[GreenKeys] RE: Cutting Meter Holes

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 14:41:56 -0400

Thanks for all the good advice on cutting meter holes. I may have to =
find a friend with a drill press and fly cutter.

No, I am not a masochist. But I've had this homebrew 1930's rack panel =
transmitter sitting around for 2 years and couldn't take it any longer. =
I can't figure out what happened to it. It's a classic 30's rig with =
multiple 19" rack panels stacked 6 feet tall--antenna tuner, RF deck, =
exciter, modulator and several power supplies.=20

But this rig had a bad accident sometime in the past. Some sort of acid =
spilled down the front of it and managed to completely trash 4 of the =
front panels. I am guessing that maybe the user had a wet-cell battery =
sitting on top of the rig and it cracked open or something. Then too, =
several of the panels had extra holes in them that were not, shall we =
say, attractive (hey, that's the story with homebrew!).=20

But I finally was unable to keep looking at this sad thing and decided =
to create new front panels since my ample junk box had the sizes needed. =
Well, I am talking 1/8" thick steel and 3/32" steel. I got cobalt-tipped =
drill bits for the smaller holes and those worked great. But whoever =
built this thing was in love with meters and I ended up saber-sawing 7 =
meter holes. My hand was numb for 2 days afterward.

Now I still have 2 meter holes to go in the modulator panel and another =
meter hole needs cut for the Stancor 60P I am working on. But I just =
don't want to do them.=20

By the way, I used some black wrinkle paint from Illinois Bronze on the =
panels when they were done--just spray can stuff. I cooked them under =
some halogen lamps that generate a lot of heat. They actually turned out =
great. I was shocked. I had been expecting a disaster. But they wrinkled =
up perfectly and the resulting finish looks sufficiently old-fashioned =
to keep the "1930's look". I am very pleased with that spray paint.

Meanwhile, I've set the finished panels aside while I spend my so-called =
"free time" on correcting a couple of antenna problems before the =
Pittsburgh weather turns any colder.

Thanks again for your replies and help.=20
73, Don Merz, N3RHT

-----Original Message-----
From: Merz Donald S [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 11:12 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]; Old Tube Radios
Subject: GB> Cutting Meter Holes=20

Question: How do you cut meter holes in panels, particularly heavy-gauge =
steel? I sometimes have to do this for restoration work and I dread it. =
I have been using my trusty saber-saw and blade-after-blade. Now I have =
3 more holes to cut in 2 steel panels and I really don't want to do it. =
Is there a better way?