[Amps] Workshop Danger

[Bob Sullivan]

Jim,

I could not agree with you more! Fly cutters should be simply tossed away. For large holes I pay the freight and take the panel to a local machine shop. For a few dollars I get pretty large holes at no danger to myself.  :-)

73, Bob
WØYVA
http://www.isquare.com/personal_pages/ras-hardware.htm

On Sep 13, 2013, at 8:24 AM, Jim Garland wrote:

> My least favorite part of homebrewing an amplifier is making the meter
> cutouts and tube socket holes. Last evening I cut three 2.90 holes for
> GU-74Bs and survived the experience. I have a set of hole saws, but not
> metric ones for Russian tubes, and therefore had to use a fly-cutter. IMHO,
> fly-cutters are the most dangerous tool in a workshop. I hate the things. I
> securely clamped the sheet aluminum stockl to the bed of a large
> (floor-mounted) drill press, set the drill press on its slowest speed, and
> used aluminum cutting fluid. One has to advance the fly-cutter VERY slowly
> to prevent the cutting tool from grabbing the aluminum. If that happens, the
> sheet aluminum is likely to go flying around in a big circle like a sythe.
> The other danger is absent-mindedness, which can lead the drill press
> operator to reach in with his fingers to remove a piece of aluminum debris.
> Fly-cutters should never be used with a hand drill, as I stupidly tried once
> as a teen-ager. They absolutely require a large floor-mounted drill press
> with a sizeable bed.
> 
> 
> 
> 73,
> 
> 
> 
> Jim Garland W8ZR
> 
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