I'm looking for a metal sheet (something like PC cases are made out of, but
without the textured finish). I don't really need very much. Also would a
jig-saw with a metal cutting blade be able to cut something like this?

Regards
--
Stephen Chown
http://www.wallpaper-world.net

Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:
I'm looking for a metal sheet (something like PC cases are made out of, but
without the textured finish). I don't really need very much. Also would a
jig-saw with a metal cutting blade be able to cut something like this?

Look in the yellow pages for your nearest steel merchant.

I presume when you say metal you mean steel, rather than any other kind?
Aluminium? Copper? Lead? Titanium? If it's only 1mm thick or so, then a
jigsaw with a fine metal cutting blade will cut it with no problems.

--
Grunff

Look in the yellow pages for your nearest steel merchant.

I presume when you say metal you mean steel, rather than any other kind?
Aluminium? Copper? Lead? Titanium? If it's only 1mm thick or so, then a
jigsaw with a fine metal cutting blade will cut it with no problems.

Yes steel! Or perhaps that stuff that wolverines claaws are made of.

Will a steel merchant care that I only want a teensy bit.

Regards
Stephen

In article ,
Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:
I'm looking for a metal sheet (something like PC cases are made out of,
but without the textured finish). I don't really need very much. Also
would a jig-saw with a metal cutting blade be able to cut something like
this?

The textured finish is some form of paint - the metal underneath is smooth.

B&Q sell small sheets of both steel and aluminium - at a price. If you
have a metal fabricator nearby, ask them for offcuts. They can be found on
most industrial estates. Small amounts they'll often just give you, or
sell larger amounts at near the scrap price. A pukka supplier is likely to
only sell large sheets.

Cutting thin sheet with a jigsaw requires it to be well supported either
side of the cut. The more usual way is with tinsnips, which are also more
accurate.

--
*Therapy is expensive, poppin' bubble wrap is cheap! You choose.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:

Will a steel merchant care that I only want a teensy bit.

Most of them are really good about this, and will happily sell you a
fiver's worth of offcuts. This usually translates into quite a big pile
of mild sheet.

--
Grunff

B&Q sell small sheets of both steel and aluminium - at a price. If you
have a metal fabricator nearby, ask them for offcuts. They can be found on
most industrial estates. Small amounts they'll often just give you, or
sell larger amounts at near the scrap price. A pukka supplier is likely to
only sell large sheets.

Cutting thin sheet with a jigsaw requires it to be well supported either
side of the cut. The more usual way is with tinsnips, which are also more
accurate.

How neat will a job like this done with tin-snips be? And how tired will my
hands get. I need to weigh that against the cost of gettings somebody to do
it for me. Its only going to be a piece about 60cm wide (24 inches), but
about 20 cm high (8 inches) with rounded corners. Something like this :

http://www.chowns.net/cab/panelshape.jpg

Sanded smooth and bolted down to another piece of metal, and then painted.

Regards
Stephen

Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:

How neat will a job like this done with tin-snips be? And how tired will my
hands get. I need to weigh that against the cost of gettings somebody to do
it for me. Its only going to be a piece about 60cm wide (24 inches), but
about 20 cm high (8 inches) with rounded corners. Something like this :

http://www.chowns.net/cab/panelshape.jpg

The rounded corners will take some filing - what radius?


Sanded smooth and bolted down to another piece of metal, and then painted.

This is steel, you don't sand it smooth, it comes smooth.

--
Grunff

How neat will a job like this done with tin-snips be? And how tired will
my
hands get. I need to weigh that against the cost of gettings somebody to
do
it for me. Its only going to be a piece about 60cm wide (24 inches), but
about 20 cm high (8 inches) with rounded corners. Something like this :

http://www.chowns.net/cab/panelshape.jpg

The rounded corners will take some filing - what radius?

Not particularly big. I just need it so you don't catch you sleeves on a
sharp corner. Its going on a control panel of an arcade machine cabinet.

Like this (where the red dotted line is):

http://www.chowns.net/cab/panelposition.jpg

Sanded smooth and bolted down to another piece of metal, and then
painted.
This is steel, you don't sand it smooth, it comes smooth.

I meant sanding it where I had cut it (I am assuming it won't be super
smooth on the edges)

Oh yes, and you didn't answer my tinsnips question. (Thanks for all the
advice so far though!)

Regards
Stephen

Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:

I meant sanding it where I had cut it (I am assuming it won't be super
smooth on the edges)

Ah, ok. You can file the edges.


Oh yes, and you didn't answer my tinsnips question. (Thanks for all the
advice so far though!)

Pretty easy to cut up to 1mm mild with tinsnips. It would take me about
10 mins to cut and file a piece like that. Or about 2 mins with my
powered snips.


--
Grunff

Pretty easy to cut up to 1mm mild with tinsnips. It would take me about
10 mins to cut and file a piece like that. Or about 2 mins with my
powered snips.

POWERED SNIPS you say!! Sounds like another great powertool to buy, that
I'll use once and forever have hanging around in my toolbox!

(or I could just use the normal ones)

Thanks for all the advice!

Cheerio
Stephen

"Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX" wrote in message
t...

Pretty easy to cut up to 1mm mild with tinsnips. It would take me about
10 mins to cut and file a piece like that. Or about 2 mins with my
powered snips.

POWERED SNIPS you say!! Sounds like another great powertool to buy, that
I'll use once and forever have hanging around in my toolbox!

(or I could just use the normal ones)

Thanks for all the advice!

Cheerio
Stephen



=========================
Have a look at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/search.asp?q=nibbler

This will give you straight cuts whereas tinsnips tend to distort the metal.

Cic.

In article ,
Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:
How neat will a job like this done with tin-snips be? And how tired will
my hands get. I need to weigh that against the cost of gettings somebody
to do it for me. Its only going to be a piece about 60cm wide (24
inches), but about 20 cm high (8 inches) with rounded corners. Something
like this :

Assuming it's the sort of thickness you've said it will cut easily enough
with tinsnips. But like everything else, you'd cut *slightly* oversize,
then finish with a file.

--
*In "Casablanca", Humphrey Bogart never said "Play it again, Sam" *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,
Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:

How neat will a job like this done with tin-snips be? And how
tired will my hands get. I need to weigh that against the cost of
gettings somebody to do it for me. Its only going to be a piece
about 60cm wide (24 inches), but about 20 cm high (8 inches) with
rounded corners. Something like this :

http://www.chowns.net/cab/panelshape.jpg

Last time I cut sheet steel it was with a hand
nibbler, an Eclipse 2000 "Goscut".

This was an 8x4 sheet (yes, 8x4ft) of 1mm zinc
plated steel, I think tradename "Zintec", and by
golly it was hard work.... the thing nibbled in
only 1/4" mouthfuls, and at the end of the job I
had forearms like Popeye.

But (and this was important), it got a nice clean
cut, with the swarf tidily curling up and away, with
no distortion of the workpiece, and minimum finishing
of the edges.

One ambush built into the "Goscut" though. The hardened
blade is quite brittle and is easy to snap if carelessly
bent sideways, eg by trying to turn a corner too sharply.

--
Tony Williams.

In article ,
Cicero wrote:
Have a look at: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/search.asp?q=nibbler

This will give you straight cuts whereas tinsnips tend to distort the
metal.

Both edges will still need dressing afterwards anyway.

--
*A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Both edges will still need dressing afterwards anyway.

Dressing?

Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:

Both edges will still need dressing afterwards anyway.

Dressing?

Helmans.
Goes with anything

Seriously though, there will be sharp edges.
The easiest way to get rid of these is to run a file down the edges a
couple of times to get a more-or-less half-round edge, then polish with
a bit of sandpaper.

Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:
Both edges will still need dressing afterwards anyway.


Dressing?

You know, a bit of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, pepper, oregano, all
mushed up and shaken up together. Very important.

--
Grunff

Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:

Both edges will still need dressing afterwards anyway.


Dressing?

General description for cleaning up, or bending into shape after the
cutting is done.

Personally I think I would go to a steel fabricator with the exact
dimensions required (ignoring the rounded corners), and they will
guillotine some sheet to size - can't see that costing more than a
fiver. That way you will get straight edges. Once you have it, you can
add the radius (with snips or jigsaw) before filing all the sharp edges
off.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Tony Williams wrote:

Last time I cut sheet steel it was with a hand
nibbler, an Eclipse 2000 "Goscut".

I have a hand nibbler as well as hand snips and power snips. The nibbler
is good, as you say, but if I had to choose just one it would be the
snips. More versatile, and can cut quicker.

--
Grunff

In article , Tony Williams wrote:
Last time I cut sheet steel it was with a hand
nibbler, an Eclipse 2000 "Goscut".

This was an 8x4 sheet (yes, 8x4ft) of 1mm zinc
plated steel, I think tradename "Zintec", and by
golly it was hard work.... the thing nibbled in
only 1/4" mouthfuls, and at the end of the job I
had forearms like Popeye.

Back in my teenage days I put side windows in my minivan cutting
the holes with a Monodex cutter. Blisters on my right hand for
days

http://www.powertoolwarehouse.co.uk/...roducts_id/509

--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk
Free SEDBUK boiler database browser http://www.sda.co.uk/qsedbuk.htm

In article , Tony Williams
writes
In article ,
Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX wrote:

How neat will a job like this done with tin-snips be? And how
tired will my hands get. I need to weigh that against the cost of
gettings somebody to do it for me. Its only going to be a piece
about 60cm wide (24 inches), but about 20 cm high (8 inches) with
rounded corners. Something like this :

http://www.chowns.net/cab/panelshape.jpg

Last time I cut sheet steel it was with a hand
nibbler, an Eclipse 2000 "Goscut".

This was an 8x4 sheet (yes, 8x4ft) of 1mm zinc
plated steel, I think tradename "Zintec", and by
golly it was hard work.... the thing nibbled in
only 1/4" mouthfuls, and at the end of the job I
had forearms like Popeye.

But (and this was important), it got a nice clean
cut, with the swarf tidily curling up and away, with
no distortion of the workpiece, and minimum finishing
of the edges.

One ambush built into the "Goscut" though. The hardened
blade is quite brittle and is easy to snap if carelessly
bent sideways, eg by trying to turn a corner too sharply.

I've had one of those since sometime back in the 60's and it still is as
sharp as ever and still works a treat. Can't remember just how much ally
that's been through but these days the jigsaw is the weapon of choice
for sheet ally and steel of which it does a very good job especially on
ally, if U get the right blade!.....


--
Tony Sayer

In article ,
Grunff wrote:
I have a hand nibbler as well as hand snips and power snips. The nibbler
is good, as you say, but if I had to choose just one it would be the
snips. More versatile, and can cut quicker.

Yup. I've got a nibbler too, but it's far too slow and hard work compared
to a decent pair of snips - unless it's needed for what it was meant for,
cutting from one side only.

I've got a power nibbler too I bought off Ebay - a self contained one by
Hitachi rather than the add on type, but I've not really used it yet.

--
*The average person falls asleep in seven minutes *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 09:48:55 +0100, "Chowny A.K.A. Mr 6000 SUX"
wrote:

I'm looking for a metal sheet

What for ?

Your choices are hugely influenced by what tools you have to cut it,
and what shape you need to cut it into.

Try Yellow Pages and look for a metal stockist, then go round and
scrounge in their scraps bin for a vey small number of quids.
Aluminium is probably your best bet, just because it's easier to cut.

--
Smert' spamionam

In article ,
Grunff wrote:

I have a hand nibbler as well as hand snips and power snips. The
nibbler is good, as you say, but if I had to choose just one it
would be the snips. More versatile, and can cut quicker.

I've got a pair of tinsnips, but have never really
got on with them, except for short cuts. On long
cuts, (a foot or so), the parted metal seems to get
in the way of the handles. Must be some trick I'm
missing.

--
Tony Williams.

Tony Williams wrote:

I've got a pair of tinsnips, but have never really
got on with them, except for short cuts. On long
cuts, (a foot or so), the parted metal seems to get
in the way of the handles. Must be some trick I'm
missing.

The main trick is to part the metal vertically, so that one side is a
couple of inches higher than the cut, and the other a couple of inches
lower. Gives your and and the snips plenty of room.

--
Grunff

I'm looking for a metal sheet (something like PC cases are made out of,
but
without the textured finish). I don't really need very much. Also would a
jig-saw with a metal cutting blade be able to cut something like this?

Found somewhere local-ish that will cut me two pieces, with the rounded
corners for £15.

I'll probably cost near that to buy the tools to do it myself, so I'm
getting it from them. Thats for all the advice everybody!

Regards
--
Stephen Chown
http://www.wallpaper-world.net

In article ,
Grunff wrote:

The main trick is to part the metal vertically, so that
one side is a couple of inches higher than the cut, and
the other a couple of inches lower.
Gives your and and the snips plenty of room.

I can't do that without bending one piece so out of shape
that it has to be scrapped, and there is this wide internal
streak in me, labelled "Scrooge".

--
Tony Williams.