On 25 Nov 2003 03:32:49 GMT, (Veeduber) wrote:

.035 isn't that thick and 'perfectly straight' is relative but the average
nibbler will be close to its limit.

One of the most commonly used tools in my shop is the throatless shear.

First thing I would do is make up an accurate pattern showing the centers of
any holes plus at least two tooling holes. I'd lay that out with at least a
sixteenth outside the finish line and do all the drilling in the flat. Then
whack them into APPROXIMATE size with the throatless shear, phasor (ie, plasma

Just a comment on the plasma torch. I had one here for a while when
we were building the shop. It didn't take long before I could cut one
of those sheets of painted barn metal without scorching the paint. If
the paint started to show signs of heating you knew you were moving
too slow (and this was one of those little self contained units with a
turbine compressor.) Those things are nice...plus they'll cut just
about anything unlike a torch.

I had ordered a much larger one, but they tried to talk me into the
little one. It wasn't big enough for the 1/2 inch thick plate and
even thicker I beams I was cutting so I used the torch. After wearing
out one tip, I let them have it back, but by then I couldn't justify
the big one.

You'll have to fix the return add due to dumb virus checkers, not spam
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair?)
www.rogerhalstead.com

cutter), bandsaw or abrasive disk. Once cut the edges have to be treated so
the pieces will lie flat against each other. They they get bolted together
using the tooling holes.

Now I've got a steel BAR about three-eights thick by 16" long, which should be
pretty easy to bring to finished size using a file, disk grinder, belt sander
or whatever..

I think you'll find that uniformity will have a higher priority than absolute
dimensional accuracy.

-R.S.Hoover