Hello,

Whats the best way to create holes in the ali for things like the suspension arms, and fuel filler etc? I was thinking 1/2 inch drill bit with block of wood behind panel, followed by nibbling out the right size?

Surely theres a better way....

Cheers


David

1/2" drill will chew sheet aluminium --- start with a 1/8" pilot hole then bigger drill so you can use a hole cutter -- either a good quality hole saw or a puka punch die type tank cutter to give you a hole bigg enough to use the nibbler.

depending on how big a hole you are after, I would recomend drawing the exact circle you want removed then chain drilling with a small drill just inside this circle (put some wood behind the sheet if it is very thin). Then carefully open the hole up with a half round file.

Alternatively there are special punches that you can buy that are a 2 part device which you put either side of the sheet and then screw together (obviously needs a pilot hole) ; apprently they work like a guilotine to give you a perfect hole. dunno where you get them from though.

HTH

I cut these by chain drilling just inside the mark i scribed on it and snipping through between the drill holes with a pair of wire cutters

then i used a file and finally a small drill mounted grinding stone to finish it off.

once polished it looked ok - took quite a long time to do and you needed to be carefull when handling it so as not to scratch it bend it.

Thats the back, the front was less scratched.


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hole saw??

why buy a hole saw (if you can get one in the right size anyway) when your probably not going to use it again in the build?

For a bit of time and thought you can achieve pretty good results using other far cheaper methods.

Chain drilling every time, it is very quick in ally
Rescued attachment chain drill.jpg

These are the gizmo's I was refering to.
bloody expensive though




Linky

Trepanning Bit/Tank Cutter, used carefully in a decent pillar drill with scrap wood underneath. Small amount of deburring afterwards. Roberts your fathers...



Cheers

i chain drilled small holes just inside, then opened up with a jigsaw (but remember to mask up well first.
used the same idea for fibreglass.
Tom

quote:

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Originally posted by DaveFJ
These are the gizmo's I was refering to.
bloody expensive though




Linky

---

I've got a set of hole saws that claim they can go through ali.....

as long as you keep the speed down with some lube i'd have thought they would be ok to pretty good (but i haven't tried them yet).......

So if you're willing to be a guinea pig

(come on, you should have known to ask me first by now!)

I've done some 50mm round with a bimetal hole saw in 16g aluminum sheet. No problem as long as the sheets held firmly

when making various bits for crossmembers for rally cars etc I have used a 50mm bimetal hole saw to go through 6mm steel plate, so I don't think it'll struggle too much with ally sheet!

Mike, if yours is one of those sets with the interchangeable springy rings, chuck it!! They are crap. You are welcome to borrow my bimetal ones!!

Also, on the point about not needing them after the build, that's just not how I think!! I buy stuff cos it's useful, and finds uses for all sorts of jobs afterwards!!

errm, not sure what you are on about........

mine are like ........

[quick web search later]web link


although mine are cheaper!

Slight variation on the norm.

Chain drill, separate with small electrical wire cutters and clean up with a burr fitted to a die grinder.

Mick

On thin sheet metal -( especially ally) - I prefer to finish the hole (post chain drilling) with a half round hand file, I find that power tools are just too much and you end up making a mess of it, you get far more control with a hand file (IMHO of course)

Jigsaw with very fine tooth blade and lube, file after...nice result too.

just make sure you don't drop a 2 foot metal bar from about 3 foot onto your finger when your trying to get the bimetal saws out .....

Irvined has photographic evidence of what happened to my finger..... it hurts!

those saws are fine Mike, you can get really cheap ones with a big arbor that the separate spring steel blades clamp into, and are really crap. Yours are fine!

quote:

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Originally posted by alfasudsprint
Jigsaw with very fine tooth blade and lube, file after...nice result too.

---

If u mask it up when using a jig saw theres no scratches. Ive done this loads of times. You can get a decentish set of holesaws from b n q for a tenner, thye drill throu aly no probs. If theyr shagged for a tenner u can sling em anyway........

those screw together hole punches are brilliant. i have a couple of various sizes and are very reasonable from "cromwell" industrial suppliers.

if theres one near you, pop in and get a catalogue. its about as thick as the yellow pages and full of tools

if you get that catalogue they are on page948. eg of price is £5.50 for a 1"cutter. not a bad price i thought.

they are on the net too at www.cromwell.co.uk

I have mentioned Cromwell in the tools section. Our main tool account is with them at work, and it's a pretty big account (we are a steel rolling mill so get through a few tools!)

They are a really excellent supplier, not the very cheapest, but they don't stock "cheap" (i.e far eastern and falls to bits) stuff!! What they do stock is loads of stuff like the hole punches thatmattplace mentioned, and loads of other small and generally tricky to find tooling, at a reasonable cost, as well as anything else you can imagine tool-wise!

Just spotted this if it's any help, not too expensive either.

http://www.nfauto.co.uk/hole_saw_kit.htm

Chris

If you know exactly where you want the holes to go, you could take the panel to a company like Sciss in Staplehurst and they'll water laser cut them.

Very, very accurate.

We've used them for cutting Phosphorous bronze plate 3/4" thick!!

http://www.sciss.co.uk

ATB

Simon

[Edited on 30/1/05 by Simon]

Thanks Guys, will give the hole saws a try and failing that chain drill.

Cheers

David

as noone else seems to have mentioned it.....

When cutting with a hole-saw or drilling in Aluminum DON'T use the oil that you'd usually use on Steel...

The best stuff is industrial alcohol, and the cheaper alternative is AJAX window-cleaner (or a similar 'squirt on, wipe off' kind of stuff).

The difference is stunning.

Maybe everyone knows that little trick already... maybe not.

hope it helps somone anyway..

N

I used WD on mine as it was there when I was doing the job. I have seen people recommending paraffin (white) as a lubricant for working with aluminium.