Cutting a hole in thick metal plate?


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Old 03-08-16, 12:42 AM
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Cutting a hole in thick metal plate?

I'm trying to make a square hole on my golf cub face (iron). It's made of stainless steel. I brought it to a car garage where they have a grinder and they said they couldn't cut it. How do I made a hole on the thick steel face?
 
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Old 03-08-16, 02:05 AM
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Take it to a machine shop...not a local garage. Someone who does water jetting would be best. Be prepared to pay though....square is much harder to do than round.
 
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Old 03-08-16, 05:19 AM
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I would mark the square you want to cut. Then drill a series of 1/8" holes just inside your mark getting the holes as close together as possible. Then break out the center and use a file to neaten up the edges and corners.

Water jet will be expensive. Not only is it an expensive operating machine but it's also slow and leaves quite a draft angle when cutting thicker material. And, you'll have to labor for the program, albeit not much, in addition to the cutting time. They will also have to make a fixture or jig to hold the club face in the correct orientation depending on how you want your cut angled. Much of the same will go for a laser except it will produce a straighter edge through thicker material.

A old fashioned machine shop could do the work but it will be expensive. Best would be to find someone with a manual mill if you are only doing one piece. It's the sort of thing where they will spend an hour making a jig or fixture to hold the club head and then five or ten minutes doing the machining.
 
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Old 03-08-16, 08:02 AM
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Check out EDM machining. An electrode is made to specs for the square hole (slightly smaller) out of copper or graphite. It is then placed in an EDM machine and electrical discharge in a dielectric media is performed to erode the hole in the metal.
Wire machining;
Another method is drilling a small hole through the material and inserting a small wire that is slowly pulled through the hole while discharging electrical pulses to erode the material. The wire is guided to specs for hole.

Pilot Dane has the least expensive idea and it works.

Have fun!

RR
 
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Old 04-18-16, 05:49 AM
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If you will have hard time drilling, spray some WD40 on drill bit.
 
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Old 04-18-16, 07:54 AM
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I'd likely do as PD suggested .... probably because I'm cheap You should have a good cobalt bit or two as stainless is always tough to drill. Always use oil to lubricate the bit as needed when any depth is involved when drilling steel.
 
 

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