Cutting control panel

[petrostar]

About to state cutting the holes for my herms panel and was wondering how you guys cut your square holes. I have a unibit for the rounds. I want it clean. Thanks!!!

 

[Homercidal]

I'm planning on programming my cuts on a CNC Bridgeport at work. Then I only have to square off the corners with a file.

 

[CoalCracker]

I drew them out and used a dremel with a cutoff disc. Didn't take long and I was able to get cleaner cuts than a jigsaw.

 

[Monster Mash]

A jigsaw with a fine blade works well, just be sure to tape the area well. I used a jigsaw for most of the cuts and cleaned it up with a dremel.

 

[Mtn_Brewer]

I agree with the Dremel tool with the cutoff blade. If you go slowly with a steady hand, you can get a perfect cut. I covered the panel with blue painting tape and drew my cutouts with a pencil and ruler. In retrospect, I probably should have done this step away from the propane tanks.

Note: my panel was pretty thick steel and I went through about 5-6 standard or 3-4 reinforced wheels per square.

 

[ajdelange]

The cleanest way is, of course, a punch but, omigosh, a 1/4 din punch goes for $575. If you are fortunate enough to work for a company that does this kind of work you might be able to borrow one or take your workpiece into the shop there and you might be lucky enough to find a used one on e-bay or stumble on one at a garage sale.

 

[dcbw]

Dremel. Its so easy to control for square holes. The cutoff discs are kinda pricey and you go through 5 or 10 but unless you have access to a cnc cutter in a shop, the dremel is the best $80 you'll spend on a shop tool. You'll also use it to deburr and clean up your hole saw cuts.

 

[Rbeckett]

I use the old drill all 4 corner method and cut the rest with a fine toothe jig saw. I tend to back off the corners a bit with the drill so I can tweak them with a file and get as close to a perfect fit as possible. I think the key to a professional looking job is getting the holes snug around the devices to preven gaps and unsightly appearances. Once you have the cutouts as close to perfect as you desire, I use a good grade of latex caulk on the back of the display to help make the enclosure a bit more water resistant and provide a good cushion for the lacking tabs when I slide that ring on from the back. Hope this helps and good luck with the panel.
Wheelchair Bob

 

[ajdelange]

Is anyone else troubled by the first picture in #5?

 

[Mtn_Brewer]

Is anyone else troubled by the first picture in #5?

The tanks were actually empty.

 

[petrostar]

Love all the great tips! Thanks so much. I'll be cutting it with a dremel I think. Btw I wasn't worried about him cutting with a dremel near the tanks after seeing the sons of guns/mythbusters episode. It takes sooooooooo much to ignite a tank.

 

[Tinga]

Yeah just buy a package of dremel cut off wheels. You'll probably go through like 10 depending on how thick your panel is.

 

[NewBrewB]

Is anyone else troubled by the first picture in #5?

Laughed out loud. Hope those propane tanks dont leak.

I'll second the method of drilling the corners and using a jigsaw with a fine metal blade.

Oh, one tip...if you are installing volt/amp meters, they have a tab at each end that makes you want to cut a big chunk out so they fit. Be careful not to take too much!

 

[CapnBry]

I was worried about making the square cutouts for my panel too but it turned out to be not as terrible as I thought. I used a jigsaw as well with a fine toothed blade and it cut through the thick steel quite easily.

I first measured and drew out the squares, then used a 1/8" drill bit to drill pilot holes at least 1/4" from two of the corners. Then I widened the hole with a step bit until it was large enough to take the jigsaw blade. Cut along toward the corner without the hole, gently curving to intersect the cut line. Don't try to curve too much or the blade will bind up. Once you reach the far corner, turn the panel around and cut back across the same line, this time not curving back to your hole.

I intentionally cut a hair smaller than I needed because I was worried about taking out too much material and messing the whole thing up. I'll caution you to not be too conservative as removing the material takes a lot of time. To get to just the right size, I used a grinding wheel on the dremel to expand the square out to the proper dimensions. I found it easier to not clean up the corners using the grinding wheel, instead switching back to the jigsaw to nibble out the last bit.

Each hole took about 10 minutes. The first one took about an hour because I made the hole far too small and it took forever to grind it to size.

 

[NewBrewB]

Great thorough advice.

I only drilled one hole in each corner (took about 45 sec per square) and then I cut two of the opposite sides from hole to hole. This seemed to give it some extra stability. Then, I cut the final opposite two sides and cleaned it up with a file. Like CapnBry said above, be sure to get the size right the first time because filing is no fun.

Protecting the area with painter's tape isn't a bad idea either but I think most people measure/draw on the box and then are too impatient to tape. If I had it to do over again, I'd cover the entire side with painter's tape, measure/mark on the tape, cut, and remove the tape.

I'm sure it'll work out great.

 

[Nova5]

Love all the great tips! Thanks so much. I'll be cutting it with a dremel I think. Btw I wasn't worried about him cutting with a dremel near the tanks after seeing the sons of guns/mythbusters episode. It takes sooooooooo much to ignite a tank.

It takes even more.. the PERFECT mixture is required for a spark to set it off, the spark has to be hot enough, and close enough.. essentially impossible.

My concern was flesh cutting.

Buy a $20 vise from sLowes or Home Despot.

 

[summerofgeorge]

So what if you cut a little too far on a side? I got carried away and went past my mark on the one side. Is there anything good to fill the slit with? I think I saw someone on here fill circular holes with bondo. Caulk? JB Weld?

 

[Mtn_Brewer]

So what if you cut a little too far on a side? I got carried away and went past my mark on the one side. Is there anything good to fill the slit with? I think I saw someone on here fill circular holes with bondo. Caulk? JB Weld?

If its a round hole, you could just get some bushings to fill the space. For a square hole, I'd make my own out of some galvanized sheet metal.

 

[Danop316]

I did the drill and jigsaw route also. No issues here.

One thing I would reccomend is doing your layout on a piece of software. I used Visio as it was available and I'm familiar with it. When it's all drawn up print it to full scale on 8x11 full sheet clear stickers. Stick that to your panel and voila! Perfectly aligned.

 

[vash68]

Old thread, but I will attempt...


How about cutting holes in Stainless Steel panel?
Do the same tools and techniques apply?

I am looking at this panel but do not know what gauge steel it is:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-16X12X8-Stailess-Steel-Enclosure-W-BACK-PLATEl-400x300x200-/130823205780?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e75abb394