Stainless Steel enclosure questions.

[monomatic]

Howdy! Im new to building and have found you folks to be such a great resource without even asking a single question! Thanks for that.
However I haven't found much info on using stainless steel as an enclosure. So...

My friend works in a shop that makes custom stainless steel kitchen counters and such for schools and whatnot. He and I wanted to make a few effects pedals for our band and close friends. I would learn to make the guts and brains, and he would make the enclosures out of stainless scrap during downtime at work.
He has access to all sorts of machinery to shape them, but I figured we could start off simple with a 1590B size enclosure, but cut roughly like an OCD enclosure due to some limitations of what the machines can do.

While all this sounds like a neat idea to me, I wonder if there is a reason why I don't know of any pedals (that I can think of anyway) that have stainless steel enclosures. I worry about it not shielding well, or perhaps grounding or something like that?
Also, using a cheap hand drill is never *ideal* for making pedals Im sure, but is stainless (guessing something like 1/16th" thick?) going to be more of an issue than the typical aluminum Hammond-style enclosures would? (Probably, but how much?)
I don't know much about this sort of thing, and wanted to make sure I at least had some idea of what I was in for when he hands me the first few enclosures to drill and fill.
Any other concerns I have not have thought of?

Thanks in advance for any answers, suggestions, etc.
And thanks again for being such a great group of people to learn from!

[Cozybuilder]

Since your friend has access to the tools for working with stainless, why not give him the hole patterns so that he can drill them?

[italianguy63]

Stainless is very hard to drill..  MC

[amptramp]

As well as difficult to drill, stainless is expensive so if you have access to stainless scrap you may be the only builder of stainless pedals on this forum.  I have enough trouble with aluminum.  Shielding should not be a problem although stainless is usually non-magnetic so you would not get the same magnetic shielding as mild steel nor the conductivity of aluminum, but this should not be that much of a problem.  There have been some stainless dog dish pedals but these are usually simple circuits.

Give up on the idea of using a hand drill.  You need a drill press so you can get the drill exactly perpendicular to the surface of the metal.  Even then, you need a centre punch and a succession of drill holes to get the right size.

[monomatic]

Thanks for the replies!
He can actually have the holes punched, but I haven't spoken with him about hole-sizes available. If they are close enough to what is needed, I know I can give him a pattern to go off of and they can be punched accurately and with little effort.
Ill check with him to see if the sizes we need are possible for him.

Thanks again!

[R.G.]

Stainless steel is very tough unless it's in the completely annealed state, and it work-hardens very quickly. If you don't attack it aggressively enough with a drill bit, for instance, it will self harden and dull the bit. You can't be gentle with it and sneak up on what you want little by little. That means it's tough to learn on. Proper tools and experience are really critical.

[davent]

David was selling stainless steel Muff enclosures a year ago... Mark, didn't you show one of these?

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=106728.0

[italianguy63]

Sure enough! 

MC

[duck_arse]

I tried stainless here a while back. the cutting went ok (-ish, only broken teeth, no missing fingers), the bending didn't look to be a problem, but I couldn't make any holes w/ my hand-drill. so it's lying around as scrap scrap now.

what box design do you have in mind?

[Gus]

Stainless is not that bad with the correct tools.
 
you need a good cutting fluid
A mill or good drill press helps
                       
Good sharp drills. You can drill it with good high speed steel if needed

[Philippe]

how about a cast-iron enclosure? *L* an acquaintance who manages a foundry offered to forge one as a joke. he figured they'd be so heavy that no one could ever steal your pedalboard without risking a hernia or a bad back!

[PRR]

Lead is easier to drill and much heavier than cast-iron when thick enough to withstand stomping. Will probably be fair shielding. Super-easy to solder to.

[Brisance]

and will absorb x-rays and some gamma rays