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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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738020 No.738020 [Reply] [Original]

Sup /diy/. I have a project in mind for which I will have to make holes in a ~1mm thick piece of aluminium. Several circles and a rectangular one.
Never worked with metal in my entire life. Any recommendations?
Pic related, that's the case I'm going to use.

>> No.738030

>>738020
Heh, I'm collecting those at work, they get thrown in the bin when a customers' external disk kicks the bucket, but the enclosures seem too useful to just toss away.
I'd probably just use a dremel with a cutter disk, alu is soft.

>> No.738031

Use cutting fluid. Ethanol and rubbing alcohol work well.

>> No.738032

dremel

>> No.738033
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738033

>>738031

>> No.738036

>>738030
Thanks.

>> No.738047
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738047

So, if I cut the lines with the cutter disk, how do I do the sides? The rectangle is about 1in by 0.5in.

>> No.738048
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738048

>>738030
>>738036

>cutting aluminum with an abrasive wheel

You're gonna have a bad time.

Aluminum gums that shit up fast. It might work on a particularly hard alloy of aluminum, but that would definitely be a last resort.

>> No.738049

>>738048
So what do you suggest?

>> No.738050

>>738048
I found a 1 inch diamond cutting disc on ebay that I wanted to use for the longer lines.

>> No.738052

>>738049

Aluminum is one of the softest metals, cutting it with an abrasive wheel makes a lot of aluminum dust, which is toxic. I wouldn't recommend it, but in this case there are not many options left.

I would normally use a jeweler saw or a band saw, but since you must work with a 3D rectangle you're going to have a bad time if you try to cut it with any conventional saw. (I assume you're going to make the holes on the box depicted)

A more painful option is to drill as many holes as you need to get the rough shape and then smooth the edges with a file.

>> No.738063

>>738047
Drill a pilot hole and use a scrollsaw to cut out your shapes with sharp corners.

If your circles are standard sizes you can use knockout punches after drilling a pilot hole with a step drill.

>> No.738068
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738068

Pic related (hand nibbler) will cut up to 1 mm soft metals.
With care you can cut rectangles, circles, or irregular shapes.
To start in the middle of a sheet, drill a hole to insert the cutter.
Squeeze the handle to move the cutter against the material taking a 1/16" bite out.
Release handle, slide device against cut area, squeeze handle again.
Repeat until finished.

>> No.738197

>>738068
Thanks, I think this is my best bet.

>> No.738703
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738703

You can pick up an nibbler attachment for about 10 bucks. will rip through corrugated iron too.

>> No.738704

>>738048
true
i use an angle grinder to cut long pieces of aluminum (i don't have other tools) but i wore the disk out in a couple of weeks

>> No.738709

Hi Anon,

To make hole in Al panels for my DIY project, I drill a hole of 9mm of diameter (with the help of a drill stand), the I cut the opening (rectangle, big circles...) with an electric jigsaw.
Before using the jigsaw, i protect the surface with paper masking tape.
This process is quite long, but the result can be very neat !

>> No.738752

Aluminum needs to be cut with a blade that can move the chips out of the way. Grinding is only for hard metals like steel or iron. Aluminum's low melting point means it can get very gummy and clog up your grinding wheel as heat starts to build up.

>> No.738766

>>738752
Tell us more of the low melting point of Al, anon!

>> No.739479

>>738703
Hand nibbler is a great DIY tool to have anyway.
>>738752
The melting point is ~700 Celcius.

Coping Saw might work as well it's like a tiny round file and a saw combined.

Stitch drilling (Drilling lots of holes along the line), cutting with a coping saw and then filing/hacksawing the rest down is a good technique but not of much use for thin materials or aluminum.

>> No.739491
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739491

>>739479
>>738766
>melting
No. He's referring to pic related or something similar. I'm not an expert on topic, but aluminum and metals in general behave quite differently when hot. And letting aluminum to get hot while grinding tends to lead clogged tools and asspain.

>> No.739572

>>738766
>>739479

Ever heated up plastic so it's easier to manipulate? Same principle applies to metals. You're not going to get a flowing stream of aluminum when grinding, but there is enough heat build up to cause it to soften and gum up.

>> No.739671
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739671

Tool and die maker here.
Bores:
Mark positions.
Center punch .
Pre-drill bores with the diameter being the chisel edge's width of the final drill bit, but do not go below 1.5mm. Drill out holes to final diameter. Use alcohol for lubrication. Deburr.

Cornered openings:
Drill many small holes in a row inside the outline (like 2mm). Open up these holes with larger drill, like 3mm, to get rid of the material between the holes. Remove center piece, clean the edges using key files.

For all steps: Practice on some scrap metal, in order not to fuck up your main project's material.