cutting holes in metal control box panel

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kellzey

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So what are you all doing to cut your holes accurately and cleanly?

Hole saws, Greenlee punches, and jigsaws?

I'm thinking the 1/16 DIN panels with the side notches will be the hardest to get right.

Any advice?
 
greenlee punch > hole saw > dremmel >jig saw

my advice: measure 3 or 4 times before you cut. make paper templates to help with layout. take your time and stare at it for hours. then shuffle everything around. then stare summore. then cut to the insides of all your measurements so you have room to slowly work the square holes larger till the DIN fits. you can always go bigger, way harder to go smaller.
 
I just finished cutting all my holes. For the pump and element outlets I used Lenox bi-metal hole saws. For my PID's and heat sink I used a jig saw. I also have three 1" round switches that I used a unibit to drill.
 
Thanks.

I've contacted a waterjet cutting place in town that can take a CAD file and cut with high pressure water very accurately. Said it would cost about $50-$75. I figure between buying all of the punches and bits and blades, would be worth it to get clean accurate holes.

Will see what they say.
 
I've seen waterjet cutters in action. It's enough to blow your mind. When I went they were cutting 1/4" SS plate using a very complex pattern. The whole thing had me standing in awe. I would have never believed it - but - I saw it.
 
as long as you do your "last build" first, that sounds like a good deal. the tooling, if you dont already own, will easily go higher than that. Does leave you the Keg/kettle to contend with of course.
 
You better watch out, if I've learned anything from American Chopper it's that once you start using a water jet cutter you start looking for things that can be cut that way.
 
There is a cutting tool called "RotaCut" made by a company named Hougen. If you are thinking about buying hole cutting tools it may be worth your time to check them out on the web. They are available at Fastenal stores and on the web. They make cutting very clean holes very easy. They can be used for control panels and brewing vessels. They do not require a pilot hole.

I was able to borrow a set of Rotacut cutters and I have access to a wide selection of Greenlee punches. If I ever need to buy tools for making round holes, I will definitely be taking a closer look at the Rotacut selection.

For square holes I use a jigsaw and a mill bastard file. Cut slightly inside your layout marks then file the opening to fit. As slakwhere pointed out, you can easily make a hole larger but making a hole smaller can be quite a challenge.
 
Cover your panel in masking tape and measure out and draw all of your components (think about what goes on the back side too), then use a unibit, and a dremel. Or spring for the water jet, awesome idea.
 
I brought my control box to a waterjet cutter to cut the holes for me.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do the bottom of the box for the power receptacle holes, because the height from the cutting head to the support deck was shorter than the 16" height of the box, but he was able to cut the front panel and the top removeable panel for mounting the heat sink.

I think I saved myself a lot of aggravation getting everything straight and perfect on the front. There were so many holes that any mistake could have really pissed me off.

This waterjet cutter has a super-precise tolerance. Nice smooth cuts and sharp corners...

Best part was the price... $50!

Here are some pics...

P9070073.JPG


P9070069.JPG


P9070070.JPG
 
I used a GreenLee punch for the first time the other day. I know they are expensive, but I have never seen a cleaner hole! (OK...jokes start now)

I'm really glad I ponied up and bought one...especially for the hole in my kettle for the element.

John
 
Awesome! Now I need to find someone in my area who can cut my panel like that. Was not looking forward to manually cutting everything and my tolerances are pretty tight.
 
Wow the cut outs on your panel are dead on! Very professional job and excellent price.

I am going to use a 1/2 inch greenlee conduit punch for my lights and switches. I have both a jig saw and a dremel with cut off wheels, and I was wondering which is better to use for the square pid controller cuts. Any advice from those with experience using these tools?

John
 
For $50-75 I would jump all over the water jet. It took several days to get everything lined up, drill all of the pilot holes for the greenlee and jig saw out the PID, Amp and Volt boxes. And still (I know) the holes are not perfect.

Add the cost of the greenlee punch, bits and saw blades and I spent more than $50.
 
I spent about 20 to get a real nice 7/8" hole saw for cutting out all of the conduit connections and 22mm swich locations. For the Controls (3 PIDs and 1 Timer) I used a jigsaw, it worked perfectly. The whole operation took me about 1/2 hour to lay out and about another 45 minutes to cut.
 
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