Easy way to cut a circle in stainless plate?

Lathe?

Holesaw?

Flycutter on drillpress?

Ink it up (or paint) & scribe or trace something the same size..... then cut it with whatever means you have, and file or sand to line.There are a ton of ways to do it, but mostly you want to keep all your fingers attached & its not an O-ring on the Space berkeley Shuttle !

drill press for the inner holes, cut the large circle with a nibbler.

Grtechguy wrote: Lathe? Holesaw? Flycutter on drillpress?

Hat?

Broach?

Pteradactyl???

Lets approach this from another angle....

What equipment do you have to work with? (Besides the HF drill press)

Did you use the "google tool" with the "floor drain covers" attachment?

How close to a perfect circle? 1/8" stainless plate like that will be a bit tough to cut with hand tools. What's the diameter? You can get a pretty good hole saw at Lowes for your drill press and buzz right through it with that, if the diameter is available. They aren't cheap, though. 1/16" (~16 ga) is OK to work with. You can cut it close with a saw and grind it to final shape.

If there is an off-the-shelf option in the right diameter but the holes are too big - make the holes smaller.

Sandwich a screen between two if necessary.

Could a washer be used to make the holes seem smaller?
If not a washer, a cut piece of plastic?

I bought one of these last week at Target to use in a kitchen sink. It has a nice wide metal rim that certainly is strong enough for drilling into. The black part is strong, flexible silicone.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=14488995

Stainless is a PITA to drill. I'd go with the 'screen something with the holes too big' approach, unless you want to spend the rest of your life drilling and filing.

If you really want to make your own, consider using a punch rather than a drill.

bludroptop wrote: If there is an off-the-shelf option in the right diameter but the holes are too big - make the holes smaller. Sandwich a screen between two if necessary.

Or, stack two of them, one slightly turned. Drill two new mounting holes in the lower plate.

Or, cut a rough circle a little too big, drill a small center hole, put a bolt and nut on it, mount it in the drill press and turn it to size with a file. Should make a reasonable crude lathe.

Hole saw, slow speed and lots of lube. Buy a good hole saw.

I used a diamond bit hole saw to cut though the stainless steel bowl I used as bathroom sink.

1 5/8"? took about 15 minutes on the drill press with plenty of oil

Get one of those plastic things where the whole center bit is raised and micro perforated....

Or shave the Sasquatch clan!

If the hole saw is too large (or you must cut it by hand as close as you can) put a bolt thru the centre. Most will be 1/4". Hold the bolt in your GLOVED hands and introduce the edge to a grinder wheel at a slight angle. The disc will turn and the outer edge will be reduced in diametre. When you are at the correct diametre use the finer wheel on the grinder to smoth the edge and remove the wire edge.

Next lay out your disc with radial lines and mark concentric circles around the disc. Drill appropriate sized holes where the lines intersect. Drilling from the side you want facing up will keep things neater and smoother as the burrs on the holes will be on the exit side of the hole.

Simple but time consuming.

I either have or have access to every tool known to mankind, and I make ~everything~, but a shower strainer?

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/draincovers.html

There's just too many better ways to use the time. Sorry.

find a local place that does water jet or laser cutting and have them do it for you.

keep the current one and stick one of these underneath. sounds like your current setup anyhow. they are $1, but will probably need to be replaced every 6 mos to a year.
You may also want to check out screen material to use as a "strainer" maybe wider spacing

Make it out of brass instead?

Just go to a plumbing supply house and get what you need. Holes are suppose to be 1/4" by most codes. If thats too big for you, back up the strainer with some screen or hardware cloth.