Cutting Steel Sheet Metal

Jigsaws and metal cutting band saws are more work but can make most cuts in light to medium sheet metal.

Cutting steel sheet metal.

To cut straight lines use an electric saw. Thick using a ferrous metal cutting blade. You can cut mild steel up to about 3 8 in. For thin sheets of metal you can use tin snips to cut through it.

Steel thickness is referred to as gauge the smaller the number of gauge the thicker the steel. A handheld cutting tool fitted with a metal cut off wheel will easily cut through sheet. I m using irwin to. Once you have the starter hole work your way out to the desired radius using the correct red or green colored snip.

Steel comes in many different forms and thicknesses. In our test it cut through rebar like a hot knife through butter. Its head rotates 360 degrees to make any job easy. The attachments will cut sheet metal corrugate pipes powder coated material stainless steel copper aluminum formica plastic and fiberglass.

It may not be an obvious choice but fitted with the right blade a circular saw is a great metal cutting tool. Hot metal chips will fly. It will glide through 14 gauge material without much hesitation. Thicker steel like pipes tubes and plates may require the use of power saws and torches.

For cutting out holes in sheet metal it s going to be necessary that you begin with a starter hole this can be formed by using the hammer and chisel method to punch through the metal. Start by taping both sides of the sheet metal directly over the line you want to cut and clamp the metal to a work station so it doesn t move. Cut metal with your circular saw.