holey sheet metal.

[Psychosaffa]

i need to cut 10" holes in some 2mm metal ceiling tiles. what is the best way to do it? was thinking a nibbler, but having never used one, Im not sure if its more difficult than they make it look on you tube.

any advice is appreciated.

 

[lexi]

2mm is a bit thick for nibbler. My last one only went to 1.6 and although a Makita it struggled at that. Messy things.

Plasma cutter.

 

[Psychosaffa]

to be honest, i doubt its as thick as 2mm. its 600x600 metal ceiling tiles.
they are painted so plasma is out of the question.

 

[Paul.]

A jigsaw with a Bosch T118A blade or equivalent will eat its way through that easily.

 

[brightspark]

to be honest, i doubt its as thick as 2mm. its 600x600 metal ceiling tiles.
they are painted so plasma is out of the question.

there probably only about 1.0mm as said use a jigsaw with fine metal cutting blade and put some insulation tape on the plate of the jigsaw to stop it scratching the paint

 

[Hitch]

I was going to say jigsaw, but cover the plate in masking tape, any swarf wont scratch the paint then.

 

[the snooper]

and have the painted side face down as jigsaws cut on the upstroke

 

[shed or dead]

I've only used manual nibblers but they prefer fairly straight cuts. can be done if you're thickness allows but may also disturb paint.

How many do you need to do?

Edit: Yeah, jigsaw sounds most sensible.

 

[Psychosaffa]

Need to do about 25.

 

[Wallace]

Are the ceiling tiles steel, alloy or composite? If steel I would doubt they are over 22swg so an accurately cut piece of ply with an oversize hole dropped inside as a template and a nibbler would do the job nicely.

 

[chevy2]

A good quality nibbler capable of that capacity will do a nice job if you make a circular template to run the machine around the inside or outside of,

Should leave very little post cut clean up.

 

[ford34/2]

we have had hundreds of ceiling tiles done with all sorts of cut outs, 2mm is thick for a ceiling tile.
As the tiles are prefinished with a sort of powder coat any heat build up totally destroys the finish near to the cut, any metal dust cuttings, bits of cut metal,etc, need to be scrupulously cleared away before every new tile is placed in your jig.

Anything half posh and needing a very professional finish was cut I think waterjet or maybe laser, anyway finish was perfect.

Normal ceiling tiles I have done hundreds and hundreds with a good jig to place the tile in then a template to fit into the tile and a router and a template guide bush, slow speed on the plunge router, 10mm TCT bit,plenty PPE, and away you go,finish equally perfect as the water jet. Quite honetly I would forget the jigsaw, -- any speed --any blade, on standard ceiling tiles of 1.36mm or.62mm, will bend the cut edges of the tile,a wee bit better on plain tiles but perforated tiles a dissaster.
a good jig to keep for future and a good template, you`ll do the tiles about 1 a minute. screw the jig to a wood top bench so its solid 10 or 12mm thick template.Punge in router, cut plunge out.

Stan

 

[ajlelectronics]

I think you would be surprised by plasma cutting. I use cardboard and plastic as templates to cut around with no damage whatever. The metal edges blue a little if the torch is drawn too slowly, but even then, not much. Try it on a scrap tile perhaps, because you could get all of them cut in a tea break.

 

[MrFluffy]

Need to do about 25.

Steer clear of hand nibblers like the monodex's then, after 25 tiles you will have a grip like a gorrilla
Powered nibblers are easier, but they leave a mess. The monodex's make a big snail of steel nibbled out and cleanup is easier.
Why doesnt someone make a powered monodex style one?

 

[Psychosaffa]

hey guys.
i ended up cutting them with a jigsaw. it worked great. only gripes are that due to the vibrations, my fingers were tingling till mid afternoon. . . . .the next day!!
also, the steel strip from the cut curls around and scratches the edges a bit, but the edge of the light covers it.

i have kept a tile to see how it goes with a plasma cutter, but i dont have high hopes that it will work too great.

thanks for all the advice.
really appreciated.

 

[Wallace]

I think you have suffered vibration white finger and a curl off the jig saw indicates a worn out blade from cutting too fast.