cutting fridges and washing machines etc

[grandads_shed]

been thinking of covering my old wooden trailer with sheet steel,
i was thinking of useing panels from they above items ,, but was wondering if the enamel coatings might cause a problem with plasma cutting ,,

whats your thoughts on this ,,??

 

[Spark plug]

Don't know about enamel but powder coat plasma a ok just burns a little around the cut.

 

[BrokenBiker]

take the enamel off with a flap disc?

 

[Psychosaffa]

I just cut the roof off a lexus with a plasma cutter, and it cut through the paint perfectly fine.
Couldn't imagine a washing machine would be any different.

 

[Cobbs]

Washing machines are OK, but fridges and freezers are made from paper-thin metal, most of their strength comes from the insulation, which is bonded to the metal skin.

 

[rtbcomp]

Some fridges & freezers have fibre insulation (like Rockwool) instead of the bonded foam to avoid using materials containing CFCs.

 

[Robotstar5]

The metal's that thin a good pair of scissors would probably do

 

[BrokenBiker]

The metal's that thin a good pair of scissors would probably do

the old guy teaching us hand fitting in college used to use scissors to cut .5mm sheet, cant remember what job it was for but the sheet was soft tin, could tear it apart, one morning we we told to polish up the sheets with a brush in the drills, so instead we just swapped it for some 1mm stainless. Watched him trying to cut it for about 20mins before he realised. He wad a good machinist but not the brightest of bulbs at times

 

[norlander]

most fridges seem to be made from the next stage up from bacofoil-washing machine stuff might be a bit sturdier.The actual quality of the steel might be an issue-I tried to weld up some steel from a recycled log rack and it just blew away.
Flap disks should remove the powdercoat, but watchout for the dust (as with any grinding of course) ditto the fumes if burning or welding around the stuff-again normal practice-but I just got caught out when some powdercoat lit up and produced hideous smoke and fumes. HTH