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Best tool for cutting through steel?

B

Burner27

Diamond Member
I want to mod my Antec Sonata and add a 120mm blowhole to the side panel. My choices are these:

A. Dremel with what attachment to cut with???

B. Jigsaw with metal cutting blade. (How smooth is this cut?)

C. Bi-Metal or Carbide tipped holesaw (4.5" is the size I would need)



Which one of these would offer me the least aggrevation and yet provide the cleanest cut? I would like to avoid marring the paint job as much as possible.

Thank you for your help.
 
tape up the area with macking tape. then use the hole saw to cut the hole. make sure that the hole saw is centered and the piece does not move while cutting the hole. then you can use the dremel with a sanding wheel to very lightly smooth up the hole. if you don't want to buy a dremel as well, you could clean up the hole with sandpaper. good luck.
 
not really sure if it will make a difference. just be sure to mask the area off before cutting. that will keep debris from scratching the surface.
 
Originally posted by: Burner127
I want to mod my Antec Sonata and add a 120mm blowhole to the side panel. My choices are these:

A. Dremel with what attachment to cut with???

B. Jigsaw with metal cutting blade. (How smooth is this cut?)

C. Bi-Metal or Carbide tipped holesaw (4.5" is the size I would need)



Which one of these would offer me the least aggrevation and yet provide the cleanest cut? I would like to avoid marring the paint job as much as possible.

Thank you for your help.
Click to expand...

Option C. They make them with a couple of different sized teeth. Choose the smallest teeth you can get. I would cut from non painted side to the painted side, using blue painters tape, or masking tape, on both sides.
 
also be careful not to get the metal too hot while cutting. heat can mess up the finish of the paint.
 
Doesn't matter which side you start as long as you use tape. It protects the paint job from scratches.
 
If you go the hole saw route (the best in my humble opinion) Keep in mind that the recommended RPM is about 100 revolutions per minute.

If you spin them much faster you will find that one hole is about all you will get before having to have them sharpened.

Unless of course you purchase the carbide or diamond saw's...Once again I highly recommend finding out what the recommended RPM for the paticular hole saw you buy and do not spin it faster.

Cutting holes with jigsaw's is really not an option...Wood...Yeah great...Metal...I dont think so.

 
Several ways,
Mark where you want the hole. Someone here said a CD disk is real close to the diameter.
Drill a series of holes on the inside of this marking. Clean it up with the Dremel.
The smaller the drill hole size the less work the Dremel will have to do.
Personally I would cover all the area I was not working with lite-cardboard held in place with tape to prevent damage. At least use a fan to blow on it while grinding to help keep it cool
and so you won't get too much of the dust in your inards 🙂

I have a floor mount drill press and instead of using a Dremel, I would use a 2" sanding drum chucked up.

If you chose to rent a large hole saw as I would do.
Mark the 4 fan mounting holes & drill'em.
Mark an accurate X between these 4 holes. Lightly center punch(it leaves a dot in the metal to center the drill on) with a lite hammer tap. Drill a 1/4" hole here.
Have two pieces of 7"sq 3/8" plywood on hand.
Drill a 1/4" hole in the near center of these plywood pieces.
Bolt one to your panel with a 1/4" bolt.
Drill the four fan mounting bolt holes through the on piece of plywood.
Remove the 1/4" bolt and install the second piece of plywood on the other side of the panel, using the same 1/4" bolt.
Eye-ball the four fan mounting holes and line them up, snug up the center bolt.
Then re-drill the four mounting screw holes and install long #8 screws with nuts to hold the whole plot together.
At this point the panel will be sandwiched inbetween the plywood.

Remove the center bolt and proceed with the hole saw. After getting thruogh the first plywood square. Remove the cut-out piece and then address the steel. Go slow, use no oil.
Keep the area of work clean with a vacuum cleaner so the hole saw is not trying to work through the shavings its generating.
The plywood will keep the panel true.
When you rent the hole saw have them chuck it up in one of their drills and spin it up.
This is to make sure it runs true, wobbling will make the hole grow and cause alot of unnecessary heat. Much more work too.

Read the lable on a can of WD-40......Where does it say cutting oil??
WD= Water Dispercent Type 40. The only thing I use it for is to wipe down polished alloy
that is exposed to the elements.

Bee's wax is an excellent cutting agent for aluminum and most of it's alloys.

Take your time and the finish will be fine...😛 rymes.

The prep will take longer than cutting the hole. Make sure a rental place has a true one to rent. Reserve it for 1/2 day. Do the set-up first. then pick-up the tool.


G/Y
 
If you have the bucks and are not a Do It Yourselfer. Take the door to a local auto bodyshop or metal shop and have them use a 'punch'. It will make a nice clean hole and probably not mar the finish.
 
Originally posted by: NotquiteanooB
If you have the bucks and are not a Do It Yourselfer. Take the door to a local auto bodyshop or metal shop and have them use a 'punch'. It will make a nice clean hole and probably not mar the finish.
Click to expand...



Most bodyshops have a flat hourly rate, around $50.
If on the other hand you have had a car painted/repaired recently, they just might do it for free.
Go on burner, learn something new. The satisfaction of doing it yourself is good 😉


G/Y
 
I want to thank you all for your advice. The holesaw method is out of the question as a 4.5" holesaw is $49.99. Seems kinda silly for something I will only use once. I already own a dremel so I think I will use that method.

I have to ask this of you guys before I start. At this point in time I cannot afford a new case as I have dumped a ton of money on the components themselves. I have one case fan in the rear of my case (120mm) that can move 94cfm. I have included a link to the inside of my machine below. That second fan you see in the pic closest to the HDD rack is no longer there because the video card with the huge copper HSF(an X850XT PE w/Zalman VF700Cu) has been replaced with a BFG 7800GTX OC that is so long that the PCIe power connector wouldn't clip onto the card because the fan is/was in the way.

So, to make a long story short....the reason I am putting a blowhole in is to increase the amount of cool, "outside" air, being drawn into the case. Would it be wise to make this hole as close to the HDD rack as possible? Placing the hole right over the HDD rack is not possible due to space limitations with the width of the case.

http://images.dr3vil.com/uploads/PICT0087.JPG
 
Where you are going to put the hole is your call.
Maybe someone who has close to your set-up can help.

Apparently you did not read my long post.

As I said RENT, less than $10 for 1/2 day, bet'cha! you got to leave a refundable deposit.

I would find using a Dremel tedious and time consuming, as a result, I would be apt to cut
corners(so to speak 😛) and end-up with a less than desired result.


G/Y
 
Cutting wheels for the Dremel cost pennies. I've cut two or three holes before the cutting blade has been reduced to a less-effective size.

It takes longer. You need to scribe a precise line for your cut, then very patiently traverse the entire cut once or twice to get a "groove" in the surface. This will then help guide the saw on subsequent passes, and the hole should be uniform and precise.

Cutting a hole to fit a 120mm fan may take 15 or 20 minutes. I've tried scribing an octagon and then rounding the flat edges, but it is not too hard to use the Dremel cutting wheel to trace the circle, widening the groove behind the desired edge so that the blade doesn't bind.

Don't force the Dremel on the sheet-metal. Instead, caress the sheet metal, backing off a bit when you hear the Dremel's rpms drop off.

It takes a bit of patience, but it is not an inordinately long time to complete a precisely-cut hole.
 
Hole is cut. Fan is installed...................


Temps are the same. Dammit!!!

Ohwell. At least I got to use my dremel.
 
now ur noise level is higher🙁

dremel is easy though...just cut hole as mostly square with diagonal corners....since thats basically what fans are. dremel+ steel requires patience though. u need straight through flow more like the p180.

but i guess u could try removing all those pci case slot covers and see if the side intake will vent more from there
 
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