Square hole cutter??

For my DIY power amp project I'll be needing to drill holes of many shapes and sizes, upto 24mm in diameter. After searching 3 local independent tool shops, a big B&Q and 2 Homebase stores I found that step drills, cone drills and hole saws for metal are very hard to come by in shops . So, I ordered a Ruko cone drill set from www.shop4tools.co.uk - sorted.

Next problem though is that I need to cut a 60.3mm x 34.4mm rectangular hole in the back panel to fit the IEC mains inlet (RS: 211-0979):


Now, the only way I can think of doing that would be to drill some small holes and then use a hacksaw to finish it off. However, someone was telling me there are special tools for this....surely not??! Any info appreciated .

Michael.

 

Michael, wouldn't one of those Dremmil Multi-Tools be more useful ?

 

the special tools are normally used in production with a press to punch the hole. Not the sort of thing you can DIY.

holes and hacksaw and patience will do it

 

What's a Dremmil (isn't it Dremmel?) multi-tool?

I've since discovered that there are things called square hole-punches made by Q-Max. Not quite sure how they work...

Michael.

 

yep, its one of those multi tool thingies
you can get cutting discs for them so it would do what your after.
If you can get a cutter i imagine it may be cheaper

 

Sorry, it's Dremel.

Try here for some details about soemone cutting holes in a PC case :
http://www.techtastic.ca/reviews/dremel.html

and here's their top of the range model :
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p=060215398&r=2120&g=115

 

You can purchase a square hole punch no probs, I have 2, (maybe a lok in rs may help, but they wern't cheap) depends on the thickiness of the material, else use a dremmel and a cut off wheel, but be careful and cover over the areas ajasent to it, else it can slip and damage the surrounding area.

 

A hole punch doesn't need anything else does it? Looks to me like you just tighten up the bolt and pure pressure cuts the hole....



From: http://www.lawson-his.co.uk/scripts/products.php?cat=q-max cutters

Michael.

 

That's probably what I'll end up doing

Michael.

 

as usual, i was wrong about the cutters, good find Micheal.

 

olny problem with a cone cutter is they can leave a large burr on the inside of the case,more fileing. A q punch is ideal for nice clean holes but they aint cheap,cpc do a set for £32 containing the more common electrical sizes,but well worth it if your cutting a few holes.

 

For my superDAC psu, which lives in a die-cast aluminium box I had to do two squarish holes for the IEC inlet and the IEC outlet. My dad and I came up with a cunning plan, involving a label printer, onto which we printed the outline of the hole, and then used a bench drill to drill out most of the material, and finished it off by hand with a file.

A dremel would be quicker, however, but if you're only going to do it once, it's obviously not worth spending that money.

 

My Lord, i have a cunning plan

 

I think I'm up for a bit of drilling and filing - I'm only going to be doing it once afterall.

Michael.

 

you are going to try it on an offcut first aren't you ?