How To Cut A Slot In Sheet Metal Mail Box

If you re cutting 125 steel with a 0625 em try cutting no deeper than 0313 per pass.

How to cut a slot in sheet metal mail box. Today we are going to look at creating a slot in a sheet metal cylinder. Drill two holes one for each end of your slot to finish the cut cleanly. If you want to do it yourself drill holes for the ends of the slot and cut the space inbetween with a sabre jig saw that has a metal cutting blade3. As you would expect there are several ways to accomplish this in solidworks.

A good specialty sheet metal shop will have a punch that is 1 8 by 1 in stock. The first way is very simple i am just going to create a slot on a plane and cut through the part. Make sure you are using a drill bit for metal surfaces and always select a drill bit that is slightly smaller than the mark. You should be fine.

I will show you a couple common ways to accomplish this task. If the slot is close to the part edge make a throwaway aluminum jaw to secure in the solid jaw and cut through into that. Use the dremel with the fibre cut off wheel to cut your slot. Step 4 drill a hole over the marked area on the sheet metal.

Align the snips with the line you want to cut with the upper blade of the tin snips touching the sheet metal. You will need to cut the ends to both sides of your piece since the tool and shaft get in the way of going all the way down. Use layout dye and an awl to make sure your cuts are true. Clintonmagus has the right idea and being in the bay area a good sheet metal shop should not be hard to find.

More information on this tech tip available at. Mark the shape and size of the slot you want to cut in the sheet metal using the marker. Tin snips are primarily used for cutting thin sheet metal like tin aluminum brass and thin gauge stainless steel.