sacrificial timing cover

My buddy's '72 750 has a loose intermediate gear spindle. We're going to disassemble the timing gears and I know we need to support that shaft with a modified timing cover when removing the cam nut. He has a spare cover that we can modify for this purpose. Do you just hack the points area off the cover with a jig saw, or does it require a milling machine to do it right?

Anybody have a pic of a cover that's been modified?

Thanks

Just cut it with a hacksaw or jigsaw, I filed the ends on mine to get the surfaces flat plus large chamfers in case of slipped hands.