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Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool.....

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Has anyone ever used a RotoZip tool to cut out something like a floorboard. Their website seems to intimate that this tool would be ideal for such a task. Since I would want to cut the floorboard to withing a inch or so of the border, their metal cutting bit is intended to be used with 18 gauge sheet steel.
Any experience in this area? I think this tool would be ideal for such.


Bill
 
I've used a roto zip for wood and drywall, but never metal. It is a nice tourquey unit and should work fine WITH THE PROPER CUTTING BIT.
 
i used a SawZall when I cut my car into pieces...it offered a pretty accurate cut
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

They make a bit specific for 18 gauge sheet metal. Except for the horrific racket, it just might work. I gotta try it. Just wondering if any of you have done it yet. Clean, fast, controlled depth. Sounds like what I might be looking for. Got a brand-new RotoZip tool that I have never opened. (I am a tool freak.)


Bill
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Bill, Should work slicker than sn*t. Careful, they can get away from you.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

I have always used a spot weld bit or a 1/8" drill bit. The cutter will only make the pieces smaller when they come out.
You will have to eliminate the spot welds at some point. Cold chisels can damage the mating surface and make it more difficult when fitting the new panel.. You can get away with using them in some areas, but minimize their use.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Do not try this with any sort of diamond wheel disc unless you have a variable speed rotary tool !!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonono.gif
I made the mistake of trying this on a non auto project and found that the tool spins too fast for most disc cutting applications and will actually cause the disc to disintegrate immediately and explosively on contact with the fixed surface that you are trying to cut.
Test first on a sacrifice piece with all of your safety gear on!
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Bill-

I'd take Tomster's advice and test carefully - my roto-zip (yes, I'm also a tool freak) doesn't have a variable speed so it runs pretty fast. It has plenty of oomph and I've used it very well for small grinding jobs, but no cutting. It worked a lot better than a dremel which I did destroy with their supplied grinding stone (internal plastic gears total wiped out).
Randy
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

I think you guys talked me out of using a RotoZip.

Plasma torch, anyone?



Bill
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Just a sawzall will do, then you have to drill out the spot welds and separate the the outside edges of the old floor. I have a special HD "knife" that you wack to separate the pieces from the rest of the body, going around the edge once they have been drilled.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Actually, Peter, my plan is not to do a "complete" floorboard replacement. The sills on my car are very solid and rustfree, as is the majority of my floorboard(s). What I plan on doing is actually two things. First, cut out the floorboards and leave a nice chunk of original floorboard metal along the edges and simply overlap the new one onto the old, perhaps using a bunch of Clecos to afix the new over old. Then simply tack each spot where I use a Cleco after removing said device one at a time. Then slowly connect the dots, that is, make many more tacks, then connect the dots. That should solve the problem with the rusted areas under the feet. The other issue is to take out the area under the seat with this "7/8" floor replacement so that I can better install my Vicky Brit seats. Meaning, the replacement seat that I bought from VB are great except that the install was sloppy. They were designed to use the original seat welded-in nuts and drill two new holes for the rear hold-downs. Well, didn't really work that well so I will design some additional brackets to weld to the bottom of the seats so that they can use the 4 original welded-in nuts on the new floorboard, instead of the mess I now have. I will have a welder friend TIG in the new brackets on the seats (he can do this and not screw up my cushions, I would melt them with my MIG.) and make sure that they fit on the new floorboard "in vitro". Then weld in the new boards to solve the limited rust and fix the seat problem. Also, the weld-in nuts that hold the tunnel cover in and the console brace are stripped. This part of the new floorboard would be installed as well, in this giant one-piece patch.

If this all sounds confusing, it isn't. At least in my mind.

The trick will be to install the giant patch so that everything lines up. The only real tight spot will be under the pedals. May have to call the welder-friend over to let him "stand-on-his-head-and-stack-BBs".

That, in a nutshell, is it.




Bill
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

I'd vote Sawzall too. But if you don't have one handy, a small jigsaw with a metal-cutting blade will work quite well. I bought one (with variable speed) at Home Depot not long ago, for less than $20.
If you really want to buy tools, an electric or air-powered nibbler is neat too (I have a hand-powered nibbler that I use for small jobs).
By the way, I installed a drop-in "patch panel" in my race car to drop the driver's seat floor a bit. I used high-strength adhesive along with Clecos to hold it in place.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

If you have a compressor, one of these is hard to beat. I used it to cut out all of the bad sheet metal on my TR3. It works really well, and it's fast.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Sounds like a good plan Bill. Clecos IMO are the best for panel alignment.

Two tools that I recommend are most helpful doing this kind of work: the body saw from HF that Art mentioned will give a nice controlled cut of the old floor bad spots; blades are expensive but the saws work great. Also a flanger/punch https://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=41696 will create a flange around the floor to set in the new piece instead of overlapping it gives a nice finished work and also punches holes for the clecos.

Both are relatively cheap on sale at HF often.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Tomster, a Cleco is The Slickest Tool Ever Made for temporarily holding two pieces of material together while you permanently attach them. They are inserted into a hole drilled through both pieces using special pliers, then removed with the same pliers after the parts are riveted or in this case welded or bonded together. It's hard to describe how they work in an e-mail, but once you see them in use, it all comes clear. At Fairchild the Old-Timers called them "buttons", which actually is a good description of how they work. They were invented by the Cleveland Tool Company, hence the trade name Cleco. I forget where we got them but I bet Dillsburg Aeroplane Works or Aircraft Spruce has 'em. You can get them to fit holes from 3/32" up to 1/4" or more in 1/32" increments.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Ive used a plasma cutter on body work, Its great!
140661646_71dc20c3d3_o.jpg
140661647_36b68fbd35_o.jpg

Ive also used a air nibbler but I think a plasma cutter is the way to go, Come to think of it, I cut up my Herald enough to fit in the back of my Landcruiser(above) to haul to the scrapper.
You shouldnt need a very big Plaz, If you are looking to purchace, Mine is a Thermal Dynamics and only cost about $300.00 but that was also about 5 years ago.
Good luck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

Tomster, thanks for asking. that makes two of us that doesn't know.
 
Re: Cutting out floorboards with a RotoZip tool..

[ QUOTE ]
...a Cleco is The Slickest Tool Ever Made for temporarily holding two pieces of material together ... It's hard to describe how they work in an e-mail, but ....

[/ QUOTE ]I find everybody understands if you just describe them as “temporary rivets.”

Here are Cleco’s in “action”:

Front%20Section%20Cleco%20bottom.jpg

w_cleco_art.jpg


Here’s a previous discussion on the topic.


PC.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif
 
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