I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate. It doesn't need to be perfect, could be slightly
irregular. Would a cutting torch be OK, or would the heat permanently
distort the plate?

What other methods would work? A plasma cutter sounds good to me, but
I don't have one. I guess I could take it somewhere and pay to have
it done.

wrote in message
...
I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate. It doesn't need to be perfect, could be slightly
irregular. Would a cutting torch be OK, or would the heat permanently
distort the plate?

What other methods would work? A plasma cutter sounds good to me, but
I don't have one. I guess I could take it somewhere and pay to have
it done.

Best option: Very large radial arm drill press... Find someone with one.
Has to have a 24" or greater throat.

Second best: Magnetic mount drill with an annular cutter - See
www.hougen.com or a similar manufacturer.

Third best: Really good geared down, two hand hand drill with a hole saw,
annular cutter, etc. Lots of prayer...

They might just make hole cutters for electrical panels that work too...
The kind you drill a small hole for then put a device that "shears" it's way
through as you tighten it like a bolt...

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R



** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

wrote:
I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate.

Don't pay more than 16 bux.

http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...=30057612 773

Use a big drill motor, cutting oil, be patient and stay under ~170 RPM.

--Winston

wrote in message
...
I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate. It doesn't need to be perfect, could be slightly
irregular. Would a cutting torch be OK, or would the heat permanently
distort the plate?

What other methods would work? A plasma cutter sounds good to me, but
I don't have one. I guess I could take it somewhere and pay to have
it done.

Bi-metal hole saw would work great and give you a pretty good hole. Its too
thick for a slug buster.

wrote in message
...
I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate. It doesn't need to be perfect, could be slightly
irregular. Would a cutting torch be OK, or would the heat permanently
distort the plate?

What other methods would work? A plasma cutter sounds good to me, but
I don't have one. I guess I could take it somewhere and pay to have
it done.


A good hole saw in an electric drill would do it in a few minutes.

Norman Billingham wrote:

wrote in message
...

I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate. It doesn't need to be perfect, could be slightly
irregular. Would a cutting torch be OK, or would the heat permanently
distort the plate?

What other methods would work? A plasma cutter sounds good to me, but
I don't have one. I guess I could take it somewhere and pay to have
it done.



A good hole saw in an electric drill would do it in a few minutes.



Best solution is a mag drill.

Grant

As everyone else has said: hole saw. Second choice is metal cutting
blade in sabre saw. Bob

That could be watercut cnc job -
That could be lasercut cnc job -
That could be Plasmacut cnc Job -

The plasma would slice through - and if kept moving wouldn't distort
the plate. That small hole in a big plate won't give much possibility
for a warp.

Circle cutting is typical (drill press), but you need a deep throat.

Plasma torch can be guided between or around (inside is best) a wood circle.

Lots of ways.
Martin H. Eastburn
@ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net
TSRA, Endowed; NRA LOH & Patron Member, Golden Eagle, Patriot's Medal.
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder
IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member.
http://lufkinced.com/


Joe AutoDrill wrote:
wrote in message
...
I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate. It doesn't need to be perfect, could be slightly
irregular. Would a cutting torch be OK, or would the heat permanently
distort the plate?

What other methods would work? A plasma cutter sounds good to me, but
I don't have one. I guess I could take it somewhere and pay to have
it done.

Best option: Very large radial arm drill press... Find someone with one.
Has to have a 24" or greater throat.

Second best: Magnetic mount drill with an annular cutter - See
www.hougen.com or a similar manufacturer.

Third best: Really good geared down, two hand hand drill with a hole saw,
annular cutter, etc. Lots of prayer...

They might just make hole cutters for electrical panels that work too...
The kind you drill a small hole for then put a device that "shears" it's way
through as you tighten it like a bolt...

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
Automatic / Pneumatic Drills: http://www.AutoDrill.com
Multiple Spindle Drills: http://www.Multi-Drill.com

V8013-R



** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **


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On Jul 29, 10:57*pm, "Martin H. Eastburn"
wrote:

Circle cutting is typical (drill press), but you need a deep throat.

- Show quoted text -

And if the throat isn't deep enough, you can set the drill press on
the plate, clamp it, swing the head out to the side and drill away.

John Martin

On Jul 29, 1:37*pm, wrote:
I need to make a two inch hole near the center of a four foot square
3/16" steel plate. *It doesn't need to be perfect, could be slightly
irregular. *Would a cutting torch be OK, or would the heat permanently
distort the plate?

What other methods would work? *A plasma cutter sounds good to me, but
I don't have one. *I guess I could take it somewhere and pay to have
it done.

As others have said, hole saw. If you've got to be cheap or are out
in the boonies with nothing else, mark the circle out, use a small bit
and drill a whole bunch of almost overlapping holes around the
circumference, "chain drilling", then chisel/saw/file the separators
out. Tedious for larger holes, but you can do irregular holes that
way and you can use lighter-duty electric drills. Goes faster if a
drill press can be used. Would have to be a pretty good-sized one for
a 4' workpiece.

3/16 is probably outside the range of a Greenlee-style knockout
punch, though, you'd have to look up the limits on the punch and die
set.

Stan

I follow Stan : chaindrilling will be a lot faster than first going
shopping for a tool of any sort. I understand it is one hole only? Its
fast only if you mark your holes exactly on a circle and mark each hole
on that circle with dividers same radius as drill. Start with a small
drill like 4.5mm and finish 6mm. Tedious marking, but little filing i.e.
nicer work doing it precisely.
Any home- use type hole saw would loose half its worth with this Job,
usually they are built for very low RPM and burn out the hand drill
and/or get blunt half way through.
-protect your eyes-

ede wolf