door upgrade

[washnut]

I want to upgrade timers and add bill acceptors at on wash which would require me to buy new doors pre cut for the additions . they want 330.00 a piece x 6 ouch! am i foolish to try and cut the changes i need into my old doors ? Any suggestions on working with stainless doors or should I just buck up and pay for them.
Suggestions appreciated

 

[MEP001]

It's tricky to get a straight, clean cut, but I've done it to add credit card acceptors. I started from the backside with a 4" grinder and cut-off wheel and finished the cut with a hacksaw blade. For the studs I drilled a hole and tapped shallow threads with a bottoming tap, which means I only threaded it in a few turns instead of all the way down. I cut a piece of stainless all-thread and used red Loc-Tite and screwed it into the hole - I used a double-nut on one end to tighten it, then removed the nuts and had a permanent stud.

You can probably have doors custom-made for a lot less than $330 - I had ours made for about a third of that.

 

[wendy's wash]

I had new doors made from D&S. 6 bay with 3 extra doors. Then a 4 bay later after I was so happy with the results and 2 doors as spares.They were not that much money. The doors looked profesional and I could not have cut them better. If you have ever tryed to cut, drill stainless it will be worth the cost to have someone else do it. Call them and they will quote you a cost. 636-677-3442

 

[mjwalsh]

plasma cutter????

am i foolish to try and cut the changes i need into my old doors ? Any suggestions on working with stainless doors or should I just buck up and pay for them.
Suggestions appreciated

Has anyone on the forum been successful with a plasma cutter for similar cuts? We may need to do some stainless cutting ourselves & have access to a portable plasma cutter but very little experience using it.

The items that we need to cut into will tend to be too large & bulky to send in or transport so it will have to be done on site.

It has something to do with our goofy work in progress dog wash payment methods etc. OK, I'll admit it --- we are in over a heads a wee bit.

 

[Mitch]

Magic Wand will cut new doors to your specifications for around $100 each. Just send them one of the old ones for a template. Mike Stinette would be your contact.

 

[Fabman]

plasma works

Plasma works good. I used to run IVS's metal division, and we used to modify them for Gin San. You can either make a template that is 3/16 bigger than the hole, or trace it out on the door and follow the line. I would suggest a template. Any sheet metal shop will do that for you a lot cheaper than buying new. If you want I can do them to.