If any of you have grown irritated by the careful and tedious cuts one must make to modify an electric plate (only to be further disappointed by possible bloodshed or "cobbled" looking handi-work), then you may appreciate this technique. However, this doesn't help my poor photography skills...
Supplies Needed:
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The metal conductor strips are held in place by melted plastic "welds". Simply use the drill bit (by hand) to remove the welds. The bit will feel differently when it settles onto the metal. It should only take a few firm turns. Make complete rotations to clean out the weld as much as possible. In the figure below, the top strip has been done. (Two of the center row of stud couplings had been removed ahead of time.)
My project required altering both strips. Gently lift the strips away from the plastic. They should pop out quite easily.
There will be "stumps" inside the hollowed out studs. Remove these stumps with the hobby knife. This prevents fitting problems later when the metal is placed back into the plastic.
Using the wire cutters, cut the strips as needed. Use sharp cutters so the metal won't bend during cutting. My project required 3 cuts:
I made angular cuts instead of a simple straight cuts. This also makes for a better separation electrically as the gap is harder to short out.
At this point, check to make sure the pieces will fit back together flush before glueing them in place. Once satisfied with the fit, get ready with the glue.
Gluing seems easiest if the plate is held at slight angle with the strip running horizontally. This tends to keep the glue from running everywhere. Put a small drop of glue into every stud cap for the piece of strip you are placing. Use the blunt side of the drill bit to ensure the metal is down as far as it can be. This is what mine looked like after all the metal was put back into place:
The first time I did this, I figured having the metal removed would make soldering easier. It doesn't. I ended up having to take a soldering iron to it again and had to reseat one of the metal strip pieces.
This may seem quite tedious, but it really isn't. I spent almost an hour screwing around with a knife trying to cut the metal in place and ended up wasting 2 plates in the process. While these pictures may look crappy, the plate you see took around 5 minutes to make and looks "from the factory" when viewed from the top or any of the sides.