What do u use to cut metal?

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Boozer

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sorry im sure this question is already in the forums but im in a bit of a rush. but what would u use to cut like a window into the side panel of ur comp case? metal, alunimum type of stuff. kinda thick im sure you all know what im talkin about. my dad has all tools in the world except the ones to cut metal... so its not really all the tools in the world but u get what im saying. i was gonna go out n buy one before the stores close. i get out of school at 5 so i dont have much time. thanks for your help
 
ahh yes i thought of that. and yea my dad has a jigsaw but is there anything smoother then that?
 
I use a DeWalt grinder. It doesnt bend thin metel like a jigsaw does, and gets the job done quicker :D. Then I go over the edges with a dremel.
 
Boozer said:
ahh yes i thought of that. and yea my dad has a jigsaw but is there anything smoother then that?
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What do you mean by smoother? You will probably have to go back and file the edges no matter what tool you use.
 
yeah but jigsaw just moves a bit too much. i was just wondering if there was anything smoother operating then that. thanks for your input though. as the rest of you guys too. thanks alot i know what im gettin now.
 
Boozer said:
yeah but jigsaw just moves a bit too much. i was just wondering if there was anything smoother operating then that. thanks for your input though. as the rest of you guys too. thanks alot i know what im gettin now.
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a jigsaw might move a lot but it will get the job done faster then a dremel. cheaper too, you don't have to go out a spend a lot on cut wheels just for an inch of cutting ;)
 
These nibblers work pretty well on thinner metal, but I can't imagine cutting an entire window with a nibbler. The radio shack ones work pretty well for doing small panel cutouts, but again, it would suck to do an entire window with them.
 
hand nibblers are alright for <2square inches of total nibbling but there slow, and you can get blisters mad crazy

pnumatic nibblers are much better, but you have to be carfull if youve never used it before, as they tend to pull themselfs foward

drimmel tools work (with there little wheels) just fine for medum sized cuts (most computer case stuff). one common bad tecnique modders share is how to use drimmel cutoff wheels. most people use them like little saws, this tends to heat metal way to hot, eat up cut off wheels way too fast, and genraly frustrate any sane person. the right way to do it is to draw out your line, line up your spinning disk, go strait down, then come strait back up. move down a little bit and repeat. there is no saw motion at all.

jig saws leave iffy smoothness, your gonna wana use a 32tpi bimetalic saw... if you have a lot of cutting its alwase an option. you will have to smooth it over afterwords with a sander or drimmel flapwheel/grinding disk

grinders/ 90deg grinders work great if you have decent re-enforced wheels for cutting most stuff. its what i usaly use for big cuts, and you can smooth rough cuts with it too. and the flapwheels are realy nice. i have 2 grinders, one with a flapwheel and one with a fiberglass disk. ones black and decker and the other is craftsman, both work fine.

plazma cutters... the toys that we get to play with at work... leave lines that look like you sanded with 1250 gritt paper for a day and a half... its sooo smooth its awsome

anyway... best of luck theshadow
 
Theshadow27, I don't see what you're saying about the dremel.

The only thing I could gather from that post is that you're saying to not FORCE the dremel. Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with a "sawing" motion. No matter what, every part of the wheel is hitting the metal in the same fashion. Now if you were cutting down, maybe you would apply less pressure to the metal while cutting and go through wheels slower. I'll give you that. But I just don't see how there is a difference between cutting from one direction than there is from another. It's a wheel, the whole wheel is utilized in the cutting process, no matter whether you're cutting vertically or horizontally.
 
what you guys are saying about using the nibbler for <2 square inches, do you mean its not meant for cutting over two inches, or that it sucks for me if i go over?
 
they';re saying its not easy to use for a long cut as it uses alot of force, and your hands can dovelop blisters...
 
i disagree on the plasma cutter statement. they can cut through metal quick but the cuts are not as smooth as you say they are. for best results find place that has a laser cutter or waterjet machine which can give you clean smooth cuts
 
It sucks for you. It'd be like making a large cardboard cutout with fiskars (the Kindergarten scissors)
 
dudeitsme: although you are compleatly right in theory, the reason that the down/up method works better is because very very few people can keep the tool parallal to the work surface. they are pushing foward/backwords relitive to the saw (puts stress on disk by angling it relitive to the shank), they are also skewing (angle tool away from 90deg with the cut, pressure on edges of disk tilting it more away from 90deg with the shank) and usaly angling it up (making a angled cut, like the edge of a blade, more pressure on the wheel). by sticking to down/up, the chance that you will be putting these constant pressures on the wheel are greatly reduced, increasing disk life and helping you cut more efficently

darkhacker: i guess you missed it, but i work at a autobody shop, and we use our $7000 quite often. its very noisy and you have to keep it fiilled with nitrogen, but it makes very smooth, accurate cuts.

a water jet machine takes ffoorreevveerr to finish even the smallest stuff, although it does make it very very accuratly. but its also very expensive (50000$+) and i have no accsess to one down here.

and a laser cutter... on stainless? hmm. . .
 
I personally use just my dremel, it takes forever, but the best way to use the dremel for *ACCURACY* is to do it *SLOW* and its a good idea to break out the extension tool which will let you use the disk at a better angle
 
jpmkm said:
These nibblers work pretty well on thinner metal, but I can't imagine cutting an entire window with a nibbler. The radio shack ones work pretty well for doing small panel cutouts, but again, it would suck to do an entire window with them.
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i used a nibbler for a pretty thick steel side... it took like 6 hours to cut but no delays, just time consuming.... i got blisters tho... but at least i got a window cut out... never use nibblers for big long cuts

my mistake well learned :(
 
The hand nibblers will leave your hands sore after awhile. I use two different metal shears, not sure of the thickness of cutting with them, one has the yellow grip and the other green grip. If anyone knows what thickness of metal these two cuts, please help me out, I forgot. The one metal sheers with the green grip cuts clean while the other can cut out the excess.

You could use a bandsaw with a metal cutting blade.
 
If you head to any sheet metal shop(smaller shops) in your local town or city, most will charge hardly any thing to do a quick nibble or cut or bend:DProfessional tools always make a job easier as well as cleaner.
 
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