When I cut up the 5 mm thick stainless plate to make a 15" x 10" x 2"
1replacement water tank for my combustion stove (this is rec.aviation.steam
isn't it? ;) I used my trusty angle grinder and a cut-off wheel in the back
yard so I could just cool it with the hose. It takes a while, but is much
faster to use a cheap and nasty 4 1/2 inch grinder than any other home
handyman tool.

The tank was then welded by a mate. The steel came from my friendly scrap
metal yard and was bent into a half cylinder in the pile. The scrap yard
pushed it flat with the boom of the forklift and then ran over it a couple
of time from both sides. Although not totally flat it was good enough to
make a very good and very cheap tank:
steel plate $20.00 (with half left over); cut-off wheel $2.00 (with half
left over); welding rods from mates work free; two 3/4 inch BSP stainless
water fittings welded in place $10.00; sixpack for mate and another for me
$20.00(with none left over).


Once the pipe fittings were welded in place, I drilled them out into the
tank wall with an electric hand drill and cheap drill bits. Maybe the heat
from the welding was enough to soften the steel for the 1/2 inch drill which
might have been a sharpened masonary bit, (they are good!) and I can't
remember whether I stopped or not, probably kept going at the time. Must
remember not to stop next time......

Hope this helps,
Peter