swee'pea99
Legendary Member
My struggles to fix a leak in my washing machine continue. I'm still reluctant to remove the casing, for fear I will break brittle plastic lugs/clips and/or otherwise prove unable to reassemble it, but I suddenly had a brainwave and thought why don't I just cut a hole in the side to access the leaky tube? The machine lives in the sideboard anyway, so any such damage will never be visible. Question is, how to open it up? Googling got me as far as aviation snips, which claim to be good for anything up to gauge 18 steel. Will they be able to cut the sheet steel used for a washing machine casing? I've discovered that 18 gauge is a little over 1mm, which sounds promising, but I can't actually get at the casing with my cheapo micrometer to check properly, so I was wondering if anyone hereabouts might know. Any thoughts/advice/handy household hints & tips very much appreciated.