height and length of a bay, The thickness of each block and lid would be equal to half the difference between the 3.5" & 5.25" bay widths. I would drill counterbored holes at the proper spacing to fit the drive, so as to put the drive bottom even with the bottom of the block. Then I would mill a passage into the block, using most of its volume. Probably a 'U' shape, about 1/4" wide, with the points of the 'U' at the back where I would put two barbs. One barb would crossconnect the two blocks, the other would be for I/O. Alternatively, I might mill a single straight passage (possibly with some wiggles) and put the crossover at the front. I/O would have to be at the back with the other cabling.
This is just off the top of my head, I would need to sit down and work out the details, however I'm certain it would be no problem to meet the stated design objective. Of course, unless I came up with some sort of bracket, or did some other fancier construction techniques it would be pretty hefty if I made it in copper, and expensive just on account of the materials cost, not to mention what a pain it is to mill copper. But all such problems are solvable with enough effort.
Gooserider