Projects How am I going to cut holes in this sheet of stainless?

I had a brainstorm (this almost always ends up by me outsmarting myself) for my Diamond T project. Thought I'd make a center dash panel of stainless steel, like the Deluxe cabs used, and use new Stewart Warner electronic gauges, as opposed to trying to cobble new elec. guts into the (very pretty) original speedo. To that end, I got a drop of 22 ga polished stainless, and plan on cutting the panel, rolling a bead around the edge, doing an engine turn finish on it, and cutting holes for the 6 new gauges.

On the way home, it occured to me that my "Blue Moly" hole saws probably won't cut the stainless. Am I corrrect here? I have a buddy who's a sheet metal guy, they have laser cutters, and I'm ***uming he could cut the holes after I'm done.

Any advice, I don't want to ruin my hole saws...

Brian

 

Plasma.

 

your hole saws should be able to go through something thin like 22 guage. However, If you have a buddy with one of those laser cutters you'd be better off just taking it to him and have him cut the holes as well as the whole shape of the panel out of your sheet of stainless. You'll have cleaner edges that way.

 

If you have access to a plasma then that would be the way to go. However, I've used hole saws many of times on stainless sheet-metal when I've had to on 18g and 16g with no issues.

 

That's what I thought. I've dulled enough drill bits trying to drill thru stainless. I don't know why I didn't think of that before I bought the drop. Could have just made a paper pattern and had him do the whole (hole?) thing.

 

Easiest way is with a Q-Max cutter, I cut 16swg with one, I cut 1/8" stainless with a holesaw.

Q-Max cutter

 

You need to sharpen drills differently for stainless, I'm currently making a stainless ch***is and my drills eat 10mm stainless easily without resharpening

 

You can do it with your hole saws ,You need a drill press set at the lowest speed and lots of oil .I made a jig up first Wood on the bottom and exact wood template on top ,Mounted to a board with pins ,screws holding guage panel in place.

 

22 gage anything is pretty thin. Any punch might distort the hole. Plasma cutting would be the way to go if you have access to the service. Me, I'd clamp it down to the table of my Bridgeport, back it up with some wood and bore the holes on location with a fly cutter.

Bob

 

Make a nice template out of thin wood and plasma cut - that's the way I do it when I'm not freehanding thing's I shouldn't be freehanding

 

Find a place with the new water jet cutter. Make a drawing, and they can enter the data into a computer, cuts clean as a ****er knife. Cleaner than plasma, cheaper than standard machine shop techniques(vertical mill, etc.)

 

hole saw is doable. I have done it lots of times one time 80 2" hole in stainless sheet. just go slow and lots of oil and break thru evenly or our teeth will be gone quickly.

 

Use these-made for thinner metal, with less tearout and a cleaner hole than standard holesaws...
http://www.vansantent.com/sheet_metal_cutters.htm

 

Lots of oil, slow speed and make sure it's clamped down tight...and only some stainless steel alloys require a different angle on drill bits and other cutters, most stainless is actually soft and gums up easily if not lubed enough, but some stainless alloys are hard and require flatter and beefier cutting edges with less relief...

 

29NASH, post #11 above, hit it exactly right. No water jet? Plasma is next best. No plasma cutter? Hole saws at VERY low speed. No hole saws....uh, out of ideas unless you drill a bunch of smaller holes around the cir***ference and then cut with hand shears and then file, file file.

 

If you aren't using them already, you might consider grabbing some cobalt drill bits for any smaller holes you may need for screws and fasteners. Cobalt eats stainless pretty good, and you'll get lots more holes in stainless from each bit before they lose their cutting edge.
Ken

 

As far as dulling drill bits goes; I have a Drill Doctor. In the several years since I got it for christmas from my daughter I have bought less than a dozen new bits. One winter day a year I gather all of the bits up and sharpen them. Except for a half dozen of the ones I use most, once a year is enough.

Before I retired, as lead floor mechanic, I would take every new hire and show how to sharpen a drill bit. It was appauling how many so called "old heads" didn't know how!

 

The most common misconception when drilling any metal is people run their drill press or hand drill WAY too fast...it dulls your drill bits immediately and makes it harder to drill, and gives you improper sized holes and excessive burrs...

 

I drill stainless enclosures [ electrical pnls, pull box's etc 1/8"-3/16"] all the time at work. Boss never springs for the stainless hole saws so make do with the standard. The trick we use is to fill the inside of the hole saw with a sponge, load it with cutting oil or wd-40. Low speed and low steady pressure stops the hole saw from getting hot. When they get hot the teeth bend over and they walk. We will use hydraulic knock out sets but many times we can't remove the guts and can't fit them in. I would sandwich your finish piece between some s**** pieces and let it start on them. If she walks you can stop before you hit the stainless. Many gages don't have the largest of flanges to cover a mistake.

 

I love my drill doctor!!

 

Hmmm, I love the sponge trick, never thought of that...I've used regular bar hand soap before as a subs***ute for oil, but it's MUCH more time consuming because you're constantly having to rub the bar on the hole saw and start cutting over and over again...

 

thanx guys, some great ideas

 

Old thread but I think I have solved the drilling big holes in stainless problem, at least for the grade of stainless I am using. I have a project that requires 2 dozen 4 1/4" holes in 16ga mirror polished stainless sheet. I bought a Disston hole saw and started drilling using the usual drilling fluid. I got maybe half way thru the 16ga and it starrted smoking and progress stopped dead. I looked at my drill cup and the teeth were gone. I did a quick calculation; 24 holes x 2 bits/hole x $$$$$$$/bit. Equation didn't look too good. I got another bit and decided to try something different. Heat seemed to the the killer on the oil lubed try so I decided to try just using plain water to cool/lube the bit. It worked like a charm. I knocked out all 24 holes and my drill bit is still as sharp as net. I use a squirt bottle to keep the bit really wet. I have a plasma cutter and my steel supply shop has a laser cutter but I had to lay out the holes on the fly and needed a better hole finish than a plasma gives.

 

Make sure you protect the surface or the chips will ruin the polished surface. I have done a dozen panels in s/s with hole saws and cover the surface with masking tape. Also back up the work with a good piece of flat wood.

 

Good point. The stainless I have has a very tough vinyl protective covering from the factory and I am drilling the holes from the back, dull side so am double protected.

 

The laser will also cut the stainless. Most of us do not have access to such service, us it if you can

 

Do your engine turning before cutting the holes. I cut my panel out of heavier gage. I used JB Weld to attach mounts so the gages were pushed in from the back like a 32. The JB has never failed in 20 plus hard road miles.

 

on stainless restaurant equipment we used lot of water for coolant, no oil, I can't say why we used water but along with slow speed it worked well.Might give it a try and see if the old timers at our shop were right or wrong.

 

I've also used antifreeze but have to contain it with silicone dam
or a ring of sorts.

 

X2.........enough water to keep the hole saw cool......and slow speed.