It isn’t pretty and I have a lot of filing to do. I chain drilled enough that I could line up my dremel tool and finish up the hole. Amazing how hot the metal gets with a grinding wheel.
(Edit) forgot to add the blasted photo!

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@va3db

You probably know but certain materials (likely not this steel) can be cut with a nibbler tool, and those are quite accurate.

Anyway, this will work too 🙂

@dynode Yes I have a manual nibbler. I thought I might use it to trim up the hole square but I am actually not too far out with the dremel. Not sure if the nibbler will help or not at this stage..(edit) and this front panel is steel :-( I am not sure the nibbler can handle it. :(

@va3db I work a lot of steel on belt sanders and yes it gets really hot really quickly! I have to have a dunk tank of water near my sanders, especially for metal where I don't want to destroy the temper or if I'm holding onto it by hand.

@croyle Yep yep! A belt sander would have been overkill for this. Sometimes I wish I had a mill for occasions like this!

@va3db A mill would be very useful, but they are a lot!... Have you considered one of those mini belt sander tools to smooth out that window? I have one but it's a cheap Harbor Freight model and it kind of sucks. :) But I love the idea. https://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/sanders/belt-palm-sanders/belt/53-amp-12-in-x-18-in-bandfile-belt-sander-58155.html

@croyle Honestly it's pretty good now but a power tool would save a lot of filing!

@va3db Filing is cheap and versatile, but sometimes the time and effort that a power tool saves is better for your sanity! 😁

@croyle Aluminium is not a big problem for me as I can use a hand nibbler etc. and the filing isn't as painful. *sigh*

@va3db this is THE WORST part of any project. A jeweler's saw can be useful, if you haven't tried it yet. One day I'll have a small milling machine for this.

@jmorris @va3db A plastic front panel might have saved a lot of time. (Have similar case with plastic front and back. Was easy to install controls.)

@jmorris Yes I don't need it very often but yes!

@n8dmt @jmorris I could have replaced the front panel with a piece of heavy plastic but oh well!