all you nibblers out there

[cheapgoose]

alright, the dremel is way too loud for me to use in my apt, thinking about picking up a nibbler.

for those of you that has used it, I know it's a pain in the ass but after the cut, does it leave any marks? I guess I'm asking, is the cut smooth? did you have to grind after ? if so, how much?

oh yea, and how thick was the material you used it on. I'm planning on using it on a dvd-rom case, and the top cover of a hdd.

tks guys.

 

[chizow]

DVD Rom case, np. Top cover of a HDD, I dunno. Those things are made of steel aren't they? I've never opened up a HDD so I dunno. It cuts through aluminum effortlessly though, a bit more effort with sheet metal like standard steel cases. It makes a clean cut as long as your cuts are aligned with the previous cut and you don't leave any spaces between your nibbles. You shouldn't need anything other than a metal file to clean up any sharp edges or slight imperfections, although a dremel at that point smooths and uniforms any imperfections in seconds.

Chiz

 

[cheapgoose]

cool, tks, I'm gonna pick one up this weekend. and the modding continues......... :evil:

 

[Vonkhan]

man ... for me, it was a royal pain in the rear - i actually cutout a 14" x 14" window frpm STEEL side panel using a nibbler! took forever, edges were crunched, bless the blighter who invented rubber molding!

get a cordless dremel and enjoy the nice weather outside if ur apt people are being noise sensitive biatches - i hear u bro (pun intended)!

 

[Justin218]

I went to an unused room (they use it for meetings every so often) in the building and dremeled away, nobody ever bothered me. Nibbler sounds like a pain to use. Get a jigsaw and go through it quickly?

 

[tranceport]

Originally posted by: Justin218
I went to an unused room (they use it for meetings every so often) in the building and dremeled away, nobody ever bothered me. Nibbler sounds like a pain to use. Get a jigsaw and go through it quickly?

yea drop the dremel and do a jig. *dances*

 

[Blooz1]

Your arms will look like Popeye if you try and use a nibbler for a major project, but for small stuff they can be great!

 

[Ness]

if you are gonna do large projects, make sure the nibblers have a rubber or foam grip... otherwise you'll have this ugly little red mark on the skin between your thumb and forefinger for a few days. OUCHIE!


Anyway, I suggest using the nibbler to cut the main portion, because it's definately less frustrating, but holding on the dremel to deburr the edges when you are done. Yay for that!

 

[cheapgoose]

Originally posted by: Vonkhan
man ... for me, it was a royal pain in the rear - i actually cutout a 14" x 14" window frpm STEEL side panel using a nibbler! took forever, edges were crunched, bless the blighter who invented rubber molding!

get a cordless dremel and enjoy the nice weather outside if ur apt people are being noise sensitive biatches - i hear u bro (pun intended)!

crunched? you mean it was uneven? like it left bite marks or something? I can get a jig but not sure how I can cut the hdd top with it though. maybe I'll just go to my parents' house to do this, but I'm only there like 1 day every 2 weeks.

 

[Vonkhan]

bite marks .... kinda like tht

first, drill a hole - then poke in the jigsaw and cut smooth. u definately wanna use masking tape with a template drawn on it. Also, make sure that the hard drive cover or whatever it is that u're cutting is securely held in place! if it moves about, u're gonna end up with scrap metal. of course, proper safety equipment :evil:

 

[cheapgoose]

I used a jig to do my window, fast and easy, but the thing is the hdd cover is so small, I'm not sure how I can secure it. but I guess I'll never know until I try it. tks for all the help, I'm gonna go butcher me a hdd.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: cheapgoose
I used a jig to do my window, fast and easy, but the thing is the hdd cover is so small, I'm not sure how I can secure it. but I guess I'll never know until I try it. tks for all the help, I'm gonna go butcher me a hdd.

Use a vice and some rubber pads so you don't damage it. You're talking about a 3.5'' bay cover? Oh, I thought you were talking about those reinforced casings for hard drives.

If you're looking to do a custom drive cover, nibblers rock. There's a great how-to over at virtual-hideout. I ended up starting a aluminum cover for my CD/DVD drives, but never finished b/c I went with black for my drives instead of silver.

Drive FacePlate Mod'ing for the Hardcore.

Its the best looking faceplate Mod I've seen by far.

Chiz

 

[cheapgoose]

actually, i was talking about the casing, sorry, it's still pretty small.

I'm doing a hdd window mod with led.

 

[Grimner]

With a nibbler you seem to work slow - but I suspect it isn't much slower than a Dremel or a jigsaw. The level of precision is what you make it. Take care aligning it, you get a very straight line with a few notches here and there - as said, this is easily smoothed with a Dremel.

The job chooses the tool Keep the Dremel and get a nibbler if you are going to do a lot of this.

And yes, it is quiet - another pluss is no steel dust...

 

[bdunosk]

I used a nibbler on an Antec case... so pretty thick steel. Your forearms will be very tired if you use it for a large project; I used it to cut out the front of my case so my watercooling radiator would have less obstructed airflow. It cuts decently, is very slow, and will leave "step-offs" from cut-to-cut unless you take a LOT of time to perfectly line up each individual cut. A rubber lining around the cut, or a dremel to clean up the edges would work nicely to cover that up.

I don't know about anyone else here, but my dremel on low or medium is really not much louder than a hairdryer on high. I have no compunction about using ever since one neighbor got another dog that barks incessantly from 4-6pm until they get home from work. (I just try to use it when they're home to return the favor, hahah).

Oh yeah -- don't use a vacuum cleaner to suck up all the metal chips from the nibbler. I nearly ruined mine that way.

 

[0roo0roo]

i suggest a corded dremil for any work. i bet you'll run out

supposed best way for large large cut projects lie windows ... a saw. u use dremil or drive to get it started, then saw!!

 

[cheapgoose]

tks guys, I'm gonna bring my dremel and hdd to work, and cut it there.

just to clearify, I think most of the noise wasn't from the drememl, it was from the vibration of the hdd cover hitting the board it was clamped on.