Cutting thin board

[soup]

I have to put electrical socket access holes in a backboard of a piece of furniture. I am not there just now so can't measure or anything but the board is the type on the back of chests of drawers etc to complete the look and to help try to prevent dust build up at the back.

The furniture will be positioned in front of the sockets and screwed to the wall (to prevent tipping) so can't really be moved to access these sockets .

Does anyone have a favourite method for cutting holes in this stuff (at a guess 1/64th of an inch fibre board)?

[Tricky Dicky]

I think the back panels of cupboards would be more like 1/8" (3mm). A thick ness of 1/64" would be more like cardboard. If these back panels are alread y in situ then my tool of choice would be a Multitool these would saw throu gh ply or fibre board no problem, just make sure the area you are sawing ou t is supported with a scrap piece of wood that will prevent splintering on the backside of the cut.

Richard

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd be amazed if it were that thin. More likely 1/8th inch. A jigsaw with a fine blade would be my choice.

[cl]

Yes, I agree, a multitool with a semicircular blade, much easier to control than a jigsaw for this sort of job.

[F Murtz]

Extremely unlikely to be 1/64 that less than .5 of a mm they do not make fibreboard anywhere near that thin, it could be 1/8" or more.

[soup]

Yeah thinking about it 1/64th does seem a bit (a BIT!) thin. Not got a multitool (thinks maybe an excuse

[soup]

Think I will go with that,if I can't persuade SWMBO that a multitool is needed.

[Tim Lamb]

Huge performance difference between Green and Blue Bosch:-(

>

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It would be better, but I assumed you'd not be asking the question if you had one.

It's the sort of thing that can be cut in lots of different ways depending on what tools you have.

[polygonum]

Does anyone actually make fibreboard in genuine non-metric thicknesses? At least, outside the USA. I'd have expected 3mm or 4mm.

[The Natural Philosopher]

laser cutter

[newshound]

I'd say it was a perfect excuse to get a multi-tool. Not that it is relevent in this case, but with these you could cut the hole with the cupboard or cabinet in place (as long as you are confident there are no wires or pipes between it and the wall).

Screwfix has an Erbauer for £43. Erbauer stuff is normally a bit primitive, but might be OK.

There are jobs they can do neatly which nothing else can. I guess it depends how much DIY you do.

[John Rumm]

How many are you doing? If doing lots, then make a template out of a bit of ply, with a cutout sized a bit larger than the required size. Stick a

1/4" fluted cutter into a palm router, and fit a guide bush. Then just slap the ply where you want the hole and route round.

For one or two, then the multimaster etc will do fine (or fein!)

[ARW]

Axe.

[soup]

Done it . Used a jigsaw with a "fine wood" saw in it.

THANKS ALL

Left a much cleaner edge than I was expecting.

Did the whole drill holes at the corners, jigsaw between them then back-cut into where the holes had been to neaten the corners. Took a quarter of the time I was expecting and didn't have to sand smooth any edges.

[1] This backboard was more a faced hardboard than a fibre board

[newshound]

You will still need a multi-tool one day when you want to do something like this in-situ!

[soup]

"Happens all the time dear , honest" Do you think I'll get away with that? ;O)

Don't know why, or what I'll use them for, but this is definitely in the tools I want list.

[tabbypurr]

I don't use mine much, but very useful when nothing else does it.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Yes. But if I had the choice of only a jigsaw or it, the jigsaw would win every time. So if someone has neither, the jigsaw would be the one to buy.

[cl]

I use my multi-tool far more often than my jig-saw, in fact I can't remember when I last actually used the jig saw.