Thread: drilling gauge holes in stainless

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I have a sheet of engine turned stainless that i am making a gauge panel out of for my instrument cluster. I have to cut a 3" hole, and (4) 1+7/8 holes in it. cant use a holesaw, they are not accurate enough, since the speedo bezel is 3+1/8, and the speedo body is 3". That gives me 1/16" to play with.(autometer arctic white speedo). Does anyone know of a good circle cutter that would work on stainless and be accurate? i have a drill press, which i intend on using for this task. Any ideas would be appreciated
Dan

Might be best to get it done at a machine shop, the tool to cut a circle to that accuracy is probably more than a shop would charge to cut them. Next best choice is to cut them out with and undersized hole saw, file to finish size.

Some brands of hole saws are less accurate than others.

Black and Decker seem to be oriented toward woodworking and aren't too accurate, but I've used them with success to cut 3/4 & 1" holes in .120 frame walls.

Try either Starratt or Milwaukee hole saws.
They run fairly accurate all things considered.
(Either brand of hole saw fit's either arbor and I think Starrat's hole saws are made by Milwaukee.)
They're a bi-metal hole saw and I had no problems in cutting reasonably accurate holes in .063 thick stainless.

Use slow speed and a solid setup - like in well clamped etc.

It may help to drill 1/4" holes just to the inside of where the instrument hole will be cut. That gives the cuttings someplace to go. An especially important part when hole sawing 1/4" or thicker steel or aluminum.

You may want to make a jig when you lay out your dash.
I used an aluminum yardstick for my 32's dash to cut the dash proper and later on used the jig to lay out the holes for the engine turned stainless piece that went between dash and stainless.
The holes in both dash and stainless were a perfect match.

Here's my dash panel out of stainless.
I used a hole saw for this, just be careful.
The gauges are 2 1/8" and classic instr. told me to drill
a 2 1/8" hole, but I actually found that a 2" hole
saw made a better fit, there was a little too much slack
with the full 2 1/8" since they always drill a little bigger
than they say.

Originally posted by Dave Severson
Might be best to get it done at a machine shop, the tool to cut a circle to that accuracy is probably more than a shop would charge to cut them. Next best choice is to cut them out with and undersized hole saw, file to finish size.

Dave, I agree wholeheartedly, nothing but NOTHING beats a good set of files. It gives me a real feeling of accomplishment to make a nice piece, then put a 1/16" chamfer on all the edges with a good sharp file, then just stand back and look at it. It's almost as good as makin' love to a woman....almost....

drill you pilot hole first. make a sleave to cover your drill bit in the hole saw from brake line. the bit usuallt wallows out the guide hole. under cutting and shaping will work best. the best hole saw is an adjustable one that has a moveable knife blade on it. it cuts a clean hole and is used in woodworking. good luck

thanks for the insight guys- i will let you know how it turns out.
I have found that this is a really nice forum with adults on it that are knowledgeable, and even though my hotrod isnt traditional, i feel welcome here and still get good advice from all. Thanks again, Dan

i would asssume that his procedure would work good with thin sheet metal or aliminum also. i am building the back box panels of my t bucket out of unpressed roofing metal. i got a 10 ft by 5 ft piece of this stuff ceramic coated both sides for 39.00 canadian. they even put in in a break and split it down the middle.
i am going to cut 4 round holes in the rear panel for tailights and will have to use some kind of hole saw to cut the stuff without distorting it.

Electricians use hole punches usually for commercial work, if the stainless is not too thick. I have used a squeezer nibbler to cut sheet stock. there are also air and electric nibblers. My air nibbler is noisey and probably would not cut stainless some stainless will heat harden if you get it too hot when working it.