Cutting sheet metal?

[kuehnau]

I mentioned this else where, but the control panel I am working on is swish cheese. After doing some reading online I decided to go with using epoxy to attach a thin sheet of aluminum on the back and then filling in the front with bondo.

One thing I noticed is that the guides I read talk about cutting the sheet metal but don't directly discuss how they cut it. I know this is the wood working section, but I didn't see a metal working section. Can anyone advise a good clean way to cut thin sheet metal without messing it up?

[ed12]

without the use of a shear..
and seeing as it is glued in,make's the shear a moot point..
tin cutting cutter's
get the 3 pack red/green/yellow handle
there is reason's for this
red is normal straight
yellow is for right
green is for left
>edit let the giggle's chime in<
but that is the way it is

my fav's are green handle work the best and give the cleanest cut

ed

[Louis Tully]

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[Slippyblade]

What cutting are you needing to do?  Are you referring to the holes for the buttons/joysticks?  If you mean cutting the aluminum that you will epoxy to the back, just use a jigsaw with a fine tooth blade.

[yotsuya]

Find someone with access to a plasma cutter to make you a new one. Works for me.

[Louis Tully]

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[yotsuya]

Find someone with access to a plasma cutter to make you a new one. Works for me.

Bah! No fun in that. 

You kidding me? I have tons of fun designing it in Illustrator. It's cool watching the plasma cutter blasting holes through the metal. And it's satisfying when it all fits! 

[Louis Tully]

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[kuehnau]

I work in a industrial ship yard, so I could most likely just do all the work in the yard, I even thought about taking it into paint shop to ask about having it sand blasted and spray painted with navy grade paint. But our employers kind of look down on that kind of behavior and I don't feel like getting ---my bottom--- fired.

[Well Fed Games]

I'm currently working on my third Swiss-cheese panel repaired this way and I've been able to make due with metal snips and a handheld reciprocating saw. For my Raiden cab I ponied up a few bucks for a little piece of sheet steel at Menards that was almost the right size already (just need to cut about 1/2 inch off one end and the spots where the latches are welded to the CP)... for my last CP I just used my expired license plates. 

One thing I learned, even after epoxying and letting it sit and all that, make sure that the new backing is heavily reinforced with clamps or vices when drilling new holes, or it may still pull away.

I mentioned this else where, but the control panel I am working on is swish cheese. After doing some reading online I decided to go with using epoxy to attach a thin sheet of aluminum on the back and then filling in the front with bondo.

One thing I noticed is that the guides I read talk about cutting the sheet metal but don't directly discuss how they cut it. I know this is the wood working section, but I didn't see a metal working section. Can anyone advise a good clean way to cut thin sheet metal without messing it up?

[jennifer]

    Your local hvac guy can shear it off for you, that gets you a nice clean edge, (or a really fine blade on a scroll/jig saw,) and file the edge smooth.... Jennifer has to +1 the backing it up with a backboard or it will bend and look nasty.

[lamprey]

I might have missed what kind of cutting you want to do, but for cutting metal I bought a metal saw blade (Aluminum oxide metal cutting wheel, like this) and I can put it on my table saw or shop saw. May need to watch your RPMs, but I've not had any issues with mine. It does make a bit of a mess, but meh.

[xefned]

I've found tin snips are only good for very thin sheet metal. Any considerable thickness - say thicker than roof flashing - bends the metal at the cutting edge. In that case I second a jigsaw and extreme patience.