[sdiy] advice on cutting slots for sliders in aluminum.

[Tavys Ashcroft]

>Looking for advice to make it nice looking, something easy, and any 
>tips. I know it'd probably be a good idea to use a program to draw 
>it out on first, any suggestions on that?

Get a dremel, B&D wizard, or any other drill-type hand tool.  Get 
some of those little cutting discs for it.  They're amazing.  They 
can cut through work-hardened steel.  Trust me.  They seem wimpy, and 
if you get them even slightly off angle they crumble into dust.  But 
if you do it just right, it's like a knife through butter.

Get your aluminum and draw your lines where you want the slots.

Get out your calibrated eye and ultra steady hand and use the cutting 
disc to cut the slots over your lines.

There are some dremel accessories you can get which might allow you 
to make some sort of micro table saw out of it so you can just slide 
it down a track, keeping it perfectly square and in line.  If this 
works, pat yourself on the back.

I haven't tried.  I gave up on sliders.  Too much work.  It's a 
shame.  One day I need to use these sliders I found with built in 
red/green LEDs.  Ah the wonderful world of surplus electronics.

Otherwise, contact your local metal shop and get a quote on punching 
out some slots.  Unfortunately you pay for set up, so if it's a 
one-off it's not really worth it.

Water-jet cutting is also an option, if you can find a place nearby 
that does it.  You get really nice results in aluminum with that.

-Tavys