gauge holes in dash

Aaron Johnson

Aaron Johnson

Well-known member
Need to cut a hole in a sheet of aluminium to mount a 5" autometer gauge. The body of the gauge is 4 19/32" (about 117mm)

what do you guys use to cut that hole? anybody have something I can borrow to cut it?
 
If you are just making the dash, you could try a cheap circle cutter in a drill press. Clamp down the aluminum, cut a bit small and file to fit.
 
Been in the same boat a couple times. A hole saw, electric drill and a Dremel. The hole isn't pretty but your gauge's beauty ring should hide that.
 
red986s":2zc4qmpy said:
Been in the same boat a couple times. A hole saw, electric drill and a Dremel. The hole isn't pretty but your gauge's beauty ring should hide that.
Click to expand...

I concur doctor. I just had to do the same thing for a new dash gauge. The trim ring on the gauge hides a myriad of sins.

Dayle
 
Attempting to cut a large hole in sheet metal, using a drill press, is not my favorite task, due to a safety issue.

I prefer to drill a reasonably small hole, being sure to have the sheet metal clamped to the drill press table, and also butted-up to the large post of the drill press to prevent possible rotation.

Then, slowly enlarge the hole, using a right-hand or left-hand aviation "tin" snips, eventually trimming a very narrow annular piece for the final cut. Aluminum should cut easily.

Charlie T.

P.S.: A dull drill bit might work better than a sharp drill bit, for the initial drilling, since it probably will not "grab" the work piece.
 
Got it figured out...we'll see how it works.

I much prefer using the mill over a drill press. nice table, things are oriented good and I have a 10" vise to hold things down.

I found a hole saw that should work, adjustable and should be able to make the right size.

thanks for the tips everyone

aaron
 
Another way that can be done in-place if you want to add a hole but not remove the panel (with thanks to Carroll Smith): Mark the location and outline. Drill a series of small 1/8 ~3/16 maybe holes all around, nearly touching. Then break through between the holes with a chisel, snips, or (my favorite) a narrow blade such as from a mini-hacksaw. Finish with file or sanding drum. Tedious but cheap. Joel
 
If you have access to one of those dry-wall 'zip' cutters, they go thru thin aluminum like butter.
You can do it free hand as the trim ring will cover, but an easier way is to make a 'neat' hole is to make template with hard-board or plywood and trace the outline with the zip tool.
 
When drilling or using a mill to cut a hole in aluminum I always back it up with a piece of plywood. This also works when usung a bandsaw.
 
Aaron, one of the very best tools for a home race car doer is a 10,000 stroke per minute air saw from Harbor Freight. El cheap O but cuts many things for a race car.
 
The air saw is the answer - I just finished a new dash for the GT6 -five holes 3 to 5 inch. I drew the holes with a compass on the aluminum drilled a 1/4" hole inside the circles, clamped the ally to a table - leaving the hole off the edge, and carefully cut out the circle with the air saw. Very little clean up to fit perfectly to the drawn circles. Piece of cake. If you don't have an air saw, a saber saw will work, just use a skinny blade.
 
One method I saw on one of the EAA videos utilized a hole saw and a drill press. You start by drilling a how in the center of the cut in the alum. You then take the hole saw the size of the finished cut and cut a circular piece out of plywood. You then bolt this to the alum., remove the bit from the center of the hole saw and, using the plywood as the guide, cut the hole.
Chris
 
I have found when drilling sheet metal, a step drill bit will eliminate the bit from grabing the material. So for fairly small holes a step drill bit works great.

For larger cuts the air saw is great, harber frieght, I think the saw was about the same cost as the blades. Very handy. First time I used it to make a access cut in the inner body, square hole, drilled holes at the corners and then used the air saw to connect the corners. I wish I had bought that little saw a long time ago..... For fairly thin material that air saw is great.
 
Air saws do work well. I also made an attachment for my Dremel tool which is just an 1/8" aluminum strip bent up on one end and attached to the Dremel with a hose clamp. There are a series of holes in the strip that I can pivot from to cut the radius I want For heaver material and bigger radius I did the same thing with a Harbor Freight trim router and 1/4" mill ends from Enco.
 
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