Tools

[aspire]

Things are goin just fine. No pain at all any more.

-aspire

 

[toxicity_27]

Yea, I found out after I bought that 4" that I need a 4.5" so I'll be buying one soon. Also I wasn't worried about the eye protection because I have 3 pairs of safety goggles

 

[hickfarm]

safety glasses are for losers. Just turn your head. I honestly don't wear them but i should.

Anyways at least you bought quality Dewalt tools. Instead of knock off brands. I am surprised it cost that much though. 3 or some years ago we picked up a Dewalt cordless saw and drill combo pack for under 400 bucks. Came with 2 batteries also.

Ya i would use a sander also. Why not if you can afford it. What do you all plan on doing anyways?

Also on a side not how good do those hole saws work? I would think they would catch and mark up the case pretty bad or something. Oh and according to Aspire a battery operated drill can't power that big of a hole saw. But we all know they can.

 

[toxicity_27]

Heh, for all those tools and a dremel it was up around $700. I'm planning on modding my current case for some handles and some more fans. And then I plan on doing a worklog for what I have in my head, should be pretty sweet. At work I use a chopsaw to cut rebar and sometimes I wear safety glasses and other times I don't, but I don't look away, and have had my fair share of metal chunks hit me. I've used Rigid hole saw at work, but haven't used them on any sort of metal yet, so I will let you know how well they cut when I use them this weekend.

 

[aspire]

Also on a side not how good do those hole saws work? I would think they would catch and mark up the case pretty bad or something. Oh and according to Aspire a battery operated drill can't power that big of a hole saw. But we all know they can.

Hole saws aren't too bad to use.

Though I do stand by my earlier comment regardless cordless drills with a 4.5" hole saw.
They just don't offer enough torque to keep the head spinning while cutting into the metal.

I wind up using a corded one that has a concrete head setting which lets the bit move on the vertical axis a bit which helps prevent it from catching and torquing the **** out of whatever your working on.

I've cut 80mm holes in steel and that was a beezy, took something like 4 hours to drill the 11 holes I did... Don't ask.

Anyways, I've found that in terms of modding equipment a knockoff rotary tool, in my case a kawasaki, and a good corded drill are really all you need. I picked up a small sander just to make my life a little easier while prepping my huge server case for paint.

-aspire

 

[jfenwick]

Hole saws aren't too bad to use.

Though I do stand by my earlier comment regardless cordless drills with a 4.5" hole saw.
They just don't offer enough torque to keep the head spinning while cutting into the metal.

I wind up using a corded one that has a concrete head setting which lets the bit move on the vertical axis a bit which helps prevent it from catching and torquing the **** out of whatever your working on.

I've cut 80mm holes in steel and that was a beezy, took something like 4 hours to drill the 11 holes I did... Don't ask.

Anyways, I've found that in terms of modding equipment a knockoff rotary tool, in my case a kawasaki, and a good corded drill are really all you need. I picked up a small sander just to make my life a little easier while prepping my huge server case for paint.

-aspire

I'd have to agree, my Ridgid 18v drill has a hard time with the 4.5 but I have a 3/4hp drill press which with the Ridgid 4.5 hole saw goes through aluminum like butter and goes well through steel as well, cutting oil helps with that as well.

But it's true, at the end of the day, a dremel, a sander and a drill are all power tools you really need. If you think about it, drill presses, band saws, milling machines, waterjets etc...are all just bigger badder tools doing the same job faster and cleaner.

 

[commandercup]

safety glasses are for losers. Just turn your head. I honestly don't wear them but i should.

Anyways at least you bought quality Dewalt tools. Instead of knock off brands. I am surprised it cost that much though. 3 or some years ago we picked up a Dewalt cordless saw and drill combo pack for under 400 bucks. Came with 2 batteries also.

Ya i would use a sander also. Why not if you can afford it. What do you all plan on doing anyways?

Also on a side not how good do those hole saws work? I would think they would catch and mark up the case pretty bad or something. Oh and according to Aspire a battery operated drill can't power that big of a hole saw. But we all know they can.

I was just about to say, buy knockoff tools... go to harbor freight

as long as you've got a quality drill/dremel everything else can be skimped on since your paying for features not for quality usually in those cases...

I have a $20 black and decker jigsaw... works great for cutting all my windows...

I bought a $10 holesaw kit (~15 sizes, 2 arbors) at harbor freight... works great

I also bought a $34.99 5G shop vac there too...

If you plan on buying loads of tools, go to Harbor Freight... you can obviously tell if something really is crap or not... but being a generic brand really helps with pricing...

edit: jfenwick

theres also the fact that most of those tools provide better looking cuts and can be used by people who wouldn't be able to do it by hand. they really decrease finishing steps like filing, sanding etc.

 

[hickfarm]

I need to pick myself up a 4.5 inch hole saw just so i can prove our cordless dewalt drill can do it. Heck I've drilled through concrete with that thing.

 

[jfenwick]

edit: jfenwick

theres also the fact that most of those tools provide better looking cuts and can be used by people who wouldn't be able to do it by hand. they really decrease finishing steps like filing, sanding etc.

I think you might have misinterpreted my comment...I did mention they are faster and cleaner than the dremel. But they cost mucho denero compared to DIY, both to buy or have someone do the cut for you (unless you know someone). Essentially what I was getting at is that for 95% of the mods being done around here a dremel, jig saw and sander are pretty much all you need as far as power tools go if you're willing to take your time to do it properly. If you want to get into the mnpctech type level of quality then you'd better start looking for a cnc guy and waterjet. I know around here a waterjet cut costs about $100 for a relatively simple cut, that's minimum price. For that I can buy myself a dremel and jig saw + blades and do hundreds of cuts.

If it was up to me, every cut I do would be on the waterjet on mill...but I'm limited by $$$ not time....so i put in the elbow grease sanding, grinding and filing my cuts down.

I need to pick myself up a 4.5 inch hole saw just so i can prove our cordless dewalt drill can do it. Heck I've drilled through concrete with that thing.

My ridgid 18v will do the 4.5" hole cut but it's slow and not as clean as the 6amp corded or drill press. I can feel the cordless drill stressing but it does do the cut in the end....not that I think it's good for the life of my drill.

 

[toxicity_27]

I need to pick myself up a 4.5 inch hole saw just so i can prove our cordless dewalt drill can do it. Heck I've drilled through concrete with that thing.

Yea, we have the 18v DeWalt drills at work, and they're crazy. The torque on them is insane, I've had it twist right out of my hand, granted I didn't have that good of a grip on it, but it's just insane.