Here comes trouble Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 EDIT: I finally get a couple stainless steel side vent trim pieces cut out and buffed to a high shine and intall them on the fenders and it looks like a chicken coop built onto the side of a million dollar mansion. I learned a few things in the process to build trim rings for the plexiglass headlight covers...Use about 14 guage thick steel sheet metal that can be easily welded.. Make a pattern to cut out 4 sections and then weld sections together and powder coat or chrome plate or paint. Use my metal cutting bandsaw for the major cutting with grinder and file work to finish..Here are the first pics of the GTO and the trim vents not installed becuz I do not want to disgrace the car further Photos:http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/album?.dir=8223&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photosI want to fabricate some stainless steel or aluminum flat trim pieces for my GTO 250 project........1. Hand held air nibblers (punch and die) are reported to cut steel up to 1/16 inch and aluminum up to 5/64 ths... Will the air nibbler distort the metal.. Anyone with experience on this tool??????? ....Can it cut tight radius and straight lines............2. I have a large throat stationary jigsaw.... Are there metal cutting jigsaw blades strong enough to cut aluminum or stainleess steel without breaking and "chattering" (vibrating) the workpiece all over the table? ????????.... .....>>>>>I have a mig wire welder, hand held grinders,files, body hammers, vices, various tin snips and a metal cutting bandsaw that are all somewhat limited to fabricate trim pieces and turn a radius in the cut. . .................>I have made a paper pattern to fabricate trim rings for the clear plexiglass headlight covers requiring at least two mig welds to join. The jig saw or air nibbler would allow me to make most trim parts out of one piece and without welding. IF THEY WILL CUT METAL......(The headlight cover trim rings will require welding) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I have heard the air nibbler is great for tight manouvering, but not ideal for straightline. I just bought an electric metal shear. It looks like a normal drill, but has metal scissors on the end. It will cut 14 guage steel, is as easy to steer as a jig saw and very easy to follow a straight line. It is very quiet..like a drill. I looked at the air powered models but they topped out at 16-18 guage steel. Never been happier now that I have one, and wish I had one years ago. Good luck with your project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Zone Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I have a nibbler and it is very good for cutting whever you want to go, but straight lines are a challenge. I have expierenced no or minimal distortion. I use the $20 unit from harbor Freight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I also have the HF el cheapo nibbler. Works pretty dang well. For straight lines, I clamp a piece of angle onto the piece I am cutting and use it for a fence. Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted June 19, 2005 Author Share Posted June 19, 2005 Tim ...that was what I was curious about : "using a fence"... For $18.00 at Harbour Freight......I have a sheet of stainless steel. Sell my aluminum scrap Monday....Tim, I would rather have my $ in tools and parts than burning a hole in my pocket. You can go out and spend $200.00 in a day and have nothing to show for it...My GTO project is coming along good (after almost 10 years).. Wife even quit complaining after she saw all the body panels on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 I have been cutting aluminum sheet for years with my table saw and a fine tooth carbide blade. I use a home made crosscut sled to set the aluminum on. The only kickback I have ever had was when I tried it with the rip fence as a guide. So the word of warning is DONT USE THE RIP FENCE EVER!!! I have made all the custom aluminum brackets for my z using this method. The aluminum just cuts like oak or any other hard wood. A cheap Harbor Freight table saw will do just fine for this. I have a second sled set at a 45 to do the corners. It will even work to attach a sled to the stock miter gauge. Here is a picture of a simple srosscut sled http://www.woodworkingtips.com/etips/images/etip030822wb-1.jpg the sled I made uses only the one miter slot as a guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted June 19, 2005 Author Share Posted June 19, 2005 Your table saw method is excellant for straight pieces.. better than press shearing which tends to distort. Find me an 8 inch garage sale special table saw for $10.00 and make a slide. HOWZ IT going Dave ! This rain is something else!!! did this all summer in 1975......right thru August Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted June 30, 2005 Author Share Posted June 30, 2005 I got to Harbor Freight and bought the air nibbler plus an air body saw and and an air grinder.. The nibbler appears to do what I want. I have not used the air grinder and bought it for $10.00 because of the $3.00 a package for 10 grinding discs that fit the grinders 3/8 arbor (somehow I developed the logic for that purchase and I will save enough money to pay for the argon mix for the mig welding LOL) .....Get the air saw after the fiberglass "cutouts" in the GTO body and cut this great straight line for approximately 3 inches in the fiberglass. The air saw quits on the end of the "out-stroke". I finally Convince it to start again for another inch and it quits on the "in-stroke". Go back and get another body saw. The second one is no improvement over the first and actually worse. I have a third one now and will apply some scientific technology., I am going to name this saw "willie". Since the blade operates on a basic in and out stroke and I have tried everything to encourage it's operation; I will obtain some viagra to use as a lubrication inducement to persuade this saw to perform. I am hoping for about a full 3 hours of non-stop work from "willie". Is this asking too much for a 2 1/2 inch blade.... at least I am keeping all the blades that come with the saw(s) and have 18 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillZ260 Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 Just my .02 but I have used a bandsaw for my smaller pc's. Depending on how big your bandsaw is you could probably do some decent size parts, but you must have the right blade for the type of material you are cutting. SS is going to need a very high tpi count and depending on how thick a material you are cutting it can go slow. With a good layout you can do just about anything though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted June 30, 2005 Author Share Posted June 30, 2005 Ernie...good point on the stainless steel and work hardening... .Bill I have a 14 inch Rockwell bandsaw with extension.... it has something like over 100 inches of blade.. I could get a small blade for turning tight radius. My Rigid horizontal metal bandsaw has a small work table that I fabricated for use in the vertical position but due to the small 2 inch square work table there is little cutting accuracy. The air nibbler will cut 16 guage and I have some 17 or 18 guage flat SS to experiment with....... Right now I am trying to find a contour guage (for copying radius shapes and curves) to make the patterns for some of the trim.. My contour guage also developed legs and feet and walked away during my 2 + year absence. Now I can't remember where I bought the first one (LOL) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roostmonkey Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 I would trace your pattern onto the ss and then cut to the outside of your template.then use a belt sander or clamp a disc sander in a vise and sand to your template;s line.You will have to sand the edges anyway and you lesson the risk of cutting inside your templates lines.This also allows you to use a tool that may not be very accurate or one that slightly distorts the edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted July 5, 2005 Author Share Posted July 5, 2005 Roost Monkey....' your suggestion may be a good reason to repair my home built 2X72 inch belt grinder I used to make knives with. I wore out the 1 HP electric motor. That grinder was somthing else for metal removal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Here comes trouble Posted July 7, 2005 Author Share Posted July 7, 2005 Can you imagine the air body saw seems to operate better since I found the Marvel Air Tool Oil. For about 6 hours today I alternated between about all the tools mentioned in this thread to create 2 side vent stainless steel trim pieces for the GTO ptoject and tried each individual suggestion twice. I cut the stainless steel trim to fit the side vents but cutting out the inside of the trim was PITA with either the airbody saw refusing to operate or the blade going dull. (I still have to straighten out the inside lines) This saw makes the best cuts but not for long... I rough cut with the air nibbler....straight line cut and trimmed with bandsaw...used 3 different grinder/sanders. ruined 5 cheap air body saw blades... used 2 different files. 2 different size vices. The passenger side vents are slightly different from the driver's side which means I have to make a different pattern for them. I also managed to get the vents and grille cut out eith the airbidy saw without too much downtime.There is got to be some kind of rolling shear/bead bench top tool that will do this trim work....GTO pictures http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/album?.dir=8223&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/larryjohnson97438/my_photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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