Any suggestions for this cut?

[BellaCroix]

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get an (approx) 1/16" wide cut through aluminum?

Every jigsaw blade I've seen is below 1/32" and Dremmel disks are even thinner than that. Circular saw blades are pretty close but I've never heard of using a circular saw on a case sidepanel.

If it helps, what I'm looking to do is to mod a piano hinge (also called a continuous hinge) into the side panel of a case I'm working on. If you're familiar with them you have an idea what I'm talking about, they are shaped sort of like: __o__ and I'm trying to get the round part of the hinge to fill the gap cut out by the saw.

Any ideas what could cut out that size without a month with a hand file trying to widen the cut from a jig saw? Yes, I know two passes with a laser cutter would do the trick but my laser ray gun is out of dilythium crystals.

Thanks!

 

[penguin]

Hmmm...
I would just cut it out as a big rectangle with a dremel.

 

[BellaCroix]

Hmmm...
I would just cut it out as a big rectangle with a dremel.

Problem is the dimensions of the cut will be 625mm (Long) x 5mm (Wide)

That does not create much room to work with on the second pass especially considering the first pass will remove about 1mm itself, the second pass would be another 1mm wide so I'd be working on removing a sliver about 3mm wide. I don't know what kind of control I'd have on the dremmel wheel.

Basically, what I'm doing is cutting the side panel in half, removing about 5mm from the total height of the panel (from the middle), then replacing that 5mm with the hinge so that it fills the exact same space and aligns correctly using the stock mounts.

 

[darn_it]

Well I'd say you'd be fine cutting that with a jigsaw or maybe a dremel. You'd just have to take your time and go nice and slow. If your careful I'm sure you could get 2 passes in. Another idea would be to borrow a belt sander from someone. I would cut along the middle with the jigsaw and then just sand down the 2 mm with the belt sander. It would give a nice smooth edge.

 

[sn3ak3rp1mp]

If you have a cordless circular saw, try going to your local hardware store and picking up someting with 150+ teeth. I think they're typically made for cutting plywood, but the thin metal of your case should be no match. Tape the crap out of the flat surface of the panel with masking tape to avoid damage to the case. A standard circular saw could be used, but I think would be more dangerous.

The only other thing I can come up with is using a rotory hole-saw with a bit similiar to the width you would like to cut. The tool would be pulled along the line to make a 1/16" slit in the metal. Might be slow going and take more than one bit to do the job.

Good Luck!
sn3ak3rp1mp

 

[uzor]

Here ya go. Get an angle grinder and one of these cut off blades (Home Depot).

 

[Logan321]

Here ya go. Get an angle grinder and one of these cut off blades (Home Depot).

hmm... I think 5/8" > 1/16" last I checked...

 

[racebanner]

The last time I had to do something like this I brazed 2 jig saw blades together to get a saw kerf of an odd dimension. Just break off the tang from 1 blade and braze whats left (from the back edge). Worked pretty well. Just a thought

 

[penguin]

hmm... I think 5/8" > 1/16" last I checked...

You'd be right, if 5/8" was the thickness of the cutoff wheel. It's actually the arbor size - the wheel is 1/16" thick.

 

[daedal]

Table saw!

 

[BellaCroix]

Here ya go. Get an angle grinder and one of these cut off blades (Home Depot).

Dont know why I didn't think of that... that would work alomst perfectly! Wonder if I can make that fit a circular saw... heh.

Great idea! Thanks!

 

[Logan321]

You'd be right, if 5/8" was the thickness of the cutoff wheel. It's actually the arbor size - the wheel is 1/16" thick.

Ahh! Makes all kinds of sense now. lol Thanks for clearing that up.