Trying to make custom dash & cant drill through this metal??

[moparguy]

I am trying to make a custom dash for my 70 Charger RT pro-touring project.
I got out my drill and a holesaw fitting to cut out the centers for the gauges but it is barely making a scratch on this 1/16 sheetmetal that I am using! :throw:
I even tried just using a regular drill bit to try and make a hole in it but I can barely do that!
I have just now noticed that this sheet metal has printed numbers barely visible on it and one set of numbers is 4130.
Now I am new to fabricating stuff, but isnt 4130 metal a really hard metal and that is why I am having a hard time cutting and drilling it?????
And if this is the problem then what grade of sheet metal should I get?

[astroracer]

4130 is tough on tools and WAY overkill for a dash insert. If this is a non-structural part a piece of .090 aluminum would do the job.
Mark

[Matt@RFR]

If it's 4130 (Chrome Moly) and you can't drill it, you need new drills. Yes, it's hard, but drills just fine.

If you have to bend it, though, that's a different story.

[BRIAN]

What size hole are you trying to drill? Are you using hole saw? If you are using drill bit start with smaller size and work your way up especially if you aren't using drill press. You will have hard time just going at it with say a 1/2 bit without starting out a lot smaller first.

[Matt@RFR]

I got out my drill and a holesaw...

[BRIAN]

oh I see

[PeteRR]

I used .090 aluminum sheet for my instrument cluster for my Road Runner. I also had it cnc'd to ensure correct positioning of the gauges/switches/lights.
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif