Cutting Sheet Metal Straight Line

Even so your cut will probably be a little ragged.

Cutting sheet metal straight line.

As you cut one side of the sheet metal will ride up and over the. It cuts metal almost as easily as a scissors cuts paper. Then grip the saw with both hands and push the blade through the metal to cut it. And the long blades make it easy to cut straight and leave a smooth edge.

An well known trick when cutting with your plasma cutter is to clamp a metal straight edge to the metal so the arc is directly over your cut line. And you can use the same technique anytime you need a straight cut on aluminum or other light gauge sheet metal even steel. A quality jigsaw and the correct metal cutting blade will make short work of sheet metal cuts. Even in properly cut metal the fracture zone will be angled and rough.

If you ve got a lot of straight cutting to do buy tin snips like the one shown in photo 4. This way you can simply press the edge of the torch cup against the straight edge and slowly make a straight cut. Then create a pilot hole within the penciled circle. Shaving is a secondary process that can be used to improve edges of cuts that have already been made.

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. If you need a straight cut clamp a straight edge to the sheet to act as a guide for the jigsaw footplate. To cut straight lines use an electric saw. For thin sheets of metal you can use tin snips to cut through it.

Edge surfaces of cut sheet metal are not typically smooth and straight. In sheet metal cutting the lower the clearance value the higher the edge s quality. This same idea i decided to take to sheet metal when using the scissor shears.