For those in the UK - http://www.powertoolwarehouse.co.uk/ have the Wiss snips for £14 a pair or so (expensive but not as bad as £20+), delivery time is 2-3 days..

..j

I would love to cut a 120mm blowhole on the top of my case, the Chyang Fun CF-2029. Problem is, I think the metal's just too thick. Would tin snips work for me?

To aston,

tin snips can do a very good job in heavier guage metal. But, you need to practice a bit beforehand, starting with a lighter guage, and you should leave a very small margin, say 1/32", for filing smooth afterwards. If it's really heavy stuff, get a sheet metal guy to cut the hole, he will have the experience and hand strength do do a tidy job that will take much less filing. At least a 120mm hole is realatively large, say compared to a 50-60mm hole, which would be no problem in lighter guages. I did a fairly tidy job of some 60mm U shaped cutouts on custom cases I built once, and they were in a very heavy (I think it was 18 guage) metal, which is probably heavier than your case. It was a hard go though, and some filing was required afterwards. 120mm holes would have been much easier.

Good luck.

Thanks for your help, Crisspy. I just bought the red Wiss M1RC (dunno what the 'C' means) and I'm cutting everything I can get my hands on... which isn't much, actually. Wish I had some metal to practise with.

I would guess that my case metal is just under 2mm thick. The instructions say it's only good for cutting up to 1.22mm (18 gauge). Think I could do it?

Also, how does the gauge rating work? The larger the number, the thicker the steel?

Hi aston,

the guage system works the other way around. Bigger number equals thinner. See http://www.mrao.cam.ac.uk/~rob/SI/sigauge.htm for guage to mm, and standard metric sheet metal thicknesses (most common for Asian products). I am still doubtfull that your case is 2mm thick, unless it's aluminum. If it's actually 2mm steel (14 guage), it must weigh a ton. I somehow don't beleive it.

For a good source of practice scrap, try a furnace / heating / ventilation company. They usually have a good scrap bin. Smaller companies are usually more approachable than bigger ones too.

Thanks again, Crisspy. I believe you when you tell me my case is probably not 2mm -- I have no real way of measuring except with a ruler, and you know that that's not going to be very accurate.

Welp, a-cuttin' I will go.

One last thing... how do you guys usually drill holes for the fan screws? I don't suppose I can just use an awl to punch the holes? I can borrow my dad's drill, but do I need a special kind of drill bit to drill through steel?

You should get some drilling fluid if you decide to drill. All the machinists I know use it religiously when drilling aluminum.

I've never used an awl, but something in my mind is telling me that it's a bad idea in this case. The hole would/could look like an inverted volcano afterwards. Although using an awl to start a hole for the drill so that it doesn't walk is probably a good idea.

Can anyone answer this question? I want to know too.

Yesterday I bought some cheapish (AUD15) M1-R aviation snips made by this company called "etc" something something. Within literally 20 snips, the thing had jammed up so bad I needed 2 hands to just reopen the thing after each cut, let alone actually cutting the steel! Also it looked like I had chewed through the steel, the quality of the cut was horrendous.

I was so pissed off I went back to Bunnings and exchanged it + $15 for an AUD30 pair of Wiss M2-R snips (they were out of M1-R) and straight away they make me look like a sheet metal genius!! I was cutting flawless holes! It's unbelievable how good wiss snips are, at least compared to the cheap crappy ones.

One quirk though - with these green wiss m2-r's, I seem to be able to make perfect left turns as well as right turns. This is something I wasn't expecting. Obviously the metal still curls up to the right I think if I didn't have any right-angled corners the green ones by themselves would have been perfectly adequate. I did though, so since I couldn't get a pair of m1-r's I just flipped my piece of metal over and cut it from the other side.

Amazing thing about the wiss snips is that they're still as strong and springy as they were new! omg.. the satisfaction from cutting your first hole in ~20 gauge steel has given me a feeling I think i'll keep for a long long time

I said in my original post, I think the cheap ones are out there just to make people give up and hire a pro who uses Wiss or another real pro brand. Just kidding, but it might as well be the truth. It really is amazing what the difference can be between junk tools and real tools. Glad you did the real ones and found success. And the flip it over trick is one used in the sheet metal shop all the time, within its limits.

And to sthayashi, you have to drill holes to get good clean holes. It's worth spending the $$$ on better quality drill bits, just like the good tin snips, since the cheap drills just go dull right away, and become totally useless. Good bits, on the other hand, drill many hundreds of holes before they get dull. They drill good clean holes, and do it very easily. You don't need cutting fluid in sheet metal either, just take it a bit slowly (the cutting fluid makes a very unecissary mess). And the biggest trick is to slow down just as the bit goes through the metal and finishes the last bit of the hole. That will help prevent making big ugly burrs on the inside of the hole. You can also get specifically sheet metal drill bits in a real tool store, that have a lower cutting angle at the leading edges, and thus drill cleaner holes. Lastly, you want to make a punch mark with awl to start the drill hole, so that it will be exactly centered in the spot you want, otherwise the drill will tent to skate / roll across the surface before it bites in, and your hole won't end up in the right spot.

omg i'm definitely feeling the power of the wiss tin snips i just cut out the section of the motherboard backplate directly under the cpu so that in the future when i get a cooler that uses the 4 mounting holes, i won't have to remove the motherboard (only the right side panel).

interestingly enough.. i just bought a new cpu waterblock that uses the socket A lugs. oh well

Just ordered my pair.

The snips themselves at £ 14 odd I can take, I found it a bit naughty to have an £ 8.50 surcharge for delivery though. But ah well.

Soon, my case shall be "free" and able to breathe better . Muahahaha.

Crisspy, what do you mean by a fine mill-file ? Do you have an example?

Hi starsky,

a fine mill file has grooves cut one way across, so the teeth are like lines across. A course one has groves cut both ways, so the teeth are like diamond pattern. The corse ones cut faster, but rougher.

Thanks Crisspy. I have purchased some WISS M1 Snips, and a fine mill file this morning. Over here in Aus I was surprised how cheap the snips were!! I paid all of US$10

Now for some practice. I will take photos when I do the real thing!

I came here to ask a question:

"Hey, I have a big problem, I need to cut a small part of my aluminum case but I have no idea how to do it?"

and then I find this thread !!

That's better than any individual answer.

_Thank you_.

I've been searching for some tin snips to remove my case's stock grills and also maybe some minor mods, but I couldn't find the Wiss brand. In fact the only brand I found was Stanley. Here it is:

http://www.crimsonbird.com/cgi-bin/a.cgi?j=B00009OYFZ

Is this good enough or is it gonna get blunt and crappy after a couple uses?

Stanley are a very well established and well regarded brand. Ever heard of a Stanley knife? They invented it, and they still make some of the best. I've not tried Stanley tin snips, but I'd expect them to be similarly good quality.

Cool, time to get them. I saw them going for US$10 earlier today in my local hardware mart.

Hey I just found the Wiss Tin Snips today in Ace Hardware. Thing is they cost exactly twice the price of the Stanley ones. Is there a reason for this? Can I still go with the Stanleys?

Well, Wiss are reported to be the best. Stanley are a good brand, but in the absence of first hand experience, their tin snips may be merely good quality. For something like tin snips, it sounds like it's really worth getting a decent pair, so unless you're broke, I'd suggest getting the Wiss snips.

Lol, the Wiss will cost be almost a fifth of my monthly allowance. I'm just intending to use the tin snips to remove my fan grills for now. No future plans for it yet.

I've found Stanley tools to be a very mixed bag quality wise. Some of there stuff is OK a little of it is great, but some of it is real cheesy. My general opinion is that it is on average towards the upper end of 'consumer grade' and the lower end of 'pro grade' IMHO one can often find better tools for less money, or at least about the same, by looking at the 'specialists' for that particular type of tool (ie Estwing will make a better hammer, Wiss will make better snips, etc.) Stanley's big selling point is that they have high brand name recognition, and they make all sorts of tools so it's very easy to make a good looking tool dept by dealing with a single vendor. OTOH, I tend to view any brand of tool that is sold in K-mart and Wally-world as suspect...

The counterpoint is my basic tool philosophy, that if I anticipate using a tool a great deal, I buy the best I can afford. If I don't plan on using a tool a great deal, I look for the best value, and will compromise SOME value in exchange for a better price unless there is a good reason not to. Cutting tools are one of the areas where going cheap will not be of big benefit because the quality of less than top tools is much lower. (other sorts of tools are less critical)

BTW, I wouldn't purchase anything until I've checked to see if they sell it in Harbor Freight Tools and at what price. (quick check says they only carry Irwin, Prosnip and their house brand, at least at the moment.)

Gooserider

Hrm, good point Gooserider.
I'm probably gonna get the Wiss soon if a lil web job I had pays off.

For me the choices availlable locally where either Stanley or a cheap house brand. I bought a green and a red one from Stanley. They are still sharp after cutting various pieces out of a Sonata case.

Well my case is aluminium and I only intend to cut off my stock grills, then maybe one day a blowhole at the top. So how much I'll use the tin snips is probably not going to be a whole lot.

Thanks for the info!!

I was wondering about cutting away the circular fan grill (80mm rear full of tiny holes) in my computer case, so Do i just use a red (im right handed) and cut away a circle and then file...??

Do I use the same method if I want to cut away the front case fan grill (120 mm, full of long stretches)??

I am really really inexperienced with tools and any help would be appreciated

You don't need tin snips just for cutting the fan grills. You can just use basic side cutters and file the rest.

Thanks, I just made a 92mm hole in a steel case, this guide actually made
that possible without a holesaw. Made mine like Lilla's dad did. Turned out
suprisingly nice considering I havent used snips since school and more importantly didnt remember how to use them

Anyway I couldnt find quality snips anywhere local so I just bought some
housebrand for a generic hardware store. Mighty cheap and I'm quite sure
a quality pair of snips would've made the cutting much, much easier.

This stuff is suprisingly nice, just as I was about to finish the hole it suddenly
started to make sense, the lines became the way I intended and the sheet
metal had to bow down to me and my cheap snips!

Hi,

Just a thank you for the wiss recommendation, was a bit concened at the price to be honest, for the amount of time i'm likely to use them, but considered the fact that i might be able to use them for other stuff i invested in a red pair.

Set to work on my new slk300B and to use an old phrase they were like a hot knife thru butter, both front/back grills were out in no time, and the effort required was minimal.



mark............