Stainless cabinet cutouts ?

milmat1

milmat1

"It Can't Do That !"
Location
Siler City, NC USA
Occupation
Controls Engineer
What is the best method for cutting holes in a stainless steel cabinet? For things like the HMI or AC cooling or wire way etc. My panel guy generally will use a jig saw for mild steel cabinets, but the stainless cabinets are proving to be very difficult. Is there a specific blade you like, or a better method for cutting stainless ?
 
What size holes? A high quality hole saw will work if you cut at very low speed with cutting oil. I've drilled hundreds of holes in 1/4" thick stainless steel plates fro Vitalink MC cables. Would get about 6-8 holes per hole saw.
 
Thanks, Yes no matter how we do this it isnt going to be easy. He doesnt seem to have problems with our regular mild steel cabinets. But these SS cabinets are being a bit rough.
 
I know this joke will not help you but...

When I was deploying a lot of big machines nationwide, somebody new would sometimes ask which saw should they use to drill a hole in a stainless panel.

And the answer was always...

"Somebody's else's".
 
milmat1 said:
Thanks, Yes no matter how we do this it isnt going to be easy. He doesnt seem to have problems with our regular mild steel cabinets. But these SS cabinets are being a bit rough.
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It can be done fairly easily if setup properly. This was my method. Standard cordless drill set on low, cutting oil, plate bolted to a reel.

Vitalink Plates.jpg
 
The thing to get through your head that I had trouble with was a good sheet metal guy told me " run the drill as slow as possible". Stainless is a hard material. Your tendency is to run the drill fast and put a lot of pressure on it. That is absolutely the wrong thing to do. The slower the better and you want to generate as little heat as possible which the heat destroys drills and hole saws.

The first time I tried this was on a couple of 4x disconnects and I ran out of drill bits before I got to the Greenlee punch. I learned after that.
 
infinity said:
What size holes? A high quality hole saw will work if you cut at very low speed with cutting oil. I've drilled hundreds of holes in 1/4" thick stainless steel plates fro Vitalink MC cables. Would get about 6-8 holes per hole saw.
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I agree, I've drilled hundreds of holes in stainless enclosures, the slower the better.
 
Many years ago, I had a custom stainless steel panel built and had the holes put in by the panel builder. It was cheaper than buying the standard size stainless enclosure and I did not have to make any holes. Of course I had to provide detailed drawings and that does take some time, but not a lot more than the layout time that would be required for making my own holes. The builder was even able to provide a listing sticker for the enclosure.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
Many years ago, I had a custom stainless steel panel built and had the holes put in by the panel builder. It was cheaper than buying the standard size stainless enclosure and I did not have to make any holes. Of course I had to provide detailed drawings and that does take some time, but not a lot more than the layout time that would be required for making my own holes. The builder was even able to provide a listing sticker for the enclosure.
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Hoffman will add cutouts to standard enclosures. It only adds a week or two to getting it. Talk to your Hoffman supplier. It's pretty easy.

They can also make other mods very simply like changing a dimension.
 
petersonra said:
Hoffman will add cutouts to standard enclosures. It only adds a week or two to getting it. Talk to your Hoffman supplier. It's pretty easy.

They can also make other mods very simply like changing a dimension.
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My 3rd party custom panel builder was about 75% of the price from Hoffman.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
My 3rd party custom panel builder was about 75% of the price from Hoffman.
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You probably did not have a favorable purchasing agreement with Hoffman. It is very hard to compete with Hoffman prices if you have a good agreement with them.

We use custom manufactured enclosures when it makes sense but for simple things like adding PB holes or stretching a dimension, or adding a cutout for an HMI, or a custom color, the Hoffman customization program is far cheaper. I think anything the program covers can be gotten in ten days, which is only a week or so more than standard enclosures.
 
petersonra said:
You probably did not have a favorable purchasing agreement with Hoffman. It is very hard to compete with Hoffman prices if you have a good agreement with them.

We use custom manufactured enclosures when it makes sense but for simple things like adding PB holes or stretching a dimension, or adding a cutout for an HMI, or a custom color, the Hoffman customization program is far cheaper. I think anything the program covers can be gotten in ten days, which is only a week or so more than standard enclosures.
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That was also my experience….admittedly, it was 30 years ago!
 
For cutting holes in stainless steel, a jigsaw isn’t the best tool. it will wear out quickly. Try using a hole saw with a carbide or bi-metal blade for clean, round cuts. If you are cutting larger or straight openings, angle grinder with a diamond wheel can work, but you might need to clean up the edges afterward.
 
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