Sheetmetal plug kits - who makes 'em?

Saw these a while back in some rod mag, basically an ***ortment of perfectly round sheetmetal plugs used to fill holes - I think the kits even came with a step drill to hog your holes out to the nearest accurate sized hole to fit a patch into. Anyone know what I'm talking about and, more importantly, who made them and if they are still available? I think I recall you could get a few different gauges of steel as well - I'm looking at a hole riddled firewall and thought they might be handier than cutting and fitting my own.

Thanks,
Steve

 

Ron Covell used to sell them,but doesn't any more.

Real decent tool suppliers should sell shim punches,
commonly used by Die Makers to punch round holes in shim stock.
They work real well for cutting round holes,washers,or slugs.

Travers.com should have them.I made my own.

 

I saw a kit in the latest Bob Drake flyer. It looked like a real time saver because I usually cut them with my bench shear.

Dave

 

Hey,

Cut washers and fender washers work well, in a pinch, for filling holes in
sheetmetal. ******* hole sizes still require some "fiddling" to get correct.

S****ey Devils C.C.

"Meanwhile, back aboard The Tainted Pork"

 

Let me throw this out there... I was in a metal fab shop recently that makes all sizes of electrical switch boxes...from about 6"x6" up to the big cabinet type industrial boxes 6' high x4'wide...anyhow ,they had a punch machine set up to punch all the holes in the sheetmetal for wiring,tubing,etc...there were literally buckets of punched discs sitting around on the floor....all sizes from 1/2" up to looked like 2",all different thicknesses,..they just dumped them in their s**** bin...I scarfed a few 2" to use on the feet of some cheapie jackstands...

check around your town for a metal fab shop

Just a thought

Stan

 

Electricians use a handheld tool that works well for your application.

 

Thanks guys, I'll look into the Drake kit and the plug cutters as well.

Steve

 

I think the ones from electrical boxes are galvanized usually. I had the same thought when my boss rewired my garage for me and put the new box in.

 

You can get a Whitney hand punch and punch out pieces from clean s**** metal. The punched out pieces come out sort of flying saucer or cymbal shaped, but they're easy to hammer flat on an anvil. Sometimes you can put the domed punch-out piece in the hole, and then back it up with a dolly and flatten it inside the hole with a hammer, which holds it in place in the hole as it spreads out. That makes it easier easier to weld.

If the hole is only about 3/16" or less, try holding a heavy piece of copper behind the hole and spiral a little weld to close up the hole. The weld won't stick to the copper because the copper wicks the heat away too fast.

 

You can make plugs from cold rolled bar stock cutting them with a band saw to the right thickness. I punch them with my ironworker, there are ususlly some in the s**** box that are the right size and thickness.

 

My 40 willys sedan had around 60 holes in the firewall and only a couple needed an actual filler piece. I filled most by just backing the hole with a piece of 18 gauge copper. Carl Hagan

 

i can punch out some for ya what size do you need ? pm me

 

You could enlarge all the holes with a drill to the largest common denominator, then you only need 1 size punch to make the plugs.

 

The square top roofing nails, like the ones on the right in the picture... You can even stick them in your drill and shape them with your belt sander, then use the nail to hold it with a pair of vise grips, then grind it off later.

Oh, and I saw a plug kit in the latest Eastwood catalog along with the Bob Drake catalog.

 

Don't use those galvanized knock outs you'll get sick from the fumes in no time.

Those tiny little sheetmetal disks are going to be a major pain to hold in place for welding. Even if you use a magnet, the magnetic field disturbs the weld and your first tacks will always be jacked up until you pull the magnet off.

Like others have said, find some UNTREATED meaning no galvanized, zinc, etc screws or nails and hold them with pliers or vice grips when you weld them in. Just use a step drill to hog all the holes out to the size of the head. This gets you fresh metal for your weld too. Then just cut the head off after welding and you're done.

 

Thanks! I'll have to measure them to see - probably hog out most to a common size as suggested.

I'll let you know what I need.

Steve

 

I may be crazy but I thought I saw them in a recent HF catalog as well

 

[FONT=Verdana, arial, helvetica]High-quality steel 3/64" thick (18 Gauge). Perfect for weld-in patching of unwanted holes or for adding strength to mounting hole locations. Also great for shimming. Includes 25 each in the following diameters: 1-1/4" • 1" • 7/8" • 3/4" • 5/8" • 1/2" • 3/8" • 5/16"

<FORM action=http://order.store.yahoo.net/cgi-bin/wg-order?bobdrake+drakediscs method=post>Drake's Discs HR-1580$45.00


I just copied and pasted this from Drakes site. I too just got a flyer for these as new product from Drake the other day. Good idea and a time saver for the home builder!
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the machine we got in the shop is called a turret punch.....has a big rotating turret with all different sizes of punches...