Cutting Cirlces In Metal
 

is there a relatively inexpensive tool that can be used to cut perfect circles in lets say a 1/4 steel? easily.
I know there is expensive ways and I know there is some time consuming ways.

1/4 inch is some pretty heavy steel unless you have a torch or plasma cutter. Without one of these two things I wouldn't know of any way, with one of these two it's no big deal at all.

the torch will cut crappy. the plasma is out of my price range

The torch cut is easy to clean up though with a little grindin. Just put a slight bit of angle on the cut then grind it flat and it comes out right on the money.

If your wantin down and dirty precise, it would have to be a metal art type places that uses the water jet's or laser to cut but that's a little over kill for most anything I could think of.

What's this gonna be for.

differential guards

1/8" or maybe even 3/16" could be done on a bandsaw. 1/4 inch is some pretty serious stock for somethin like that, might be normal for Jeeps, I don't know. But being on the underside of the truck I think a torch cut that's been cleaned up would get close enough for nobody to tell the difference. If they'r lookin that close at the underside of your Jeep, odds are pretty good you messed up already.

Most skid plates are only heavy guage sheet metal. They count on the frame work that mounts them in place for the strength.

yeah but there isn't anything to support the diff cover except the diff cover itself.

How are you gonna mount these monsters then. I don't think I'd wanna use the cover plate bolts to hold this kind of weight, not to mention that if you hit somethin hard enough to need that kind of armor plated protection you would probably damage the diff just from the impact.

Hard to know cause I know nothin about Jeeps and what they have under there, but I think I would weld the mounting brackets to the Axle with C channel and bolt the plating to that.

A torch with a circle cutting attachment (I make my own) and a little practice and you can cut circles that are so smooth on the edges that you don't have to clean em up at all. The same attachments are avalible for a plasma cutter too. Practice is the key to most hand operated welding or cutting processes. Depending on what you call cheap, you can buy a entry level torch plus single stage guages and a cicle cutting attachment for under $300 bucks minus the bottles to run it. Then you set to cut carbon steel and weld.:c:

na all diff covers use longer cover bolts. they are plenty strong enough to keep the diff protected.

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I should really get a set of torches anyway. they are handy for other things. I'll have to look into a set

Once you have the torch around your gonna wonder how you made it without em all those years. With a torch, a body grinder and a heavy screwdriver you got a whole tool box.

Unless your like me, whole damn shop full a tools and can never find a striker to save my life. I end up usin a $2500 welder as a striker to fire up the torch. Ya I'm a non-smoker so there aint no lighter in my pocket, I'm just happy to see ya.

ha ha

I make my own too.................can cut a circle any size with a bit of creativity..........almost perfect man


here is a cheap option for ya

http://www.metalwebnews.com/howto/cu...ir-cutter.html

thats cool!

and cheap too

Circle cutters are cool. :U:

The fab shop my buddy works in has a cutter that'll blow through 12" plate. Beefy....

air arc??

We used to build stainless steel pressure tanks out of 1/4" stainless that they used to to ship chemicals in for Dow Corp. Had the plasma head all set up on a jig with a motorized wheel spinning the material at a nice slow speed. This made the top and bottoms, then we had the drums to roll the flat material into the tank walls. When it was assembled everything had to fit together right on the money. Even that pasma cutter had to work cuttin that stainless.

what about a holesaw bit, thats all ive ever used........

What size hole are we talking about?

12"

oh ok, nevermidn then, what kind of diff cover are you building that takes a 12 inch circle????

AMC 20. and thats a small axle.

what are you doing exactly???? yeah i know AMC 20's or better known as junk.......

Toss the factory tapered axles in favor of some flanged shafts and it's better than a 44. :w2:

Bill - look into water jet or laser - it may be cheaper than you think.

In 1/4" steel? What are you smoking?

We build ethenol tanks (pressure & storage columns)for major companies (Ferge, ICM, Delta T, Aqua tech) and some of them are in earthquake zones which required up to 3/4 inch stainless for the shell sections and all we use are Miller Spectrum 1000's even the smaller Spectrum 2050 will cut 1/2"-5/8" stainless without a problem.

Plasma cutters are an awesome investment, and deffinatly make life alot easier! If you were lookin into that option the Spectrum 125c or 375 would be able to conquer anything you could ever throw at it. the 125 i beleive is good for up to 1/4 inch mild steel...

go slow and use some cutting oil....

CORRECTION: the 125 is good up to 3/16" but im sure it could take on 1/4"

i guess it could be done - but it would be pretty togh on the hole saw (unless it was the carbide variety)

Might be tough finding a 12" holesaw...

Hope it's awfull big drill press your usin to hold on to that 12" bit twistin in there. Not to mention tryin to get that piece a steel out of the bit once you do get through it.

:hijack:

Chuck Norris Could do it for you

he didnt say how big of a hole he was needing til after i posted the hole saw, that is why you buy metal bits, weve never had a problem getting them out, i drilled eight 3 inch holes in the prerunner bumper on my ranger with a hole saw.....

Chuck Norris drilled 3652 holes in the Prerunner bumper on his Ranger...

lol

Well, he IS Chuck Norris...lol

and one time chuck norris kicked Dr. Evil so hard in the face the pain went back in time and killed Dr. Evil's ancestors.....

I have done it with a holesaw as well. it takes some time.