cutting slits for faders

i have a hammond 0.06"aluminum project box that i want to put some 60mm faders into. how should i cut the box to give nice looking slits for the fader to travel? i thought maybe drilling a small whole at the top and bottom of where the slider would go and use a jig saw but that won't be very straigh im afraid.

any one else done this?

Very tricky.

I think some electric saw blades (where the blade moves up&down) can cut through aluminum, but it might get very tricky making it all nice.

A better solution would be to steal a pre-cut faceplate from an old console IMO.

Do you know anyone with a milling machine?

could do it with a plasma cutter or as gus suggested a milling machine/machine shop.

router could be a solution, jigsaw and fine small file could do the trick too.
if you do it carefully and use leads for the saw etc.. it can produce good results.

Be careful with using some type of methods if the work piece is not firmly mounted to a plate or table or you could have that box spinning around is a dangerous way...
A mill would be the safest method...

For my diy bad self (tm, inc. :grin, if it was a softer metal, I'd grab two pieces of plywood, clamped on the top and bottom side, and use a jig saw.

I'd probably start the holes with a small drill bit.

That would be the ghetto approach, anyway, and I'd try it on a scrap piece to perfect the technique first (don't be ticklin or nothin)

Regards


ju

Maybe an abrasive blade in a circular saw... like in an arm or table saw, where you can gently crank the blade into the panel.

Or maybe figure out a way to have a big hole covered by two rectangular pieces of metal, with the slot being formed by the space between them.

Plasma cutter or Dremmel.

redco can cut it for you if you decide not to screw with it yourself. They cut a fader panel for me and it came out really nice.

dave

I've cut slots for P&G's on aluminum panels with a jig saw. Make sure it's well clamped. Drill holes at the ends. Score the outlines on both sides of the slot, jig saw with a steady hand. File. Not as bad as it may sound.

Good luck.

James

Quite a few specialty metal working shops have CNC Lasers that can be programmed to cut a series of slots. Just provide them with the dimension co-ordinates of where you want the slots, how long etc.. The machine will cut perfect slots in about 2 minutes.

I've had good results using a nice cut-off abrasive wheel on a motor. They make miter saws for this too...

To finish up the roughs and make 'em all smooth a pass or two with a small flat machine file works wonders.

I've milled narrow (1/8") slots in aluminum using a Dremel in a router base guided by a straight edge clamped to the work. Drill a hole in one end of your slot, and use one of those milling type cutters and some oil for lubricant. It's a bit messy, but it works fine.

For me, the best way for small slits and rectangular holes is a Dremel with an abrasive cutoff wheel used sideways. Much like the circular saw with abrasive disk method, but smaller and easier to control. It sounds very awkward, but with a little practice I was able to control it much better than using the Dremel with router attachment (although I didn't use a guide for the router base, which would probably also work very well). Having a flex-shaft attachment makes it easier, since the flex-shaft handle is smaller and doesn't get in the way as much as the Dremel body, but I've done both.

Like you suggested, I would usually drill small holes at the ends of a slit (or the four corners of a rectangular hole), and also mark the lines I wanted to cut with pencil or sharpie. The important thing is to cut "against" the spin of the wheel, if you know what I mean, rather than "with" it--otherwise the Dremel tries to run away from you and you may cut an area you don't want to (not to mention the possibility of hurting yourself).

If you try this, definitely wear eye protection, as you need to be pretty close to it to follow your marks, and it will spit off sparks and bits of abrasive. You'll probably have to change the cutoff wheel pretty often as well, but those are cheap. I hardly used my Dremel until I started getting creative with the abrasive cutoff wheels. . .

Old topic, old problem, I understand.  But what about like a Chop saw with a grinder on it or some metal blade on it.  Would need to be fairly small radius but wouldnt this get a perfectly straight line and you could just file out the rounded bit or flip it so its on the under side.  Just a thought..I was thinking of doing this and none of these 'cheap' solutions sound very elegant.  I remember using a grinder to do some fudging before.  Curious if anyone has thought of/or tried this.

Could work in steel, but I think the purer aluminium grades will smear to much, will not be pretty. Have it machined, it'll look superb, and will damage the anodisation (if there is any) only slightly if the machinist takes care.

I could think of many ways to do this, they all end up costing more than to just send it in the FPE and have them cut it for you.

For the DIY that wants to do it at home: http://www.harborfreight.com/bench-top-cut-off-saw-42307.html, modify the base to fit your material.