RK
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| posted on 3/9/07 at 11:54 PM |
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Cutting ally
I made a diffuser today. I made an opening for the bottom differential mount - which will also allow drainage as a bonus.
I used the following:
1. drill
2. dremel tool - several bits were destroyed
3. snippers
The snips were useless! I couldn't cut anything straight, and the alu just bent all over the place, which I had to hammer out using a hammer and
bits of wood. What on earth do people do?
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Hellfire
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 12:06 AM |
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Jigsaw, with fine toothed blade 2-3 teeth in contact with metal thickness - use fast speed, light feed and keep parafin or light oil well fed onto the
blade to stop aluminium build up on cutting edges making it appear blunt.
If this happens knock off the build up on the individual teeth and start again.
Steve
[Edited on 4-9-07 by Hellfire]
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RK
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 12:16 AM |
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Thank you! I'll know for when I make the front side panels. All the shops were closed today (Labour Day - there is no Conservative or Green Day
here, but I digress) so I couldn't get a blade anyways.
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daviep
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 01:13 AM |
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Good quality carbide burrs should just eat alloy.
Snips should be not too much work if they are sharp
Nibbler is also very good.
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James
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 07:06 AM |
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I used some Snap On(?) snips borrowed from another member hear.... cut miles of ali and they were fantastic.
I also used a grinder with a 1mm blade a lot for cutting 'internal' shaped. Very effective, but did need filing/sanding after to clean
up.
Lots of horror stories of blades exploding so wear goggles, gloves, ear defenders etc. etc!
Cheers,
James
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses, behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."
- Muhammad Ali
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RazMan
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 07:07 AM |
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Use a nibbler - no distortion and really easy as long as you lubricate with WD40. Failing that, a jigsaw will do it fairly well.
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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niceperson709
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 07:13 AM |
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As others have said a good pair of snips can do wonders but you have to keep the cutting jaws square to the sheet. But one of the better ways that I
have used is the trusty angle grinder with one of those very thin cutting blades. But the way to ensure a straight cut is to clamp some steel strap
along your cut line, this provides a good guide for the blade. Half depth cuts will also ensure a neat fold should you want that. Eye and ear
protection is essential though
cheers
Best wishes IAIN
life is not the rehearsal , it's the show so don't sit there thinking about it DO IT NOW
http://iainseven.wordpress.com/
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procomp
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 07:13 AM |
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Hi for snippers ect. The best are from WIZZ.
Proper American aviation snips. Come as a set of 3 for cutting straight- left- right.
Quality is verry good. Last set have lasted me 7 years daily use still use them for roughing out sheet and brought a new set for fine finish work.
Cheers matt
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nick205
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 07:47 AM |
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I did all my ally cutting with hand nibblers. It takes a little time and you need to make sure your cutting with the good side down and keep the
nibbler jaws lightly oiled, but the finish is very good and straight.
A reasonable set of nibblers should set you back around £15 and last for a very long time if looked after.
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Phil.J
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 07:54 AM |
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For something like a diffuser, it is worth considering making a buck out of melamine faced board and hardboard and moulding one out of fibreglass. If
it's for bling then make it shiny side up, but if you want it to work make it shiny side down and don't cut any holes in it!
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02GF74
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 08:56 AM |
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for straigh edges my method now is to use a craft knife.
Run the blade several trimes next to a rule and if it is think enough, 0.5 mm, then you can cut right trhough. For thicker sheet fold it along the
score line several times untils it fatigues and breaks.
You need to be careful with the blade and run it along the rule so that if it slips, it marks the piece you are cutting off.
Ideally if you can put the cit you are cutting off in a vice, then start the folding process, that is going to be better.
I cannot remember but I have used this to cut 4 mm chequer plate -  with minial edge distortion.
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Davey D
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 09:30 AM |
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My wepaon of choice is a 9" grinder with a cutting disk.. makes very light work of it 
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Confused but excited.
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 02:26 PM |
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I found the that down side of using snips for a long time is the tendonitis in the wrist and those bloody painful hydrocortisone injections
afterwards. 
Power tools every time.
Must be my newness wearing off!
Tell them about the bent treacle edges!
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caber
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 05:27 PM |
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Air shears are great for long straight cuts but crap at corners. Jigsaw works OK particularly if you back thin sheet with old chipboard or mdf and cut
both at the same time.
Caber
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andylancaster3000
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 05:31 PM |
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I'm suprised no one has suggested floor/bench mounted shears as shown in the link.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Bench-Shears-8-inch-x-1-4-inch_W0QQitemZ300140492416QQihZ020QQcategoryZ64819QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
About the same price as a good nibbler and far the easiest way to cut long straight runs. Curves are also possible. Once marked out we cut most of
our side panels out in a matter of about a minute or two! The edge just then needs a de-burring tool run along it and it's done.
They can be had second hand and IMHO almost a must for a car builder.
HTH
Andy
[Edited on 4/9/07 by andylancaster3000]
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Black Cat
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 09:05 PM |
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The best way to cut ali sheet metal is with a band saw. It doesn't distort the ali and it leaves a very clean cut. If you then need to tidy up
the edge, just clamped it between two pieces of wood and take a belt sander to it and sand it down to a dead straight line, perfect finish every
time.
steve
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RK
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| posted on 4/9/07 at 10:29 PM |
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Thank you again for all your helpful suggestions. As for making it out of fibreglass - yeah, right;I am having quite enough trouble with aluminum and
steel thank you!! And the rest of the car is way beyond my abilities, but alas, it's worth nothing near what I have into it, so I press on...
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