Creating Professional-Looking Housings in Plastic: Cutting Holes for Fans, Voltmeters, Etc.

Hello

How do you deal with making and adjusting the housings to your systems, e.g. cutting holes for a fan, voltmeter, buttons, etc.? I have already tried with a resistance wire, drill, file, but it does not look like a factory one.

Regards
Syntony

I did not, but I read that it is quite easy to cut with a hair saw and possibly hand finished with needle or sandpaper. I myself cut (cut) various objects with such a ball and I have to admit that it cuts very accurately along the line. If the hole is for the gauge, there is no problem as long as the gauge is inserted "from the outside". Then the outer flange of the meter housing covers the edges of the opening anyway.

sometimes I used a warm knife

The drill bit is a small drill and when done carefully it can be cut. Exact match with a file, and any unevenness is masked by a sticker on the faceplate.

And if I would like to cut such vents, it will not be fired with this hairball or a hot knife because it will be uneven. Because I want to make a housing for the power supply and I have to cut a hole for an ammeter, voltmeter, fan and these ventilation grilles.

Greetings

I always take drills, screwdrivers, files in my hand and drive, Honestly, I attach great importance to aesthetics.

I think that good results can also be obtained with a milling machine and a thin milling cutter. After all, many professional companies do this with CNC machines. Regards

Cutting in plastics can be outsourced to a company that cuts advertisements from plastic. and if you do it yourself, it is good to cover the surface with some tape or a sticker before processing. You can then draw an exact cutting template, and in addition, the surface is protected against accidental scratching, e.g. by scratching on the table. Trichinella balls are good for cutting and can cut in all directions. They have "twisted" blades. If you are going to drill or cut mechanically, then at a lower speed. At high levels, the plastic will melt and there may be enough deformation or matting. a sharp file and a wire brush to clean the file for leveling, as it will become clogged frequently.
I made rectangular cuts with a tool: two small metal angles. twisted together. First, I made a rough hole smaller than the assumed one. Then, along the final outline, I twisted these angles, squeezing the processed material in the center. Then I finished the edge with the file, being sure that I would not go further and the edge would be straight.
In order for the edges to be smooth after cutting, they can be treated with temperature or, for example, with acetone (some plastics do not react), which will dissolve the top layer and make it smooth. I advise you to practice this technique beforehand.

How much does such a trichinella ball cost more or less? This is some kind of cap on the drill or what? Because I don't know what it looks like.

Regards
Syntony

It seems to me that it is like a tile saw blade, it is round and has such roughness and mo noun on it and ik at cut out

The one in the photo is actually the glaze saw blade. It clogs fairly quickly when cutting plastic. The balls I mentioned look as if a twisted trichinosis ball is tightly twisted into the wood. Such "barbed wire in miniature". You can buy castorams and others of this type in packs of 10. They are even of different thickness. Unfortunately, it is not a drill attachment, but a hand tool. It is a delicate ball with a short blade with a very high handle that allows the ball to be maneuvered in any direction.

Hello
There are cool hair balls, but with a round cross-section, only much thinner than the glaze (to be bought in a modeling store), although very similar, the vents can be made in this way by first drawing a line on the casing, with a punch mark lightly marking the places where you want make holes, then drill a hole in this place with the smallest drill possible and so gradually increase the fan to the desired diameter, the holes come out in a straight line from each other as smoothly as from the factory, sometimes if something does not come out on the faceplate, the situation is saved by the veneer to the wood, you stick it and you mask any scratches or inaccuracies (if I do the housing, people do not believe that it is not from the factory and it pisses me off )
Best wishes!

I would recommend buying a mini-drill for this purpose (you can buy a set of grinding wheels and circular saws on Allegro for PLN 30 and buy a set of grinding wheels and circular saws. pattern and cut what you want and how you want.

Once, when I was playing with my own housings, I used parts of ready-made housings. You can, for example, cut a vent and then cover it with a perforated loudspeaker cover from some radio, you can place the indicators behind a tinted plexiglass and then you will not see any imprecise cut holes, I "drilled" holes for larger diameter sockets with scissors. I connected the elements with a soldering iron.

tomorrow I will go to castorama and see what they have these balls and I still have to try drilling equal holes on some plastic. and you do not know if you can buy such ventilation grilles above the windmill in an ordinary electronics store? because maybe you don't have to figure it out, I would make a fan on the top of the housing and drill 20 large holes at the bottom and it seems to me that the cooling would also work well and be aesthetic. If I made a grid, it would have to be quite large, because the windmill is 10 by 10 cm. And if I find nothing, drill holes as the electronics said.

Regards
Syntony

In electronics or computer stores there should be such grilles for windmills made of wire. They look something like a crosshair (coaxial circles and X). They are of different sizes. If you are not satisfied with any of them, try to adapt some kind of housing from a fan to the air ducts.

OK thanks. I will ask in my shop and I will buy it, but I wonder how it is with sizes, whether they have different sizes of these grilles or is there one used one, because my windmill is a bit larger than the usual one.

There are several sizes, as are the sizes of the windmills. If they don't have a computer (electronic) one, try it at a disco and sound equipment store. These systems often have quite large fans.

dremel multi and similar clones, but the 220v ones, not the power supply. You can work wonders with these devices!

I am there, if there is nothing to cut, I use a soldering iron to melt the holes
Only then should the tip be cleaned.

Plastic uneven. Some, e.g. polyethylene, reacts great to the heat of the tip, others turn black and look ugly. My rara; 1 black and white housing headpieces drill and mill. plexi>, advice on zadiory-sharp tools, avoid chemicals

Ptaku80 wrote:

I would recommend buying a mini-drill for this purpose (you can buy a set of grinding wheels and circular saws on Allegro for PLN 30 and buy a set of grinding wheels and circular saws. pattern and cut what you want and how you want.

I have a question what working tool you use at work, my neighbor has a PROXXON so I will borrow it. How do you choose the speed so that the tool does not heat up too much and nothing melts, I mean cutting round and rectangular holes in KM, Z housings, made of black plastic.

Krzysiek, thanks for the answer.