General Fabrication

It's a 90. And yep. Gonna be nice for Mexico trips.

 

You are going to have to get rid of the bed liner coating. It will burn very well.

In my opinion, you really should remove the bumper before you try cutting on it with the plasma torch. The paint on vehicles can be very flammable. I won't weld on a car unless someone else is there. It scares me that much.

Have you considered drilling 4 holes and cutting the rest out with metal cutting jig saw blades?

 

Why not use a 4.5" cutting wheel? I've been seeing a lot of people lately getting plasma cutters and trying to use them to do cmc and other very simple things that could be accomplished much cleaner with a sawzall and cut off wheel. I love my plasma cutter but find that it involves more clean up than necessary when used a simple straight cuts that could be accomplished wit simple cutting tools

 

I'd go for the 4.5" grinder/cutoff wheel as well... Plasma cutting shoots slag, soot, and nastiness behind what it's cutting and will harm your coating more than you might want.

 

Ditto, cutoff wheel

 

Anybody have experience with Bendtech?

Relatively easy learning curve?

 

Yes, Bendtech is great software and really easy to use

 

I'm curious about bend tech as well...

 

I've been using one of those protracter things that jd2 sells for my 1.75" stuff, helps a bunch mocking up bends

 

Soooo a couple years ago I shaved my 14B and finally now getting around to finishing it up. I'm in the process of relocating two of the diff cover bolts however, I'm having a helluva time trying to drill the damn holes. I've spent a couple hours at it already and they're only ~1/2" deep (I need them at least 1"). I've broken several bits, and if they don't break they dull down quickly. I'm assuming it's a pain because the plate that I used is 4130 chromoly.
I didn't think it would be an issue, but if it is indeed the problem, where do I go from here? Heat the steel while I'm drilling? Use a certain type of bit? I've tried using different sizes and also tried diff oil or WD40 as cutting oil.

DSC00206 by Jonathan Krajnak, on Flickr

 

Do you know anyone with a mag drill?

Heating the material isn't going to help. If you can get the housing into a drill press or lathe and use a high speed metal cutting bit you shouldn't have any problems. Easier said than done though.

Definitely need to keep it low speed and apply copious amounts of cutting fluid. I'm guessing you're cordless drill can't spin slow enough for the job.

 

Been meaning to buy one. Bet it helps really visualize what you're trying to do.

 

there was a guy selling some on pirate4x4 that were cheaper then jd2. the quality wasn't as good as it looked like they were running hte plasma to fast but for what it is, they worked well.

 

Thanks. I have a crappy bench top drill press but its weak and the lowest speed on it is like 650. I had to look up what a mag drill was. I might try to rent one or find a local shop that will drill the holes.

I've been considering getting this behemoth for $150. Some kind of radial arm drill press. Seems pretty nice but can't find any info on it. Has a saw attachment too.

 

Save your money. That's looks like some version of a shops moth or similar. Mainly for woodworking and no parts available. They did lots of things, none of the well.

 

Probably why I can't find anything on them.

 

@45acp Are you using cobalt alloy bits? They're super hard and durable, just take it easy and use a bit of cutting oil on them. I dont buy any bits but cobalt alloy any more, nothing else stands up.

 

I've tried carbide, high speed steel, and titanium bits (And they work in that order from worst to best). Are they a certain brand? Don't think I've seen anything like that in any of the local hardware stores.

 

There are a lot of crappy steel bits coated in titanium or cobalt or whatever, those all are crap. The coating wears off, then they dull.
I've used a few different brands of cobalt alloy bits, so far my favorite is my $300 Mac set but obviously thats not in reach for a lot of DIY/weekend fabber's, the next preferred is a Bosch set I have, followed by a Rigid and lastly a Milwaukee set(those liked to chip off).
The nice thing about the alloy sets is that the coating doesnt wear, the whole bit is alloyed with cobalt so if you have a drill doctor then you can resharpen the bits dozens of times before getting a new set!

Edit: bosch set

Bosch CO18 18-Piece Plastic Cobalt Drill Bit Set

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-CO18-18-Piece-Assortment-Plastic/dp/B0000TZX3A
drill doctor

$160 Drill Doctor DD750X Electric Drill Bit Sharpener, 3/32-3/4" High-Speed, Portable - Steel, Masonry, Carbide, Cobalt, Tin-Coated Bits, Adjustable Angles

http://www.amazon.com/Drill-Doctor-...=1457996595&sr=1-1&keywords=drill+doctor+750x

 

yes it helps with the visual A Lot