Cutting Thin Sheet Metal Straight

Here are a few tips for cutting metal with a recip saw.

Cutting thin sheet metal straight.

Long straight cuts are easier to make with large tin snips. Right and left cutting snips are used for making curved cuts while straight cutting snips make straight cuts. If you ve hit it hard enough the chisel will cut the sheet metal if it s thin enough. Cutting straight lines with an electric saw.

Right cutting left cutting and straight cutting snips. Worked well to cut thin steel. If you use metal shears to cut thin sheet metal such as duct metal it curls and can be difficult to flaten properly. Open the cutters as wide as you can at the start of each stroke and make long smooth strokes.

The illustrations are for a small bracket but i have cut 3 foot long pieces using this method. Using tin snips for thin sheets. Extend blade life by keeping the saw s speed slow. Simply line up your chisel along the line you are going to cut and strike the back of it with a hammer.

These photo steps show that it can be done using a utility knife. How to cut sheet metal method 1 of 4. There are many different types of tin snips but for cutting sheet metal you only need to work with three basic types. Using a chisel and hammer is the most basic form of cutting sheet metal.

Wax your saw blade before cutting sheet metal. Set your saw to straight rather than oscillating if there s a choice. Lift the cutoff strip and roll it to the side to prevent it from binding on the tin snips handle. Longer blade was nice for long straight cuts 148 see all buying options.

Choose a blade with 20 to 24 tpi teeth per inch for thin metal 10 to 18 tpi for medium thickness metal and about 8. Make long strokes for long straight cuts.