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My custom side panel shattered after a mod gone wrong
I tried cutting a window into an old steel case with a dremel last Saturday and the panel cracked right down the middle. Now I'm stuck with a useless side and a pile of glass shards from the acrylic I had planned to use. Has anyone found a reliable way to cut steel panels without risking the whole thing?
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uma_reed2625d ago
Man that sucks, I feel your pain. I tried cutting a window with a jigsaw once and the whole panel warped so bad it wouldn't even line up with the screw holes anymore. What worked for me was using a nibbler tool instead, those hand held punch things that take tiny bites out of the metal. You gotta go slow and clamp the panel down real tight to a workbench so it doesn't vibrate and crack. Also make sure to tape both sides of the cut line with painter's tape before you start, it helps keep the metal from chattering and splitting.
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My buddy Mark tried this with a dremel on his old Cooler Master case a couple years back and ended up with a crack running from the top corner all the way to the bottom edge. He said the trick that saved his second attempt was drilling a small pilot hole at each corner first with a 1/4 inch bit so the stress had somewhere to release. Also he clamped the panel to a piece of plywood and used a cutting oil drip the whole time, that kept the metal from getting too hot and warping.
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