where can i go to get a hole cut in my side panel ?

[flexy]

where can i go to have a 120mm hole cut in a 0.8 - 1mm steel side panel ??????

Does home depot etc. do stuff like this ?

Also...when i have a duct/tube from the CPU fan to this hole (which i plan)..would it be better to have the Fan near the CPU....or the fan near the opening ????

 

[akira34]

To get the hole cut, clean, check your local yellow pages for machine shops. They should be able to either cut or punch the hole for you without difficulty (or too much expense).

 

[impemonk]

Why not have two fans? One on the cpu drawing air out, and the one in the back pulling out also. It makes for a nice vacuum I should know, I have 2 80mm fans doing just that

 

[mrscintilla]

Does Homedepot offer the cutting service??? At a typical machine shop, how much would they charge you if you draw out the lines for them? Just curious about a ballpark figure... I know the price will vary region to region, shop to shop.

 

[slapshot45]

i just bought a hole saw and did it myself with a drill.

 

[hondAS2ooo170]

use a dremel

 

[flexy]

Originally posted by: slapshot45
i just bought a hole saw and did it myself with a drill.

how hard is it and how long did it take ???? I mean, its really very solid steel

 

[akira34]

I'd imagine that if you marked the panel properly with a center point and outside line for the hole, it would only cost a few dollars. Whatever their minimum charge for such small jobs is.

To do a real clean job, you need at least a drill press, sharp hole cutter made for the materials you're cutting, and something to mount the panel onto. You want the material under the panel to be softer so that it won't ruin the hole cutter when it passes through. With the drill press, you can get it the hole perfect since it can spin slow enough to not ah heck it up. Also use some cutting lube while doing this so that you don't burn out the cutter.

I've cut sheet metal this way before, and it really produces the best results. You can get good results with the other tools mentioned, but the press and hole cutter (with lube) makes a world of difference.

 

[SkyBum]

As far as price goes, any reputable machine shop is going to charge you at LEAST $60 an hour and many charge an hour minimum. Most machine shops are geared up for high profit/production runs and won't even touch a small project like that. If you can't handle the job yourself with a dremel or drillpress/holesaw, your best bet is to find a very small job shop that is hungry for work. Even then, I'd be very surprised if you got away for under $30.

Water jets make the cleanest cut available but can run as high as $200/hr + setup cost.
Laser cuts are nearly as good though most shops run about $120/hr + setup cost.
Plasma cutting can be as low as $60/hr + setup but the heat involved will burn the paint on your panel.
Punching is not an option (assuming you could even find someone with a die of that size) because as the die goes through the material there will be massive deformation of the panel and more than likely you'll never be able to fit it back on your case.
As someone else said, a hole saw and drillpress will give you a nice clean cut but you obviously don't have one or you wouldn't be asking here....

A dremel will do a fine job and you can do it yourself in about 10 minutes. A holesaw and a hand drill will also do a decent job, but beware of slippage, you could wreck the finish in an instant. My vote is get yourself a dremel kit. They're relatively cheap and are incredibly handy to have around. You'll never regret the purchase price.

 

[Silversolder]

Also most electricians have hole punch outs that may work.

 

[mrscintilla]

I have a drill gun w/ cord. I can only drill holes with it right now. What accessories do I need to cut a window-size hole on the steel sidepanel of my slk3000b case?

What's the dremel that everyone is talking about? I know it's a brand. But what accessories of Dremel do the job?

BTW, I have a jigsaw cutter. It shakes so much that I doubt it will make a clean cut..

 

[Greenman]

A good hole saw will do a very nice job, and do it fast.

 

[Silversolder]

Quote on the hole saw.
And handy to have anyway.

 

[mrscintilla]

Does a holesaw only cut a hole of the same size? Can you use them it to cut a large window-sized hole?

 

[SkyBum]

Originally posted by: mrscintilla
I have a drill gun w/ cord. I can only drill holes with it right now. What accessories do I need to cut a window-size hole on the steel sidepanel of my slk3000b case?

What's the dremel that everyone is talking about? I know it's a brand. But what accessories of Dremel do the job?

BTW, I have a jigsaw cutter. It shakes so much that I doubt it will make a clean cut..

Here is an accesory that will let you cut a window with a hand drill. Link.

Bit-Tech.net posted a nice 7 page article which will walk you through the steps of cutting a hole with a dremel. There is also a page on picking a good dremel tool. Personally, I dont like the cutting wheel they used. I would have bought the dremel attatchment above and it would take half the time and do a much cleaner cut. I doubt that a hand drill spins nearly as fast as a dremel though, If it were me, I'd use the dremel over a hand drill (they are only like 30-40 for a decent one. When picking a dremel tool, try to find one that has one of these attatchments available. Also, Dremel is a brand name but there are dozens of companies who manufacture these kind of tools, it does not need to be a DREMEL brand.

 

[Erok55]

Originally posted by: hondAS2ooo170
use a dremel

 

[SkyBum]

Double post.....

 

[flexy]

nice article...too bad he is cutting aluminum....i am talking about solid STEEL. The side panel is HEAVY....i doubt this is a DiY job....especially for someone who never did something like that like me

 

[lotus503]

Just call a few machine shops, I just had 3 holes done in my Lian-Li for 60 bucks

120mm they used a 4 1/2 inch holesaw
80mm they used a 3 1/4, I would do a 3"

 

[Zepper]

A sheet-metal shop could probably do it for less.

Dremel is a brand-name of a die grinder. Once wasn't well-known outside of tool & die shops (my father was a T&D man, so we have had a Dremel in the house for as long as I can remember). Now everybody has one. You can get cheap chinese ones at a lot of those tool outlet places but no telling how long it will last. This is what you use for cutting window-sized holes. I prefer a carbide edged cutter bit (Dremel 9000 series bit - about $8. at walmart) - others prefer the cutting wheels.

.bh.

 

[imported_fatal]

 

[imported_fatal]

Holesaw

 

[Pauli]

Modding and Cutting with Tin Snips

Those Wiss tin snips cut sheetmetal like a hot knife through buttah...

 

[SkyBum]

Originally posted by: flexy
nice article...too bad he is cutting aluminum....i am talking about solid STEEL. The side panel is HEAVY....i doubt this is a DiY job....especially for someone who never did something like that like me

1mm steel is flimsy. Sure aluminum cuts like butter but with a carbide cutting bit and a fast dremel you could easily do it yourself. You said already that you have a hand drill, just buy a hole saw and you'll be out the door for about $15. On the other hand, if you wanna get raped by a machine shop, suit yourself. I run a metal art business and I know from experience how these guys take advantage on small jobs...before I bought my drillpress, I once had to pay a shop $20 to drill 5 holes in a 3/4 inch plate (it took thm less than 10 minutes).

 

[sodcha0s]

Originally posted by: flexy
nice article...too bad he is cutting aluminum....i am talking about solid STEEL. The side panel is HEAVY....i doubt this is a DiY job....especially for someone who never did something like that like me

It's just sheetmetal. A holesaw designed for cutting steel will easily cut it. Finding one big enough will be the hardest thing, and also they're not too cheap either.