Square Opening in Aluminum
 

I need to make a 1" x 0.5" square opening in the front panel of an
aluminum enclosure. I can handle round openings, however how do you
make a neat square opening? Thanks in advance.

Webmaster
Meduci
http://meduci.com

Use a metal "nibbling" tool. Radio shack carries them:
http://www.radioshack.com/category.a...0%5F001&Page=1

Joe
W3JDR

wrote in message
oups.com...
I need to make a 1" x 0.5" square opening in the front panel of an
aluminum enclosure. I can handle round openings, however how do you
make a neat square opening? Thanks in advance.

Webmaster
Meduci
http://meduci.com

On 18 Jun 2005 08:48:46 -0700, "
wrote:

I need to make a 1" x 0.5" square opening in the front panel of an
aluminum enclosure. I can handle round openings, however how do you
make a neat square opening? Thanks in advance.

Webmaster
Meduci
http://meduci.com

It is called a nibbling tool. You start with an undersized drilled
hole, and this tool nips away at the edges until you have what you
want. Slow, but versatile. Under $20 for a basic one.

A rotary tool like a Dremel, or one of the larger spiral saws, could
do this as well.

If you need to do many holes of the same size, and need precision,
look into Greenlee punches.

Happy trails,
Gary (net.yogi.bear)
--
At the 51st percentile of ursine intelligence

Gary D. Schwartz, Needham, MA, USA
Please reply to: garyDOTschwartzATpoboxDOTcom

wrote in message
oups.com...
I need to make a 1" x 0.5" square opening in the front panel of an
aluminum enclosure. I can handle round openings, however how do you
make a neat square opening? Thanks in advance.

Webmaster
Meduci
http://meduci.com

If neatness really counts, you might want to just drill four corner holes
and use a coping or jig saw to cut from hole to hole. A bit of filing at
the corners and where the saw strayed from the line should produce precision
results.

The Adel Nibbler is good, but I find it hard to nibble to a line, and it
requires a minimum 29/64" hole to start. It is also limited in the thickness
of material it will work with.

73, Chuck W6PKP

Chuck Olson wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

I need to make a 1" x 0.5" square opening in the front panel of an
aluminum enclosure. I can handle round openings, however how do you
make a neat square opening? Thanks in advance.

Webmaster
Meduci
http://meduci.com


If neatness really counts, you might want to just drill four corner holes
and use a coping or jig saw to cut from hole to hole. A bit of filing at
the corners and where the saw strayed from the line should produce precision
results.

The Adel Nibbler is good, but I find it hard to nibble to a line, and it
requires a minimum 29/64" hole to start. It is also limited in the thickness
of material it will work with.

73, Chuck W6PKP


A rotozip type bit in a dremel will 'rout' out the required hole
You can buy a router base for the dremel tool to make the job
easier. You can make a frame with a square cutout to guide the
router base to make the exact size hole you need. Norm Abram does
this (with wood) on the New Yankee Workshop.

Ken Scharf wrote:
Chuck Olson wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

I need to make a 1" x 0.5" square opening in the front panel of an
aluminum enclosure. I can handle round openings, however how do you
make a neat square opening? Thanks in advance.

Webmaster
Meduci
http://meduci.com


If neatness really counts, you might want to just drill four corner holes
and use a coping or jig saw to cut from hole to hole. A bit of filing at
the corners and where the saw strayed from the line should produce precision
results.

The Adel Nibbler is good, but I find it hard to nibble to a line, and it
requires a minimum 29/64" hole to start. It is also limited in the thickness
of material it will work with.

73, Chuck W6PKP


A rotozip type bit in a dremel will 'rout' out the required hole
You can buy a router base for the dremel tool to make the job
easier. You can make a frame with a square cutout to guide the
router base to make the exact size hole you need. Norm Abram does
this (with wood) on the New Yankee Workshop.

Another useful thing is the "abrafile" or rodsaw - a round diamond
dust coated rod that fits in a hacksaw frame. Whichever way you do it,
its always a bugger of a job to get nice and neat! But after about 20
years, it does get easier. (or you get less fussy, anyway)

Andrew VK3BFA